"Bugs in my belly!?" Yikes. You may think I am losing my mind. But rest assured, these tiny little creatures I am referring to are known as probiotics, the bacteria and yeasts that live in your gut. While it might not be appealing to think about, these “good guys” are supposed to be there. They naturally populate our intestine and protect us from harmful bacteria and substances that lead to inflammation and infection. Not so bad after all. But what else do probiotics do?

• Boost Immune Health: Approximately 70% of our immune system exists within our digestive tract. As we are in the midst of flu season, keep your immune system strong through a healthy gut.
• Manage Intestinal Distress: Used in treating irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, such as constipation, diarrhea, cramping, bloating, and gas.
• Potential Influencers of Chronic Disease: Innovative research studies are being completed on how our gut microbiome affects the development of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and mood disorders. So far, results have been promising in the potential role probiotics can play. Stay tuned as evidence-based recommendations develop.
• Using Probiotics while taking an antibiotic treatment will help maintain the beneficial bacteria
  

So how do I increase the probiotics in my digestive system?

Eat:

• Probiotic-rich food sources: Foods that contain the active live cultures (i.e. lactobacillus) such as yogurt and kefir are an excellent source.
• For the dairy intolerant, look for fermented foods and beverages such as kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, and kombucha.
• Prebiotics: Prebiotics are non-digestible food components (hello fiber!) that promote the growth of probiotics (prebiotics are food for probiotics). Top sources include garlic, artichokes, bananas, onions, and asparagus.
  

Supplement:

If you are dairy intolerant or if the vinegary taste of fermented vegetables doesn’t satisfy your palate, probiotic supplementation will ensure your gut is primed with these good guys. Look for a probiotic supplement with at least 1 billion colony forming units per capsule. Top supplements require refrigeration to maintain effectiveness.

• Check out the Clinical Guide to Probiotic Supplements for evidence-based recommendations based on specific symptoms.

Aim for 1-2 servings of probiotic rich foods and 2-3 servings of prebiotic rich foods each day. If supplementation is the best option for you to fulfill your probiotic needs, make sure to check in with your healthcare professional to find what is best for you. Here’s to a healthy, happy gut!

Eating for Health Every Day,
Coach Kristen

This time its shining on Kevin Jones!

Kevin Jones has been tearing it up as a part of my Athlete Academy for a couple months now. Kevin has come a long way. I remember when he first started, seeing him have trouble pulling 85 lbs off the floor deadlifting to now watching him lift 135 lbs off the floor, which is well and away more than his bodyweight, which is awesome! Here is some additional information from Kevin himself...

Why did you choose Athlete Academy?

It was a recommendation from family members.

What changes did you notice in the first few weeks?

Kevin is front and center in his goalie gear.

A little soreness from using different muscles.

What outside of Get Fit NH has become easier since starting?

My leg strength in goal has been better.

What are your goals?

Prep school, D1 college hockey, and the NHL.

What have you accomplished so far?

Too soon to tell, but having a good season on a great team.

What is your favorite part of Athlete Academy?

The coaches and the other athletes I train with. Overall there is a good system and attention to detail.

How has Athlete Academy affected your performance?

Better in goal, and a little quicker from side to side staying on the puck.

As with many of my athletes, Kevin is a person of few words. However, I can tell you from my standpoint that I am incredibly impressed with how far he has come and how hard he works on a class-by-class basis. Great job, Kevin, and keep up the good work!

-Coach Adam

As In get those wheels turning down the track with our ALL-NEW 21-Day+ Nutrition Challenge.

All the details and signup link are RIGHT HERE!​

http://21DayNutritionChallenge.com

The best way to end my work day is to coach the 6pm Epsom training crew. They are an amazing blend of people. All of them are a team that works together to get 'better' each day. That 'better' looks a bit different for each of them. Being 'better' has blended together many different personalities, ages, strengths, and abilities. Marquita is one who consistently trains each night with us. As you read, you'll see Marquita's reasons to be 'better'. 

​I’m not big on talking about myself but I was asked to so here it goes.

My son joined the Air Force and watching him go through his basic training, feeling bad for him yet being very proud. I decided that if my son can do this training stuff, so can I. I want to be someone he can be proud of; I want to be proud of myself.

I have been with Get Fit for about 6 months. It took me almost 3 months after I heard about this place to actually call, and looking back I’m glad I did. I had just moved to the area the first of the year and I found myself in a rut, not knowing anyone, but knowing I wanted a change. I needed a change. I did Zumba and loved it but it was only 2 days a week, I wanted to do more. My self-esteem was low, I had gained a lot of weight (I weighed what I did when I gave birth each time). I didn’t like who I had become, I was tired all the time, my body hurt all the time, I needed something, but I hated the gym. All the equipment and all the people, everything was always so over whelming. I had no ambition.

I went for my 2 weeks free trial but I knew after the first night that Get Fit was for me. I would come home after class and tell my husband all about it. I enjoyed how Nancy made me feel comfortable, how if I didn’t know how to do something she would show me, or if I couldn’t do it she would modify it so I could. I love how it’s different every night. I actually look forward to going. I love all the different challenges, and how they make you push yourself and make you hold yourself accountable.

During the 21 Day Detox challenge I learned a lot about FOOD. It made me look at food differently; I pay attention to the labels and what’s in the food and what’s not. Since I’ve joined I have lost about 15 lbs. Even though the 21 day challenge is done I continue to eat healthy and try to make healthier choices. People say you’re on a diet and I say it’s not a diet it’s a way of eating.

I love how my confidence has gone through the roof. I love when someone asks me what have I been doing and I tell them it’s Get Fit. I love the Get Fit Family and I’m so happy I joined.

At Get Fit NH's Annual Christmas Party, Marquita won "The Most Likely To Break Out in Song During Training" Award. All that wonderfulness inside Marquita just bubbles out, you can't help but join her singing.

-Coach Nancy

Steven Meier! I don't know how he has managed to slide under the radar for 6 years, but it stops now! You need to hear what he has to say and I have to share with you how wonderful this man is. Now, Steven is a humble dude, so I am probably going to embarrass him a little, but that's okay. I know he can take it! Steven is an absolute pleasure to coach and be around in general. His attitude is ALWAYS positive. If he is having a bad day, you'd never know it. He smiles anyways. He encourages others and he works hard 100% of the time. I have never seen Steven quit before the end of a set and I have never seen him turn down a challenge. Here is what Steven has to say about the last 6 years with Get Fit NH...

What was your biggest challenge prior to starting Get Fit NH? / Why did you seek out Get Fit NH?

About 6 years ago I had gotten sick during the winter and was not going to the gym. In addition I was having lower back pain. I was constantly using the excuse of feeling under the weather and not wanting to make my back any worse. This pattern went on for about 6 months. At the time I was working with a woman who was attending Get Fit in Epsom who would come in every day touting the benefits of the gym (gee hard to imagine someone from Get Fit with so much enthusiasm). She knew that I had been going to the gym consistently up until that winter and kept bugging me to join. Finally I bit the bullet and contacted Get Fit.

What changed after joining?

After the first week or so when I thought I wouldn’t make it thru the first 2 weeks of free training, I began to see a change in my body. I had put on a number of pounds over the winter and actually went up a waist size. Just when I started at Get Fit, the S3 Challenge was getting under way. I really am not a proficient cook but made a concerted effort to watch what and how much I ate (with the help from my friend at work). Within the first month or two I had lost 12 pounds and dropped 2 waist sizes. I also noticed my muscle tone was vastly improved from when I was attending my former gym.

How long have you been with Get Fit NH?

This spring will make it 6 years that I have been coming to Get Fit NH.

What specific results can you share?

Besides the things mentioned above I also noticed that my stamina was much better than I ever remember. You’ve got to love the metabolic exercises. I also have been keeping at a consistent weight within a pound or two for quite some time.

What would you say to somebody on the fence about joining?

Many people I have spoken to about Get Fit NH will use the excuse that they are in too poor a shape and too overweight to attend a gym like Get Fit NH. My answer to them is the session that I attend has both men and women, older and younger, some overweight and some not. The program is not set up for competition with others (ell except Fun Fridays sometimes). It is set up to compete with yourself to get in better shape and lose the weight that you wish to lose. I think that the concept of timed periods of exercise with no expectations is perfect. You do the number of reps or lift the amount weight you can do at any one time. The only stipulation is that you work to increase your reps and weight.​

I think that Dean has put together an amazing program and has a group of coaches that makes me want to have perfect attendance every month. Besides the coaches, the members are part of what makes Get Fit NH so great. Friends just don’t understand on a day off why I would get up for the 5AM class when I could sleep in and go later. You 5AMers do though right?

​So there you have it! If Steven didn't show up to train I would be concerned until I heard from him. I can always count on him being there at 4:40 AM to get his people their foam rollers and give me a hard time. I can always count on you!

Keeping making it happen,
Coach Meagan

I was listening to a song by the band “Disturbed” on YouTube last week. After that song was finished, a new song I had never heard before automatically loaded and started playing. The name of the song is “The Light”. The main chorus of the song is “sometimes darkness can show you the light”. The entire song is about when bad things happen, sometimes it is a path to something better. As far as the band goes, the message was something that I was not expecting but something that I certainly agree with.

We all have had/will have hard, dark times. It is difficult to ever think of those things as positive, and I am not suggesting you do. However, I think we can all agree that no matter how down and out we felt, how awful, how hurt, how beaten down we felt at the time… looking back, it made us stronger, more able individuals. It’s an unfortunate part of life that there will be dark times, there will be times when you feel that you are buried so deep that you will never dig yourself out. And then you do. It may take a long time, it may take as much effort as you can possibly muster, but when you get there, you are stronger than you were before.

Here’s the thing about feeling as though you have hit rock bottom, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It allows us to look back and reflect on the decisions you made that brought you to that point, and analyze the ways to make sure it will never happen again. For this to work, you have to allow yourself to think of it that way. Often at our lowest point the last thing we want to do is think positively. However, at that point you have an opportunity - to look at your situation and say, “this is how I got here, these are the decisions I made, how do I get out of this situation?” or “what can I do to make sure I am never in that situation again?".

Dark moments can have powerful, profound effects on us as humans; they often cause us to re-evaluate our own lives in ways that can change us for the better. While dark moments are awful to go through, they are negative, they are stressful, they hurt… just remember, as cliché as it might be, without darkness there can never be light.

-Coach Adam

Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, has been a hot topic in the nutrition world. Notorious for its role in bone health, recent research has and is continuing to explore countless additional roles vitamin D plays in health. As winter rapidly approaches and daylight hours decrease, our need for vitamin D is increasing. Nonetheless, today I am sharing why vitamin D is so important to include in our nutritional defense.

What exactly is Vitamin D and why is it important?

• One of the four fat-soluble vitamins, along with A, E, and K
• Needed for absorption of calcium and phosphorus - hello strong bones!
• Plays an important role in muscle and cardiac function - increased training performance
• Associated with mental functioning and mood disorders through hormone regulation
• Linked to decreased inflammation and increased immunity
• Potentially reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid & osteoarthritis, diabetes, and some cancers

I eat a balanced diet, so why am I deficient?

Vitamin D comes from 3 different sources:

1. Food - salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, shiitake mushrooms, egg yolk
2. Sunshine
3. Supplements (including multivitamins)
   

It has been found that vitamin D has a high prevalence of deficiency worldwide. Specifically, vitamin D was identified as an “under consumed nutrient” in the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This means it is often difficult for us to rely on vitamin D from food sources alone. Another option for vitamin D is through synthesis of UV rays from the sun, especially UVB rays. However, those of us living above a latitude of 35 degrees (yay New Hampshire!) are unable to make vitamin D in the winter months.

Now this is where supplementation can fill some holes.

Defining deficiency and optimal intake has been proven to be difficult over the years. Vitamin D status is determined using a blood test measuring for 25-hydroxy vitamin D. According to the Vitamin D Council, deficiency is defined at <30 ng/ml, sufficiency at 40-80 ng/ml, and recommends 5000 IU per day of vitamin D3. However, the Institute of Medicine has some different defining markers: <20 ng/ml for deficiency, 20-50 ng/ml for sufficiency, and 600 IU per day of supplementation.

My recommendations would be to first evaluate your risk: How many vitamin D rich food sources are you currently eating? Are you taking any supplements that include vitamin D? How is your sun exposure (except it's winter so I can answer that for all of you!)?

Next, set up an appointment with your physician to get some blood work done to see if you're deficient. Truly knowing your current vitamin D status is much better than guessing or assuming. Dependent on what your status is, it can be determined with the help of your healthcare professional what level of supplementation is best for YOU.

Remember, vitamin D goes beyond just bone health. Based on your vitamin D status, interventions such as dietary, supplementation, and lifestyle can be made!

BONUS: remember the SFH Omega-3 Natural Fish Oil I mentioned last week that we carry in our Get Fit NH coolers? Along with the omega-3 fatty acids, this fish oil includes 1000 IUs of vitamin D3!

Eating for Health Every Day,
Coach Kristen

This is week #2 of special requests!

Certifications are a great thing to add to our tool box. We are required to continue our education in order to keep our certifications. It is crucial to do so in a field that is constantly changing and no scenario is the same. The different certifications teach us how to coach different situations, different age groups and in different ways. The training certifications are important and the nutrition piece is just as important. I will go down the list for each coach and list their education/certification background.

Dean

Dean Carlson is a Level 2 Certified Precision Nutrition Master Coach, a Certified Functional Aging Specialist through The Functional Aging Institute, and a Level 2 Youth Conditioning Specialist with the International Youth Conditioning Association. He also holds instructor certifications with TRX, Kettlebell Athletics, and Training for Warriors.

Dean is the master program designer which is why you are constantly learning new exercises and finding new ways to challenge your body. The Precision Nutrition certification is the top level nutrition certification in the industry. The course was one year long and covered everything from biochemistry to coaching specific scenarios to the why’s to case studies. Him and Nancy both completed this certification.

Nancy

Nancy Carlson is a Certified Professional Fitness Trainer with the National Exercise and Sports Trainer Association, a Level 1 Youth Conditioning Specialist with the International Youth Conditioning Association, and is a Level 2 Certified Precision Nutrition Master coach.

Meagan

Meagan Sbat holds an Associates in Exercise Science, and is a Certified Fitness Trainer, Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, Youth Fitness 1, Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach and Specialist in Senior Fitness with the International Sport Sciences Association. She is currently working on Precision Nutrition Level 1.

Adam

Adam Gray holds a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science from Plymouth State University and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Cari

Cari O'Shea holds a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine.

Kristen

Kristen Chulada is a Registered Dietitian and licensed in the state of New Hampshire. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nutrition and completed her Dietetic Internship through the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is also a Certified Personal Trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine.

I hope this helps clear up your coaches background. We each have a very different personal story which led us to coaching. I encourage you to read our bios if you have not done so already!
-Coach Meagan