Hi
Happy Friday! Long email ahead, just wanted to give you a heads up!
I’ve been traveling for the last two months, and I didn’t gain one pound from my last two months of travel! I just got back from Alaska on Tuesday after 3 weeks, and prior to that I was in Michigan for almost 3 weeks. Talk about a
whirlwind!
In this email, I want to share my insights around travel, the anxiety that myself and many women have when they go on vacations.
As a matter of fact, I lost some weight and inches ( about 5 pounds and a few inches) – I know this because I started an experiment on myself awhile back. I weighed myself and measured myself the day
after returning from Alaska for this email. I don’t weigh myself all the time either, and when I do the number reading back doesn’t define my worth, or make me feel good or bad – it’s just a number. Basically, I wanted to see the trends in my weight.
Scale weight is just one measure of progress; if you can’t use it objectively then don’t weigh yourself. Pay attention to other measures of success, such as
strength, the mirror, or how your clothes fit. Anyways, I’ve been tracking my measurements and weight loosely to see what my sane and simple approach to nutrition and training was doing to my body without counting macros, just eating mindfully.
Earlier this year, if you have been following me for a while, I took up Olympic Weightlifting. During this time, I wanted to get stronger for Oly, so that meant lift the things and eat the
things.
So, with getting stronger and lifting heavier comes some weight gain and strength, which is what I was going for! Woo hoo, I got really strong and saw some new muscle growth. With some muscle growth comes some weight gain because I was in a caloric surplus.
So, needless to say, spring rolled around and I decided to cut down a bit, nothing drastic because I love
me and my body at all stages.
No, I didn’t go on a diet, I don’t diet – while I have in the past, I have tried several different ones. Yes, they worked for a time – starve yourself and yes, the weight will come off, but you’ll be sacrificing a whole lot. And ain’t nobody got time for that. Guess what? All the weight lost in my diets came back, plus some.
Here’s exactly
what I did this time around: - Covered the big Rocks – protein at every meal, several fruits and veggies throughout the day. Adjusted carb intake according to activity level, and fats filled the rest. Simply put, more carbs on training days and fewer fats and vice versa on non-training days. No counting whatsoever.
- I took a look at the whole picture of my current
nutrition
- Used my #AMEN Protocol!
- Didn’t ban any foods, I just cut back – specifically portion sizes.
- Moved more outside of normal training.
- Specifically, started walking more and hiking.
- I did not
do any steady state cardio or running.
So, I bet you’re wondering how the heck did I lose weight (scale) while vacationing. Although I am talking scale weight, it’s not the only factor you should be utilizing if you’re on a body change journey.
I’m using weight here, to share the fact that we (women) worry so much about weight in general, but also
when we travel or go vacation. Did you know the stress alone – worrying about gaining weight, will actually cause weight gain?
It’s not unusual to gain a bit of weight on vacation, which is totally fine because we are human and it’s called life. We are usually eating a few more treats and not working out as much – again totally fine. What’s not fine? Obsessing about working out, eating clean (no food is clean unless you wash your food
with dawn soap –lol), and analyzing every piece of food that passes your mouth.
Raise your hand if that’s how you feel when traveling. Well you’re not alone. I feel ya because that was me up to the last few years ago. This mindset has changed over the years to not beating myself up, or obsessing when and how I would get a workout in on
vacation.
In my last few emails over the course of May, while traveling, I’ve talked a bunch about nutrition. I touched a bit on workouts. Speaking of my travels in Alaska…. Out of 3 weeks there, I got in exactly 6 workouts, no more than 20-30 minutes, max 45 minutes. The other activities were hiking and walking. There’s so much beauty to see on foot in Alaska. Can you believe it - 6
workouts?
Post workout selfie from 1 of the 2 workouts I got in Kodiak, AK at the base gym! I was just fine with 6 workouts. Like I said, in the past I would have hunted down a gym to workout in by whatever means necessary – even sacrificing leisure time. No more though. Training is important to me, but not at the expense of it being hindrance, and that’s what it became in the past.
It’s okay to miss workouts or take time off from the gym!
As for nutrition, my husband and I split most of our meals when we at out. I enjoyed many treats with nothing off limits. We chose two items that we were both interested in, and then split them. We also were able to have home cooked meals part of the time. Mind you, we weren’t
doing most of the cooking, so it was definitely not “healthy”. In fact, a lot of it was cooked in butter, and we even had prime rib at least 5 times! I used general portion control guidelines – portions not bigger than my fist, and paid attention to what my stomach was telling me. Pretty much every meal, I applied the #AMEN Guide. I ate slowly, and let my body decide when I had enough – mindful eating. I tried to ensure that I didn’t eat until bursting, even if there was
a lot of food available.
I always did the best with what was available and I let things be good enough! No stress and I slept a lot. We all know what sleeping does to your physique.
So, to wrap things up – you don’t have to count calories to lose weight. Also, you can
afford to miss workouts, and still control your weight. In fact, due to the vacation schedule, work, and a couple injuries, my husband worked out half as much as I did – and maintained his weight! Don’t be afraid to live life and enjoy a vacation! You can eat off plan if you’re mindful, and you can skip a workout once in awhile – it won’t kill you!
My favorite reads of
the week:
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. Have a wonderful weekend!
P.S. If you made it to the end! Could you do me a favor, hit reply and let me know any challenges you are having surrounding nutrition or fitness. I am doing some research for
product development. In order to develop products that will help women live healthier lives, I need to know any challenges that they are having. Thank you in advance!
Yours in Health and Happiness, xo Candace
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