Welcome to Week 3! I am happy to say I had a pretty good week compared to last week!
Last week started off rough with my sleep schedule being disrupted due to my decision to watch the Super Bowl till the end. Thankfully, my week was a bit more routine and I appreciated that. I also experimented with something new in my routine and I look forward to sharing that with you!
If you are new to this blog series and want to get caught up, click on the buttons below to read about the previous two weeks:
Here is the first portion of my data from Week 3:
Let’s work left to right!
I decided to add in my average weight. For those who tend to stress the number on the scale, note my fluctuations. I enjoyed my weekly pizza on Thursday instead of Friday and therefore, I had the slight fluctuation up on Friday morning. As expected, it was down the following day. Last week’s average was 172.06.
Unanticipated by me last week was that my menstrual cycle arrived earlier than expected. Not only was my daily energy influenced by starting off the week with a rough night of sleep, but I was battling that as well unknowingly. That was also a driving factor in last week’s fluctuation upwards. Let that be a lesson to the ladies to be patient during that time and not stress fluctuations up as it is only temporary. Patience through the process and this week my average weight was down compared to the previous week.
Next, let’s take a look at the macros. In collaboration with my coach, we adjusted down by 100 calories as of Wednesday. We went from 2170 daily to 2070. Protein and fat goals stayed the same and we dropped carbs by 25g. Historically, I tended to be consuming just beyond my fat goal daily, but wasn’t really eating to my carb goal. Therefore, this week I worked to achieve better balance there and was able to accomplish that everyday but one day, Friday. I had intended to eat a banana in the afternoon, but forgot it on the counter! The only thing I had on hand at the gym was a peanut butter chocolate protein bar. While I was able to stay within my goal cals for the day, I did exceed my fats because of the peanut butter bar. Ultimately, one day didn’t make or break me as I still averaged out to my goal.
Even with a mid-week adjustment to my new goal, I was still able to be within 5% of the calorie goal recommended by my coach. Along with consistency in macros overall, I was also able to consistently consume my fiber goal or greater (lots of veggies!). This has greatly helped me manage appetite and I have had little to no cravings beyond my planned meals each day.
Hydration has been coming along with no issue. I know what routine of water consumption throughout the day helps me accomplish that goal and I feel good about that.
Sleep, all 7 hours plus this week and I am pretty proud of that! My goal this week is to strive for 7 hours, 15 minutes per night.
Something interesting for this past week and I don’t believe it boils down to just sleeping well…but is a sign of everything all coming together, is I have not not felt the need to nap as often. I think maybe Friday evening when I got home I closed my eyes for 20-30 minutes but otherwise, I didn’t feel the need to the rest of the week. Previously, it wasn’t unusual for me to want to take a nap in the evening when I got home many nights before finishing my work for the evening.
This week, my workouts were done either within my designated window (12p-2p) each day, or very close to that.
Lastly, pretty proud of my time outside each day. 3 weeks ago, I was happy with 5 minutes plus…because previously it wasn’t a priority at all for me. I am pretty happy with accomplishing 15 minutes+ per day this week. I was efficient with my time and did 2 conference calls I had this week while walking outside. It is still not something I inherently really WANT to do, but I do make myself get out there and do it. I have made it a priority in my day to get outside. I strongly believe it has helped me with my sleep, my stress management, and my energy levels.
Up above, I mentioned moving my pizza meal to Thursday instead of Friday and I experimented with that for a couple reasons. For one, I always felt kind of rushed on Fridays to fit it in. It often meant I was doing a small part of my Friday workout on another day. I also didn’t like rushing to eat it in the small amount of time I had between lunch and afternoon coaching. Moving it to Thursday, my rest day, I was able to do “lunch and learn” and watch some webinars I wanted to check out all while not feeling rushed to eat my pizza. I feel like I enjoyed it more. Even more exciting for me, I discovered something I look forward to implementing into my routine. It means a lot to me to continuously learn and I have been strapped for time to do that. I am striving to use that Thursday mid-day for learning on topics of interest to me. In essence, two birds, one stone: I get to do some learning AND enjoy my pizza : )
In summary, my wins for the week:
- had a good workout week and made progress in the areas that are important to me
- slept well!
- feeling well-fueled and satisfied
- feeling better mentally and more productive in the time I sit down to work.
- discovered a new routine
Onward to a new week! Thank you for following along : )
Your friend in wellness and fitness,
Coach Candice