Tomorrow’s Hike Canceled – Sorry Guys!

ATTENTION: Due to the snow/freezing rain the access road is impassable, so unfortunately we are going to cancel tomorrows hike up Ft. Mountain. We’ll do it again I am sure!

To make up for it, 100 burpee chinups will be a reasonable substitute.

Make It Happen, and have a great Thanksgiving!

Coach Dean

I Am Thankful

For my wife Nancy who has put up with me for almost 26 years

That my older boys Tim and Jeff are happily married (I think) 🙂 and for their wives, Debra and Kimberly

For Derek, who holds such a special place in my heart and started us on the journey of “4 More”

For Andrew, who persistence is amazing –  he just never gives up

For Karalynn, who already knows how to make my heart melt

For Amy, who is the amazing bundle of energy, joy, and precociousness

For parents who put up with all the hurt I could throw at them and never stopped loving

For a brother who went too early and for a sister I don’t get to see enough

For good friends, the kind who you can feel like you ignore for months and yet pick up the conversation like you saw them yesterday

For a country to live in where I can dissent without getting shot

For the brave men and women who have put their lives on hold and on the line to defend our freedoms

For the first responders in my community who labor daily without me even giving them a second thought, but have always been there when I needed them

For the teachers in my life whose influence persists to this day. Mr. Mac, Mrs. Zoller, Mrs. Plante to name a very few

For my coaches and mentors; Ian, Mike, Helen, Pat, Nick, to again name a very few

For the Get Fit NH Team, especially CJ and Erin, who bring it every day

For the incredible clients at Get Fit NH; I hope you all know you are never taken for granted, and that it is only because of you we all get to do what we love

Here’s a thought: Have you ever thought on Thanksgiving to whom you are being Thankful?

I know times have been better and the outlook has been rosier, but I hope as this year is winding down that you take a few minutes to have an attitude of gratitude, and enjoy what you do have.

There are no guarantees what tomorrow brings, and too often in my own life I don’t stop long enough to quiet down and smell the roses. This week I am going to make a big effort to be grateful for all I have been given and thank the God who gave it.

What are YOU thankful for?

Dean

 

 

 

 

Coach Nancy’s Top 5 Ways To Avoid Couch Coma on Thanksgiving

Want to avoid feeling (and looking) like a stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving day?

Here’s 5 Tips for keeping control and prevent yourself from developing the dreaded “couch coma” while still enjoying that incredible meal.

Eat Breakfast– Thanksgiving finds most of us rushing around baking and preparing food for the feast later in the day. If we take time to think about eating we feel we should avoid it since we KNOW we’ll eat too much later on. Eating your regular meals in smaller portions sizes keeps our blood sugar levels even. This internal function will help your mood stay level (which your family may thank  you for) as well as avoid that starving sensation which can lead us to overloading our plate at the main meal.
Exercise before and or after your meal – Your body will respond well to getting out in the fresh air and moving after the meal. Exercise aids in digestion but also getting in some movement before that meal will keep us focused on why we are thankful. We have bodies that can move and our health is important to us.
Desert Desserts – While eating sweets is probably planned for most of us on Thanksgiving we don’t have to eat obscene portions for our desserts. Our ‘Treats’ should be planned and thought out ahead of time. If dessert is served buffet style ask someone else to pick you something that looks good. Tempting yourself by ‘seeing’ all the choices can defeat an otherwise healthy meal. If you can’t find someone to decide for you, stick to a small plate and fill it only once. (This tip works well for the main meal too) No one says you have to have seconds.
Drink plenty of water –  Drinking a glass of water before and during your meal helps you to feel full, helps your food digest better, and gives you the ability to keep your hands from filling your mouth with calories. (Besides if you drink enough you’ll also avoid the tired- needing- to- take- a- nap- after- turkey feeling because you’ll be making trips to the bathroom)
Be generous with your leftovers – What goes on at Thanksgiving stays at Thanksgiving. If you are hosting the meal, send your guest home with the leftovers, especially the desserts, sauce covered veggies, and casseroles. Keep the turkey for your turkey caesar salads, turkey soups, and turkey roll ups.

Bonus Tip – Don’t just be present at Thanksgiving – Give Thanks! Enjoy your time with family, friends, and those you come in contact with over the holidays. Going into a “treat meal” like Thanksgiving with a plan will help you overcome the guilt associated with overeating. Winning the battle of not eating too many calories that leave you with a weight gain will jump you into the holiday season with confidence to be remain healthy and happy the whole year.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Coach Nancy

Thanksgiving Recipes – Cassandra Approved!

Our friend and fellow Fitness Revolution owner Cassandra Forsythe, Phd, RD (yeah – she knows her stuff!) just sent us over a compilation of fantastic Thanksgiving recipes that are healthy and EASY.

Thanks Cassandra, these look incredible!

Here’s what Cass sent over:

“With Thanksgiving coming up, many of us are starting to plan our Thanksgiving fare. 

But, we’d like to make something that won’t increase our waist size so much that we won’t want to move for days. ;( 

So, to help you out, here is a compilation of excellent “Cassandra -approved” recipes you can share with friends and loved ones at your next Holiday Table. 

I’m including mostly seasonal veggie recipes so you don’t have to reach for something out of touch with reality. 

And, including healthy stuffing recipes and delicious desserts.

More importantly: Each of these recipes are EASY to make so you don’t have to spend hours and several dollars to get the job done. 

Enjoy!”

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 

 

Truth In Weight Loss – The Sugar Bear

Guest Article by Mike Starks, CEO of The Meal Movement

How To Experience Weight Loss this Thanksgiving

Gosh I love Thanksgiving. Football, Family, Food, Friends, More Football.
As some of you know, I despise sugar. Not necessarily ‘IT’, but what ‘IT’ does to me. What it makes me feel like after I eat it. I feel tired, groggy, lazy, blah. Then I sleep for about 10 hours and wake up with a sugar hangover.  Younger folks don’t understand this but in due time they will.

If you plan on eating a lot of sugar, sweets, processed starches, rolls, etc.  during the holidays, I advise against it because it will set you back for 1-2 weeks on your fat burning schedule. Don’t believe that by going to the gym you can simply ‘burn’ off the stuff you have eaten. We have fallen for this myth for 30 years and it simply ‘ain’t’ working. I would like to share with you a true story which occurred in North Carolina years ago. Maybe this will show you the power of sugar.

A Bear’s Weight Loss Lesson

Several years ago, North Carolina decided to ban sugar as bear bait. Hunters would take large giant sugar blocks about 12” square and bolt it down with a chain. Bears from around would come and lick, eat, the sugar. Then a strange discovery occurred, hunters would find bears laying around sleepy, tired and groggy. The hunters would walk up to the bears and the bears did nothing but look at them then roll over. (This is what you call shooting fish in a barrel). The hunters thought this was just too easy, but what they discovered  was the bear’s teeth were rotted out. Some of the bears had formed cancerous tumors like the hunters had never seen before. It was so bad, the North Carolina Dept of wildlife decided that hunters could no longer use sugar blocks as bear bait because they were afraid of the long term effects on the bear population and the offspring.

The Accidental Discovery of Disease & Fat Gain…

Weston Price was a children’s dentist who ended up doing missionary work around the country.  He passed away in 1948 and will likely never be well known among the US public of today. Dr Price began traveling around 1900 to the remote parts of the planet. He began logging his journey’s and amazing discoveries over the course of several worldwide trips. His findings were astonishing to say the least. Before I share them with you, think about this… he did not seek fortune or fame. He did not see a TV show or book deal. He did not care what others thought about his findings…he had nothing to prove or no one to prove wrong. He simply noted what he observed and learned over the years. Here’s what he found (in my summarized version)….

Tribes, cultures, etc. in the most remote parts of the earth were often extremely healthy, lean, active and often had beautiful teeth and very little disease like cancer, diabetes, etc.

Then there were tribes, cultures, etc who lived near larger groups of organized civilization who were very unhealthy, overweight, tired, rotted out teeth and a variety of diseases.

Now mind you, we are not talking about 1 tribe or 2, we are talking about hundreds of tribes unrelated to one another. The common eating practices among the healthy tribes were amazingly similar. The unhealthy tribes eating habits were also very similar. (*Now, I know I am going to get hate mail for what I am about to write, but please don’t kill the messenger, I am simply reporting what Dr Price discovered…(and yes, I do agree with it!))

#1: The most popular common foods consumed in abundance among healthy tribes:
meats (red meat, fish, fowl and other wildlife) including  meat fat (yes even the saturated fat), vegetables, insects & roots.

#2: The most popular common foods consumed in abundance among unhealthy tribes:
grains, fruits, dairy.

Now, I am not saying to go out and eat your dog then chase it down with a cockroach. No. But what I am saying is that you need to understand which foods actually hurt you and which foods actually help you.

Type 1 Diabetics are the True Food Experts
In my opinion, the best food experts in the world are type 1 diabetics (type 1 is juvenile diabetes…ie, you acquire it when you are young. Type 2 is often the result of simply eating too many sugars and starches and generally occurs around age 40-50). Type 1 diabetics avoid sugar, most grains and fruits and a lot of dairy because their lives depend on it. If they eat too much and no insulin is around, they likely die. Here’s an interesting phenomenon, obesity in type 1 (not type 2) is extremely rare. The overweight population of type 1 (not type 2) diabetics is also extremely rare.
Now let’s look at type 2, about 90% of type 2 diabetics are either overweight or obese. Not all but most.

So let’s look at this picture and then I will hush and let you get back to dreaming about your favorite pie next week (but don’t say I didn’t warn you!).

Type 1 Diabetics – 5-10% Overweight population; avoid sugar and simple starches; eat meats & vegetables

Type 2 Diabetics – 90% overweight population; often eat sugar and simple starches, some meats & vegetables (after their endocrinologist has instructed them to!)

The picture is clear isn’t it?

Next week at thanksgiving, I want to challenge all of you. Stuff your face with Meats, Vegetables, Salads,  Deviled Eggs but avoid dessert. Eat so much you can’t see straight. Then after dessert, observe everyone else who ate all the sugar and simple starch products. It’s like being the only sober person in a bar at 2 am. You will be amazed at how lethargic everyone else is.

Meats, Vegetables & eggs. That’s the Meal Movement way. We just make it easy and affordable.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Great Taste, Small Waist!™
The Meal Movement
Mike Starks
CEO

PS: Eat healthy through the Holidays. Start the Meal Movement Today!  Click here to Order!

Introducing Hilary Warner

Last week I met with a new person who might be able to help you with the food and eating end of your fitness revolution.  Her name is Hilary Warner, and she is a Registered/Licensed Dietitian who specializes in helping people who have a hard time with nutrition and weight.

One of things we discussed is that research is starting to show that dieting actually causes weight gain – while you might be able to lose weight while on a diet, most people end up gaining more weight back with each diet.

If you have (like I was at one time) been on many diets and continue to struggle with food and your weight, Hilary can help you get off the dieting merry-go-round and get you started on a new path that will help you normalize your eating and move toward your natural weight.

Hilary uses an approach called “intuitive eating” which involves learning how to listen to your body for cues that tell you when to eat and when it’s time to stop, giving yourself permission to eat all foods so that you don’t overeat from deprivation, and figuring out alternatives to eating when your mind wants to eat but your body doesn’t need food.

At Get Fit NH we want you to succeed, we realize that while principles remain the same, different methods work for different people, and we are excited to have Hilary in the mix.

Go now and learn more about Hilary at www.nutritionworksnh.com or you can call her at 603-223-8119

New Resources on TheOther165.com

We just uploaded some great new resources on our client only website TheOther165.com

Silver members and above now have access to the first two of Dr. Mike Roussell’s “Naked Nutrition Bites”. You can download your copy of “30 Power Foods” and “Simple Carb Cutting” by logging into the site and Navigating to the Nutrition Library.

Our Gold and FLAG members also have access to the first two conference calls with Coach Nancy, “Doing The Doable”, and “The Reverse Food Log” – listen in today!

Are you a client who hasn’t registered for your free Silver Access? You can get on it right now by clicking here

It’s Party Time!

We are putting together a great team for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk to benefit the Arthritis Foundation, and we want you to join us in the fun. Sign up early and get your friends and family to join in on the fun too! Sign Up Here

Whether you join us or not, make sure you come on down to Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord after the run and join us at our Holiday Open House. Bring along your favorite holiday dish, your family and friends and take a few minutes to relax with the GFNHBC family – Don’t Miss It!

Holiday Open House

Date: Saturday December 10, 2011

Time: 11:30am to 2:00pm

Location: Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord

Bring: Your favorite holiday dish, you, your family and friends

Post Training Pumpkin Bars

I love these bars! They are great for after training, as they are easy to pack and have a great blend of muscle building protein and recovery enhancing carbs. Add on top of that they taste fantastic and you have winner, winner chicken dinner! (Yea, I am a Guy Fieri fan 🙂

Power Packed Protein Pumpkin Bars

  • 1/2 cup Oats
  • 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Butter
  • 1/2 tsp Cloves
  • 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 cups Milk
  • 3 Eggs
  • 5 scoops Vanilla Ultimate Muscle Protein
  • 2 cups Pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350. Place butter in 9×13 pan and melt in oven while it is preheating. In the meantime mix the oats, flour and brown sugar. Pour over the melted butter and press down with a spoon. Bake the crust for 12 minutes. While the crust is baking scald the milk and add the spices. Stir in the pumpkin and then the eggs, followed by the protein powder. Pour this over the crust and bake for another 20 minutes until the pumpkin filling is firm to the touch. Enjoy!

This and more fantastic recipes are in the Get Fit NH “Making A Difference Making It Happen” cookbook. Only $10 and Available at both locations.