Candace Cameron Bure, known for her roles in Full House and Fuller House, has been open about her journey with weight loss, body image, and overall health. This article explores her experiences, struggles, and the strategies she has used to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Early Weight Loss and Body Image Issues
Candace's weight loss journey began at the age of 16. At her heaviest (not including pregnancy), she weighed 135 pounds. While this might not seem like much, she notes that it was noticeable on her 5'2" frame. She recalls a shopping trip before filming Full House episodes at Disney World where she couldn't fit into her usual size 4 shorts, realizing she had gained weight.
Filming those episodes was a painful experience. She felt self-conscious and uncomfortable in her own skin, hiding her belly fat in baggy overall shorts. She realized that she didn't want to be that person.
Overcoming Emotional Eating and Bulimia
In her early 20s, Candace faced another challenge: using food as an emotional crutch. Every time she felt lonely, depressed, or upset, she turned to food for comfort. This led to binge eating, especially when her husband was away. She started purging in secret, a battle she overcame and shared in her book, Reshaping It All.
Fitness and Diet Strategies
Early Intervention and Training
At 16, Candace's parents enlisted a trainer who came to her house 3-4 times a week for 45 minutes. These early morning workouts, before school or work, consisted of old-school exercises like jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches, squats, leg lifts, dips, and mountain climb runs, using minimal equipment like a broomstick and a chair. The trainer also educated her on foods to avoid or eat in moderation and how to reduce portion sizes. Within about 5 months, she lost 20 pounds.
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Current Fitness Routine
Currently, Candace takes group cardio strength classes at her gym 2-3 times a week, lifts weights with her husband, and runs. She enjoys switching things up, making her workouts seasonal and dependent on the weather. She aims for at least 30-45 minutes of cardio, whether on the elliptical at the gym or running on the beach path. She also emphasizes the importance of weight training for women, noting that building muscle helps burn fat more effectively than cardio alone. She took pilates for about 3 years which she LOVED.
Eating Plan
Candace emphasizes the importance of breakfast, as it prevents overeating at lunch. Her typical breakfast consists of a cup and a half of low-fat cottage cheese with fresh fruit or a protein powder smoothie with non-fat milk and frozen fruit/berries.
For lunch, she opts for a leafy green salad with vegetables and a palm-sized piece of protein like chicken, salmon, or tuna, using olive oil-based dressing sparingly. Alternatively, she'll have a sandwich, keeping carbs from bread and pastas to a minimum. She also enjoys sushi, ordering 5-6 pieces with a small roll and a side salad, avoiding anything fried or with mayo.
Snacks include a handful of nuts, a piece of fruit, Greek yogurt, or leftovers from lunch. Dinner typically consists of lean protein and grilled, sautéed, or steamed veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, brussel sprouts, squash, kale, and spinach.
She almost always has dessert, usually a piece of fruit, a popsicle, or a small piece of chocolate. She indulges in decadent desserts when dining out.
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Candace says she eats mostly vegan with the exception of egg whites, the occasional piece of fish, and situations where there are no vegan options. Instead of meats, she relies on nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains like quinoa for protein. She also avoids dairy and swears the change cured her irritable stomach issues, reduced puffiness in her face and body, and cured her chronic congestion and cough.
Key Tips for Success
- Find a buddy: Candace credits her husband as her biggest motivator.
- Online resources: She recommends www.changeyourlifedaily.com for personal life coaching.
- Take action: Stop sitting and start doing. Remember, the goal is the journey, not just the finish line.
- Spiritual guidance: Read scripture daily to remind yourself how God will empower you.
- Set an example: Remember that you are the example for your kids. How you view fitness and food, they’ll most likely view the same way.
- Have fun: Relax and allow your kids to be a part of the journey with you.
Working with a Personal Trainer: Kira Stokes
Candace Cameron Bure has been working with personal trainer Kira Stokes for many years. Stokes has also trained Norah O'Donnell and Ashley Graham. The two connected instantly and have been working together ever since.
Stokes appreciates that Candace "pays attention" and "basically now reads my mind."
The Stoked Method
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).
The weights she uses vary, but generally range from 10 to 25 pounds for upper body and 10- to 35-pound weight for lower body circuits. 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. For example, when Candace is on set, she often doesn't have access to a gym, so instead, they'll focus on endurance work and fine-tuning, using smaller, three to five pound dumbbells and bands.
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Sneaky Cardio
Candace isn't a fan of traditional cardio, so Stokes incorporates "sneaky cardio" into their sessions by lifting heavy and keeping the workouts dynamic.
Training Schedule
They train together three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with the actress using her app on the other two days. Their training sessions often last for about 75 minutes, including warm-ups, cool-downs, and breaks.
Movement Snacks
When Candace is out of town or on set filming, Stokes sends her “movement snacks” off of her app that are focused on fine tuning her muscles.
Body Image and Faith
Candace has spoken about the pressures of maintaining a certain body image in Hollywood and how her faith has helped her embrace body positivity. She acknowledges the "scary" way diet fads are reshaping people's perspectives on body image, particularly for those who grew up in the '80s and '90s.
She emphasizes that God does not love us more or less based on our weight or body size. He judges the heart, and it's all about who we are on the inside. She continually returns to this principle, regardless of cultural trends in diet and body type.
She also wants to be healthy to "enjoy my later years as I age."
Developing Healthy Boundaries
Candace shared how she managed to develop healthy boundaries when it comes to body positivity. She recounted a dream where her body spoke back to her, asking why she treated it so badly, reminding her that it had carried her all her life. This experience gave her a new perspective on how she thinks about her body.
Candace's Perspective on Weight-Loss Trends
Candace Cameron Bure is opening up about the various weight-loss trends taking over Hollywood. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Bure - who released a new devotional, "100 Days of Joy and Strength: A Daily Devotional Journey" last week - got candid about the "scary" way certain fads are reshaping people's perspectives on body image in Hollywood and explained how her faith has helped her in her own journey of finding and embracing body positivity.
With drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro used as a weight-loss solution for many, Bure said it's important to understand the "why" behind people's decisions to use them.