How We Roll: Coach Cary Jo Hofstad

A harvest time of year day in the life of a Nana, food coach, real estate broker.

4:30am: wake up, have a glass of water with juice of ½ lemon while coffee brews. Check emails, relax and read for an hour with the coffee (little full fat coconut milk for cream and chocolate flavored stevia).

5:30am: let dogs out and feed them, feed horses and clean stalls

6:30am: figure out food for the day on GT site. No workout today as I am fighting a cold.

7:00am: make and eat breakfast which consists of sweet potatoes, eggs with salsa, melon, and chia seeds in 16oz of water, read while eating

7:30am: 2 phone calls to start the day rolling

8:00am: shower and start a load of laundry, work on my 32oz jug of water

8:45am: head to the p.o. box and head to the bank

10:00am: let horses into a field to graze, have my snack of 1 oz turkey breast and a banana

10:30am: take care of bookkeeping and add new real estate listing to my web site

10:50am: run out to garden for lettuce, tomatoes and kale for lunch

11:00am: 7 mo old grandson arrives for 4 hours of babysitting

11:15am: puree the last of the green beans from my garden that I steamed last night for baby, hope mommy has a bunch of containers to freeze the rest! Feed baby some beans, bottle and change diaper, again

12:00pm: Juggling – made a big salad to last a couple of days, made my lunch; 7.5 oz of turkey breast that I roasted, on a salad and homemade sauerkraut. At the same time made salsa with the rest of the fresh garden tomatoes. Started eating and it was fussy baby time, change diaper, more bottle. Then, laid down on my bed with Gunnar with some soft music and he fell asleep.

1:30pm: finally eating the lunch I made earlier and getting some new workout tunes on my ipod.

2:15pm to  3:30: phone calls, research, price reduction for seller, answer email from food coach client – while baby is sleeping

3:30pm: snack, apple and peanut butter, more turkey and some homemade turkey broth for the cold

4:00pm; making sauerkraut with cabbage, beets, carrots, onion and garlic. Takes a few weeks to ferment so getting it in the crock today.

5:00pm; feed horses, goats, dogs, start dinner which is grilled burger, cauliflower steamed from the garden and sweet potatoes. Hubby is out of town so minimal food prep and eat whenever I want.

7:00pm; check on horses, by 8pm I am in bed reading, gotta kick this cold!

The Coach Interview:

My biggest challenge is maintaining my goal weight after 2 years in maintenance. Realizing that going back into rotation is part of the process when I allow life to throw me off track or am traveling. Also, not slipping into “diet head” thinking when I am high calories due to illness or surgery.

What kept me going is feeling strong and healthy.  Feeling the benefits of the process in my horseback riding and daily activities. Going through a full knee replacement last November confirmed how important it is to stay fit and eat clean. Truly helped me to bounce back quickly from major surgery.  All around me were impressed.

Advice I would give to a newbie is to trust the process and your coach. This is the biggest hurdle I see in my new clients who did not witness first hand my personal transformation. The process is different from what many have “learned” about in the past regarding fat loss and fitness. Diet head is a battle for a long time.

How has this process changed me? I take on more physical challenges with horses, hiking, biking. I left a large real estate firm and started my own company out of my home with just me – major stress reduction there. I take much more time to just “be” than in the past. I see in my clients the struggle it is to not be “doing” something all the time and work with them to reorganize priorities and eliminate the not important activities. Very hard to do when we are so rewarded for busyness. I see the time spent with my grandchildren as the most important activity in my life. I have the awesome opportunity to have a major impact on these little lives, nothing else really measures up to that!

I am inspired by my small group workouts. Almost everyone is 60 years old and we have been together for years. I have watched those around me get so strong and the workouts are a real challenge, but we are capable of whatever Courtney throws at us!

Ben and his Nana