Thank you for following along with this blog series where Coach Candice shares her weekly reflections as she strives to focus on some metrics that are valuable in improving her overall health.
If you are curious about what has transpired in the previous three weeks…you are invited to check out the blog section of the website to feel caught up!
Without further ado…let’s discuss nutrition first.
Working left to right, you see Candice’s weight trend. Notice that each day there was a slow trickle downward. There was an expected increase on Friday morning secondary to Thursday’s pizza for lunch : )
Two days in a row, the weight was the same. Ended the week less than where she started. As you will see next week, her morning weight on Sunday, March 3rd was 167.2 pounds…down just over a pound and a half in a week. This week’s average weight of 168.3 is less than last week’s 170.6. The gradual downward trend continues.
According to her Inbody reading last week, Candice had seen a fluctuation up in body fat. Therefore, in collaboration with her coach, the emphasis in the upcoming week was to focus on consistency in macros to help ensure her targets were appropriate. Through planning and preparation, she was able to accomplish just that!
Take note that not everyday was absolutely perfect. She did go over on carbs on Wednesday due to a breakfast choice at her networking meeting. However, one “off” day does not mean the whole week is lost. It’s not even entirely an “off” moment either as it was Candice’s choice to have pancakes and she enjoyed them. When you plan and adjust within your day, there is almost no reason that you can’t still enjoy what you are eating as you work towards your goals.
The focus on fiber (the final column on the right) has also helped with feelings of fullness and periods of feeling like she was hungry have been very minimal, if even non-existent. Increased servings of veggies makes a difference!
Next, let’s take a look at other areas of her daily lifestyle.
Hydration has been fairly consistent. Again, one slightly “off” day didn’t make or break the week and the average was still above the target of 100 ounces.
Last week, Candice mentioned a goal was to strive for 7 hours and 15 minutes each night and was able to accomplish that 5 out of 7 nights per week. Pretty pumped about getting closer to that 8 hour mark!
Wakeup times are fairly consistent. Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays are some of the days where she can sleep “later” and she strives to take advantage of that. Bedtimes are generally in that 9 o’clock hour. The main exception is Saturday night where she usually does a per diem shift at a nursing home working as a RN. It is her personal goal to never sign up for a shift unless she can get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep afterwards. She is usually to bed sooner than that after her shift, but without going into a lot of detail…she needed a shower after work before going to bed!
Lastly, her goal of increasing her outside time. This past week had some beautiful days which supported getting outside more. Considering it was something she never focused on most recently, she is proud of this past week. She is more often in the double-digit time frame of being outside. As a result, she is not entirely disappointed that this past week had one day where it was just 5 minutes. 5 minutes is better than nothing!
Some takeaways from this past week:
- One day will not ruin you. Even with a higher day of carbs, one day under 100 ounces of water, or one 5-minute day of walking…she was still able to accomplish her goals. To many people believe that “messing up” one day will derail all of your progress. In reality…it’s when those “off” days continue to stack up that you fall short of your goals.
- Be patient through scale fluctuations. Let it also be known that the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. According to the Inbody scale, Candice has lost 3.5 pounds of body fat, for a 1.4% body fat loss. This is one of the main goals she is after. Not all “weight loss” is created equal and she is not looking to lose weight for the sake of losing weight. As she strives to enhance her muscle mass, she wants to see her body fat mass decrease as well. By ensuring she fuels appropriately, it is more likely that muscle mass will be preserved or increased as body fat decreases.
- All of the interventions making a difference are FREE. It costs you nothing to make better choices in how you fuel yourself (you might actually find it to be cheaper actually to eat more minimally processed foods), to work on hydrating more, sleeping more/better, and get outside a little more. If someone’s solution for improving your life is tied to a product, it’s probably crap.
In conclusion, the overall experience has really helped Candice feel better in her day-to-day. Her body and mind are feeling tremendously better.
Onward to Week 5!