Life Updates with Holly
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Holly T. Baxter, A.P.D.
Online Nutrition & Physique Coach
World Champion Natural Fitness & Figure Model
Personal Fitness & Nutrition Trainer
APD: Accredited Practicing Dietitian
M.S. Dietetics
B.S. Food Science & Nutrition
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Hey guys welcome back to my channel it Has been a little while since I've done Any kind of update so I thought I'm back In Tampa today and was planning on Catching up with my videographer I had Live scheduled I got to meet with a few People I thought what better opportunity Than to sit down and actually just give You some updates and talk about a few Things that have been going on and then Kind of how I'm going with training and Tracking and all of that good stuff and Just before I left I put up on my Instagram I guess a question box asking You guys what you wanted to hear about I Guess from the last eight to 12 weeks or So so the first thing I think that kind Of came up was my nutrition and my Training how have I been managing that With all of the moving and honestly it's Been really challenging and one of the Things that I'm super grateful for are I Guess the past four years of uh I guess Therapy that I've had because it has Instilled the art of or the ability to Manage my stress and to sit with Discomfort and I think one of the things That has been really challenging when I Was growing up was that I probably was Put in positions where I was going to do Well at something which is great so you Have a lot of opportunities to excel but I think I was kind of protected in many Ways from you know some of the the harsh
Realities of life and I've always said This I think since I've you know moved Around like the more like surprised I am At the types of people that exist and What I mean by that is I think when I Was young I was very protected I lived In a small town I believe when I lived In Launceston Tasmania the population Was like 70 000 maybe a little bit above That so really small everybody knew Everybody and I don't know that I ever Really encountered anybody that were Really really like nasty or like not Having good intentions or that would do The wrong thing Um so as I've gotten older obviously you Get exposed to more and more people And I guess that that exposure to I'm Not going to say toxic people but just People with a lot of dysfunctional Thoughts and behaviors and just you know They've been stuck in a way for so long That it's really hard for them to kind Of step back and see the bigger picture And how you know their actions and Reactions are impacting others so I've Definitely been privy to some of that And it's been really tough to kind of Manage but I think through all of the Therapy it's really given me the skills To sit in really difficult situations And kind of have faith that at some Point or another you're going to come Out the other side and you will prevail
Essentially so I think the last 12 weeks I have Routinely been up until about I'm going To say two o'clock would be like my Average bedtime which is crazy and my Average wait time my alarm every morning Goes off at 7am and there have been a Couple of mornings where I've had to get Up you know at six because I've got an Extra thing squeezed in that day so if I Want to get any kind of activity in you Know that's kind of that's what I'm Working with so like four or five hours Sleep for about three months Um so I kind of been running on fumes to Be honest but I think one of the things That has kind of kept me going is that I Do finally feel like I'm in a position Where I have the autonomy to be me and I Think you know starting the female Coaching team has been such an awesome And rewarding Experience and to finally feel like I'm In a culture a work culture where Everybody is on you know the same Wavelength and it's just been a really Really wonderful I guess couple of weeks From a business standpoint knowing that You know I wake up in the morning maybe I'm tired maybe I didn't get a really Good night's sleep maybe I haven't Trained or eaten very well and we'll Talk about that in a minute but I think You know when you're waking up with a
Purpose and you really feel committed to You know that that vision And that you're fulfilling your destiny It really just makes it all that much Better so you know I am somebody that Kind of works with clients on you know Really feeling like there's meaning in Your life and a lot of the time I've Found that people are in jobs that They're unhappy with they're you know in Unhappy or you know unfavorable types of Relationships and I don't just mean Romantically I mean like friendships as Well that you know they're spending time With people that just aren't serving Them so you know I think it's really Important for you guys thing to Recognize that hey you know your life Might be going a certain way and it's Serving you fine but is there anything That you can like stop and reflect on And you know remove that might not be Necessarily like the best thing for you So Um that's kind of the the logic that I've been operating off like I know that I'm doing the right thing this is Serving my purpose and uh the stress has Become a little bit more manageable But training in nutrition that has been So far from even average it's not funny Um there were two weeks where I recall I Think I got one grocery order and for Like three days straight I either had
The choice of using like a few hours to Get caught up on some emails Um or I don't know some other tasks That's been on my list of to-do's for a While and uh or I could get some more Groceries and eat something nutritious And of course I was like no I need to Get this like organized so I'm pretty sure I ate for two days or Three days straight just Greek yogurt And powdered mixins and then I had like A jar of what's it called Biscoff Spread So I'm pretty sure that and like a Cookie dough so literally for like three Meals oh I ran like protein shake so Like the ones that I use in my coffee so As far as like eating it like nutritious Foods Wholesome foods that I know are Good for my body Um it definitely hasn't been my my best Few weeks and I think based on like how I perceive my body composition it's Definitely oscillated quite a bit more Than I'm used to and I think you know That would have previously really Bothered me but again going through so Much therapy and really being proactive About Um you know how I think of myself like What are the beliefs that I hold of me Um and that's really changed over the Years I've been so intentional about you Know knowing that I am enough you know Outside of my physical appearance
Knowing that I'm worthy you know Regardless of what other people might Say knowing that I'm a good person Regardless of you know things that you Might hear other people say about you or You know I leave it on social media like My job and my business is on this Platform so there are always going to be People that you know are criticizing you Or and that you know for many reasons it Can be jealousy it might be just I don't Know insert whatever but Um I think I'm really grateful that I've Been so intentional about shifting you Know in my my Outlook because Um going back just a couple of years Particularly when I was kind of in the Peak of my competing Um Have I not been able to train Consistently that would have sent me off The cliff and because I didn't have any Other emotional coping skills outside of Turning to food for comfort and let's be Honest that is a very easily accessible Um you know way to seek out you know Immediate gratification and immediate Feeling you know feelings of goodness Like you know you enjoy food it's Pleasurable you enjoy it Um so it makes sense why so many people Struggle with that But I think The way that I've mitigated a lot of the
Negative thoughts and some of that Spiraling negativity which is which is Not an uncommon thing Um is to just develop a greater sense of Compassion and care and I think I really Didn't like who I was you know years ago I didn't care about me I thought that You know it was only The Superficial Things that made me who I was and I Think once I kind of broke that down and Peeled back the onion layers I just started to have more respect for Me as a person regardless of anything Else that I did I accomplished how I Looked and that compassion has enabled Me to you know Give myself some Grace on days where I Am really busy working Um or I don't have the energy to go to The gym like I've been so many times Over the last few weeks that I know I Should have gone to the gym and I've Just had to sit there and have that kind Of hard conversation with myself and go Okay What are the pros of me doing this what Are the Cottons and if I come out Neutral I'm like okay well how do I feel Right now what is my body telling me and I've had to slow down and really like Stop and think about that like my bring Myself to my like awareness and a lot of The times I've opted for just rest like Go to bed or instead of finishing off my
Daily step Target like when I'm in Qantas prep I'd go and walk and get my Steps done now like I'm not in Qantas Prep I'm a normal person trying to live A normal lifestyle that's somewhat Healthy and the right thing for me to do Right now is to listen to that you know What my body's telling me and my Intuition and it was just sit down and Rest or you'll feel better if you unpack That box that's still sitting in your Bedroom since you've been moved in so Training has not been good diet has not Been good Um but I also know it's a very temporary Like transitional period my house is all Unpacked everything is done Um so yeah now I really just kind of get To focus on business and I'm starting to Think about the possibility of competing So I was just going through the Questions that you guys were asking and Somebody said what's on the cards are You still planning on competing this Year obviously there's been a lot of Change is that still a priority for you And It is it's a priority not because I know I need to do it for me I'm I want to stay in this industry and Stay relevant in the bodybuilding scene Because I feel like there are not enough Women Or men for that matter that are
Advocating health and like looking at it From a holistic standpoint I know I got Into the sport for the wrong reasons and It was purely superficial purely for Acceptance purely for the aesthetic and My physical appearance and I can now say That through lots of therapy as I've Said so many times There is an alternative route to feeling Um acceptable to feeling you know like You're enough and that you're worthy um Regardless of how you are looking on the Exterior so I would really like to Continue to be a face that shows up in These competitions just to show you know Women that you know I've done this and I've been where some of you are right Now which is sole focused as being you Know aesthetic and looking a certain way To feel like you're validated and and It's like that's your identity But there's this other way that you can You know still enjoy it for the Experience and still love yourself you Know regardless of that So I have lots of motivations to compete And I'm also super competitive so I Haven't won World Championships with This Federation yet so this will be my Sixth year coming back to the wbff as a Fitness Diva so World Championships is The first week of August this year so I'm I've been thinking about what kind Of prep I want to do
I've done as short as eight weeks which Was my last World Championships that was Probably more of an anomaly because I Was I knew I was going to come in a Little bit softer Had I tried to do an eight-week prep With like a higher better conditioning Um that wouldn't have happened it would Have been too aggressive and I would Have sacrificed too many other things Including my mental health and probably My physical health too So I think I'll probably do like a 14 Week prep Um where I've got maybe two or three Intermittent diet breaks you know get Scattered throughout and I'll look at my Calendar and see what other speaking Engagements I've got if there's any Travel or anything coming up And I'll probably plan some periods at Maintenance throughout that 14 week Period so there'll probably be 11 weeks Of dieting like being in an intentional Calorie deficit and then I'll put three Weeks taking it up to 14 in total at you Know maintenance So that's my my plan so far So it will be May 1st is kind of around The time frame that I would like to Start my prep and I do not want to have To go too aggressive with my fat loss so Just to give you a rough idea I don't Want to have to Target a weekly rate of
Weight loss of more than .006 of my body Weight So if I work out if I start at 65 Kilograms for example that means that Every week I'm trying to Target 0.39 We'll round that up to 0.4 of a kilogram Of weight loss so if I've got 11 of Those weeks we'll multiply that with 11 That means that I'm going to be losing About 4.3 kilograms so my stage weight Should be about 60.7 Now As I'm getting closer to the stage day Or show day if I don't think that I'm Lean enough and it's probably going to Be like the last four weeks I may Increase that Target weekly rate of Weight loss and it might be a little bit More aggressive so it could be .00 let's Say eight times uh 65 so that means I'd Be looking at losing about half a kilo Maybe for the last four weeks and I'll Dip just under 60 kilograms and that's Kind of assuming that I haven't made Major changes in my body composition Since my last show I have been working on my shoulders so I Might weigh in a little bit heavier Because I've added some muscle and same With my glutes you guys have probably Followed me along on my glutes and Shoulders program on the workout Builder So we'll see so that's the plan for Competition
And that means that I want to maintain My weight around 65 kilos and right now I've got no idea what I weigh because I Haven't been on a scale I can't tell you When I've been too busy to get on the Scale so Um That's my plan for for competing Um I think I want to wrap up I guess my My Life Update with uh I guess some stuff On carbon because I hadn't tracked Forever and I think just in the last few Weeks during the move especially where I'm driving like four hours From Tampa to Fort Lauderdale and I've Had to do that multiple times for Various trips for different signings and Just a whole host of stuff it's meant That like routinely I've lost about a Day due to travel and I don't have a day To give like I'm just really busy so Um and also that's kind of cutting into The time that I would usually you know Prepare meals and do some batch cooking And just be organized so that my week Runs smoothly and that I've got you know Nutritious wholesome food choices Available and I just mentioned like I Didn't have that last week and the week Before so uh I've actually gotten back Onto tracking just this week so I'm Going to do a screen recording for you Here and I'll show you a little bit
About where I'm at with that Okay so I'm currently in the app if we Go back over to the diary view you can See I've already started putting a few Things in uh today we'll scroll across Oh no I haven't I lied that was Yesterday but anyways I've got to do That for today if we go to me and then We can go to calories you can see there For the last few days I have done a much Better job at tracking so this was me Identifying okay I think I've probably Gotten a little bit past where I know I Feel comfortable or where I feel good And my habits have definitely strayed a Little bit too far outside you know What's going to keep me healthy and That's not just like from how I look but Like how I feel so this was kind of one Of my forms or methods of staying Accountable and self-monitoring which we Know if we look at all the research the People that are most successful at Long-term weight maintenance are the People that self monitor so I've jumped Back into tracking and you can see my Average weekly intake this week since Last Wednesday was 15 17 but I've had Quite a flux of calories which you can See and that's okay we've talked about Calorie cycling before but my highest Day was 1971. I've had a 1797 and then My lowest day here was 11.75 and that is A check-in day when I'm working with
Clients and I know I was stuck on that Chair for many many hours and then by The time you know I actually remembered To eat it was already dinner time so I Just had a normal sized meal put myself To bed and I wasn't super hungry I think That's because I've been eating a Substantial amount of calories and I Haven't been exercising So we can see my averages there and That's uh it rolls on so as I scroll Across the page you can see that it will Show you what that seven day average Looks like so for the last seven days I'm actually at 14 30 and that's because I'm intentionally going about eating in A very small deficit for me so based on The targets that I'm working towards Right now which is 14 24. that's setting me to lose about 0.3 Of a kilogram per week so my maintenance Calories are probably sitting at about 1850 to 1900 based on my current levels Of very much inactivity sorry Um let's go and take a look at my Protein So you can see here it's been a little Bit hit and miss but for the most part I Mean this looks pretty steady the Average is about 132 and that's about 10 To 20 grams less than what I used to eat At and I think from all the years of Competing where you know protein has Needed to be the priority or as calories
Get lower and lower and lower and I'm Needing to kind of get rid of the final Last little bits of body fat I tend to Gravitate more towards those high Protein foods in efforts to make sure I Don't over consume fats or carbohydrates And part of that decision is around I Guess the thermogenic effect of food and Also being that lean I'm trying to Preserve my lean body mass and the last Thing that you want when you're in a Deficit is to be under eating protein And then what happens when there isn't Any other energy available coming into You your body looks to your own you know Amino acid stores to break those down And of course it goes to those lean Tissues for that energy and that's not a Great thing when you're trying to Maintain a really muscular physique so I Tend to eat a little bit more so I have Very intentionally made some big changes To how I eat in my off season Part of that is when I'm you know not Competing I'm usually eating in more of A calorie Surplus which I gained some Body fat which is fine so I've got extra You know energy available to you know Make some gains if I want to And it also frees up my food choices for Foods that I don't normally eat when I'm Competing or certainly not in the same Quantities I still try to enjoy a wide Variety of foods when I am competing but
I cannot just have the abundance or the Quantity that I would want to if I Wasn't you know competing obviously There's a significant difference in my Daily calorie intake so my protein is Around 130 and it'll probably end up at Around 150 as I enter into that Fat loss phase and as calories are Getting a little bit lower Carbs and fats I'm sure they're going to Be like this yep of course right now It's a beautiful Trend down oh that's Lovely so it started the week at 206 and Ended the week at 106. so I've obviously Oscillated my my carbs and fats here to Get my weekly average and you can see Exactly that there's one day here where My car my fats were 75 and then there's Another day here where it's as low as 28 And that's about the bottom of the range When it comes to fats I've mentioned in Previous updates the importance of Consuming an adequate amount of fat Particularly our essential fatty acids Because your body cannot synthesize Omega-3 or omega-6 so these are fatty Acids that have like a double bond Instead of like a saturated fat which Has a single Bond kind of connecting the The center carbon atom Um so because we can't synthesize those You do need to eat them so I really try To go out of my way to make sure that I'm having some kind of seafood I really
Enjoy eating fish out I hate cooking it At home so I'm always eating Seafood When I go to restaurants to make sure I'm getting like that Baseline essential Fatty acid if I dip too low below that For any given period of time and I've Unfortunately seen people do this and It's just it's not healthy it starts to Impact your hormone production because You no longer have you know the fatty Acids that are creating some of these Hormones It also is important for you know some Of the extracellular Matrix of our cells And some of the physical structures of Our body's cells so and also I guess for The absorption of fat soluble vitamins So if we don't eat an adequate amount of Dietary fat any fat fat soluble vitamins So they are a d e and K when we're Eating food we can't actually break it Down it's no longer bioavailable to us So that is pretty low for me 28 that's More like a contest prep but it just Goes to show you my food choices are Pretty flexible but the one thing that Stays pretty dang consistent is my Protein intake and you know obviously I'm trying to intentionally meet a Certain amount of calories at the moment So that I can kind of recuperate and get Myself back into some good behaviors and Habits around eating Sorry that's carbon I don't get to do a
Check-in just yet because I don't have a Weight so I'm gonna make a priority I'll Make it a priority this week to hop on a Scale and just find out where I'm at Um and I know that's really daunting for A lot of people because Um you know there's this constant fear There is anxiety around seeing those Numbers move up and down So the way that I've kind of combat that Over the years is to take a neutral Approach to the scale so even when I'm Dieting and doing fat loss Um as that number goes down I try not to React in a positive way to a drop I Observe the drop and I try to view it as Neutral I just kind of say to myself Okay cool my weight dropped awesome and If it goes up I try to have that same Neutral response so I'm not overreacting And making like one way or the other Um you know more positive or one more Negative and that seems to have really Really helped actually and then of Course the more you become educated About the variables that influence your Body weight on the scale and there are Many because there are so many things That change your total body water from Your training we have an acute Inflammatory response to exercise which Causes your body to retain a lot more Water and that's the reason that that Happens is to help with nutrient
Delivery there's also your dietary Intake fiber specifically the types of Fiber sodium intake the temperature Outside if you're sweating a lot versus Being in a cool temperature your total Body water is more subject to Fluctuation so I think once you can kind Of start to see your weight change in Response to some of those things that Have nothing to do with body fat it Really helps build confidence and it Helps you recognize that oh you know the Scale actually isn't and shouldn't be The only measure of progress it's just a Variable that can help guide you know Which direction I'm moving So That's probably enough for one check-in Guys Um I am happily enjoying Fort Lauderdale It is freaking beautiful if you guys Haven't been or heard of maybe you're From another country and you're like Where's Fort Lauderdale it is located in Florida on the East Coast it is Beautiful like year round it is like Gorgeous Aqua Blue Water right now it's The middle of winter and it's still been Like the coolest it's getting down to It's probably like 20 degrees Celsius or You know 50 degrees Fahrenheit Um it might be a little cooler like in The wee hours of the morning but it's Been so nice I get to look at the water
Every day and I am surrounded by Extremely positive like growth mindset You know individuals who inspire me to Just keep just thriving on life so Anyways I I hope that you enjoyed this Quick little update so guys if you want To find out any more about any of our Coaching services please either reach Out to me leave a comment here or the Best way that you can get in touch with Us particularly when it comes to Coaching is checking out our website so It's Www.hb Nutrition.com.au Australia That's where you'll be able to find all Those details so please make sure you Like And subscribe to my channel and I Look forward to seeing you at my next Video
