Declare YOUR Independence

As we celebrate what is now obliquely called the “Fourth of July” (Isn’t that like calling Cinco De Mayo the “5th of May”, only a lot worse? – but I digress) I want you to think about some of the things you can declare your Independence from now and forever.

Here’s a few to get you started, but let’s hear yours too!

Repeat after me: “I declare my independence from…”

Negative people. Enough said.

Time Vampires. Facebook, texting, email, tv. Stop living someone else’s reality. Make your own.

Thoughts that I “don’t deserve” to be what I know I can be. Healthy, fit, a size 4 – whatever you want.

Pill pushers and weight loss gimmicks. There is no “magic pill” – stop looking.

Food company lies. No matter what they say, some things just aren’t healthy for you to eat.

Too much sugar. It’s everywhere, and yes, it is addictive and it is toxic when you eat too much.

Couch potato syndrome. Training for 1 hour a day and sitting on the couch or lying in bed still qualifies you as a couch potato. Get outside, get moving, and enjoy life!

Excuses. Easy for me to say, harder to live. But when it comes down to it all excuses usually fall into two broad categories. Time and Priorities. We all have 24 hours in a day, and we all need to decide what is really important enough in our lives to take action on. Wishing on a star only happens in Florida and California.

How about you?

What things can you declare your independence from that will move you closer to your goals, dreams and hopes?

What say you?

8 Ways To Eat Fresh

1. Plant your own backyard garden or patio garden. Do you have a green thumb? Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, herbs, lettuces, and many more veggies and fruits can be as easy to pick as going to your own backyard. Not much of a green thumb? Small patio containers will supplement your family’s dinner nicely.

2. Free Food is always wonderful. Raspberries and blueberries can be found many times while walking along your favorite trail or next to the road. Please be sure to ask the landowner first. There are many logging areas near us and before the trees take over often wild berries thrive. Along a stream we’ve often found grapes in September.

3. Visit a Farmer’s Market or Farm Stand. These farmers grow and raise everything. If your garden didn’t do too well or if you would like a vegetable that you didn’t plant, visit a farm stand near you. The Farmer’s Market in Concord, which operates each Saturday morning, sells veggies, fruit, free range meats, eggs, and many other items you remember from your grandmother’s kitchen.

4. Welcome Localvores! Nothing is more local than buying New Hampshire raised meats. Miles Smith Farm in Loudon raise Scottish Highlander and Angus beef . You can visit their store to select beef that is naturally raised without hormones or antibiotics.

Please call 603 783 5159 or visit http://www.milessmithfarm.net for more information.

5. PYO- Pick Your Own Farms are plentiful in New England. How about strawberries from Rossview Farm? Deb and Adam from Concord always pick there and the proceeds this year are going to New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Rossview is located at 84 District 5 Rd  Concord. You can call for hours of picking 228-4872.

It won’t be long before apples picking is here. I love Appleview in Loudon.  http://www.applevieworchard.com

You can find many other fruits, veggies, and even Christmas tress at local farms. Check out this site for more information. http://www.pickyourown.org/NH.htm

6. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)-  have summer and winter shares of crops. They grow them and you pick them up. You can have fresh all year round and not have to get your fingers dirty.

7. The Seacoast is close  enough we can almost smell the salt air.  Our favorite market is Durham Market Place http://www.durhammarketplace.com. The drive is worth the time. They have so many varieties of seafood fresh from our shores. It’s the only place I go for fresh tuna steaks. Every Monday they host a Farmer’s Market so you can take advantage of fresh produce as well.

8. Support restaurants and food vendors that buy locally produced food. The Celery Stick Café found in The Concord Food Coop prepares foods from seasonal local produce. http://www.concordfoodcoop.coop/

Don’t Drool, Its Bad for Your Keyboard!

Move over pasta, bread and rice, I have better things to add to my plate.

The amazing Jenn H. from 5:00am Concord created this recipe in order to fill her plate with more veggies. It looks great and taste even better! Keep on filling your plate with veggies.

• 2 cups Zucchini sliced thin
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/8 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Slice the zucchini with a mandolin and place on the bottom of a pan sprayed with peanut oil. Top with chopped mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese on top. Season however you like, I like to add basil stirred into the cottage cheese. Bake it at 350 for 30 minutes. I have also done this with 4oz of browned ground turkey. I usually have a container of it (made up ahead) in the fridge ready to go at all times. 🙂

Enjoy!

Get Your Feet Wet with the Merrimack River Trail Triathlon!

Northeast Delta Dental

Merrimack River Trail Triathlon

Compete as an individual or a team, families welcome!

4K Off Road Bike through cornfields

3K Run along the proposed Greenway Trail

3K Paddle on the Merrimack by canoe, kayak, SUP

Merrimack River Trail Triathlon
Sunday, July 21st , 2013
10:00 Individual, 11:30 Team Start
6 Loudon Road, Concord (behind Buffalo Wild Wings)
$20 Individuals/ $10 per team member

Every entry supports construction of the Merrimack River Greenway Trail, a paved off-street path following the Merrimack River and eventually linking NH’s North and South Rail trails for 114 continuous miles.

Help us make it a reality!

Register at http://www.mrgt.org/events or 8:30 Race Day

Questions? Contact Tom Walton 603-223-1537

Damsel in Defense!

What a great name for a company that sells products for personal protection from harm!

Cathy Steenbeke of Damsel in Defense will be at Get Fit NH to show off exactly what her company offers on Tuesday, July 16th at 7pm in Concord.

They have a wide range of products to protect yourself on the go or in the home. There is a sign up for this event at both Epsom and Concord, so please let Cathy knows how many people will be there.

Check out the Damsel In Defense website here!

Recovery Week Reading List: Mission Nutrition

I know you are all super busy, and sometimes you just don’t get to read like you would like to.

Well next week you are going to have an extra hour or so a few certain days, so howsabout taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading and making yourself better in the process. Better Eating = Better Health, so read up and then put it into practice.

Here is a compilation of some of our favorite “Mission Nutrition” topics.

Nancy ‘s Top 5 Grocery Shopping Tips

Three Rules to Easy Eating On The Go

Meal Planning Made Easier

Keep It Simple!

10 Ways To Eat Fresh

Food Labels. What You Need To Know

and if you don’t have a Get Fit NH Cookbook yet – pick one up this week!

Success Story: Jill G

Keep the success stories coming in! There is no better feeling as a coach to have someone send us a note telling us how thrilled they (or their doctor, or spouse, or even kids) are with how their body is changing, looking and feeling. Thank-you!

Jill sent us this latest update and great news. Keep it up Jill!

“Today I had a follow up visit at my doctors office to discuss my lab results. I have been diagnosed with high cholesterol for nearly 20 years. I like many people cannot take any medication for it. The side effects are bad.  I was prepared to hear the results I always get,  it’s too high.

Well not today!

My doctor told me my results were better then perfect. My good cholesterol was off the charts good. Having lost a brother 6 years ago to heart disease and both parents having heart issues this comes as the best possible news ever.

My doctor said all my hard work has paid off. Changing my lifestyle almost 2 years ago and joining this amazing team at Get Fit has definitely paid off. A big thank you to all of you for creating an environment that I want to be a part of everyday and for pushing me a little harder every day. I couldn’t have done it with you!!!” – Jill G.

A Redundant Redundancy?

Maybe Maybe, but but I I just just want want to to make make sure sure y’all y’all are are reminded reminded that that next next week week is is a a

RECOVERY WEEK!

Just sayin’ (twice)

Are you getting your Minimum Effective Dose?

You ARE Making It Happen!

“Guess what!?! I went shopping this morning….I bought size 18 pants! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I was wearing size 22 before I met you and Get Fit NH!!!!!” – Lisa 6:15 Epsom

“I went shopping and saw a cute pair of Size 6. I bought them because they fit. I wasn’t even shopping for me.” – Doreen 9am Epsom

“Physical results. As I have been saying for several years I wanted to reduce the number of meds I take. Today I am off the triglyceride med since I have lost the weight, exercise like we do and the nutrition plan we follow. Also cut the blood pressure med in half and may cut the Lipitor in half once labs are back. So once again I am grateful for the tools you have given us to work with!” – Greg

“By the way, I cheated a bit last night (Sunday) by eating something I should not have eaten (2 chocolate chip cookies – obviously loaded with additives and sugar), and I woke up with a horrific migraine headache this morning.  Prior to my down-fall with those darn cookies, I have not eaten anything with additives for the last 5 weeks.  Five weeks also coincides with me not having any migraine headaches.  This is unprecedented, since I have suffered from migraine headaches usually a couple of times a week prior to getting off sugar and additives.  This has been going on for the last 25 years!

I assure you….. I’ve learned a valuable lesson:  Those 2 cookies were not worth the pain I suffered from a migraine this morning.  Here I thought I had to live with a migraine for the rest of my life, but I now feel that I have a means of controlling it.  I am encouraged and hopeful.

P.S.  On the subject of additives, I’ve read recently that additives can cause depression. I am not surprised if some of your readers may be interested in that subject matter.” – Emy 9 am Epsom

(I’d love to post Emy’s picture so you know who to say thank you for inspiring you, but imagine that, it was fuzzy. I’ll do better on taking pictures or letting someone else take the pictures! Thank you Emy!)

“Success is not a reward……. It’s a consequence.” Coach Dick Vermeil

Consistent action taken each day produces results. So continue to make it happen to you.

To your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

Recovery Week 1st Notice – Minimum Effective Dose

Can you believe summer is upon us? With that comes the second recovery week of 2013. Holey Moley this year is cooking by!

Now is a good time to evaluate where you are with your goals for the year. Half the year is over, which means you should be halfway to your personal, professional and health goals. Take some time to see where you are at and adjust as necessary.

Why Recover?

Over the years I have written extensively on the benefits of rest and recovery as it relates to your overall training and health. Please check out the following articles to remind yourself why you need to back off at times:

Recovery Is Where The Magic Happens

I Hate Recovery Weeks

Rest, Recover and Regenerate, It’s Not Optional

Minimum Effective Dose

I don’t know if Coach John is the one who coined the phrase Minimum Effective Dose (MED) as it relates to training, however I was reminded of it as I read is latest book, “Intervention”.

You see training is not about how hard you can thrash yourself in a given “workout” or how many “workouts” you can do in a month. It’s about getting the training effect you want, in the minimum amount of time.

Why?

Because the less time you are in the gym, the more time your body has to recover. You see you don’t get results from just training, your results are based on how well you recover from your training.

Now that doesn’t mean you don’t train hard when you are in the gym – you should train to the maximum of your ability and according to your training plan. Going through the motions ain’t gonna cut it.

But unless you allow your system to recover, heal and grow, you are just spinning your wheels.

More is not always better!

You don’t need to do 2 a days to get results – train hard, recover, and repeat.

I guess it comes with the territory, but I have always found it strange that because I am a coach people think I “workout all the time”.

Are you nuts?

I am up most days before 4:00am, I have a family, and a business to run. Getting 4 days of training a week is tough enough, what gives y’all the idea I have time to burn all day in the gym? I want to get in, get done, and get out. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE training, but it is not the only thing on my plate.

And it doesn’t need to be. In the past 8 weeks Nancy and I have trained exactly 32 times, approximately 1 hour sessions, 4 days – just like our Team Training schedule.

In conjunction with S3 we can both say we are in our best physical condition in a long time, if not ever. And we are nothing special, believe me. If we can do it, so can you.

Train hard. Eat right (you KNOW what that means, don’t make it harder than it needs to be) and get some R&R.

Don’t argue, just Make It Happen!

Recovery Week Schedule and Upcoming Dates to Remember

Recovery Week:  June 23 to June 30. Training resumes Monday July 1st.

4th of July:  Exercise Your Independence: All Team Training and Brunch. 8:00am Thursday July 4th at Get Fit NH Concord

Schedule Change: The week of July 8th we will be training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday due to a training conference. Please make note!