Coaches Struggle Too

As coaches, we have all the tools in our tool box to be healthy and stay fit. Weight management and healthy choices should come naturally to us, right? No, not really. We struggle with life’s up and downs, too, even if we know what we “should” and “shouldn’t” be doing.

The pandemic has thrown everyone for a loop, even Clare and me. We are home more and even though we are working out more than ever, we are also in the spotlight and in range of the pantry more than we ever have been. The harder we workout, the more classes we teach, the more efficient our bodies become at using food for energy. That sounds great, but the downside is, that means we need less food and well — that sourdough starter that’s allowed multiple loaves to be made keeps calling to us.

Being on the video/zoom screen and building our online business has been a ton of fun but it has also brought out some of our body insecurities. We see things in ourselves that have driven us to take a second look at whether or not we are truly practicing what we preach — are we really being as healthy as we could be? Are we working our middle-aged bodies in the most efficient way?

We decided to put our heads and knowledge together and challenge each other to decrease body fat, adjust our body composition and work with our bodies to boost metabolism. It’s not all about weight loss, but more getting and staying on track. We know that you might struggle with this too, so we thought we’d share our journey. We will continue to update the blog every 3 weeks with our progress and new goals. If you’d like to join in on the fun, send us an email and tell us your goals!

Coach Stacey: While I feel stronger than ever and have been teaching/training more this year, I have let my own fitness fall off. I would like to get back to regular strength training and running and not skip any of my own workouts.
Main Goals: 1.) Body recomposition through a reduction in overall body fat and an increase muscle tone. 2.) Run more often, getting at least 4 miles 3x per week 3.) Dedicate 3 days a week to personal strength training using mostly the kettlebell (my favorite tool!)
How I’ll Achieve These Goals: 1.)Nutrition: Eating fruits and vegetables comes easily to me as I am a vegetarian. I struggle with protein intake and eating too many starchy carbs. Over the next three weeks, I will concentrate on adding more protein to each meal and avoiding the starchy carbs, filling the remainder of the plate with leafy greens and non-starchy vegetables. This, in addition to strength training, will help with body recomposition and increase in muscle tone. 2.) I will schedule my runs on the calendar for Sunday, Monday and Thursday, making sure to leave my shoes near the treadmill or the door, weather depending. 3.)I love the kettlebell, so this one is fairly easy. With Clare’s help, I will develop a new kettlebell routine that works the entire body and challenges my muscles in new ways. I will schedule these workouts for after my runs and if I can add an extra day in, I will!

Coach Clare: In the past few years I have used one or two triathlon competitions to motivate myself to be in the best physical shape possible. Besides several swimming, biking, and running workouts per week, that included at least two serious weight lifting workouts in the gym along with two sessions of yoga and special attention to my diet. Although I put lots of miles on my bike in 2020, my strength workouts got pared down to "whenever I feel like it" at home, and my eating habits became "I'll eat that if I feel like it." While I've only gained 2-3 pounds, this has resulted in a change in body composition with more belly fat that I know increases health risks.
Main Goals: 1) Reduce body fat and build back real strength. 2) Perform at least two full body strength workouts with loads significant enough to build muscle. 3) Find ways to keep my cardiovascular fitness throughout the snowy winter weather.
How I'll Achieve These Goals: 1) Nutrition: I have always "watched" what I ate most days, eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats while limiting processed foods, added sugar, and refined starches. However, during the pandemic I've often indulged in too much of certain foods - hello you extra crunchy Virginia peanuts from Costco! - sometimes reducing my appetite for the very foods I should be eating more of. After consulting with Stacey, I took a look at my daily intake of all nutrients and realized I need to eat fruits and vegetables with EVERY meal to help fill me up. Over the next several weeks I will log my daily meals with an effort to ensure I'm getting an adequate supply of each nutrient. 2) I also have been indulging in more moments of "emotional eating" since the pandemic started. Although I still meet with several clients on Zoom, my life has been drastically altered by working from home more and missing the social contact that being in the gym provided. My very busy schedule required that I packed my meals up in advance to bring to work, eliminating the opportunity for random indulgences. When I'm not fully engaged at home training clients or involved in a project I've overindulged in things like dark chocolate (perfectly fine in limited quantities) out of boredom or mild frustration. I am still thinking about how I can best address this dilemma. A good start might be for me to journal my feelings when I find myself reaching for treats to sooth my mood. After I get a handle on when and why that behavior is reoccuring, I can come up with some strategies to combat it. Changing this behavior will help me greatly in reducing body fat. 3) I will schedule my strength training workouts weekly and purchase heavier home equipment if necessary. The pandemic has mostly been an excuse for my lackadaisical weight workouts. I miss greatly being in the gym with access to all sorts of equipment and the purpose it provides. At home, I can easily get distracted by other tasks that need to get done, and I often don't feel like I challenged my muscles hard enough to see growth. First order of business here is to just do the two workouts per week consistently! 4) All spring, summer, and fall during the pandemic I have been the "cardio queen" - swimming, biking and running with no particular goal in sight except that it has kept me "sane" during these weird times. I have always loved how a good cardio session can reduce stress, and I love being outdoors. Until the recent snow fall, I have managed to get on my bike two to three times a week despite the cold weather. But now that the roads are unsafe for that, I realize I need to have some alternate ideas in my pocket. In the past that meant a spin session at the gym or a cardio dance class. Now I might very well need to invest in an indoor trainer for my bike, or at least some cardio snow shoveling when a run is out of the question! I could also try more hiking and walking which is much safer on slippery surfaces. Either way, I'm committed to at least five cardio workouts per week.

Stick with us as we continue to update our journey throughout the next few weeks! Comment below with your own journey.