Show Notes
Today I have a bunch of my friends together– We decided to bring team Biceps After Babies on for another podcast episode! A lot of times on the podcast, I interview other people and ask them questions, and they thought it would be fun to twist that around and have them come on and interview me. So I said, heck yes. Let's do it, that sounds like a lot of fun. And it was — I hope you don't miss it!
Find show notes at bicepsafterbabies.com/110
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Introduction
You're listening to Biceps after Babies radio episode number 110.
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 0:46
Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another episode of Biceps After Babies radio, I'm your host, Amber Brueseke. And today I have a bunch of my friends together. In fact, we decided to bring team Biceps After Babies on for another podcast episode. So if you are a familiar listener with Biceps After Babies, maybe you will remember that back in Episode Number 83 I brought the team on the team at the time and kind of gave you behind the scenes of our team. Since then, we have added some new team members, we've added some coaches. And so I thought it would be fun, actually, my team thought it would be fun to have them come on and to interview me. So a lot of times on the podcast, I interview other people and ask them questions, and they thought it would be fun to twist that around and have them come on and interview me. So I said, heck yes. Let's do it, that sounds like a lot of fun and so here we are.
Amber B 1:39
So before we dive into the team asking me questions, just fun questions, this is gonna be a fun episode, I just wanted to let each of them introduce themselves. So we have in team Biceps After Babies, we have the core team. And this is the team that works together all year long and is kind of doing the behind the scenes for everything that you see with Biceps After Babies. First of all, I don't do what I do alone, I could not do what I do without a team. And so these ladies are there behind the scenes, and they're running a lot of the stuff to allow me to do the things that I'm really good at and the things that I really like to do. And then also we have a bunch of coaches. So inside of our signature program Macros 101, we currently have six coaches in that program. And so before we thought it'd be fun to include those coaches as well and asking me some questions. So later on, you'll hear the coach's questions. And we'll bring them in because they're a really important part of Team Biceps After Babies as well. So starting out, let's have Carley introduce herself.
Carley 2:44
Hey, my name is Carley. I live in South Dakota, which is not California at all. And that's probably my favorite part about this job is that I get to do it from home many, many miles away from Amber, which is important to me because I have two kids. Well, two and a half kids got one in the oven right now. And I have a degree in food science from Brigham Young University. And I don't do anything with that with Amber. I work primarily with Amber as her project manager. She says this is what I want to be done. And I say great, here's how we're going to do it. So there you go. That's me.
Amber B 3:27
Yes. Awesome. So Carley is my right-hand woman. So I say I want to do this. And Carley says noted. I will make it happen and figure out how to make it happen. So she's a really important part of the team. Okay, next up is Amber.
Amber Every 3:43
All right, my name is Amber as well. So don't be confused with the OG Amber. But I am the podcast and Social Media Manager. I currently have three kids and I'm able to work from home. I live in San Antonio, Texas. And I've met Amber in person a few times, which is super fun but most of the time we're remote. And I started, I found Amber like four or five years ago when she was starting her macro journey. So it's been fun to follow along and now eventually work for her. So that is what I do in the business is to make sure that these podcasts get up to you and that there is social media content as well. And I love what I do.
Amber B 4:23
Awesome. Cool. And then some of our newer team members. They weren't on podcast episode 83, but they've joined the team since then. First up, we'll start with Melissa.
Melissa 4:34
Hi, I'm Melissa and I have two responsibilities. I am coach Melissa and I am also the client experience manager. So I hope and make sure that all of the clients are experiencing what we want them to do and what they're expecting when they join the programs. I started out as a client so I've walked the path that the clients are walking. And through the changes that I got in the program, I was kind of able to grow with Amber and kind of evolve into the position that I have right now on the team. And I love what I do. It's very fun. Oh, and I also live in Utah. And I have three kids.
Amber B 5:20
Yeah. And what's really fun, I was just realizing that every single team Biceps After Babies member other than Carley has been a client. So all of our coaches, all everyone else on the team started out as clients of mine, and then have progressed into working on the team. So that's pretty cool, you guys have all experienced your own transformation in terms of your fitness journey, and then we're able to bring you on to the team. So Alright, and then last but not least, Linnae.
Linnae 5:48
Hi, I'm Linnae. And like Melissa, I have two roles. I am a coach and as well as I'm an operations manager. So that means I get to do all of the backend stuff, but not fun stuff. I love it. I love the number crunching, just the all of the little nitty-gritty, back end things that, yeah, most people don't like I get to do and I think it's great.
Amber B 6:18
Yeah, so she does all the things that we have to do when we run a business that aren't fun. I don't enjoy taxes and payroll and HR and all of those things. I say I don't want to do it Linnae here, you run with it and she does a great job. So that is the core team. That's the core Biceps After Babies team. And then of course we have coach Melissa and coach Linnae are two of our coaches inside of Macros 101 and our other coaches, which will be in a little bit. We have coach Cassie, we have coach Ann, we have coach Andy and we have coach Julia. And they are all integral parts of us being able to serve the women that we serve inside of Macros 101.
Amber B 6:55
So, Amber, do you want to kick us off? Hit me with some questions.
Amber Every 7:02
I do. The way we're going to do this is to kind of rotate through our team. And each of us came up with whatever questions we wanted to ask Amber. We didn't give her the questions ahead of time. So she's got to be quick on her feet. We'll see what she gives us. But we're going to start out with Melissa.
Melissa 7:20
All right, my first question if you could have any superpower besides coaching because that's already your superpower, what superpower would you pick and why?
Amber B 7:32
Okay, that's a good question. I think what I write and maybe this is just because it's like right where we are right in our lives right now. Many of you know if you follow me on Instagram, over at biceps after babies, you know that we're kind of in the middle of a kind of, we're smack dab in the middle of like a home remodel. And so my inability to design things out is being shoved in my face. Like you're really good at a lot of things. You are not very good at this. And I think it would really make my husband happy because he loves nothing more than a well-designed home like an aesthetic design. Well, that is not my superpower. So I think if I could pick any superpower right now, it would be the ability to like design out a room and like make it look really pretty and know what to put the counters with what fluorine and because I am that's not my superpower right now. And it's very evident as my husband's like, which one should we choose? And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know, put them behind your back. Like I have no design sense in that way. So that's my answer.
Amber Every 8:40
Awesome. Let's go to Carley.
Carley 8:44
Okay, we already know you're super strong, but I don't actually know your PRs. For like the three main lifts: your squat, your deadlift, and your bench press.
Amber B 8:56
Okay, cool. So, I'm probably most proud of my deadlift. So my deadlift, I had a 303 deadlift, and I had a goal forever to hit a 300-pound deadlift. And so I hit 303 at a meet and that was probably like one of the highlights of my time powerlifting. My bench press I'm also pretty proud of. I actually had to look this up. I have an app called Strong that I've recorded all of my workouts for the last five years. So it's really cool because I can go back and actually see, you know, what was the heaviest lift I've done and so, for bench press It was a 155-pound bench press which I'm also super proud of as a female weighing about 135 pounds. First of all, just bench pressing your weight is pretty impressive. And so I'm pretty proud of the ability to be able to bench 20 pounds over my body weight. And then my squat and my squat is probably my weakest of all of my lifts. I have a pretty high deadlift for my weight. I have a pretty high bench press. I do not have a very impressive squat. My squat is 232 I hit 232 in a lifting meet and that's good. But if you talk to a lot of people who lift it's not that great. So, my squat is probably my weakest lift. But those are my PRs. And I'm proud of all of those because squats for me are hard. And I think it's really important for us to be comparing ourselves to what is our best and what is hard for us, squats are hard for me. And I'm pretty proud that I hit 232 in a meet.
Amber Every 10:25
That's awesome. I think we can all agree that she is a powerhouse, right? My turn, what is something that scares you?
Amber B 10:32
Ah, I mean, I try not to live my life in fear. So I really try to consciously make sure that I'm not making decisions based on fear. But I think the biggest thing that scares me is having this is maybe just like a classic mom/ wife, like losing my child or losing my husband. I think those are the two big things. Many of you know that we almost lost one of our kids, one of our my, one of my sons almost drowned when he was two years old. And so I think that's like it was really like a thrust in my worldview like that was a possibility. And so I think that's one of the things that scares me the most is having a child die or having a husband die and be left, you know, a widow with four children. I think that's probably the thing that scares me the most.
Amber Every 11:25
Sure. Okay Linnae, your next.
Linnae 11:28
Okay. You could vacation with your family, anywhere in the whole wide world, where would you go?
Amber B 11:36
So we're not big travelers, my husband and I like, we're starting to get into it a little bit more. But for years, I was just like, traveling such a pain in the butt like, because I don't know, there just seems it's not for me like the payoff has never been that great. I'm starting to get a little bit more into it. But I still, we're not very exotic travelers. So for a long time, I would have said Hawaii because we had never been to Hawaii. We actually just went to Hawaii this past February. And that was really, really fun for our 15th wedding anniversary. So now we've checked that off the list, we definitely want to go back. So I think you know, I'm super boring. I think just going to Hawaii is great. Like, I don't necessarily need to go anywhere crazy. I guess if I was going to pick someplace a little bit more exotic going, I think it would be neat to go to Africa. But it seems like it's very far away. And I don't know that I'll actually ever prioritize that. So that's my final answer. My final answers. I'm boring. That's my final answer.
Amber Every 12:40
That's awesome. Okay, let's go around again. So Melissa,
Melissa 12:45
And Amber, I'm right there with you. I'm not a big traveler, either. So we'll be boring together. Um, okay, so the next question I have is, what is the one thing that you're currently struggling with right now? And like, for a lot of your followers, I know, they appreciate the fact that you're super real, and you're open and you know, disclose all the nitty-gritty, and it's not always just like your wins. So I think it'd be nice to know, like, you're also struggling.
Amber B 13:21
Yeah, yeah. I'm always, there's always, I think that's one of the things that I love best about continuing to uplevel and continuing to, like, set new goals and bigger goals is that it constantly is challenging you with the areas of your life, you don't have it together. And to me, you know, it's almost exciting when I see something that's not going great, because to me that represents an area of growth for me. So I would say the thing that I have been currently on my mind a lot recently is, is the business and figuring out what I want in terms of the business. You know, we've done amazing work, we've been able to serve lots of clients, we're able to grow the team and grow the business. And I never want that growth to be just for growth’s sake. I want it to be deliberate and intentional. And so you know, I've had some conversations, especially with Carley lately about how much I'm doing and the time that I'm spending and where my time is best spent. And I'm at a point where I'm a little tired, like not, you know, I like I am a little tired. This morning just to give you an example, I've spent a couple of hours on coaching calls actually have three coaching calls this morning. In addition to wrapping up some social media stuff, I'm doing this interview, and I still have a bunch of work waiting for me afterward. And so it's a lot and I want to make sure that I'm being intentional with that and then I'm prioritizing the things that are actually important. So that's hard for me because I'm an enneagram three, I'm so achievement-oriented where it's always like set a goal like and it needs to be a bigger goal every single time and we need to keep growing and that is in my like DNA to continue to do that, and I've had to step back and say, you know, what is it really that I want? Like, what's better there than here? Why do I want something? And what's the driving force behind that? And is that really what it takes to be able to get that? And you know, that's hard, that's for me, that's a challenge. It's a challenge because I love what I do. But I always want to make sure that it's in line with what my priorities are. And so I've been asking myself a lot of questions, and most, the biggest question is, What do I want? And sometimes that's a hard question, like, confess, and sometimes the hardest question to ask yourself, like, what do I really want.
Amber B 15:37
And something my business mentor said to me at the beginning of the year really has stuck with me. And he basically said, you know, don't grow your business just because you think you should, or because that's what is expected. But make sure that as you're doing it, that it's actually aligning with your values, and it's actually aligning with what you want. And so I've thought about that a lot and making sure that we're being very intentional with how we're growing and how we're serving. And, you know, you get into space and on Instagram, and with clients, and people want a lot from you, right, people, they want me to do things, they want me to put out content, they want me to put out certain podcasts, they want me to, you know, coach in a certain way, and they want they, you know, people start to expect things from you. And I just always want to make sure you know, there are things that people expect from me. And there are things that I want to offer. And I kind of think of those as two overlapping circles, and in the middle between what people want and what I want to offer is where I best serve stain. And so I really try to stay in that place of, you know, yes, what people want from me, but more importantly, what I want to give in to that process. So anyway, that just for me, that has meant creating boundaries, and getting clarity on where we want to go with the future of the business. But it's not always like rainbows and butterflies. And anybody who has grown a business knows that, but there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff that, you know, it can look like yeah, you know, it's really cool to own your own business and have a team and grow and make money and things like that. But there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes and just making sure that that is always intentional. So that was a really long answer. But that's currently where I'm at and something that is has been on my mind recently.
Amber Every 17:25
That's awesome. Thank you. Okay, Carley.
Carley 17:30
Okay, so I've got, it's two questions, but we're gonna lump them together. They're both fitness-related again. And I guess I want to preface this by saying I think fitness is something I've been asking questions about, just because I know, myself and Melissa and Linnae, I can't remember Linnae or Amber, if Amber got you into lifting and getting stronger as well. But I know that that has been a huge life change, or focus change for all of us, that you introduced us to so thank you for that. Um, but going off of that, I know, we talked about your PRs. But maybe apart from those, what fitness achievement are you most proud of?
Amber B 18:12
Yeah, so I think, you know, my big, my deadlift was definitely a big moment. So that 303 deadlift, just because that was it was such a milestone goal that I worked towards for a really long time. And being able to hit that and hit it in a competition like that just was, that was a really awesome moment. But other than that, something that maybe is a little bit more recent, I would say hitty, like being able to get muscle ups at CrossFit. So muscle-ups have taken a lot of work. I've taken a lot of practice and a lot of training. And you know, muscle ups are a little bit about strength but there are a lot about timing and about coordination. And I worked for, I mean, I've been at CrossFit now over two years, working towards getting a muscle up and so I just recently got that over quarantine. And that was a pretty big feeling of achievement of something that I like had set a goal, worked for a really long time, and actually ended up achieving.
Carley 19:10
That's really cool. I am achieving muscle-up is a very long way down the road for me. I can't even do a pull up yet. Working on it yet. Well, not right now. Because
Amber B 19:22
it's basically weighted pull-ups.
Carley 19:24
Yeah, that's right. Just keeps growing. Um,
Amber B 19:28
oh, that's another achievement. Wait, can I add another one? Yes, yeah. Am I allowed to? You'll allow it? Um, I hit a 50, I think it was a 55. It was either a 50 or 55 pounds weighted pull up. That was actually a really big achievement. Yeah, I think I did a 55 one time and that was actually how I worked on weighted pull-ups for a long time with my powerlifting training. Because weighted pull-ups by the way, for anybody listening, are a great way to train your grip. So a lot of people struggle with grip strength in terms of like their deadlift, and they can't get deadlift up because their grip strength sucks. One of the best ways to train your grip is by doing weighted pull-ups. And so anyway, we incorporated those to improve my grip strength. And that was just fun to kind of run a progression on that and see how heavy of a pull up I could do and I did a 55 pounds. So in addition to my body weight being 55 pound plus pull-ups, so I'm pretty proud of that.
Carley 20:21
Good golly, that's having a small child hanging off of you. Okay, um, but then going along with that. So if you were to go and program your ideal workout, like first Saturday, I don't know, if you're at the CrossFit gym, or you and TJ are hanging out in the backyard, in your gym, doing whatever you want, what would your ideal workout be like fun level, like you're like, these are the moves I really love doing.
Amber B 20:49
So if I was going to pick out some of the moves that I really liked doing in CrossFit, and put together like a WOD with those movements, I really like wall balls. And I really like box jump overs. I'm really good at those. I'm really fast at those. So those are two of the movements I like. I really like power cleans and so putting in some like, heavier power cleans in there would be really fun. And then I think the last movement that I, it's not really fun and I'm not really good at it, but I want to be good at it is the snatch. So TJ and I have been working in the backyard, practicing our snatch, snatch technique, and not very good at them. They're really hard. They're really technical. You got to have the bar path. Like there's just so many things that have to flow in sequence. And, but they're fun to like to practice and get better at because I can see the time and the effort and the practice actually makes a difference. So I think those that would be some sort of compilation of those. And maybe we throw in some muscle ups just because I'm really proud that I can do them now.
Amber Every 21:58
There you go. Awesome. I love how she's like, I mean, I could do fifty-five pound pull up, and I'm over here like I want to do one pull up like and you're having
Amber B 22:13
That's what makes it awesome is because, you know, things are awesome when not everybody can do it though, right? Like, that's what makes it exciting. So yeah.
Amber Every 22:26
That's awesome. Well, this kind of question kind of goes into that. How long do you think you'll keep doing CrossFit for?
Amber B 22:32
That's a good question. Um, if you don't know my history, I taught group fitness for eight years. I did bodybuilding, not any competitions, but just, you know, focusing on building muscle and bulking for maybe a year, I did powerlifting for two or three years. And I've been doing CrossFit for two years. So I've kind of jumped around and done a lot of different styles of training. And I kind of just do it until I'm done. Until like, I know that I've done and for each phase, it's been four different reasons why I've transitioned away from that style of training. And if you're interested in hearing a little bit more about that story, you can go to episode number 23, where I talk about CrossFit versus bodybuilding versus powerlifting, and kind of my transition through all of them, and kind of the benefits and drawbacks of each style of training. So yeah, that's kind of my history, and I have jumped a lot from training style to training style. But in the end, it was just like, you know, I just kind of knew I was done and ready to transition.
Amber B 23:33
And so I never had a plan for when that was going to happen in the past. And I don't really have a plan this time around, I just kind of gonna keep doing it. To me, as long as there are things that I'm progressing towards or things that I can't do yet, that for me is really motivating. So there are still things I can't do, I can't do a ring muscle-up, I'm able to do that yet, can't do strict handstand push-ups, I still want to improve my handstand walk. So there still are things that I can't do in CrossFit. So for me, that keeps it exciting, it keeps me progressing towards something. You know, once I'm able to do all those things, I don't know. One thing that I have thought about moving on to is doing more like strict Olympic lifting. So that would be like the snatch and you know clean and jerk and, and things like that. We do a little bit of that CrossFit but we don't really focus on it. So that maybe something that I would enjoy doing next but I don't really have a plan right now. I'm just enjoying it. Keep doing it. I like the community. I like the movements that we do and it still is pushing me and so I'll stick with it as long as I'm enjoying it and it's pushing me.
Amber Every 24:38
Alright, so stay tuned, and we'll, we'll find out one day. Yeah, it'll be a podcast episode about it
Amber B 24:44
Yes, I'm sure there'll be a podcast episode about it.
Amber Every 24:47
Keep listening. All right, Linnae.
Linnae 24:49
Okay, so I had to laugh because Carley said she had a theme to her questions because fitness is what got her you to know what you get us excited about and I'm looking at my questions and I'm realizing I obviously have a theme because I must be done with this quarantine and needing a break. Because my next question for you, if you had to do it with no kids and no work and no responsibility, what would you fill it with?
Amber B 25:15
Um, so as an extrovert, I would want to do it with somebody. So, you know, going out to lunch with friends, that's going to fill my bucket a whole lot more than like, you know, time spent reading a book for me. And so I would definitely fill it with like hanging out with different friends. And you know, I would probably go get my nails done, because that's something that I enjoy doing. And it's fun to do with friends, I probably go get a massage. So that's another one of my favorite things is getting massages, going out to lunch with my friends, there would definitely be a workout in there. Like with my friends. Again, my extrovertedness is showing. But I would like to work out with my friends. That's, I mean, I just, it's so fun. Like, that's just a fun thing to include in your day. So there definitely would be a workout in there. And then, you know, I don't really love shopping. That's not it probably goes with the design aspect. I never really thought that putting things together and making them look good is not my forte, but it is some of my friends' fortes. So I would enlist their help in helping me to shop and maybe decorate my house and decorate my body so that I could have clothes that I actually like, I don't know, look good on me. It's definitely not where I put my priorities. So the final answer. And then we would go out to dinner with some more friends. So basically, it would just be around like surrounding myself with people that I enjoy hanging out with. To me, who I'm hanging out with is way more important than what we're doing.
Amber Every 26:51
Alright, so if you ever wondering what Amber is doing, she's probably friends.
Amber B 26:54
Yeah,
Amber Every 26:55
doing something.
Amber B 26:55
Except that I'm not like, let's be real. I'm not, not really right now. But I really wish I was more frequently. Yeah, I mean, I'm right there with you alone. I'm like, very ready to have restrictions lifted.
Carley 27:10
Well, that's because you live in California. Yeah.
Linnae 27:14
Both of us are never getting out of these restrictions.
Amber B 27:17
Luckily, I live in Orange County, which is a little bit more Republican, say we and then LA. And so and has had less of a COVID spike.
Amber Every 27:29
Oh, eventually, y'all will be with friends somewhere. So hopefully sooner than later. Let's go around one more time. We'll each have one last question. So let's go with you, Melissa.
Melissa 27:40
Okay, where has been your favorite place to live?
Amber B 27:45
So if you're new to me, you may not know that we have lived all over the United States. For my husband's right, we got married in Utah. We lived in Pennsylvania for four years in Central Pennsylvania in Hershey. We lived in Orange County in California for four years, two different cities in Orange County. And then we moved out to North Carolina. So we're coast hoppers, we just hop coast to coast. We moved to North Carolina, we spent three years out there in the Durham, Raleigh Chapel Hill area. And now we are back in Southern California. So we've lived in quite a few places during our time, you know, married and then I grew up in Seattle, so I've lived in Washington as well. But I think one of the things and I think this is one of the reasons that it's worked for us to move so many places is that I just find the good in wherever we're at. So we, you know, you move enough times you just realize that there are always good things about where you're moving. And there's always good things that you can find. And so, you know, that's always been my mindset as we moved and we're in lots of different houses and lots of different new, you know, friend groups and it was just what is great about this place. We loved Pennsylvania, we loved living in it's like Hershey is like the cutest little town. It's like super rural, but you have this big huge Medical Center and you're about 20 minutes away from the Capitol. And so it's this fun mixture of like rural, you can drive five minutes and be out in the cow pastures but then also, you know, level one trauma center and an amusement park and the capitalist 20 minutes away. It's very cold in Pennsylvania, I did not love that. North Carolina, we would have stayed out in North Carolina actually we would have stayed in Pennsylvania had we had family in Pennsylvania or family in North Carolina, we probably would have stayed out there. We loved both of those places. They're just great people, great, like just great places to live. But unfortunately, we do not, all of our families on the West Coast, most of our families in California. And so that was a big draw for us to come back and we love Southern California.
Amber B 29:57
You can, you know, say whatever you want about California. Say whatever you want about people who live in California, we love it. We love the beach. We love surfing. We love 70-degree weather all year long. There's, we love Disneyland, there's just a lot of things that we enjoy about living here too. So I can't really say that I have a favorite place. Because of my personality, I just look for whatever I can that's awesome about that place that we're living in. And that was, I mean, that's what I had to do to get through training. Through my husband's training, it was just taking it one step at a time, like, just enjoy where we are. And I couldn't think about how my husband's training ended up being, you know, 15 years if you include college. So I couldn't think about 15 years down the road, I had to think about how do we just like, enjoy where we're at right now, instead of always thinking life will be better in the future, how can I just enjoy where we're at right now. So that's my answer.
Amber Every 30:53
So what we're learning about Amber is she is an optimistic extrovert today
Amber B 30:59
and enneagram three.
Amber Every 31:05
All right, Carley.
Carley 31:07
Well, I would say it's a good thing you like living in California because then there are people like me who just love the Midwest. So there have to be people like me, everyone lives on the coasts,
Amber B 31:18
right? And then we don't have as many people in California, so thanks.
Carley 31:22
Exactly, I like that there are not as many people. Okay, this one is not fitness related. And so, we all know, like, team Biceps After Babies know that you love getting a massage. And we talked about what you'd like to do for fun. But what's your favorite way to relax besides getting a massage?
Amber B 31:40
I think it depends on if this is like a weekday, like, what do I do to relax at night or versus, like, if I'm like, hey, I want to pamper myself, what do I do to relax that way. If it's at night, like the, we do one of two things at night, we, TJ and I, at night, we either sit on the couch, and we watch a show or we read books in bed. Those are two ways to like to spend our evening. So literally, one of those two things is happening every single night. And so that's kind of what we do to wind down. One of our favorite shows right now, we've been watching criminal minds. I'm a big true crime fan. And that's been a fun show to watch. Our very favorite show of all time is West Wing, we've watched all seven seasons of West Wing at least three times. So we love a good West Wing episode. And then we love Trevor Noah. That's like kind of ours, we just love to keep up with Trevor Noah. And so we usually watch him on YouTube and laugh together about that. Or we're reading books in bed. So I think those are things that we do to relax and wind down for the evening. If I'm going to be like, hey, I want to pamper myself and I want to do something to relax. I think my two go-to’s are getting massages or getting my nails done. And I think both of those are relaxing for me because I'm out of my house and I don't have children with me. So that's kind of what constitutes relaxation for me. So, yeah, that would be my way to relax.
Amber Every 33:12
Awesome. So my question is, do you still like to watch YouTube makeup tutorials?
Amber B 33:17
Oh, I do not as much anymore. You know, what I've gotten into more lately with YouTube is just like watching comedy stuff. So I found I'll actually link some of them in the show notes. A couple that I found recently that is just funny. I just, I don't know, I just sit and watch them and giggle. So I'll link some of those. But yeah, I just started following some comedians. And that's been a kind of a fun way to decompress. Not as much makeup. Maybe it's because I just never did anything with it. I mean, here we are, again, listening to all of my faults, my inability to do makeup and ability to decorate my house, my inability to close myself like, there we go. I have a feeling
Amber Every 33:58
At least you're trying to learn though. Like watching through
Amber B 34:01
I have a 55 pounds pull up, but I can't do my makeup. So you know, we all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses.
Carley 34:09
Hey, but you're strong. So there's
Amber B 34:11
So who cares? I'm just gonna flex at you and you're never going to notice that I don't have mascara on.
Amber Every 34:17
I think that needs to be like a T-shirt or a bumper sticker. So Oh, you didn't see my mascara cuz you saw my muscles. Right?
Amber B 34:23
Yeah, exactly.
Amber Every 34:25
Okay, my question is, do you weigh yourself, or how do you keep track of your data if you're not in a cut? Or you mentioned maybe bulking but do you weigh yourself and keep track of your data points?
Amber B 34:37
Uh-huh. So, this was this is different based off on what am I my current goals are right and you know, I use macro counting as a tool so if I am trying to get to a certain end result, meaning I was trying to lose fat for a while, I would use macro counting and sport that when I was bulking and trying to gain weight, I used it when even when I was focusing on performance and like trying to get my 300-pound deadlift I made sure that like my nutrition supporting that goal. Right now I'm just maintaining, I'm not really like, don't have any real aesthetic goals that I'm working towards just kind of enjoying being at CrossFit and just performing. So I don't track my food. And I will weigh myself every once in a while just to kind of like, see where I'm at. But I don't necessarily follow it on a day to day basis. And you know, I'm just kind of enjoying, enjoying maintenance, enjoying where I'm at. And, you know, data helps you to make changes. And if you're not really wanting to make any changes, you don't necessarily need to be tracking all of that data. And so that's a neat place to be able to get to, and it is something that is available to you, it's something that is I want to help all my clients to be able to get to that place where you can just be right like we can just be and we can just go to the gym because it makes us feel good and helps us to have goals outside of you know, maybe the home and maybe what we're doing with our kids, helps us feel strong. So those are my why's, those are the reasons that I feel my body and eat healthy most of the time and go to the gym, but you know, I have a scale. I don't step on it every day. Because I don't really need that data point. I am just looking.
Amber Every 36:19
Awesome. Okay, Linnae, let's have you ask your question before we move into the coaches.
Linnae 36:24
If you were on death row, what do you request for your last meal?
Amber B 36:30
Oh, that's a good question. Um, I really love Indian food. So I think it would probably be some form of Indian food. I would like an Indian buffet. Yeah, give me a good Indian buffet with like mango lassi and some non and yeah, I'm good. Probably Americanized, I don't know that I really love actual Indian food. But I love the American interpretation of Indian food. That's delicious. So that would be my last meal.
Linnae 37:02
And what about dessert?
Amber B 37:03
Oh, good. I mean, do you even have to ask? Like, it would be something that would have both chocolate and peanut butter. Maybe caramel in it as well. Oh, I'm gonna throw this little tidbit in too, cuz I was just thinking about the other day. We just had Halloween. And you guys asked me what my favorite candy bar is? I can't believe it. I didn't ask me that. I will tell you what it is anyway, it is Take Five. They're delicious. Why are they not more prolific?
Carley 37:26
This is the start of the coach's questions. So the first question is from Cassie.
Cassie 37:32
What is your most random or useless talent?
Amber B 37:36
Um, I wouldn't call it well. Okay. So two answers to this question. One, we had a talent show at our church back when I lived in North Carolina. And, you know, my talent was, I did pull-ups. That was like, this is what I'm good at. I'm doing pull-ups. So I did pull-ups for the talent show. So that's one of my maybe useless random talents. The second talent that is not useless by any stretch, but it is one of my superpowers is the ability to go into a kitchen and like, come out with something to eat. So my husband calls it wiggling my nose, he's like you go, I don't there's nothing in the kitchen right now. There's nothing in the fridge, go in there and wiggle your nose and make something for us to eat. And so then I'll go in and I will, you know, I don't know, just randomly come up with stuff and put it together and like present a dish. He's like, where was all of that? Like, that was not in there. I think it comes from my mom. She was always really good at doing that growing up. But that's my talent.
Carley 38:33
So basically, you're saying you would be a good contestant on chopped?
Amber B 38:36
Yes. Except that I don't make it look as pretty as they do. But yes, I have an ability to take random things and just figure out how to put them together into something that's delicious.
Carley 38:46
Okay, the second question from coach Ann.
Ann 38:48
What is the biggest thing you see that holds women that you work with back from their success?
Amber B 38:54
Oh, this is easy. Themselves. That's the answer. And for most women, it is an inability to see themselves as successful, not believing in their ability to do things. You are stronger than you think you are. You have more power than you think you do. And the moment that you start to recognize that and learn to tap into that is the moment that you just blow out your goals. And I see it all the time in the women that I work with. And it's one of my biggest like, that moment when I can start to get someone to believe in themselves is the moment that I know that I've really gotten somewhere with them that they're really going to be able to take off. But hands down the biggest thing that holds women back is themselves and their inability to see themselves as worthy as enough and as able to achieve anything that they set their mind to. And it's one of the reasons I'm so big about setting big, huge, scary, crazy goals. Because when you do that you rise to the occasion. And I wish more women would live the big lives that they want to live, rather than playing small, like play big, but you got to lose.
Carley 40:15
Okay, this is question number three from Coach Julia,
Julia 40:19
What is one thing you've learned that you wish you knew when you were younger?
Amber B 40:24
Um, something that I recognized this year actually, it was at a retreat that I went to in February. And this is gonna sound really funny. So don't laugh at me when I say this. I really have realized that not everybody is like me, Is that a funny thing to discover at age 36? I think so. I think we have an inherent like, thought that like everybody kind of things like us, and everybody views the world the way that we do. And I just have started to realize that some of my superpowers come from a different, like the way that I see the world differently, as I interact with the world differently, that I think differently than people. And that because of that it can be one of my biggest superpowers.
Amber B 41:08
And this came about at a business retreat, where we had a personality expert come around, and they were talking about different types of personalities. And he pegs me as a certain personality sort of telling me about myself. And I was like, Well, yeah, that's all right. That is me. And then I said, but as everybody thinks like that. And like, half of the room was like, no we don't. And it was this big aha moment. And I will tell you what it was: it was this idea of like a linear step by step process. I like things that flow in sequence. I like things to be organized. And like I want a process, I want it to be very systematized. And I was like, well, but everybody likes that. And everyone's like, No, that is not how we think. And that was such a lightbulb moment to me because I realized that one of my strengths is my ability to put things in a progressive order, one of my abilities is to break big concepts down into easily actionable steps that people can follow. And it's one of the things I do best in my programs is be able to take these concepts of like self-sabotage, and changing your body composition and be like, okay, here's the first step, do this, then this, then this, and be able to really systematize it for people and make it really simple to follow. And it was this realization that not everybody thinks that way. And that is my superpower.
Amber B 42:25
So conversely, you have your own personality and your own personality has superpowers that I don't have that other people don't have. And I think we can start to recognize that we all have superpowers. In fact, I wish more women would say the words my superpower is, I think if you ask most women and ask them, What is your superpower? Most women would be like, I don't know. I think there is such power and maybe it will say hey, my superpower is coaching. I'm really good at coaching. I'm really good at creating programs that are step by step. How amazing is it for us to be able to step into that place of saying I'm really good at XYZ? And I wish more women were able to, to do that. Because they're, you have something inside of you that nobody else has. Every single one, if you're listening to this podcast, you have something inside of you that nobody else has, you have a gift that nobody else has. And when you can step into that place of owning that gift of owning the fact that you have a superpower and showing up and sharing that with the world. That's when we change the world. So this, we got off on a really long tangent, but I feel I mean, I hope that you can feel the passion and the excitement that I get as I talked about this, because we just need more women to step into their power. And I, you have it. If you are listening to this, you have power. And I want you to ask yourself that question, what is my superpower? And if you can't answer it yet, that's okay. Continue to ask yourself the question and figure it out. Because every single person has a superpower and the moment you start to own that the moment things change in your life.
Carley 44:04
I'll just want to add real quick. But I think that's why all of us are working at team biceps after babies is because Amber showed us that and now we want all the other women of the world to believe it too, because we've realized it and so we're like, yes, everyone can feel this way everyone else can find their superpower and believe their successes inevitable.
Amber B 44:24
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So powerful.
Carley 44:26
Okay, last question from Coach Andy.
Andy 44:29
What was your biggest self-sabotage when you first started counting macros?
Amber B 44:33
Um, so when I first started macro counting, that was back in 2016, January, I set a goal to be able to get a six-pack and I had learned about this thing called macro counting. In fact, back then, nobody called it macro counting. Everybody called it IIFYM or If It Fits Your Macros, that was kind of the lingo and so I had found it and from my scientific, you know, nursing background, it was like, yeah, this makes a lot of scientific sense. This, you know, kind of aligns with the laws of thermodynamics and you know, science. And so I said, you know, I'm gonna try this thing, I'm gonna attempt it. And so that was when I did my first cut and was focusing on getting a six-pack. And you know, during that time period, I didn't have a whole lot of guidance, I was just gonna wing in it. There weren't a ton of people doing it on Instagram, there weren't a lot of resources. It was still fairly new in terms of what there was on what you could find on the internet. So I was kind of winging it, just trying to figure things out.
Amber B 45:35
And I think one of my superpowers, we'll get back into like, my superpowers, you guys are going to leave this podcast and be like Amber so full of herself. But I think that we should all be a little bit more full of ourselves. That's what I think. But one of my superpowers is I don't tend to default to the all or nothing mentality. That's one of my superpowers, like, I don't default to that. So one of the things that a lot of women struggle with is this idea, like, if I don't hit my macros, then it just throws the hands up in the air and self-sabotage or if I, you know, I'm going to go over then it's like this big problem. I didn't really struggle with that during my cut. And I think that's probably one of the number one wait places that I see a lot of women struggling, that doesn't mean that I didn't struggle in other ways. It was definitely a little bit of a trial and error process for me to try and figure out how to make this thing work, how to make it work with my lifestyle, but I can't really pinpoint a way that I self-sabotage. You know, maybe I think probably like most people, I did struggle with weekends. And that was something that I had to learn how to fit in, was figuring out how to align, you know, hitting my macros over the week, as well as into the weekends. I think if there was one place that I could say that I struggled, it was probably that. But again, there was not as much information out there when I started. So I just kind of made things up and ended up coming out the other side and figuring out a lot of crap, just by trial and error. And all myself before I taught it to other people.
Amber B 47:11
Thanks so much, guys. So I hope for those of you who are listening, that this was a fun way maybe to get to know me a little bit better. And to recognize that I'm really good at things, and I am really not good at some other things just like you and that there is a person behind the brand. I am a person. And these are always fun for me because I like to imagine that you're just like we're hanging out at the gym. And we're sipping on BCAAs. And you're asking me these questions. And, you know, someday maybe that'll be possible. In fact, actually, I was just looking at the on the calendar Carley, do you realize, so Carley and I plan out the year ahead of time and so in January, we met and we planned out all of 2020 and all the things that we wanted to do in the business and all the products we wanted to launch and we were supposed to have our first live event last month. We were gonna have a live event. Our first biceps after babies live event was going to be in October we had the weekend scheduled out and then COVID happened. So just know that that is on our vision board for some time in the future when we're able to do that is to have a live event where I will get to meet some of you and it will be able to hang out and sip BCAAs and just chat and be friends. So know that that's coming, we got to get COVID taken care of first obviously but that's something that I do want to be able to meet some of you and to you know have that friendship that hopefully, you feel as you sit and listen and learn as you keep coming back to the podcast. That wraps up this episode of biceps after babies radio. I'm Amber now go out and be strong because remember my friends, you can do anything.
Outro
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