161: Moderation is Possible with Rachel Coons

Introduction 

You're listening to Biceps after Babies radio episode number 161.

Hello and welcome to Biceps after Babies radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is about so much more than pounds lost or PRs. It's about feeling confident in your skin and empowered in your life. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer, wife, and mom of four.  Each week, my guests and I will excite and motivate you to take action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise mindset, personal development, and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel, and be strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you, my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in, now let’s jump into today’s episode.

 

Amber B  0:47 

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of biceps after babies radio. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke. And today I have a special treat for you. I have my sister coming on the podcast, Rachel Coons. So I have had quite a few of my family members on the podcast at various times, I had my sister Kara on the podcast, I interviewed her back in Episode 116. I interviewed my mom, back in Episode Number 27. I've had my husband, TJ come on the podcast, he was on 37 on 40, and 109. We'll link all of those in the show notes. So if you want to go I don't know, do a binge of like all of my family members who have been on the podcast, we'll link that up in the show notes for you to be able to access those easily. 

 

Amber B  1:33 

But today, I have my sister Rachel Coons on the podcast. And I wanted Rachel to come on the podcast one because it's fun to share my sisters and my family with you. And you'll hopefully love Rachel as much as I do at the end by the end of this episode. And two, because Rachel has a really awesome Instagram account that she has started and grown and I just love it. And I think a lot of you guys will really resonate with what she shares on that Instagram account. So her Instagram handle is “u” the letter u, @ucanserveittoo. And we talked about putting dinner on the table, and tips and tricks to make that doable and realistic. And Rachel really saw a place in the blogging and recipe world for like a real life mom, who doesn't always look pretty. But you know, you get dinner on the table each night and what that process can look like and how to make it a little bit easier and a little bit more budget friendly. And so we talk about that. And then one of my favorite parts of this episode is where we hit on this idea of moderation. And how both Rachel and I in different ways have been able to develop that way, that lifestyle of moderation in terms of not feeling restricted in terms of allowing foods, enjoying all types of foods. And one of the things I hear a lot from people is that they don't feel like they can ever get to that place of moderation and we talked about that in the episode. And I think it's again, I think it's really interesting to hear how both Rachel and I have come into that from very different places. And, you know, be able to share that story with you and hopefully you'll be able to take something away that only be able to apply to your journey in terms of finding moderation. I think that's what most of us really want to be able to find. So without further ado, let's hop into the episode with my sister, Rachel Coons. 

 

Amber B  3:35 

All right, I am so excited to have my sister Rachel Coons on the podcast. What's up, Rachel? 

 

Rachel  3:43  

Hey!

 

Amber B  3:44  

So if you've been around the block, you know that I've interviewed my mom, I've interviewed my daughter, I've interviewed my husband, I've interviewed one of my sisters, and now I get to introduce you to another one of my sisters. So I'm excited to continue with the family tradition. I don't know maybe it will get the boys on here too. 

 

Rachel  4:05  

Yeah, I think we need some male representation.

 

Amber B  4:09  

Males perspective maybe. So I'm excited to be able to share like I was telling her before I'm excited to share her with you guys. I feel like I get to share my sister with you and you guys are gonna love her as much as I do. So Rache starts off, giving us a little background. Who are you? What do you do?

 

Rachel  4:27  

Okay, my name is Rachel. I am Amber's little sister. I'm sure we'll talk about this later in the podcast, but I am the fourth of seven children. So I'm the middle of our family. We grew up in Seattle. And then when I was in high school, we moved to the Bay Area. And so I attended high school in the East Bay. And that's where I met my husband. So we went to high school together. My husband and I ended up going to BYU in Utah. And that's where we got married and I studied exercise and wellness at school. We graduated and then headed back to the Bay area for dental school. And now my husband works as a dentist in a city outside of Sacramento called Folsom. And we live here with our four kids, ranging from ages 7 to 10 months and I'm a full time stay at home mom. I also teach fitness classes. I run a fun little Instagram account on the side. And yeah, that's me. That's a little bit about me.

 

Amber B  5:33  

So it's funny. So there's four girls in our family and three boys. And of the four girls three of us are married. And the three of us that are married all have four kids. Like booboo, we're like oh, and it's a little it's funny. So Rachel, like she said, is number four. I'm number one. I'm the oldest but we always tease that there's almost like two sets of kids in our household not because of an age gap. But because of a very different living experience. So Rachel talked about how they moved to the Bay Area when she was in high school, I was already out of the house when that happened. So I had already graduated. So I never lived in the Bay Area. And so we tease that it's like two completely separate lives. I grew up in Seattle, lived in Seattle, graduated from Seattle, that was all I ever knew. And then Rachel on down the younger kids, a lot of their growing up, or memories of like high school stuff are in the Bay Area. 

 

Rachel  6:30  

Totally, totally different. 

 

Amber B  6:32  

So I am curious, because I have told the story many times on the podcast, and I had mom on. And I talk about, you know us growing up having mom as an example in terms of fitness and getting us into the gym and having that be very normalized in our house. And I've shared how that has impacted me. But I'm curious, like, sometimes you can live in the same house with someone and it's a very different experience from that. So I'm curious what your experience of that was growing up and how that has influenced and shaped you?

 

Rachel  7:05  

No, I 100% think that we did have the same experience in that respect. I grew up my mom was still teaching classes when I was growing up. And so I like some of my best memories are at the YMCA. When mom would drop me off at the kids center, and I would play there or we would go to the YMCA on the weekends and swim and do family activities, I mean we did all of our athletics through the YMCA basketball and whatever. And so yeah, it was very similar in that respect. I remember, you know, mom being very active and dad as well.

 

Amber B  7:43  

That'll always laugh because dad's like, what about me? Yeah, you started out with your mom. But what about me? I know your influence on us as well. 

 

Rachel  7:54  

He just was I think he did it on his lunch break or like early morning. We just never saw it. 

 

Amber B  7:59  

And that's a really good point. Like we didn't ever, it's not that my dad worked out a lot. He ran marathons like he did a lot of exercise, but we didn't see it because he was on his lunch break. What we saw was our mom and I think that's a really important thing not that you have to like, have your kids see everything you do. But I think it is valuable for your kids to see you working out. So you're prioritizing that it definitely impacts totally.

 

Rachel  8:21  

I remember dad whenever we would want to go somewhere, like if we wanted to go to our friend's house and be like, Hey, can you take me to my friend's house? He would always say ride your bike. That was one thing he always did. It was like, Oh, you want to go to the store? Ride your bike. So we did have that influence? I mean, I actually hate riding my bike now. So maybe that was not counterintuitive. But yeah, I do remember dad saying that.

 

Amber B  8:44  

Yeah. So your story, I interrupt you, but you were talking about how it has influenced you moving forward in life? 

 

Rachel  8:52  

Totally. No, I think that was all that I had to say. It absolutely was a big influence on me my whole life. My mom had that as a young child.

 

Amber B  9:04  

 Did Mom take you to the weight room, is that something that you remember too?

 

Rachel  9:06  

You know, I don't actually remember that. I do remember going to her classes. I remember on Saturday mornings we would go to her step class or one of her aerobics classes. Honestly, I don't think I was introduced to the weight room like you were. But I didn't really exercise out of the gym until collegeI think. I really didn't dabble in the gym until later on.

 

Amber B  9:34  

Yeah. So, you know, as people are hearing your story, there's obviously a lot of similarities. People taught fitness classes, like we both had the experience of growing up with Mom, you know, similarities? Definitely and there's also some really significant differences as well. So will you kind of, you know, outline what are some of the differences you'd say in our fitness journeys?

 

Rachel  9:55  

It makes me laugh because I feel like we kind of started at the same spot where like you started running, you ran a marathon. I ran a marathon. You hated it. I loved it. And then it was like, 

 

Amber B  10:08  

and then we deferred. No, but you're crazy people who were like, these are the people. These are the people, they tell me. They're like, once you cross the finish line of your marathon, you are just going to be so excited to run your next one. You were just gonna, like, fall in love with it, and it's just gonna like you're just gonna watch. When's the next one? What's the next one? And I cross that finish line. And I was like, these people are crazy. Because the last thing I ever want to do is do this again. I was like, those people were wrong.

 

Rachel  10:38  

Oh, man. I know I am one of the crazy ones though. I admit it.  

 

Amber B  10:44  

How many marathons have you run? 

 

Rachel  10:46  

I've done four but it's been a long time. I haven't done a full on time I've done more recently. It's been triathlons. I like triathlons. A little bit more than I do marathons. I actually had a really bad marathon. My last one was a really bad experience. And I haven't had the courage to run one since then. 

 

Amber B  11:04  

So maybe I just had a really bad one.

 

Rachel  11:06  

Yeah, maybe afterwards, you have to run a good one. Have a good experience and you want to do another one. If we ever can get you there. No, I think, as I got really into running that was in college was when I was really into running. And that was just because it was so easy to walk outside my door and just run. It wasn't that I just had to program anything. 

 

Amber B  11:30  

It was free. You could do it anywhere. 

 

Rachel  11:32  

Yes, a 100%. And I also think I found a lot of therapy in my running. So it was really good for my mental health. And so it became something that I had to do to like, clear my head and think and as I've kind of worked on my emotional health, I don't need running as much as I used to in the past. 

 

Amber B  11:56  

So now, what are the differences? 

 

Rachel  12:00  

Well, I still teach fitness classes. I didn't give that up.I still am doing that. I mean, I think we similarly like, obviously, you do CrossFit now. And I would love to do CrossFit. It just doesn't really work when you have little kids at home. And once I got up at the crack of dawn, which I can't do right now. But I don't know what you think?

 

Amber B  12:26  

Well, I was just thinking about what our eating differences are. 

 

Rachel  12:29  

Oh, yeah. Right. Okay, so similarly to like, when I got into running, I think, I don't know if you've ever had like body issues, food issues, like a lot of that stemmed from my insecurities, and myself and my inability to control my food. So I don't. I never had a diagnosable eating disorder that I can pinpoint, but I just never was at peace with that. And so this when I really got into exercise, and when I really got into running it wasn't necessarily because I wanted to like build muscle or had like long term goals, it was more just like to fix my issues. And so then I found intuitive eating I actually had like, shared with a friend that I had been struggling with just like body image, you know that all of that. And I said that to a friend and she had said, Hey, you should go read this book, intuitive eating. And it wasn't until like four years later that I actually read the book and it just resonated so much with me. And so then that kind of took off into I'm just like, I am a moderation and all kinds of all things kind of person. 

 

Amber B  13:02  

There's that characteristic that I think we are similar. 

 

Rachel  13:53  

And yes, yes, I am just not an extremist in any form of the word. I'm just not I'm not good at being an extremist. So intuitive eating really spoke to me in that respect. And it really helped me get over those insecurities I had with food and with my body. And it really helped me heal that. But I also had that background from exercise and wellness. What I learned at school, so I was a really good springboard for me. And I found that piece that I had been looking for.

 

Amber B  14:30  

Yeah, so what did that look like as you made that transition? What does it look like emotionally, your relationship with food, your relationship with your body? What did that transition, you know, contrast that transition for us?

 

Rachel  14:44  

Oh, I haven't thought about this for a long time. But so I was actually pregnant with my first son when I read the book. And so you know, pregnancy is different because you it's just, it's just, you're hungrier than you normally are. You know, your  body is changing. But so the transition happens super gradually. But I just remember, before reading the book, I would never let myself eat red meat that was like, just felt like it was too fatty, or I wouldn't ever allow myself during the week, like I wouldn't have treats during the week. And so on the weekends on Sunday, I would just eat myself sick. And then Monday, it was like the restart day, you know, that's like the classic food drama. And I remember allowing myself while I was pregnant to have hamburgers for the first time, and like burritos and things that had red meat in them. And it's just like, and I didn't gain a crazy amount of weight during my pregnancy. And I felt like I had been the healthiest I've ever been when I was growing another human. And so that just helped me with postpartum, I didn't worry as much about, oh, I have to lose the baby weight. It just happened supernaturally because I just listened to my body and really focused on what I wanted and what I needed and trusted the process. And you know, I didn't. I know a lot of people who switched over to intuitive eating, kind of like, fluctuating with their weight a ton. It just kind of steadied out for me. And I was like, well, this is working. I'm not gonna do anything else because this is working for me, you know?

 

Amber B  16:22  

Yeah. So what would you say is like your favorite or the most impactful thing that you have learned through intuitive eating? What was the thing that kind of switched things for you really resonated with that shifted things for you? 

 

Rachel  16:35  

I think it would be the moderation in all things. Like you can eat candy, and still be like allowing yourself to eat the candy or eat the cookies. Because if you do that, and you stop telling yourself, no, you're not going to want it as much. And that's like, scary for a lot of people to just give themselves that freedom. But that freedom is what stops the binge and purge cycle for me. Like I don't ever feel the need to just sit down and eat a bunch of junk food. It just isn't. I don't I don't need it anymore. I know my body will feel sick from doing that. Because I could have a cookie tomorrow, or I could have it the next day. There's no restrictions with food. 

 

Amber B  17:19  

Yeah, I think it's interesting, because listening to what you're describing, is very much like exactly what I found with macro counting. Right? It was this right? It's the same, right. And that's what I think is important for people to understand is that like, I think that basis is where everybody wants to get to, like, we all want to get to a place of like moderation. And this place where you can have things and you can enjoy treats. And like, that's really what people crave. And, you know, there's different roads to get there. And I think there's a lot of great things about intuitive eating, I like never bash on intuitive eating. And I think it's super, super valuable. And I think at least the way that I approach macro counting and using it as a tool, they can also kind of hit on those same notes of like, not restricting not telling yourself no, removing the judgment from food, allowing yourself to eat like that stuff is so impactful, and so powerful.

 

Rachel  18:11  

Well, it's so funny, because when I have friends that will ask me about your program or like what you do, and they're like, Oh, that sounds intense. Like, how does it work with you and intuitive eating? I'm like, No, no, no, Amber is like, the only person I would ever refer my friends to because I feel like she gets it. Like she gets the importance of getting to a healthy place. And it's not this crazy, you know, fluctuating diet, like, restricting everything. Her program is the one you want to do to get there.

 

Amber B  18:42  

Yeah, and I think in the macro counting world, I'm almost like the weird one because I'm like, so much more loose than a lot of people and I'm not gonna like to tell you that you have to hit your macros exactly on every single day and like.  Anyway, that's a whole nother thing. And that's what I feel like, I feel like we, you know, you and I, we can get to a place where, like, it really is moderation in all things. And I think anybody who's listening, because I think I have a lot of women who come to me who feel like that is impossible  to eat, like they can never, they feel like they can never get to moderation. 

 

Amber B  19:16  

Have you read Gretchen Reubens, Better Than Before? She talks in her mind that there are two different types of people. There are abstainers and there are moderators. And abstainers are people who just need to like, it's easier for them to just say no, permanently and not ever make that decision again. And then there's people who are like, no, if I tell myself no, then I only want it more and like they actually do better with moderating. And so her opinion is that you're either one or the other and that's just kind of how things are. And I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I've had many, many women experiences with many women who have come to me, abstainers, like that's what they resonate with. That's what they've always thought that they had to be, they just had to be abstainers, it's the only way they can do it. And I will tell you that I've had so many women be able to switch from abstaining to being able to get to that place of moderating. And so I think it's, I like to look at it as more of a growth mindset, right? If you have a fixed mindset, like this is the way it is, and I no abstainer that's how you're gonna say it. But in reality, it can be more of a growth mindset where you can become that moderator. So if you're hearing Rachel and I talk about moderation, and you're like, Oh, I can't do that. I would challenge that, because I've seen many women who are like, No, in fact, I think of one woman in particular, she's like, I cannot have candy in the house. She's like, my friend can have a bowl of candy on her table. And I could never ever, ever do that. And then fast forward six months and like ice, get chills thinking about it. And she's like Amber, and has a candy dish on my table. And I like it, I don't eat it. I know the person. Yeah, she ever thought that she could be. So if you're listening to this, and you're like, I want that, I just want you to know that it's available to you. It is available to you. And there's different routes to get there. And it is available. 

 

Rachel  21:09  

So you're telling me I shouldn't read that book? 

 

Amber B  21:12  

I really love a lot of the points that she makes. Actually, I really liked that book. 

 

Rachel  21:17  

I put it on my list then.

 

Amber B  21:20  

Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before. And then she has a follow up called the four tendencies. I'm curious about it. So the four tendencies. When you read the book, you're gonna know immediately which one I am. I want you to tell me which one you are, because I haven't a guess of which one you are. 

 

Rachel  21:36  

Okay, do you have to read the first one first?

 

Amber B  21:39  

The four tendencies, so better than before, she talks about the four different tendencies, and then she dives deeper into them in that book, so she does hit on the four tendencies better than before. Okay. So, first of all, it's really always funny when people figure out that we're sisters. So Rachel has an Instagram account as well. And then I've had multiple people who were like, I was following you both. And then like, I finally realized that you are sisters.  So share a little bit about your Instagram account and how that came about. 

 

Rachel  22:15  

Sure. Okay, so I did have an intuitive eating Instagram account once upon a time. 

 

Amber B  22:20  

Yeah, you were called The Diet Reject.

 

Rachel  22:24  

I love that name, though. But it's open now, if someone wants to go claim that because  I don't think I have it anymore. It's so fun for me to have that creative outlet to put energy into something and just kind of have something like, beyond me and my children, you know, it's nice to have a hobby of some sort. And so I loved the intuitive eating Instagram account. And it was really fun. But then, I think I came to a point in my life where I was just overrun with my children, I had three kids under the age of three and a half. And I just had something to give and so I stepped away from that. But then last year, I just, I love food blogs, like I've always I will scroll on Pinterest for hours, because I just love researching recipes. And being in the kitchen and baking. And I've just always been a passion of mine. And last year, I was looking at a food, Instagram, and I was like, it's just like, hit a breaking point where it's like, I'm so sick of following these food, Instagram accounts and having them be perfect. Like, I feel like this is not relatable to me, as a mom, this, like, I don't make meals that look this great. And or have this many ingredients or, you know, whatever, whatever. And I was like, I feel like, there is a serious need for like, somebody who talks about feeding their family, but does it in just like a genuine real way. And I remember telling my husband that and he's like, well, sounds like you need to do something about that. So that was when ucanserveittoo was born. It just kind of came out of like, Hey, this is something that I have a passion for, and something that I really like to do. And I like to share it. And so that's where we're at. And it's been really fun. I've loved it. It's been so fun.

 

Amber B  24:24  

That's been fun to watch you. So what would you say the genre is like if you're selling this to someone of like, Who is the person that you're really like talking to?

 

Rachel  24:34  

Right. So my target audience is moms who are just trying to get food on the table and do it in an easy budget friendly way. 

 

Amber B  24:43  

Yeah, Love it. Love it. I think you're right. I think there is absolutely a need for that. And it's so fun. I don't know if I told you about Aaron? TJ's brother. And he was like, Oh yeah, I like learning this hack from Rachel on Instagram, like, learning all these things. So it's my favorite. I think it's definitely absolutely like a niche that is definitely needed. So what has been your favorite thing about running that account? 

 

Rachel  25:14  

Oh, I don't know. I really like creating the real side. 

 

Amber B  25:17  

Can we talk about this for a minute? Because I feel like you are so darn creative with the stinking wheel.

 

Rachel  25:30  

I don't know, I think I probably vege out more than you do. I think I probably am really good at watching a bunch of people. And I mean, let's be honest, like I grew up in a different generation than you did. It's like I'm always in. Like, no, not that but just like I like those small videos are like a big thing of us growing up like we had fine and then we have to talk. So it's just it's, I love watching them. And so now it's fun to create them.

 

Amber B  25:56  

That's Oh my gosh, her reels are like, kill me. You and Natalie from Butter Your Macros. She's the most creative person when it comes to reels. I'm like Natalie, can I just hire you to like, co direct? Just tell me what to do? And I will do it.

 

Rachel  26:12  

Yes. Oh, ideas will just like well, ideas will just come into me when I'm falling asleep at night or like in the shower. And like, I have to do that. Like that would be so good. And it's, it's again, it's a creative outlet for me. I just love that creative outlet.

 

Amber B  26:27  

Yeah, well, they're super awesome. Super fun. Okay, so if you are going to share one tip, you get not gonna give away all your tips, because they have to go to your Instagram account. But if you are going to share one tip that would like to make mealtime easier or faster or cheaper or better or more fun. What would it be? 

 

Rachel  26:48  

Get an instant pot. I'm a big fan of instant pot. And I love instant pot. I actually think they've made cooking for the family so much easier.

 

Amber B  27:02  

Yeah. So I just discovered the delay feature on my instant pot.

 

Rachel  27:07  

Oh my gosh, I just found out about that last week, too. I didn't even know about that. 

 

Amber B  27:10  

Yeah, that's awesome. I really like that. 

 

Rachel  27:13  

Because that does make it hard if you're like out and about. 

 

Amber B  27:17  

Yeah, I love instant pot. Yeah, any like any favorite recipes or things that they should set?

 

Rachel  27:24  

For the instant pot? 

 

Amber B  27:25  

I feel like people get really intimidated within instapot.

 

Rachel  27:28  

Totally, totally. So I'm actually planning to do a live show pretty soon running through this. Because I've had so many people ask that like, they're like, I have one on my shelf, but I just haven't used it. Because they're scared to use it. So I need to live and just run through it. Because  it's a hidden gem.

 

Amber B  27:50  

Did you know that I had an old school pressure cooker? 

 

Rachel  27:54  

I did too.

 

Amber B  27:55  

In college, dad gave me the same one. 

 

Rachel  27:58  

I got the same thing, I think because of dad. 

 

Amber B  28:01  

Yeah, probably. But I remember cooking beans. And if you ever picked like a pressure cooker, it has like a little knob that goes like the steam kind of like, you know, kind of like receiving it. And then you flip the thing that goes. And the thing that I like actually the thing that I hated about the pressure cooker and it's better with the instant pot. But you could never know if it was done unless you opened it.  And the instant pot is the same way. But I think people have done a much better job of saying this is how long you need to cook this. Back then it was like I didn't know how long I needed to cook my beans. So like sometimes I would overcook them and sometimes I would undercook them and then hit the repressurize it. Like the same thing with my brown rice. It was like sometimes I'd overcook it, sometimes another cookie. I remember like I finally got rid of it. I was like this is ridiculous. Every time I like to mess it up. Yeah, and so pots are a little bit more forgiving. 

 

Rachel  28:53  

Well, and that's one thing that I love about the Instant pot too. It's like it's for dummies, right? Like cooking beef is kind of stressful, right? And like a stew because sometimes it's chewy, sometimes it's under done. But with the instant pot. It's like no, I know my beef is gonna be amazing every single time. 

 

Amber B  29:10  

Yeah, I love it. I thought you're gonna share about Walmart pickup, which I am. Oh, I am like, you can share a lot

 

Rachel  29:18  

I can share all my tips. 

 

Amber B  29:23  

Which I every time I watched your stories I get mad again that my Walmart does not do 

 

Rachel  29:28  

they still don't do it?

 

Amber B  29:29  

They don't do it. I live in freakin Southern California. Walmart is not at Sam's.  I don't know where I should look. I don't even know where Sam's is. I don't have any idea Sam's near me.

 

Rachel  29:43  

Rumor has it Costco was doing it too that they're gonna start doing a pickup option 

 

Amber B  29:47  

That would be smart. I do go to Costco every week. 

 

Rachel  29:50  

Yep, yep. So that would make it easier. Although you have kids. I guess you're super busy. But you have kids in school. Like I can go into the grocery store with children, this is the worst thing. I don't know how you did it, like all the years that you did it. Because I feel like it saved my life. 

 

Amber B  30:07  

And I was also really poor. So I would like to have multiple stores for my children.

 

Rachel  30:18  

You're not.

 

Amber B  30:19  

I would like and I would coupon.

 

Rachel  30:24  

That's why your kids are so well behaved there.

 

Amber B  30:26  

Yeah, I don't know. I look back on that. I'm like, what the frickin heck was I doing? I was surviving. That's what I was doing. I was surviving, I mean, and like doing what I had to do. But I think back to those times when I was couponing with four kids, and I would go to like three stores. Bless my heart. Like a lot of those times were behind me. Yes. Okay. So where are you at now in terms of your current health and fitness goals? I'm curious about what you that's good thing.

 

Rachel  30:57  

Yeah, so I, where to begin? So I was super into triathlons and running and that kind of thing. And then about two years ago, you were actually there because I tore my Achilles. Yes. On my right leg while I was teaching a dang fitness class. So, you know, healing from that injury, I couldn't do all of those things that I had been training to do. And so then I started really focusing on weightlifting. And then when COVID hits, I was teaching like seven fitness classes prior to COVID. And then once COVID hit, you know, all of those were gone. And so I had to kind of reestablish what my fitness routine was. And so we bought a weight set for our house. And so I've just been focusing a lot more on weight training and strength training. I would say it's more like, bodybuilding is what I'm focusing on. So I have a program that I use, I still teach twice a week at the gym. So I'm doing that and I run once a week because I just love running. It's still part of me, but definitely, it's more I think, building muscle and getting my body strong without having to kill it doing high impact exercise.

 

Amber B  32:22  

Are you gonna do a triathlon?

 

Rachel  32:24  

Yeah, I really want to. So I had my baby 10 months ago, Rocky's 10 months old. And my goal is to do it, like, if not next year, but probably the next year after that when he starts preschool, then I can start training for it.

 

Amber B  32:40  

Yeah, that's fun. 

 

Rachel  32:41  

It'll be good. Yes, I love it.

 

Amber B  32:44  

Okay, cool. Let's do a fun one. If you could go back to yourself 10 years ago, and tell yourself something, what would it be?

 

Rachel  32:54  

So this is such a funny question, because we just had our 10 year anniversary, what, two weeks ago. So we're just talking about this, like where we've come in 10 years and the differences. And I told my husband that if I could go back and tell my newly married self, anything it would be before you try and change other people and focus on changing yourself. I think my 21 year old self would have been a lot happier had I just focused on what I can do in my own journey, and stop worrying about what other people are doing.

 

Amber B  33:33  

I think all of us can use that message. Right? I think that maybe, yeah, see, we're 41 and 51 and 61 can use that message as well. I think that's good. All right. Well, if people are like, I want to learn about the instant pot, I want to see someone who's really cooking dinner. Where are they gonna find you?

 

Rachel  33:53  

My Insta handle is @ucanserveitto but the u is not a y-o-u, it's a “u” just the letter U. @ucanserveittoo and I'm on Instagram. I also have a website, ucanserveitto.com but mainly I'm on Instagram. 

 

Amber B  34:11  

It's a great place to start. And guys, she makes the best chocolate chip cookies. My kids always like making Rachel's chocolate chip cookies. She does make some good cookies. And that marks a place in our heart and you have that on your Instagram, right so if you guys want the likes it's not necessarily a recipe. It's a way of cooking it that makes it so amazing. 

 

Rachel  34:37  

Oh, the tricks. Yeah, 

 

Amber B  34:38  

yeah. If you have it on  your highlights, right? 

 

Rachel  34:42  

Yes, I think there's a chocolate chip cookie highlight. My theory about cookies is not about the recipe. It's about how you may make a cookie that changes it.

 

Amber B  34:50  

Yes. Yeah. And never like to always under bake it. Nobody wants to eat cakey cookies, not here. So you want to find out how to make the best chocolate chip cookies. Go to Rachel's highlights on her Instagram. You're welcome, you're welcome. All right, any closing words? Oh, I mean, Kara told embarrassing stories about me. Do you have any embarrassing stories that you know want to get back at me already? 

 

Rachel  35:22  

I'm like, No, I have a terrible memory. 

 

Amber B  35:24  

Oh, good. See, Kara. So Kara is the second. She has a fantastic memory, which is a terrible kind of terrible memory when it comes to these kinds of things. She's like, you don't remember that when we were three years old? 

 

Rachel  35:41  

No, Amber, I'm trying to think it's gonna come to me like tonight at 2am like, dang it. I should have told that story. 

 

Amber B  35:48  

Should have told that embarrassing story. 

 

Rachel  35:49  

No, I'm trying to think of something. There's always something with your glasses or your contacts. There's always drama with that. Yeah, I can't remember well, it wasn't embarrassing, but remember when you jumped off the boat and lost your glasses to save Annie?

 

Amber B  36:05  

Yes, years ago.

 

Rachel  36:07  

 Right. See, I don't have a good memory. But this time we're on Lake Elsinore boating with our family. And Annie was who knows what she was doing. This is our littlest sister. The bottom of seven. She was on the surfboard in the waves, correct? And she was on her belly. 

 

Amber B  36:26  

She didn't get on her belly. Yeah, she would have stood up and then she got down and was body surfing. She was body surfing. We were wake surfing. Right. So the wave surfing boat anyway, she was on her belly. And she is just like us. I mean, we've watched the video like 1200 times because we were actually videoing it because she was gonna do a trick. She just like there got a little bit of slack in the rope. And it just happened to wrap around her wrist. She meant to get on her body and she was kind of like moving around. But it was totally unintentional that it wrapped around her wrist and then it went taut. And then she started getting drugged by the boat with her wrist wrapped around her. I'm videoing and freaking out like telling whoever is driving to stop driving.  And then I jumped in.

 

Rachel  37:22  

And then she jumped in. But she had a glass 

 

Amber B  37:24  

That's who I am.

 

Rachel  37:25  

Yeah, the first one savior. I was on the shore with my husband. And we are watching and I remember seeing you scream and jump in and I was like someone's hurt. 

 

Amber B  37:36  

So I jumped right in. I had my glasses. This is the worst part. I had my glasses on because I had broken one of my contacts. Oh, yes. So much. I've had contacts for literally 25 years. And I've never broken a contact. I have hard contacts. I've never broken a contact. I broke contact like the first day we were up at almoner. And so I was wearing my glasses. And then I jumped in to save Annie. And I remember diving in and then coming out and not being able to see anything. And I just lost my glasses. Luckily anyways, like I ended up dragging Annie in her arm was like it was actually really gnarly. Like, we were sure it was broken. I thought oh 100 sure was broken. Yeah, it ended up not being. She had a little bit of physical therapy for a while. Yeah, some nerve damage. But it didn't break. But my glasses are so so I did not have my contacts. I didn't have my glasses. I had one contact. Like one contacted like, worse and then she actually brought up he was coming the next day. So he brought up I think I had spare glasses or spare content? I don't know. Anyway, Yeah. My glasses are always, always, always on them. Yes, I'm blind. I literally actually legally blind without my glasses. So there's always drama with the glasses. That wasn't too embarrassing, but maybe I'll come up with another one. And I'll record it and then you'll go there you go. Yeah. Are you telling your story, so when they go follow you? Then you can see it there. There you go. And I'll tag you. All right. Well, it's so fun. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for hanging out with me. Thanks for letting me share you with my audience. 

 

Rachel  39:37  

Hey, thanks for letting me come. This is fun. 

 

Amber B  39:39 

And you guys should go follow rage on Instagram. And you should see how much better at reels she is than me. 

 

Rachel  39:45  

Well, you're way better at macro coaching. 

 

Amber B  39:47

So that's true. We'll stay in our lane. So there you go. All right, love you Rache.

 

Rachel  39:53  

Love you too. 

 

Amber B  39:54  

I hope that you enjoyed that episode. It's always fun to have my family on the podcast. I feel like there's a different dynamic when I'm sitting here chatting with my sister. And that's, that's always really fun. And I hope that you love her as much as I do. And, you know, go if you're interested in what she's offering in terms of family dinners, and making that a time where it's a little less stressful, maybe a little less expensive and being able to, you know, get food on the table for your family, I highly recommend going and following her on Instagram, she's at u the letter “u” , @ucanserveittoo. 

 

Amber B  40:31  

Before I say goodbye, I am going to remind you to make sure that you go follow the podcast. So iTunes has changed things, you don't subscribe to a podcast anymore, you follow the podcast. So just go ahead and make sure that you're following the podcast. That way, every time I upload an episode, it will just get automatically downloaded for you and you'll have it in your queue to be able to listen. And then if you're listening on any other platform, there is a way to either follow or like or subscribe or whatever you do on that platform to make sure that you don't ever miss an episode of the podcast. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for supporting the podcast, thank you for leaving a rating and review on iTunes, if that's where you're listening that really does help the podcast to grow and I am grateful for those of you who take the time to do that. That wraps up this episode of biceps after babies radio. I'm Amber now go out and be strong because remember my friend, you can do anything.

 

Outro

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