Candace Cameron Bure has captivated audiences since her early roles in classic 80s TV shows and her iconic portrayal of D.J. Tanner on Full House and Fuller House. Beyond her acting career, she has raised three children with her husband, Valeri Bure, and has participated in Dancing with the Stars. Known as the queen of Christmas TV/movies on Hallmark Channel and Great American Family, Candace maintains a figure that many admire. Her secret? A combination of a disciplined diet and a consistent workout routine. This article explores the diet and exercise strategies Candace Cameron Bure employs to maintain her health and physique.
Candace's Approach to Nutrition
Candace Cameron Bure prioritizes nutrition to maintain her energy levels and overall well-being. As she told Cosmopolitan.com, "I keep a fairly strict diet. Eating right is hard when you’re busy, but it’s almost that much more important to do when you are. Otherwise, you’re likely to run out of gas!" She emphasizes that healthy food, including lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats, helps combat stress and provides sustained energy throughout the day.
Primarily Vegetarian Diet
Candace follows a primarily vegetarian diet, avoiding dairy and focusing on plant-based protein sources. She opts for nuts, seeds, beans, and grains like quinoa for protein, supplementing with egg whites and the occasional piece of fish.
Shakeology Fan
Candace is also a Shakeology enthusiast. Her go-to shake includes Shakeology powder, banana, and almond milk.
Intermittent Fasting
Candace has found that intermittent fasting works for her. She typically has her first meal late in the morning.
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Balanced Meals
For lunch, Candace typically enjoys a bowl featuring whole grains, vegetables, greens, and lean protein. She told Entertainment Tonight that she is “always looking for good, lean proteins,” and enjoys Starkist Creation Pouches, which come in tuna, salmon, and chicken in various flavors.
Snacking Habits
Although Candace prefers larger meals, she opts for nutritious whole foods when she snacks. Her choices include fresh fruit, pistachios, almonds, or vegetables, she told EatingWell.
Avoiding Dairy, Refined Sugar, and White Flour
Candace Cameron Bure avoids dairy due to stomach irritation. Her digestion problems ceased to exist after cutting dairy from her diet. She also avoids sugar and white flour as they are high in calories and have low nutritional value.
Plant-Based Focus
Candace showed perseverance and commitment to stick to the same breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack options. She loves eating veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc., which keep her digestive system functioning and metabolism firing. Instead of shocking the digestive system and consuming food that will harm you, stick to the “boring” everyday food.
Strategic Carbohydrate and Protein Intake
Candace loads up on good carbs such as oats and quinoa and consumes a protein-rich snack/meal to help her muscles recover and rebuild.
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The 80/20 Rule
Candace Cameron Bure suggests following the 80/20 rule when it comes to staying healthy and fit. This means that 80% of the time, you should consume healthy foods and have your favorite treats 20% of the time.
Candace's Exercise Routine
Candace Cameron Bure maintains her physique through a consistent and varied workout routine. She typically exercises for at least one hour five days a week, adjusting based on her travel schedule. A significant part of her fitness regimen involves working with her personal trainer, Kira Stokes.
Working with Kira Stokes
Candace has been working with Kira Stokes for over nine years. Stokes coaches everyone from Norah O'Donnell to Ashley Graham. Stokes remembers the first time Candace walked into her studio. The two totally hit it off. Stokes says, "When you train someone the first time, you have to both enjoy each other, right? You can be the best trainer in the world, but if you don't connect with the person outside of that, it's just never gonna work… We both felt that [connection] from the first session."
Stokes leads Candace through a hybrid training approach using her very own The Stoked Method. This involves lifting heavy with proper form and progressions (her app calls this Stoked Strength 360), incorporating fine tuning and endurance strength work (the Stoked AthletiCORE and Fine Tuning category), as well as HIIT workouts that combine strength, conditioning, mobility sequences (Stoked Shred 360).
Strength Training
Candace loves strength training. When working upper body, the weights she uses vary, but generally range from 10 to 25 pounds, while lower body circuits might involve anything from a 10- to 35-pound weight. She'll deadlift with a 60-pound kettlebell. However, Kira programs their workouts and specific weights they use based on what Candace has access to.
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Sneaky Cardio
Candace isn’t into traditional cardio, like running or biking. So, instead, Stokes makes sure that they're lifting heavy and that they keep it movin' during their sessions. Stokes incorporates “sneaky cardio” into their sessions by lifting heavy and maintaining constant movement.
Workout Schedule
In general, the two will train three days a week together, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and then the actress will use her app on the other two days. “She'll try for five days a week. But she's really realistic,” Stokes says. “She doesn't get mad at herself if she misses the workout. She's very like, ‘Life is life and that's what happens.’” When they are working together, their training sessions often last for about 75 minutes, Stokes says.
Solo Workouts
Sometimes, Candace will do a solo 45-minute workout on the Kira Stokes Fit app, Stokes says. Then one of the days she might throw in like a fine-tuning workout, and she’ll walk. She’s a big walker.
Workout Snacks
When Candace is out of town or on set filming, Stokes says she’ll send her “movement snacks” off of her app that are focused on fine tuning her muscles.
Sample Weekly Routine
Candace’s workout routine includes a mix of cardio, resistance training, and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training):
- Day 1: Cardio
- Day 2: Resistance training
- Day 3: HIIT
- Day 4: Resistance training using free weights, body weight, gliders, and portable equipment like jump rope, resistance bands, BOSU, and weighted balls.
- Day 5: Rest
- Day 6: HIIT and resistance training
- Day 7: Rest
Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition
Candace consumes grains or other carbs before working out and a protein-packed snack or meal post-workout to aid muscle recovery.
Candace's Lifestyle Choices
Beyond diet and exercise, Candace Cameron Bure incorporates several lifestyle choices that contribute to her overall wellness.
Early Mornings
Candace loves her early mornings.
Portion Control
All five members of Candace Cameron Bure’s family eat together, and all of them eat as much as is required by their body. This keeps all of them healthy.
Avoid Overeating
Do not eat until you are fully satisfied. At home or restaurants (especially buffets), avoid consuming food till you feel stuffed and find it difficult to breathe. Overeating is the main reason for weight gain and should not be indulged in.
Hydration
Drinking a lot of water is important for our bodies.
Summer Fitness Tips
Candace shared her three tips for summertime fitness. "Tips for summertime is to get out and get moving," she added. "I know that sounds super simple, but typically the weather is good in most places. Getting out and getting your steps in makes such a massive difference. Doing it outside is better than being at a gym on a treadmill because you're getting fresh air, you're getting in nature. At the end of your walk or jog, take your shoes off, put your feet in the grass and get grounded, like those just for overall health are amazing."
"I up my steps in the summertime and try to walk wherever I can," Bure said. "I park a little further in the parking lot."
Practicing good skin care is her last piece of advice. "It's really important because we're going outside more often," she said. "Find a great, high-quality mineral sunscreen for your face. I love the sun. Vitamin D is very important. I'm really prone to sun spots so I make sure I put sunscreen on and even a hat when I'm going to be outside for long periods of time."
Candace's Candidness About Health
Bure has been candid about her health and wellness journey throughout the years and has openly discussed the eating disorder she developed shortly after her run on "Full House," which aired from 1987 until 1995.
When the series originally wrapped, Bure moved to Montreal to support her husband Valeri Bure’s hockey career. She quickly noticed a shift in her relationship with food after feeling lonely and isolated. She received the help and support she needed and eventually developed healthier eating patterns. "It’s been an ongoing journey for me," Bure explained to Fox News Digital in 2020. "My relationship with food and my relationship with fitness… I’ve been very public about an eating disorder that I had in my early 20s. And it’s something I still think about in terms of making good choices for myself to stay on the right track. And so I think the biggest key for me that was like a lightbulb moment was just understanding and listening to my body, and ultimately realizing how much better I feel when I make good choices."
"It’s not to say you can’t eat that or I will never eat that," she added. "I eat everything, but I know I have to eat in small portions, in moderation, because then it’s just like this never-ending cycle. A cycle that you put yourself… Like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel good today.’ But you know it’s a consequence of overeating a ton of sugar. And so I realized if I just don’t do that, I won’t have the cycle of that battle in my life anymore."
"I love cheat days," she continued. "And the truth is, I eat really what I want to eat. I just try to eat the things that aren’t so good for me in moderation… Chips and guacamole are my go-to. I love it. And then if I really want a sweet treat, ice cream is always my favorite."
As far as her workout routine, Bure previously admitted she was not always a fan of exercise. "My relationship with fitness, I didn’t always love working out," she said in 2020. "I certainly didn’t like it as a kid, as a young teen [or] even in my early 20s. I really found the joy of fitness in my 30s and it’s because I found things that I liked to do.