Nic Decaire, Special to the News Journal

Let me guess – you woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and decided you need to lose 5 pounds. Maybe you couldn’t find anything to wear and your go-to “fat pants” didn’t feel comfortable.

So you decided this was the day to make a change.

At breakfast, you ate a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of fruit. Lunch came around and you picked a salad. Dinner was simple: a protein and vegetable. You skipped any carbs because you heard carbs make you fat.

The next morning, you were 2 pounds lighter. You felt good.

Right?

Wrong! How many times have you done this to yourself?

This is a vicious cycle most people play. They focus too much on the number on the scale, instead of the way they feel and look. This eventually leads to frustration and failure to reach your goals.

I’ve worked with hundreds of women on fitness and weight management over the years. I almost always get the same answer when I ask them their primary fitness goal. Ninety-nine percent of the time it is a number.

We are always trying to beat the scale. We want to weigh the same as we when we were in high school. Or when we got married. Or before we had a baby.

Whatever the time in your life, we are too focused on a number.

For many of us, the number we see on the scale dictates our mood for the day. If it’s lower than we expected, we are ecstatic and everyone around us is going to have a great day. But if it’s higher, watch out for Scalezilla.

There is so much more to health and fitness than that number. Honestly, what does 120 pounds look like?

Line up five women who weigh 120 pounds and each of them will have a different body shape. Some will hold weight in their lower body, some in their upper body. You can never compare yourself to someone else.

When people find out I am in the fitness industry, they want the skinny on losing those last 5 pounds. My advice: Throw out the scale. They look at me like I am crazy.

Think about it, though. How often does your weight fluctuate? Do you drink a lot of water? Did you eat late at night? Is there a lot of sodium in your diet? Jumping on a scale every morning will do nothing but drive you crazy.

So how do you know if you are making progress? I use the jeans test because it gives an accurate reading. You either fit in them or you pour out of them.

We all have a favorite pair of jeans that just fit a little too snug. But you keep them around just in case you drop that 5 pounds.

Take them out of your closet and hang them up somewhere you can see them every day.

Try these jeans on every Monday morning, first thing. Take a selfie while facing a full-length mirror. Pay attention if the jeans feel tight in certain areas. Are you pouring out the top? Can you button them?

I do this test on a Monday because after a long weekend of eating and drinking you probably feel and look your worst. Hopefully by the second or third week, you start making better decisions about your weekend. By taking a picture you can look week-by-week and see your progress.

The more you can get away from numbers and scales, the better your results will be. You will start listening to your body and the way it feels with certain foods and exercise. Once you start listening to it, the possibilities are endless.

If you are not ready to throw out the scale, maybe just put it in the closet.

But one thing is for sure – the jeans don’t lie.

Nic DeCaire, owner of Fusion Fitness Center in Newark, has been training clients for more than a decade.

Source: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/health/2014/11/03/jeans-test-helps-focus-feel-look/18418821/

Nic DeCaire, contributing columnist | Club Industry

Every time you turn on the news, it seems another credit card company’s security system has been breached. Just last year, my American Express and Visa card numbers were stolen in the same week. I’m not sure what someone did with all the iTunes, Best Buy stuff and gas that was purchased, but it’s a reminder that on any given day, your credit card information may be up for grabs. So how does this relate to fitness? Every time companies and cards are compromised, you could be …

Source: http://clubindustry.com/retention/three-ways-avoid-cancellation-newly-woken-sleeping-giants

By Nic DeCaire

Going out to lunch has become a norm instead of a luxury these days.

This week alone, I had three business meetings that required me to eat lunch out. While this is becoming more common for me, sometimes it makes it difficult to make healthy eating choices.

Forbes magazine published an article that estimated the average America goes out to lunch twice a week. That is more than 100 times a year.

With the typical American gaining 3 to 4 pounds every four years, do you think this could be linked to the amount of times we eat out? Absolutely.

For the most part, I believe people are health conscious, or at least want to be. They try to make the right choices when it comes to food, but it can be challenging. Foods we think would be healthy actually can be the opposite. I even get bamboozled sometimes.

Recently, I had been frequenting a restaurant because I really enjoyed a salad on the menu. It was filled with healthy items like lettuce, cranberries, apples, pecans and chicken.

But when I went online to look at the nutrition label for this salad, my jaw hit the floor. It had more than 1000 calories and 77 grams of fat. I felt betrayed. It was the sneaky blue cheese, sugar-roasted pecans and dressing that turned this healthy salad into a waistline nightmare.

I have learned when ordering salads to take certain items off. But how many people actually do this? Let’s be for real – the cheese, croutons, nuts and dressing make it taste so good. Why would anyone want to take off the stuff that makes the “healthy” salad taste good?

There is hope, though. It is possible to make a salad healthy and enjoyable. You are not doomed to eating plain lettuce with oil and vinegar.

Here are my four tricks to making your salad more waistline friendly:

1. Ask for salsa. Most dressings range from 100 to 300 calories for just 2 ounces. Most restaurants are probably going to give you more than that to put on your salad. But salsa only has about 20 calories for 2 ounces. Use salsa instead to keep it flavorful with minimum calories.

2. Skip the bread. Restaurants like to put a piece of garlic bread or croutons in your salad. They are usually cooked in butter or oil and rarely made from whole wheat. The bread or croutons could add 200 to 400 calories to your meal. Place the bread on your bread plate and push it aside.

3. Add lean protein. Lean protein, like chicken or fish, will make you feel more satisfied and also add quality protein to your diet. For more flavor, ask if they can blacken it.

4. Watch the cheese. Almost everything today has cheese on it. It has become a staple of the American diet. Although cheese does have some good qualities, you have to be careful about the amount you consume. Blue cheese, for example, has almost 200 calories and 11 grams of saturated fat for only 2 ounces.

Before you order a salad at your next lunch outing, make sure to take a good look at all the ingredients in it.

While you think it might be the healthier choice on the menu, you might be better off ordering a burger.

Stay healthy, Newark.

Nic DeCaire is the owner of Fusion Fitness Center on Main Street.

Source: http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/article_11fe8d8f-80a6-5c42-8ae7-968892cdc89a.html

Nic DeCaire, contributing columnist | Club Industry

It’s the economy. My employees do not care. A new competitor opened down the street. I watched celebrity chef Robert Irvine’s head nearly explode as he listened to three brothers explain why their family-owned restaurant was failing after many years of success. They had many excuses for why they could not be successful. They blamed everyone except the ones who were responsible: themselves. As a business owner/entrepreneur, I love watching shows such as the Food Network’s …

Read Full Article: http://clubindustry.com/clubs/reasons-failing-fitness-business-often-are-just-excuses

By Karie Simmons ksimmons@newarkpostonline.com

Mayor Polly Sierer announced a new social media campaign over the weekend to get Newarkers moving and making healthy choices.

The 21-day Healthy Newark Initiative kicked off at Saturday’s community cleanup as a joint effort between Sierer, Fusion Fitness Center, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Downtown Newark Partnership.

The initiative encourages people to follow @HealthyNewarkDE on Twitter for daily fitness and lifestyle tips and recipes.

Each day, a prize will be given out at random to a person who takes a picture of himself or herself doing a fitness activity or enjoying a healthy dining option and posts it to social media using the hashtag #HealthyNewarkDE. Prizes will also be handed out on Newark’s trails.

Participants are encouraged to post a photo or tag themselves at the parks, trails or any of the participating establishments, which include Caffe Gelato, Courtyard Cafe at Courtyard Marriott UD, Home Grown Cafe, Iron Hill Brewery, Catherine Rooney’s, Mizu Sushi and the Newark Senior Center.

Sierer said the Healthy Newark Initiative was inspired by the state’s initiative unveiled at Fusion Fitness in January called “31 Days to a Healthier You.”

“We thought, ‘Wow, we could do this in Newark,’” she said.

Sierer said she hopes the idea not only motivates people to make healthier choices, but also reminds people of all the parks, trails and other recreational amenities the city has to offer.

“We need to get people outdoors and out from behind their computer screens and TV screens,” Sierer said.

Fusion Fitness owner Nic DeCaire said Newark has a handful of events that celebrate the city’s great food, but was lacking something that promoted health and fitness.

“We have the parks, we have the restaurants, we have the stuff to offer people a healthier lifestyle,” he said. “This just shows people we actually care about the city and the people who live here.”

Mike Shivock, manager at Home Grown Cafe, said the restaurant is excited to join the initiative to promote healthy lifestyles and healthy eating.

“We always have,” he said. “Home Grown was built upon this.”

Home Grown offers a wide variety of healthy menu options that are gluten-free, vegetarian and/or vegan, and Shivock said customers often come in with a specific diet that chefs are happy to cater to.

“They can almost have anything they want, however they want,” he said. “We just want to keep our customers happy and keep our customers healthy for as long as possible because we want to see them for awhile.”

Shivock said one of the healthiest items offered at the Main Street restaurant is the “chef’s breakfast” off the brunch menu and includes one egg cooked any style, half an avocado, a cup of fresh fruit, multi-grain toast and house-made ricotta cheese.

The 21-day Healthy Newark challenge ends at the Nefosky Police Memorial 5K Fun Walk and Run at the Newark Reservoir on April 11, and those who made at least five posts using the hashtag will be eligible to win the grand prize.

DeCaire said the intention is to make this year’s initiative just the kick off and hopes it turns into an annual event.

Source: http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/article_df757f1b-3238-5bbc-9587-d6a635359898.html