Why Are You Doing This?

I want you to put your “thinking cap” on and answer an important question.

Clarifying your thoughts can make all the difference in the world when it comes to reaching your goals, fitness or otherwise.

In working with hundreds of clients, we know that those who have this question settled in their mind succeed more rapidly and more often than those who do not.

Why Are You Doing This?

What is the deep down in your gut reason you want to lose weight and get in shape?

Do you know?

It is important to have a great big WHY…

It has to be big because there are going to be times when you don’t FEEL like getting out of bed to train. There are going to be times when you don’t FEEL like doing your meal preparation ahead of time. There are going to be times when you are going to FEEL like eating a dozen donuts and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. There are going to be times when you haven’t lost any weight in 2 weeks and you are going to FEEL like throwing in the towel.

I know, because I have been there, and truth be told still go there at times.

And then I think of WHY I started the life-long journey of better health and fitness I am on.

My great big WHY happened when my 3rd child, Derek, died of SIDS.

I know many of you have heard the story before, so please bear with me, because the thought is as valid today as it was 7+ years ago.

For me that was an enormous wake up call. Life is short, and I was wasting it as “Fat Dad”. I think back to the days when I was 270+ pounds, pre-diabetic, and miserable. Part of my misery was because I felt like garbage, but another part of it was because I realized I had settled for far less than I needed to. I wasn’t who I wanted to be on many different levels.

That in a nutshell is my “Why”…

So what is yours?

I want you to take action right now on getting that question settled. Take out a piece of paper and write down all the reason WHY you want to lose weight, or look better, or get stronger and faster.

It might look something like this:

“I want to lose 50 pounds because….”

and then list as many reasons as you can think of…don’t skip anything that pops into your head, it is ALL valid.

Now I want you to narrow the list down to the top 3 reasons that will make you get your butt out of bed in the morning, and write them on a 3×5 card.

Put that card somewhere where you will see it EVERY day.

Resist the urge to tuck it away somewhere when you are having an ugly day.

Resist the urge to ignore this advice.

Will you do it?

WHY?

Make It Happen!

Dean

***

Beef and Veggie Fettucini

From Precision Nutrition Volume 2

Beef and Veggie Fettucini

Servings: 1 large or 2 small

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time:
10 minutes

Prelude: Once again, if you love pasta but don’t eat it often due to its high carb content, you can simulate your favorite fettuccini dishwith vegetable fettuccini.  In this recipe, we use veggies to do so and cover it with a delicious meat sauce.

Ingredients:
“Fettuccini”
½ cup carrot
¾ cup zucchini
¾ cup broccoli stalk (imperfections trimmed)

Meat
Olive oil cooking spray
6 oz (170g) sliced sirloin or stirfry beef

Sauce
Olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup onion (finely diced)
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ cup yogurt
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of pepper
2 tbsp water or vegetable stock

Instructions: Peel the outside layer of the carrots and discard.  Now use the peeler and peel the carrots, zucchini and broccoli into strips and then set aside.  This is the “fettuccini.”  With the zucchini peel down until you reach the seeded soft center and then either mash up and add to the sauce or discard.

Sauté beef until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Preheat a small pot on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Add the onion and sauté. Mix in coconut milk, yogurt, miso, nutmeg and pepper, bring to a simmer and stir until miso is completely dissolved. Remove from heat..

Clean pan if necessary, pre-heat and re-spray.  Add the carrot and broccoli “fettuccini” to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons of stock or water and then add the zucchini and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add the sauce and toss until warm.

Transfer to the fettuccini to the centre of a plate, top with the sautéed beef.


To be sore or not to be sore, that is the question?

I think I was dropped on my head as a child! What was I thinking?!

After Tuesdays arm workout, I come home and have the ‘brilliant’ idea to go out snowmobiling. Around this area you have to muscle the machine around trees, around turns, and over waterholes… (plus, riding without kids on the back we tend to ride a little harder). Lets just say that it was another arm workout that lasted 3 hours. After we were done I was thinking ‘I’m not gonna be able to move my arms tomorrow, good thing it’s Wednesday to recover’.

snowmobileWell, Wednesday came and my arms felt great! I could not say the same for my lower back, around my kidneys, both sides, what’s up with that? Was it the Tuesday highpulls? I mention this to my husband and he feels my pain… literally, he feels the same pain in his back. Duh! it’s from bouncing and jouncing over all the bumps from snowmobiling.  I spent the day trying to stretch my aches and pains on Wednesday. I woke this morning feeling even worse. I was trying to back out of going to Bootcamp until my husband told me to ‘suck it up’, so off I went.

I’m finally to the point of my story… when is it a good sore versus a bad sore? For me personally, a good sore is one that hurts before I enter Bootcamp and by the end of class, the soreness is gone. When it’s a sore that takes my breathe away and brings tears to my eyes… that would be a bad sore. Today was a bad sore day and surprise ‘Testing… I mean, Achievement Day’.

I started class making sure Nancy knew my dilemna and just took it one exercise at a time. It was an ‘easy’ day for me as I gingerly went through the exercises to make sure I didn’t put more strain on the muscles in my back. I was able to do most of the exercises, pushups, squats, situps weren’t too bad, mountain climbers were one step at a time, squat thrusts pulled but didn’t hurt-much. However, by the time we got to chinups it was uncomfortable so I stopped, and the 100reps were ok until the starjumps so I stopped there too.

So why am I telling you all this… besides letting me whine?… I just want to remind everyone to listen to your body when you are sore. Determine if its a good sore or a bad sore. But to stress that if you have bad soreness make sure you tell Nancy and Dean so they can help you assess how to proceed in your workout, or to take the day off.

I’ll be back for more tomorrow… I don’t want to miss Fun Friday! (now do you see why I think I was dropped on my head as a child?!)

Blog you later
gretchen

Morning Bootcamp Classes Closed Monday Jan. 18th

Hey guys, looks like it’s going to be a pretty crazy storm overnight and into the morning, so we are canceling both Concord and Epsom morning classes. We WILL be open at 4:00pm and 6:00pm in Epsom. If you are in a morning class and can make it later, I would encourage you to come at 4:00pm if you are able, as 6:00pm is… very full. If you have any questions, shoot us an email or call the office.

New Breakfast Recipes from Deb

Wanted to thank Get Fit NH Bootcamp member Deb Saks for forwarding a pretty cool idea to me.

Breakfast is a tough meal, and this is one way to get a fast, healthy breakfast in – no excuses.

Here’s a sample that we modified just a bit – The Get Fit NH Bootcamp way:

Chicken Fajita Breakfast Mug:

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 2 oz. cooked chicken breast
  • 2 egg white / 1 whole egg
  • 1 tbsp. cheddar cheese
  • Season to taste (fajita seasoning, etc.)

Directions:

Coat a large microwave safe mug with a light coating of peanut oil.  Add the vegetables, chicken, and seasonings – stir well. Microwave for 1-2 minutes until vegetables are soft. Add eggs and microwave for an additional minute. Add the cheese and microwave 30 seconds at a time until set.

Let the mix cool and enjoy. A little yogurt or fat free sour cream on top adds a special treat!

How Easy Is That?

Chopping the vegetables ahead of time make this recipe super fast, and it has all the elements we are looking for to get us through to lunch, especially those veggies and a good dose of protein.

This recipe can be adapted a bunch of ways. Vegetarian, turkey ham, broccoli and tomatoes – the possibilities are endless!

Brah, I am so stoked!

Have you ever noticed kids these days have their own language… ‘Brah, I am so stoked, just hit a knarley jump… yard sale dawg!’



Excuse me??

snowboard‘Brah’…are boys wearing bras now? a new fashion? ‘Stoked’, have you been playing with fire? Last I knew, a ‘yard sale’ is “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”, and ‘Dawg’, whose dog? did it bite someone?…

Isn’t it true that we all have our own little languages? I’m sure anyone who reads my bootcamp blogs and has never been to Bootcamp, scratch their head and think I’m ready for a straight jacket… well I am ready for a straight jacket… but, you understand what I’m talking about.
Lets see… Bootcamp-isms….

‘It feels awesome’ – when in fact if we have to do any more, we are going to collapse.

‘Let it marinate’ – gotta love Sven this is his way to say rest, when we can’t even twitch our finger.

’10 seconds down’– I want to hurt Sven because I think we’ve been at it way more than 10 seconds and we have 30+ more to go!

How about ‘Julie’s stretch’, truth be known Julie doesn’t even like this one! it’s the taffy pull one, you are the taffy.

‘Stephanie’s Stretch’ equates to the 50’s moviestars posing on the beach (bent knee, stretch, wave) we just need the big sunglasses and the bufont hairdo.

We have ‘butt busters’, ‘amazing abs’, ‘plankity plank planks’ = Pain, pain, and more pain!

We have gone so far as to label the days… Marvelous Mondays! Terrific Tuesdays! Woohoo Wednesdays! Thrilling Thursdays! and yeh! FUN FRIDAYS!…

And Finally, my favorite ‘MAKE IT HAPPEN’– Dean and Nancy’s polite way of kicking us in our behinds… ok, so it means with a little bit of effort on our part, we can achieve anything we want!

… see you tomorrow for an extra Fun Friday.

Blog you later.
gretchen

Your Nutrition Questions Answered

We want to help you with the answers, but first we need to know your questions.

Here is your assignment – I need to know your #1 challenge with nutrition. If there was one thing that is holding you back from losing bodyfat, what is it?

Please answer in the comment section below…

Why Do We Do This?!? because…

“And the 2010 Award for Best Butt goes too….” drum roll please…. every Bootcamper that attended todays workout (or all week for that matter!).

thanks200900014Ok, so it was really ’20/10 best butt’ … aka: Tabata butt finisher 20 seconds 1 leg hip/thigh, 10 sec holding the 2 leg hip/thigh bridge – tight! It was KILLER! Especially after the 50/10 workout complete with 5 squats – hold the squat for 5 seconds, repeat; front lunges with a reach; the abs cruncher in and outs; chin ups (or pulldowns); to the small scapula airplane movement = massive rubbery limbs.

Did I mention… I went skiing yesterday and found that even with all the squats, lunges, etc. my legs still burn on the mountainside? The girls heard it several times today as tears roll down my face. Today’s workout just added to my already screaming thighs. I found myself in quite a pickle on a few lunges … ‘help! I’ve lunged and can’t get up’, a very bizarre feeling let me tell you.

Why do we do it? Other than being sadistic?! It’s fun!! An hour out of your busy day that is just for YOU! Longevity and living strong!! Not to mention before you know it, the warm weather comes and the clothes get shed… it’s bad enough to expose the pastey skin that glows, but, flabby, cottage cheese cellulite is a definite fashion faux pas don’t ya think? Surgical enhancements are always available but who wants to spend that kind of money, take those kind of risks, not to mention scarring…just to look good? Not us!! We’ll do it the healthy, old fashioned way with hard work and healthy choices… to BOOTCAMP we go!!!

So KUDOS to you all for putting YOU first (‘It’s all about ME’ attitude). I’m proud of you all!!!
J-Lo and Raphael Nadal have nothing on us… we are 2010’s Best Butts!

(side note: I did a little research… they actually have a list of best famous booties… Raphael is a tennis player and J-Lo came in 4th because she’s… flabby(heeheehee) the winner was Vida Guerra for being rock hard – who knew?!)

blog you later!
gretchen