Last Minute Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas and Tips from Coach Nancy

Coach Nancy wrote an article a couple years ago that I wanted to share, because it fits in so well with the “Eat Your Way Right” theme. Take a couple minutes and discover “Coach Nancy’s Top 5 Way To Avoid Couch Coma”

And if for some reason you don’t quite have your meal plans for this week settled, I thought I’d pass on some great recipes from our friend Dr. Cassandra Forsythe. “Cass” know her nutrition, and she knows tasty foods, and this list she compiled is fantastic!

Veggies: 

Green Beans with Lemon and Pine Nuts

Apple Cider-Braised Kabocha Squash with Golden Raisins and Onion
(Kabocha squash is also called Buttercup Squash) 

Acorn Squash Soup with Roasted Kale Chips and Pine Nuts

Parsnip Pancakes

Easy Roasted Seasonal Vegetables

Spicy Potatoes, Cabbage and Carrots 

Easy Grilled Beets

Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Jicama Coleslaw

Cranberry Slaw 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts in Balsamic Glaze 

Spinach, Orange and Red Cabbage Salad 

Stuffing: 

Cranberry, Pear Wild-Rice Stuffing

Corn Bread and Sage Stuffing

Easy Corn Bread Stuffing Mix

Desserts: 

Wheat Free Apple Crisp

Pumpkin Custard (for crustless pumpkin pie) 

Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Topping 

 

Death, Taxes and Sleep. Three Things You Have To Do!

You do NOT want to miss this important seminar coming up in just a couple weeks.

Dr. David Picard of the Concord Hospital Medical group has graciously offered to come talk to us about one of his subject areas of expertise – sleep!

The last time I put up a post about the importance of sleep Dr. Picard wrote me with some additional suggestions, and we both thought it would be a great idea to get him on in here.

We have how critical sleep is to a healthy body, recovery and even fat loss many times, but what do you do if sleep is hard to come by? Come find out some reasons, as well as tips and strategies on how to solve your sleep problems. I know I am looking forward to it!

Death, Taxes and Sleep. Three Things You Have To Do!

Location: Get Fit NH Concord
Date: Tuesday December 10th
Time: 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Eat Your Way Right Bonus: Splurge Survival Calendar

It’s no secret that the holidays bring some real challenges when it comes to eating. That is reason #1 why we are doing our “Eating Your Way Right Through The Holidays” challenge!

Well we want to put another tool in your hands to help you take your survival strategy up one more notch. Our colleagues over at Results Fitness in California are having a challenge similar to ours, which they are calling “Holiday Hold ‘Em”. I am guessing they have a few poker players over there. 🙂 They sent me an email with what I thought was a really great strategy involving a calendar and a few minutes of your time.

Like Get Fit NH, Results Fitness emphasizes 90% nutrition compliance, not perfection. What they suggested was pulling out a calendar, calculating how many splurge meals you could have between now and the end of the holiday season, and marking an “x” on all the days and mealtimes you were planning your splurge. A great idea that goes right along with the planning you have already been doing.

We took it one step further and created a calendar for you that covers between today (Monday November 25th) through the end of the year.

Here is what mine looks like:

My strategy was simple and realistic.

I am currently eating 3 meals per day. This allows me 12 splurge meals between now and January 4th, which is the end of the final holiday week.

I knew I would be in the kitchen on Wednesday starting some cooking, and anytime that starts I am probably going to do some sampling, so I planned a splurge there. On Thursday I figured my breakfast will be normal, but the other two meals of the day I better plan on being non-compliant. Add one meal in on Friday for some leftovers, and we are good to go. I used the same strategy for the week of Christmas. That takes up 8 out of the 12 allotted. Figure on a party on New Years Eve and that still leaves me with 3. My strategy then was to use one on each Saturday night of the “non-holiday” weeks, and that gives me 12 total.

This calendar helps me for a couple reasons. I have to have a plan or I will justify sneaking things here or there and not counting them. I like the visual aid. It helps me see that  I can still have some days where compliance does not have to be perfect but I am still on track.

One important caveat: You can still lose fat and stay on track over the holidays, but you HAVE to stick to your plan and you have to keep training. Don’t skip training sessions and think it won’t matter. It is the consistency of the training, keeping that metabolism in high gear, plus eating correctly the rest of the time that leads to success. I believe in you, now you gotta Make It Happen!

Download Your Splurge Survival Calendar Here

Eat Your Way Right Habit 5: FAT is Not a 4-Letter Word

You are a Fathead.

Yes, you are, and no, I am not insulting you.

Your brain is comprised of approximately 60% lipids (aka fat), and our cell membranes are fat based as well. According to Dr. Ryan Andrews the fat we eat literally becomes part of our cells, and has a huge impact on if our nervous system communicates properly. I was amazed to learn that a properly balanced fat intake can affect how my entire body functions, from our brain power on down. You really are what you eat!

Here is what else Dr. Andrews has to say about the importance of healthy fats in our “diet”:

Why are healthy fats so important?

Fats exert powerful effects within the body and healthy fats have been shown to offer the following benefits.

Strong evidence

Cardiovascular protection (though there is less evidence for protecting against heart failure)
Improve body composition
Alleviate depression

Average evidence

Prevent cancers
Preserve memory
Preserve eye health
Reduce incidence of aggressive behaviour
Reduce ADHD and ADD symptoms

When it comes to healthy fat, intake amount is important. People are often concerned about excess dietary fat, but not getting enough fat may also cause health problems.

We need adequate fat to support metabolism, cell signaling, the health of various body tissues, immunity, hormone production, and the absorption of many nutrients (such as vitamins A and D). Having enough fat will also help keep you feeling full between meals.

(Read Ryan’s Complete Article – “All About Healthy Fats”)

So what the good doctor is saying is that we need healthy fats – to be healthy!

The first kind of fat is saturated fat, and if you eat animal protein, you usually have no problem getting that one in, maybe even a bit too much.

The other two are unsaturated fats – poly and mono. These include the Omega-3s which are found in fish such as salmon, as well as nuts, seeds and vegetable oils. Far from being unhealthy, all of these types of fats are crucial for optimal health.

It is also important to balance out the ratio of the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. The reason Omega-3 supplements are necessary for most people is that the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids has been dumped on it’s head by the way our food is raised and processed. What used to be a 1:1 ratio of 6 to 3 is now more like 16:1, and this does not allow proper cell functioning and integrity. That’s why we recommend a good Omega-3 supplement for everybody. 3-6 grams of EPA/DHA per day is the recommendation. Super Omega-3 is what we carry in the gym because you are getting over 3 grams of the good stuff in one teaspoon, which is outstanding. You can read more about Super Omega-3 in this article: Fish Oil and Why You Are Getting Ripped Off

You have been lied to

Low fat diets stink. You aren’t getting the health benefits outlined above, but that is not all. Healthy fats cause satiety, or the feeling of being full longer, more than protein and certainly more than carbohydrates. You know it’s true. You can blast through 2 or 3 donuts and be hungry an hour later. Try eating a couple eggs and an avocado and see what happens – I can guarantee you will be fuller longer. Part of the reason is that it takes fat a lot longer to digest than carbohydrate, so it doesn’t empty from your stomach and travel through the digestive system as fast.

But won’t all that fat go right to my waistline?

Au’ contraire, mon ami!

Eating fat does not “make you fat”. Eating excess of anything will cause it to be stored as excess energy (fat). And an argument can (and is) being made because it is easier to overeat carbohydrate than it is fat or protein, increasing your fat intake is a good nutrition strategy when looking for overall calorie reduction. It helps keep you full longer and also avoid the huge blood sugar crashes that can accompany carbohydrate intake, particularly from simple carbs.

EYWR Habit 5: Eat Recommended Healthy Fats Daily.

If you track your calories, 30-35% of daily caloric intake is a good place to start. If you eat meat, particularly red meat, you are getting plenty of saturated fat, believe me, so we need to concentrate on the others, the poly and monounsaturated.

Here’s a partial list of things that are easy to add into our plan.

• Avocado
• Fatty Fish (salmon, sardines, herring, tuna, mackerel)
• Macadamia Nuts
• Walnuts
• Sunflower Seeds
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Flax seed Oil
• Fish Oil
• Omega-3 eggs

Don’t go crazy. As you may remember 1 gram of carbohydrate has 4 calories, while 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, so portion control needs to be paid attention to. Too much of something good is not good, and we all know how easy it is to overeat things like almonds and macadamia nuts (love those things!)

Caution: If you are taking blood thinners, have heart issues, or have a bleeding disorder you absolutely need to check with your physician before supplementing with Omega-3 fatty acids (Fish/Algae Oils).  Just do it!

Healthy Fats. Every Day. No Excuses.

Make It Happen!

 

 

 

New Recipe Book from Coach Nancy – Fall Favorites

Coach Nancy has generously taken most of the best recipes from her “Favorite Fall Foods” seminar and agreed to make them available to you, her adoring public! 🙂

Seriously though these are some fantastic tasting, easy to make, protein packed “comfort style” foods sure to make those cool fall evening dinners shine.

How do these sound?

• Savory Beef Roast
• Asian Pork
• Herbed Turkey Breast
• Chicken Enchilada Soup

Well there are these and 12 more sure to please fall favorites. Just enter your name and email below and it’s yours for the taking.

7 Semi-Random Truths of Training

Just because it’s Thursday…

Learn to love intensity, not duration.

It is not a badge of honor to spend 2 hours in the gym. Get in, work hard, get out, start the recovery process. 20 minutes of hard work trumps an hour of lollygagging every time. And if you tell me you can work at max capacity for 45 minutes to an hour, come on in and prove it to me. The goal is to elicit the desired training effect in the shortest amount of time. Minimum effective dose. One aspirin is good so 10 must be better, right? No. Take 10 for an extended period of time and it could kill you.

Training with intensity requires the ability to do so.

In other words, if you have a movement dysfunction, or an injury, that is the “big rock” that needs to be addressed first. Trying to push through or ignore these things leads to bigger problems. Do the work necessary to clean these issues up and you will be able to up your intensity in the future. If you injure yourself further, then you are really not going to get anywhere.

You earn the right to up your intensity.

In other words, you earn your exercise. Master the sequence of exercise progressions. You must to learn to crawl, then walk, then run. In the same way you must master the basics, lay a good foundation, and then when appropriate progress the exercise. Doing 1 footed hang cleans while balancing on a dumbbell with your finger up your nose might look cool, but why?

Everything is training.

The moment you step on the floor you are training. Soft tissue quality improvement, activation, movement prep, reactive and power development, strength training, metabolic conditioning, flexibility and recovery. It is ALL training. The variables change. Length of the set, rest periods, total work duration – these may change. Your goal should be to work as hard as you can, all the time.

You have control of how intense the training is.

See above. Sometimes you just have to look inside. You can dog it if you want to, but that really has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the plan, does it?

Your level of fatigue has nothing to do with how effective the training is.

Tired does not mean better. Better means better. Should there be fatigue after training? Yes. Should you be crawling out the door every day? No. If you want to get trashed every time you walk through the door you are in the wrong place. We are physical preparation coaches, not executioners. You are in this for the long haul, your whole life. Our job is to help you get better, day after day, year after year.

Working at high intensity all the time usually has more negative consequences than positive.

Most of us have a hard enough time getting enough sleep, keeping up with the family, dealing with stress, working, etc. Remember Minimum Effective Dose? We want to do enough to get the positive effects out of our training program without adding one too many bricks on the pile. Who wants to be sore and tired ALL the time? If you are, it’s time to take a look at some other stuff going on. (Good nutrition anyone?)

’nuff said! 🙂

EYWR Habit 4: Earn Your “Others”

You are obsessed.

No really, you are.

And it may not entirely be your fault. I mean you get hit over the head with it all the time.

Carb this, Carb that, Carb the other thing.

What is it about Carbohydrates that elicits such an emotional response from the vast majority of us?

I suspect it is because there is so much confusion out there about the subject. Good carbs, bad carbs, sugar vs. agave, whole grains, etc. etc. etc.

I mean you all think I hate carbs, right?

The answer to that is no, because I am not a hater.

But I do approach carbohydrate intake with some caution.

Why?

Because I have been fighting the effects of poor dietary choices for almost 30 years now.

Yes, I wrecked myself with carb excess. Because when it comes down to it that is what Type 2 diabetes is all about. Too much sugar in the system too much of the time. Pancreas poops out. Voila – diabetes.

And yes, I am trying to scare you. There is an epidemic of overweight and obese adults, and even more gut wrenching, overweight and obese children.

Now this is a fairly long post, but you ignore it at your own peril.

You owe it to yourself and your children if you have them to understand carbohydrate metabolism and how you can make it work for you, not against you.

That is what Habit 4 is all about.

Eat Your Way Right Habit 4: Did I eat my “other” carbs only after resistance exercise today?

Let’s briefly talk about the second part, “Resistance Exercise”, first.

By resistance exercise we are talking about barbell weight training, high intensity metabolic resistance training, circuit training with weights or other forms of resistance (bands, kettlebells, suspension trainers, etc.), not traditional cardiovascular exercise modalities such as treadmill, elliptical, running, etc.

Why?

Keep reading.

Carbohydrate Metabolism and Insulin

Carbohydrate is not a dirty word. Your body functions best when you eat carbohydrates, that’s not really the question.

Let’s put it this way. If I ask most people what they think about when they hear the words “Carb” or “Carbohydrate” this is the answers I get:

• Bread
• Muffins
• Cookies
• Doughnuts
• Pasta
• Cake
• Potatoes
• French Fries
• Rolls

and they are right, those all contain a lot of carbohydrate.

But here’s another list:

• Apples
• Oranges
• Kiwi
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Spinach
• Green Beans
• Peppers
• Carrots
• Peas
• Squash
• Cucumber
• Whole Grains (not pretend whole grains, I mean “whole” whole grains) 

These are all carbohydrates too!

The big difference is the way your body handles these carbohydrates.

The first list is made up of simple carbs. Simple carbs are made up of one or two sugar molecules and break down very quickly and easily.

The second list are what we call complex carbs. These are compromised of more than two sugar groups, and these take much longer to break down in your system.

Both of these, simple and complex carbs, are digested into simple sugars before the body uses them.

But there is a big difference in the speed of digestion between a cinnamon roll and a string bean, or even a bowl of oatmeal for that matter.

This speed of digestion is also a factor in how much insulin is released into our bloodstream.

High speed carb, more insulin. Low speed carb, less insulin.

(I am getting to the point, I promise.)

Insulin is a storage hormone, and it has very powerful effects on the body. It is responsible for shuttling nutrients (glucose, amino acids, fats) into our bodies cells. It is necessary for life, which is why type 1 Diabetics need to have insulin shots. Their pancreas isn’t working anymore, so they need outside intervention.

Now I am really going to simplify here, but think about it.

When is the best time to have insulin released? When does our body have the most nutritional requirements, for instance repair and growth? (That was kind of a big hint)

Right after you train!

When you have hit the weights hard and left it all on the floor, this is when your body is ready, willing and able to use those simple sugars and amino acids (broken down protein) and get the repair process started. Insulin is now doing great things, it is shuttling nutrients into willing cells and making you better – sweet!

In fact it is a terrible idea to neglect post-training nutrition. You must provide the body the mortar to build the bricks, and the most convenient way to get that done is a post-training shake (partially pre-digested and fast acting) immediately after training. This is Prime Time. But you also need to follow that up with a meal within a couple hours, and this is where you want to have the majority of your non-fruit and vegetable carbohydrates (other carbs) for the day, even if you train in the afternoon or evening. If you want a few great ideas for post-training carbohydrates,ThePPWKitchen will hook you up.

A look at the other side

Insulin has a “dark side” as well. This important hormone, you remember, is really good at storing things.

Like all those ho-ho’s you ate, right on your hips.

You see when you overload your body with too much food, especially easy to digest food like the simple carbs we talked about, your body needs to do something with it. If it doesn’t need to burn it, it does the next logical thing.

It stores it. (You know, the ho-ho thing)

That is why in general it is best to avoid simple carbohydrates during periods of low activity (like the pint of Ben and Jerry’s right before bed).

The Take Home

Carbs are not your enemy. However we can be smarter about when we eat our simple carbs. It’s not a matter of never eating starch and sugar, just save them for the meal you eat directly after you train.

And that is how you earn your checkbox. On the days you don’t train, keep the carbohydrate sources to veggies and fruits. On the days you do, eat the carbs you like at your next meal (within a couple hours).

And don’t forget the 90% rule. We are not looking for perfection. If you have a special event or party, plan out your strategy. Is this going to be a planned splurge? Then enjoy with some moderation and get back at it your very next meal.

That not restrictive, it’s realistic. If you want to be something different you have to do something different.

Here are two more terrific articles (with picture, charts, animations and everything) to catch you up on all things carbohydrate.

All About Carbohydrates

All About Insulin

Keep this in mind as well. We all handle carbohydrates a little differently. You may get away with a little more “other carbs” than your neighbor. Don’t get cranked up about never eating your favorite foods again. Just embrace the opportunity to discover different foods and different flavors. Nobody said change was easy, but I am proud of anyone who makes an effort.

 

An Attitude of Gratitude

I’ll admit it.

I can be a serious ingrate, and it is so hypocritical.

How many times have I told my kids to say “thank-you”? How many times do they have to be reminded anyways?

And yet how many times do I catch myself sweating the small stuff, and ignoring the blessings around me?

It is so easy to get caught up in the milieu of our daily lives that we  forget how good we really have it.

When is the last time you sat in 110 degree heat, in the sand, in a faraway country, never really relaxing because you never knew if and when someone was going to take a shot at you or send a mortar round your way?

Probably wasn’t something you did over the weekend.

Yet thousands of men and women over the last decade and more have been there, done that – for you and me.

On Veterans day and every day we should be grateful. This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with basic decency, honor and respect.

We take it for granted. Families separated by distance and sometimes death. Dads and moms who leave children behind to serve in the name of our country. Husbands and wives who don’t see each other for months at a time, and sometimes never again.

Did you ever consider the impact on a family whose mom gets called overseas, followed by dad, leaving their 18th month old child with grandma? My heart aches when I don’t see my family for a few days, yet children pass milestones and birthdays, and all mom and dad can do is watch from a distance and feel the loneliness.

Next week my oldest son Timothy is graduating from Ranger School down at Fort Benning, Georgia. He actually lived there for 3 years of his life when I was stationed there, and this is the first time Nancy and I will be back since then. Tim is not a dumb kid. He is married, has a degree in criminal justice, and served as a Vermont State Trooper.

What drives men like Tim to give up relative stability, be away from his wife for months at a time and put himself in harms way?

I don’t pretend to know, but I am grateful they do.

So here’s my challenge to you today.

Be grateful, and then put some action behind that gratitude.

Maybe on Veterans Day it is as simple as saying thank-you, or paying for the Dunkins for the man or woman in uniform ahead of you in line. I think that is something I should start doing everyday, not just November 11th.

Don’t just let this day pass you by as another day off, let’s make something good happen today.

Let’s give someone else a reason to be thankful – promise?

Thank-You.

Coach Dean

Speaking of gratitude and Thanksgiving…

Our schedule for the week of November 25th is as follows:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – Full Schedule

Thursday, Friday – OFF

Saturday – World Famous “Pies Off The Thighs” post-Thanksgiving training gala. 8:00am @ Get Fit NH Concord – Be There!

 

 

 

It’s Time To Get Your Jingle On!

Registration is now open for the annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk, and as always it is a can’t miss event! You will want to get your registration in my November 21st to receive a T-Shirt, so go make it happen right now – yes, you!

Get Fit NH has been the #1 fundraising team 2 years in a row, so let’s keep it up!

Chosen as one of the Most Incredible Themed Races, Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis is a fun and festive way to kick off your holidays by helping others!

Wear a holiday themed costume. Tie jingle bells to your shoelaces. Raise funds to fight arthritis, the nation’s leading cause of disability. Run or walk a 5 kilometer route with your team members and celebrate the season by giving.

Take a look at some pictures of all the fun we had last year, then head on over and register for the Get Fit NH team.

2013 Jingle Bell Run/Walk – Concord, NH
Saturday December 14, 2013
Rundlett Middle School
Registration/Check in at 9:00am
Race Starts at 10:00am

Now THAT Was Fun!

First off all let me say how proud I am of everyone who came out this morning and participated in the 2013 SkiErg World Sprints. It takes a lot of guts, willpower and determination to step up, grab those handles, and go for it. For those of you who participated for the first time, a special kudos goes out to you – you did it – 1000 meters!

It was great to see some new faces in the training facility this morning as well. Adam and Deb brought a cheering section and Sharon brought her whole family and more!

We will be compiling the numbers and sending them off to Concept2 by Monday morning. Do you realize you now hold a world ranking? Putting yourself out there is huge, and you will only be better and get better because of it. As soon as Concept2 aggregates the data from around the world we will let you know, and you will be able to see how we did.

The other cool thing about participating this morning is that now you have an official ranking and score for the SkiErg Category in the Get Fit NH Heptathlon. The leaderboard has changed dramatically, and many of you have earned medal status, so make sure you check out the leader board on Monday.

To the Super 36 – Kathy, Anne, Gretchen, Cristy, Nancy, Sarah, Sharon, Susan, Casey, Nadine, Maria, Terri, Mary, Janine, Leslie, Kim, Laura, Kim, Diana, Deborah, Karl, Brian, Scott, Adam, Rick, Tom, John, Scott, Bob, Eric, Michael, Chris, Oliver, Collin, Andrew, David – Congratulations for Making It Happen!