#37- Fighting the Quarantine Funk: Why I Hired a Health Coach & The Unexpected Payoffs
5,6,7,8…Let’s talk about losing weight (and getting healthier)!
Feeling a lot healthier six months after starting to work with Jacqueline.
This is a little bit of a unique episode because I’m sharing a personal journey I’ve taken to lose weight and get healthier over the last six months. So many commented and sent direct messages on social media asking what I did to lose weight, so I thought I’d share my experience in a podcast episode.
Let’s rewind for a sec…
When COVID and quarantine first started, I found myself going between two reactions involving food. On days where I had time on my hands and was unsure of what productive thing to do, I was eating all the things (and watching the news way too much). And then on the other days, I was working long hours with my team to make necessary changes to the business to meet the rapidly changing needs of our clients. Since we provide all the flyers and notices that apartment communities use for corresponding with residents, we found ourselves swamped with requests from property managers that were bombarded with change and uncertainty. On those days, I would go til five o'clock and realized I hadn't eaten.
On both days, I wasn’t feeling good. I would either feel overstuffed and restless OR have a pounding headache from too much caffeine and no food. That went on for a good 30 days.
And then I had a talk with myself. (I hope I’m not alone in talking to myself?)
I said to myself, "You know, Barbara, you don't know how long this is going to be, it's obviously more than just a few weeks. And since this time is going to pass anyway, it's up to you on how you'll come out on the other side."
And I knew that if I kept going down the path that was going, I was not going to feel good, six, eight months later.
And so I thought, "Okay. When else am I going to have this opportunity to put a little bit more of a focus on my health and on what I'm eating and on moving my body?"
So what did I do?
My health coach, Jacqueline Bouley.
I had been following this health coach on Instagram (@LiveWellwithJacqueline), and I just liked her style, I liked her personality. And so I thought, "What the heck, let me see what she offers." I'm all about having a coach for business. But I'd never had a health and nutrition coach.
So I reached out and I did a consult with her, and I realized that I just wanted to work with her. I thought it would be for just a couple of months at the most. Well, fast forward, I started this journey six months ago.
I’ve lost 10-ish pounds and 9+ inches, so clothes that were tight are no longer tight. But here’s the thing, the aesthetic wins with my weight were just a bonus.
I have learned so much from Jacqueline Bouley including the following:
How to identify triggers for overeating or eating foods that don’t make me feel great
Using the scale and measurements as data to learn from (not to beat myself up with)
Small changes that over time added up to huge gains (and losses 😉)
My experience was so good, and since I had so many people ask me about it, I decided to invite her to a podcast chat!
WATCH MY INTERVIEW WITH JACQUELINE BOULEY HERE
A preview of some of the highlights:
>>(12:38): Why you may not be losing weight even if you are really pushing yourself at the gym.
>> (19:51): Why finding the right coach for you is an integral part of the process.
>> (22:07): How to get comfortable with gathering data from your body.
>> (26:40): What real self-care means.
>> (33:01): The tiny habits Jacqueline set up for me.
>> (46:28): Creating a plan that can ebb and flow with your life.
A SUSTAINABLE METHOD FOR LOSING WEIGHT AND GETTING HEALTHY WITH JACQUELINE BOULEY:
Jacqueline offers just the right amount of support and challenge.
What has working with Jacqueline looked like for me?
Weekly check-ins via her client dashboard
Every Sunday I upload my measurements, weight, food for the week via MyFitnessPal sync (so quick), progress pics, and I answer a few questions regarding the week.
Jacqueline emails me back suggestions, feedback, or modified goals.
If I have any questions, I email her and she responds.
A Closer look at my PERSONAL journey with Jacqueline
These are the steps that Jacqueline outlined for me:
I started by getting comfortable tracking food. For me that meant learning to use a food scale and log meals in MyFitnessPal. It was also eyeopening (and depressing) to see how many calories were in my beloved bag of chips 🤯. But I have loved becoming aware. If I was going to make a food choice, I was making it with eyes wide open.
Next, Jacqueline set a calorie goal for me and a few behavior goals. For a few weeks I focused on those and on increasing protein at each meal. NOTE: I never felt deprived. This was not a super restrictive calorie goal. It was less than I was eating before, but it makes sense that you have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. But it wasn’t so restrictive that I was consumed with thinking about what I wasn’t eating.
A few weeks after I felt comfortable with those, I started actively trying to hit a protein goal (in addition to meeting a calorie goal). The reasoning behind that is to help preserve muscle while you lose weight. I love meat, so this wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
After I felt like I was able to reach my calorie and protein goal, she then started having me work to hit all three macro goals - protein, fats, and carbs. I hated this part and rebelled like crazy. Thus why I recommend having a coach that can give you a little tough love! This was the longest phase. The first few weeks were hard for me because tracking macros is like a puzzle. I had to pre-plan to make sure to hit my goals. But after a few weeks, I got the hang of it, and while I still was planning, it took less mental energy each day.
At about the five-month mark, I had lost the weight I wanted to lose and had really started researching a reverse diet. (Google it if you want to learn more!) Basically, it’s slowly adding back calories that allow you to stay at a maintenance weight. More calories…sign me up! Over the last month we have slowly started adding more calories.
Let’s talk exercise:
I will try to dig into this more on a future episode but I’ll give you a quick snapshot of my routine.
My biggest goal is to hit 10K steps a day, and if you’ve been following me a while, you know this isn’t a problem for me. I love to walk the country roads by my house with my husband and my Doberman, Jax.
Jacqueline really encouraged me to get into lifting heavier weights. I shoot for three days per week when I can squeeze it in. I have seen the biggest change in my energy and body composition with lifting weights. I follow this program here.
My husband built me a gym in an extra shipping container on our property, which is fitting since our house is a shipping container house too! It’s located a little bit away from our main house, so it feels like I’m actually going to the gym!
Sometimes my chickens try to sneak into my workout time!
PS: Husband always wears our Sprout Marketing shirts!
Can you tell how much I love to walk with these two?
The journey to focus on health has actually been surprisingly enjoyable. I highly recommend finding a health coach that can help keep you accountable. Looking back, I can see times where I might have thrown in the towel if I hadn’t had Jacqueline for that extra layer of accountability. If you can’t hire a health coach, I also think a friend (that can be tough) could be a great accountability partner.
What this process has taught me is that achieving any goal can feel really doable if you have support, break it down into tiny steps, and extend the timeline for reaching the goal. If I would have wanted to reach the same goal in three months, this would have been a totally different (and probably less enjoyable) process.
I know we are all different with different circumstances and goals. So your path will most certainly be different than mine. Whatever your health goal, I hope this has encouraged you to go after it!
Prefer to read the transcript? Click here.