This blog today is not on food, but on another kind of nutrition -  feeding our confidence in what we do at Bootcamp.

Last night our boot camp session really rocked!

Why?

Because we had encouragement from the team. We did a particular difficult workout but we also had people saying “come on you can do it! 15 seconds!  bring those knees up! push it! last 10 seconds! come on you can do it! 5..4..3..2..1.. yeah”

WOW!!

Thank you Gretchen, your loud encouragement was great!

Dean and Nancy are great coaches and they work us hard while encouraging us to continue on but the TEAM and team encouragement is the key. The fact  that each one of us wants the others to succeed; again a big WOW!

Thank you TEAM, I can’t wait some days just to see your faces, and when your not there, there is a hole – a YOU size hole!

Thanks for “Making it Happen”

Move the Mass, Savor the Flavor, Hug the Mug!!

Fran 1800class

Words have not come easy for me on this topic, pooping, dumping, bowel movement, caca, the daily dump…lol, BUT if you aren’t doing it once a day then YOU  have problems with CONSTIPATION.

Fiber -  remember 8-12cups a day fiber? Fiber is the sweeper of your bowels. And if you don’t think you need to sweep your bowels on a daily basis then I would pose this question, all that food you eat, sitting in a closed container @ 98 degrees what do you think is going on there? RIGHT and RIGHT again, not good, pooh,(do you know why Piglet was looking in the toilet?, looking for Pooh) lol, stinky smelly stuff, whew!! rancid….FOOD

So we eat 8-12 cups of fiber and those little sweepers come along the alimentary canal, (nowhere near Panana Canal) and sweep those bowels of the food that is turning rancid and pushing it to go a little faster so that you can POOP IT OUT, lol

I may have been a little constipated with my words at first but I am just cracking myself up with this blog, and on top of that I have so many jokes (all perfectly in good taste of course) lol again. Poop at least once a day but if you are eating your 8-12 cups of fiber then you should be going more!,3,maybe 4 times a day. BUT a clean bowel is also a healthy bowel and if you have read any papers lately colon cancer is on the rise. Why? family history is certainly a big one, but how does that happen, lack of fiber in the diet? Lack of cleaning the bowel completely, food staying in the bowel for long periods of time, eating unhealthy food? Fast food(?) is not bowel fast, in fact it most likely slows our gut with the amount of hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, chemicals that are on our food, in our food, one thing leads to another.

We don’t like talking about bowel movements, but the way to be healthy is to take care of the second largest organ in our body and that is the bowel, first being our skin.

If you are over fifty and have not had a colonoscopy then plan one with your Doc. If you have a family history of it, your first one should be @ forty. If you have black tarry stools, then see your Doc again, if you have pain on moving your bowels you may have constipation, hemmoroids, or a blockage, all can be taken care of by seeing your Doc, eating healthy, 8-12 cups of fiber.

Go to Dr. Oz’s web site and read what he has to say about bowel movements, it is a very interesting show and it does bring many questions to the for front not excluding the back end (I know, bad joke)

OH OH DON”T FORGET WATER!!! We do know that water is very essential to the flow of our bowel movements, more water the less hard your stools and of course easy passage.

Ok! one last joke?  I’m doing it again..lol Move the Mass, Savor the Flavor, and Hug the Mug(you)

Fran 1800 class

If you missed this inspiring post over at our sister site GetFitNHbootcamp.com, head on over and read it now! – Dean

I’m Not Listening – Coach Nancy

Can you see the resemblance?!

That was today’s topic on FUN FRIDAY! Have you ever noticed how much we as humans resemble our pets? No?… take a look at the picture and I think you will change your mind   This is my Hogey boy, he’s a 130 pound Newfoundland, he’s 9, has the heart of a puppy and a body of an old man. Has unruly hair, drools a lot, doesn’t mind dirt or rain or snow, he’s not bothered by appearances, happy go-lucky, protector of family, knows he’s got a few extra pounds especially when he ‘gets up’ off the floor. Are you seeing a correlation here?! Still no?… sorry I can’t help you then

As you can see, the 9am ladies seem to bounce from one subject to the next. We don’t hold back in our workout or our wayward thoughts…

I think I may have a part in that (I’m just saying…) Because as I left Bootcamp today… it’s a GORGEOUS day! The sun is shining, warm on our faces, great kick start to our day. (and so it continues…the thoughts are just swirling in my tiny brain and out of my mouth…)

Warm weather.  Before you know it, its going to be time to shed the coats, sweaters, and sweatshirts. Are you ready? It’s time to get cracking. Time to reduce the muffin top, before we have to sit down and let it aalllll hang out. Yes, this is what a sunny warm day inspires me…  To Eat healthy,  to stay active… to Make it happen. Sunny days make me want to ’make it happen’… hope it does you too!

So Dean, when do we get to roll out the “SIZZLIN’ Summertime SlimDown”? I’m ready! and I would rather not have to wear a sweatshirt all summer long so the sooner the better!

Blog you later

gretchen

While I’m way up north getting ready to ski, a woman approaches me and asks where the Get Fit NH Bootcamp is (I was wearing my fleece jacket).  I tell her we are in Epsom NH. Lo and behold she also attends a fitness bootcamp. So now we start swapping ‘war stories’… she tells me, they are out there at 5am with their little head lamps on. I tell her we are both inside and out. She asked if we run around with weighted sand bags, and if we do ‘ladders’ — “oh yes we do ladders, and don’t you just love 1500?!” She thought they were the only bootcamp in NH. Surprise! There are about 13 programs in the state that call themselves “bootcamp”,  but in my eyes there is only ONE!

She mentioned that they all run the Rock n’ Race 5K in Concord in May. Huh?! Well… I tell her, we will see her and her team there. I told her to keep her eye out for the ’Bootcamp Bunch’.

By now my boys are rolling their eyes and tugging me out to the slopes. As we leave my oldest looks at me, shakes his head and says “Mom, you’ll talk to anyone”. He’s right… I do… I can’t help it.

So, now that there is another bootcamp entering the Rock n’ Race, we cannot be undone. We need to show the State of NH that we are the largest Bootcamp, and the most fun! Make sure you schedule it in your calendar.

(Editors Note: You can sign up by visiting http://giveto.concordhospital.org/netcommunity/getfitnhbootcamp )

As a side note: I think while the Road Crew have their New Englander Orange hats… that the 5 AM-ers need to adopt the head light idea. Just a thought!

Blog you later-

gretchen

I’d be sittin’ on the porch with the ‘old dogs’… you know the saying … “If you can’t run with the Big Dogs, stay on the porch”? Yup, that’s my mantra this school vacation week. My goal is to pretend to be a Big Dog and stay off that Porch! In my case though, the Big Dogs happen to be an 8 and 9 year old! All I can say is Thank goodness for Bootcamp!!

It’s school vacation week and all the boys wanted to do is go snowboarding. I cannot think of a better way to spend their vacation than in the great outdoors. So off we trek to Gunstock on Tuesday, before the snow hits, and after our Monday lunge madness at Bootcamp (legs feel… grrrr-great!). Loon Mtn on Thursday in the pouring rain and high winds, very wet, lots of fun. Today at Black Mountain, where it was raining at the base and snow at the summit, with a little sun in the mix. Today was a lot of back country ungroomed trails. ‘Stick a fork in me, I am done!’

I even jockeyed between snowboarding and skiing throughout the week to balance the muscle atrophy. It helped a little, but not much. Picture doing a full day of ‘get ups’ at bootcamp, and that’s me on the snowboard. I spend more time on my tushy, spitting snow out of my mouth, and hauling this big 5′11″ frame up off the mountainside than actually ’shredding, and riding the rails’. I’m so much better on skis, so I swap out… only to realize that barreling through ungroomed trails on 2 skis is way more challenging than on my snowboard on my rear… Skiing also makes the squats/lunges we do at Bootcamp look like a walk in the park (ouchy-a-wah) My legs screaming for mercy, and I have to catch up to the boys, no stopping, no whining… I’m a BIG DOG!

Did I mention… I’m up for ‘Mother of the Year’? After this week, I think I’ve nailed the title.

As I’m driving home, and my legs are cramping just moving my foot from the gas pedal to the break pedal (oh, this is so not good)… A thought pops into my head, ‘where would I be without Bootcamp? without all the stretching, the building of muscles, and fitness that Bootcamp provides me? I would be on the proverbial porch that’s where. An inactive Mom sitting on the sidelines watching my boys. That doesn’t sit well with me, my gut and whole being says NO WAY!’ So I’m out braving the elements, pounding down the mountainside, having fun with my boys. Thinking, life is good! (enjoying it now while they still think I’m cool and want to hang out with me – by the way, that better not change anytime soon)

I’m running with the Big Dogs now… maybe we’ll go to Ragged Mountain on Sunday… how apropos (get it… ‘ragged’- hee hee hee)! Just in time to see what is in store for us on Monday at Bootcamp!

Blog you later

gretchen

If you have never heard me go on and on about iceburg lettuce let me begin by telling you, you might as well eat a rock for all the nutritional value it has.

I don’t want to sound like a diet smasher, but if your gonna put something in your mouth to eat make it worth the effort. I have stated before that I really try to get 12 cups of veggies into my lifestyle everyday.

Why?

Fiber, and the vitamins and minerals from your veggies are not to be taken lightly, they are the very substance of your body chemistry. I could put into this blog all the nutritional values of each type of lettuce, but it is mind boggling.

When yo go shopping(Market Basket in Tilton has an excellent range of veggies including lettuce types) look at the different lettuces available to you, try them raw (the best way to eat them) or you can even saute’ them.

Oh my word, what a different flavor you get when you cook them, and guess what? A cup fills fast when you eat lettuce, and fiber abounds and when fiber abounds it fills you fast and cleans you out as well. (which by the way is another topic for us to discuss)

Some names to look for, Little Gems, Mache (my favorite,aka lambs lettuce), watercress, romaine, oak leaf, mizuna, meselum, Boston/butter. Don’t forget Spinach, beetgreens, kale, swiss chard, fennel, herbs, and edible flowers.

Happy Crunching!

Move the Mass, Savor the Flavor, Hug the Mug(you)….Fran 1800 class

Don’t you hate it when that happens? I pulled out a pair of pants I hadn’t worn in a few weeks and ‘hmmm’ they seem to be a little snug. Well, that’s not a good sign. So I made my day complete, I stepped on the scale. EEK! It wasn’t the dryer… it was my own doing causing my pants to be snuggy.

For the last 3 weeks, I have avoided the scale at Bootcamp- with the excuse, I don’t want confirmation that I had eaten poorly over the past month. I knew I hadn’t made any attempts at good choices. It just happened to be worse than I had predicted. I have been eating whatever I felt like, trust me – all bad stuff. But, my big downfall has been drinking soda. Not just any soda – oh no… I hit the Mt.Dew! I completely sank the tank… It had been a year since I stopped drinking soda. Why did I start drinking it again? stress? sleepless nights and needed to function during the day? because I like it? how about all of the above.

What I learned is as the scale goes up… the stress is still there and the pants fit tighter and tighter (lets just add to the stress level, shall we). The sleepless nights are still there but, now I can add the extreme sugar highs and sugar lows throughout the day. As far as functioning through the day, oh I did that, but can you say moody?  I mean more moody, up one minute down the next like a rollercoaster! As far as liking the taste… well… that’s tough one to overcome but the pros and cons speak for themselves. Caffeine, bad…sugar, bad… and there are no pros, really.

Time to pull myself up by the bootstraps. Jump back on the band wagon and make my pants fit again!

So, it’s a new day and time to move forward. Chalk it up as a learning experience. The soda goes away, as well as the bad food choices. I logged in with the Bootcamp scale and measured – go figure I lost 3/4″ on the waist, but I know exactly where that went Looking forward to a good week!

“To err is human…”

Blog you later

gretchen