December 18, 2023 • 43 mins
Amelie Gerard shares her story of how she and her family are changing the way people work out and get healthy in Flagler Beach, FL. Amelie and her family successfully created a huge networked work out family of over 4,000 participants in Canada. After fleeing Canada to escape repressive politics related to COVID, they chose Florida for their next adventure. So far, Amelie and her family have begun to create a fitness community and it's free.. Free work outs, free nutrition seminars and their central meet up location is Beachfront Nutrition on A1A and 7th Street in Flagler Beach, FL. People of all levels are meeting up for free Saturday morning beach work outs, then they flock to Beachfront Nutrition to buy a nutritional shake or energy tea. It is a great idea and many are happy to support the new family by buying a shake in return for a community where accountability is created and lives are changed.
Amelie was an insurance claim adjuster, but was getting burnt out. She was pregnant with her second child when she chose to change her life. She was 24 at the time and only high school graduate because of a major learning disability. She was always into sports fitness nutrition so it just made sense to start a journey in that field. She started her own business at the age of 24 and the main mission was to help moms feel alive and good in their skin again by starting a movement of baby mama trainings. By the age of 28 she was able to build a team of 4,000 people, mostly women in the area. When covid hit she decided to move to Florida, to get their freedom back. They all came and work together; her husband, ex-husband, his wife and their three kids. Join a new movement here in Florida. IG:https://www.instagram.com/amee.gi/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
This is Angela Grayson fromthe Loving Life Fitness Podcast.
To help others in their fitnessjourney.
It's all possible! It’s timeto wake up.
(00:35):
Here we go.
Hey, everybody, this isAngela Grayson coming to you
from the Loving LiveFitness Podcast.
Today on this show,we have Amelie Gerard
as my guest.
We're going to betalking about her journey
through life and howshe got involved in fitness
(00:56):
and how she's helping everyonethat she knows out there and new
acquaintances get to theirbest life.
So, hi, Amelie.
How are you?
I am super good.
Very excited to be with youtoday.
Yeah, me too.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
Let's go ahead and talk aboutyour beginnings.
(01:16):
Way back when used to bean insurance claims adjuster.
Wow.
What a boring job.
So you've gone from that totell us about your journey
in the beginning?
Yeah.
So I've always been veryattracted to everything
around fitness.
Nutrition about helping people,about me, myself being healthy.
(01:38):
And I used to be, as you said,an insurance claim adjuster,
but that wasn'treally my calling.
So I've been doing thatfor four years.
I've been making myselfsick, doing that, going to work,
getting screened that on onover the phone and the stress
and everything about itwas really, really painful
(01:59):
and really hard.
And it wasn't really aligningwith me who I was, you know, who
I wanted to become.
So at one point in my journey,I had to make a decision
to change my life, changedmy habits, changed
where I wanted to go.
So I just opened myself up toopportunities.
And this is whenthe whole fitness training, etc.
(02:24):
came into my world.
So you were always into healthand fitness yourself.
You were one of those peoplewho worked out or got involved
in sports and sports nutritionand you wanted to go
in a differentdirection and help
others with that.
Yes, exactly.
I've been raised in a familywhere nutrition was really,
(02:45):
really important.
We had no sugar, basicallyuntil we were teenagers
that we we learned the propernutrition from very early age.
So I've been always into that.
I've always been good in sports.
Everything that was touching,I was trying and I've been like
a natural athlete, if I can say.
(03:06):
I was into traininga lot, a lot, before I decided
to just jump in to the journey.
Yeah. Okay.
So you were 24 years oldwhen you decided to leave
the insurance business and moveinto sports, fitness.
Nutrition.
You pursued an educationin that area.
Yes.
So I did a few trainingon nutrition to be able to learn
(03:30):
athletic nutrition.
But the basic weight lossnutrition as well.
So I have certificationinto that and I had my trainer
courses back then in Canadathat I did in the United States
when I moved here.
Yes. Okay.
So that was in Canada.
And you got certifiedand then you had to come here
and do it all over again.
Yeah. Yeah.
Double education.
(03:51):
Whew.
And you wanted to specificallyget involved with women, women
who were either pregnantor have had their babies.
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
Because when I startedmy journey, I was 24 year old,
but I just had a baby myself.
And I was trying to find a placewhere I could train with my baby
(04:13):
and every gym that I went to,they were like, No, you can't
bring your baby here.
It's dangerous for them.
You cannot train with your baby,so you have to come
without your baby.
But I have the surround didn'tI didn't have the circle to take
care of her while I was awayand I was breastfeeding as well.
It was just impossiblefor me to work out
as I would like to because I'venever been like a runner or like
(04:37):
doing bicycle sets.
It wasn't something thatattracted me.
I really loved lifting weightsand doing like those type
of workouts, thoughI was looking for a place
to work out with my baby.
That's when I was introducedwith that Fit Club
community plan, like whatwe're doing on the beach
right now.
And I asked the owner of the gymif I could give a class of
(05:01):
mom and baby so I couldmyself work out but have other
moms in the same situationas me. Yeah.
So this is how everythingstarted.
And this was at a fit club gym.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's a girl classand you were able to have
your babies with youwhere you do on, like, lift ups
(05:22):
with your baby and push upsand yes, the non.
So tell me more.
What, what did you do?
It's basically a workout.
The what?
I made the workouts for womenwho just had babies.
So it was very safe for themto be able to work out
with the babies.
I didn't want to like any chanceof hurting them, so it was
(05:42):
made for moms and but yeah,you could do the activities,
the exercise with the babies.
You could just leave the babyin the carriage, whatever on
the carpet was really up to you.
I had some moms with the babycarriers.
I had someone with the baby.
And there are other moms.
Just no baby at all.
Just come with us for themselfand like work on themself.
(06:04):
So that was basically howwe build it, that group.
And around that we decidedto do walks and other
activities.
So moms could get togetherand get out of their house
as well.
Yeah. Okay.
And how did you incorporateyour nutrition education
into that?
As we know, usually when you arein postpartum, you had a baby,
(06:25):
so you usually put on alittle bit of weight
and you want to lose that weightafter debating to be
like optimize your results.
And basically people thinkthat by working out like crazy,
they're going to be able to losethe weight, but they don't check
what's in there in their plate.
They don't check whatthey are eating.
(06:45):
So usually they will justwork out a lot but
have no results at all.
It really gains hand in handsports.
It's so important.
But nutrition as wellas important to be able
to show your body,to have enough protein, enough
carbs in your nutrition,to be able to sustain
those workouts, just thinkingto breastfeeding,
just this thingyour normal life.
(07:07):
So basically whatwe were offering after the
the moms workout,we were offering three wellness
evaluation where we wouldevaluate body fat, percentage,
visceral fat hydrationand metabolic age, all of those
statistics.
And from there we wouldthis is where we were
starting from.
(07:28):
Okay, so you got theirnumbers down, figuring out
where they were at and whattheir goals were
and keep on going.
So somebody came inand wanted to lose a certain
amount of weightfrom having their baby.
What did you recommend for them?
It's really a one onone process.
It really depends on the personI have in front of me.
(07:50):
So I would analyze whatthey were eating during the day
and most of themdon't eat enough.
So they probably had.
Most people in this worldeat like one or two meals a day
and usually overeat at night.
So I would look at what a normaltypical day would be.
And we were we wouldwork around that.
(08:12):
And what I used to doin what I still do
is not a diet.
It's really a changeof eating habits to make sure
they have every nutrientthey need on every single meal
they have.
So make sure it's complete.
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
I would create a meal planaccording to their goals
and according to their lifestyleas well.
(08:32):
So, for example, an athletewill not eat the same way
as someone who's notmoving as much.
And yeah, so it's most of ourof my clients with doing
a meal plan with uswill eat more on the meal plan
than prior to theirmeal plan. Yeah.
Mm hmm.
(08:53):
And get healthier.
Yeah.
Did you have them come and workwith you regularly
to get on their theirphysical part of their journey?
Yes, I was.
I used to give 2to 3 class a week.
Most of them would attendmany classes a week,
which was amazing.
So I would see them.
(09:13):
It wasn't like it had never beena personal training journey.
It was always a grouptraining journey.
So if I had one mom thanit was one mom because I had 20
moms, then it was sweaty moms.
So it was always the community,the community side of it that
I really enjoy.
So they would come,they would meet other people, so
(09:34):
they never felt alone.
And I would do their follow upspread and their nutrition
and pollution of likethe weight loss learned
during yoga, the increaseof muscle mass, for example.
Depending on their goals,every set can reach.
So every second week we wouldsee on scale if the meal plan
is really good for them.
They are having a hard timeif everything is well below
(09:57):
the blue.
So you say that you have a teamof 4000 people.
Yes.
What does that mean?
But be more thousand people?
It can look big, but at thesame time it's it's amazing
because the waywe work is really okay.
You you are a client with me.
(10:18):
You fall in love with whatwe are doing with the product,
with the concept,with all of it.
And from that you getto inspired people around you.
You get to inspire people tostart moving.
You have an impact on the peoplethat surround you, on the
community, etc.
So this is really how I was ableto build a team.
(10:40):
My main focus was really to helpmom get more active and help
other people around them.
So I was I would start with themas clients and then
down the road with their resultand with the impact
they have around, then they justbring me people the used to
bring me people that wantedto get back on shape as well,
(11:02):
and we would help them together.
So it's really how I was ableto impact as many people
as 4000 people because Idon't know personally by empower
thousand people.
That's a lot of people, though.
It's by helping a few womenthat really love
the whole process and bring methose other people.
Yeah, Yeah.
(11:23):
And so this was allstarted in Canada and now
you've moved here to FlaglerBeach, Florida, and you're
starting all over again.
How is that going?
It is a big change.
It is a big changebecause that's how you can see.
My first language is French,so I'm in a country
(11:43):
where there's even if I am ableto express myself, there's still
a language barrier.
I'm not able to say everythinglike I would like to say.
And coming here, I don't knowanyone.
When I moved here,it was only me and my family.
So I had to get to know people,get to meet people, go out,
(12:06):
and we decided that we wouldstart the same.
We we wanted to have thesame impact as in Canada, but in
another way, because I feelI don't have a baby anymore.
Now, my kids are older todaythan they were before, so
the baby mama camp is likeno longer in the equation
(12:28):
because of that and becausewhat we are using is the beach
right now.
So you can't bringa newborn baby on the beach,
you know?
Yeah.
So it's a little different.
So we have to adapt differentlyhave been a big challenge.
But I mean, we're startingto have a pretty good impact
and I'm very proud of it.
Yeah.
(12:48):
Yeah, that's great.
Yes.
I haven't been to your beachworkouts yet, but I've seen
on Facebook the amount of peoplethat are coming and attending.
I'm sure every weekit's different, especially
now that the weatheris a little bit nicer here.
I'm sure you've gotquite a few people
coming out there and gettinginvolved.
(13:09):
And what I likeabout what you're what you're
doing out there is itdoesn't matter what level
the people are out.
You've got people out thereof all ages.
So how do you keep track ofall those people
and what's going on out thereso that they can still get
a good workout?
Well, when they start,we we tell them that it's
(13:31):
for every level.
So they have to followtheir own pace and they're
all a limitation.
We asked them before starting totell us if they have an injury
or anything that needsto be taken care of.
And we always give alternatives.
So we are a few coaches in frontand there's someone was showing
you exercise for advanced,more advanced people,
(13:54):
someone for intermediate peopleand someone for beginner.
So this way you make sureeverybody gets the workout,
everybody knows what to do.
Everybody know what alternativethey can do and nobody
gets injured.
Everybody is safe.
So that way this isI've always worked that way
with the three different leveland this is why everybody
(14:17):
gets to like push themselves,but not to a point where they
heard themselves because wedon't want that.
Yeah, Yeah.
So I know your your husbandis out there working right
alongside you.
Not very many people get to workin business with their spouses
and enjoy it and enjoyeach other.
You know, sometimes that doesn'talways work out,
(14:39):
but you guys areout there together giving it
your all, and I thinkthat's just great.
Yeah.
Inspiring peopleto do their best so they can
live a good life.
So really started all this.
Was it you or was thatyour husband or.
We actually started thesame month.
This this is what is this iswhat's crazy is that we started
(15:01):
the exact same month,but we didn't know each other.
We Yes.
So I started well, we are fromMontreal area in Quebec, Canada,
and I was on the South Shore.
It was on the North Shore.
We were 2 hours apartand we started the same month
doing the exact same thing.
So we were workingindependently for a few years
(15:24):
until we met each otherfive about five years ago.
So we met five years agoand then we started
dating from there.
But we were already in the worldof fitness and nutrition
and we started at the same time.
Prior to all of that.
RE Was a whole trainer,personal home trainer.
(15:45):
I was and as I said before,I was in a completely
different field.
But we met through the wholefitness journey and then
continued together.
That's yeah, nice.
So Canada, I hear there'sa lot of political unrest
going on there right now.
Is that one of the reasonswhy you guys laughed or no?
(16:05):
Yes, this is exactly the reasonwhy we left.
We were basically in Canada.
Everything was shut downfor two years, sort Florida.
Everything openedafter three months when COVID
happened.
But for us, we didn'tsee the end of it.
And the the vaccinewas really like there was a lot
(16:27):
a lot of pressurearound that and we didn't
want to get it and definitelydidn't want to give it to
our children.
And they were starting topush it on children.
So we we felt the needof escaping the country
in order to protect our rightsand what we wanted for family.
(16:47):
So this is whybasically we moved to Florida.
You. Mhm.
Okay.
And why did you choose Florida.
We wanted the sun.
We want sun.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And this is where we ended up.
I never been to Florida beforemoving here, so it was really,
yes, it was a blind move,but I don't regret it at all.
(17:11):
Okay.
And how lucky Flagler Beach isto have you guys here.
That's great.
Okay.
Let's let's go back and talka little bit more about you
and your fitness journey,because I know you've had
some struggles that you hadto fight through
to get your body and mindwhere you wanted to be.
Talk, talk about that.
(17:32):
Yeah.
People need tohear these stories so that
you can inspire.
Yeah.
Prior to my beginningin the fitness, I used to suffer
from anxiety, but severeanxiety.
I used to have about eightpanic attack a day.
I wasn't able to leavethe house.
I was basically not able tohave a conversation
with a strangerthat would make me
(17:54):
extremely anxious.
And I was extremely shy as well.
So basically before startingmy journey, but
I wasn't working, so the doctorstopped me from working
because of my panic attack and Iused to weight £105 before
the beginning of my journey.
(18:15):
I was really, reallyunderweight, but
it wasn't because I wasn'teating or feeding myself.
It was because Ihad the anxiety.
And the anxiety made mewith my IBS, which is
really related most of the time,and to mental health.
I was going too muchto the bathroom.
I used to go seven times a day,so I wasn't able to keep
(18:38):
any nutrients, soI was eating it.
It was coming out right away,so I wasn't able
to put on weight even thoughI was eating like 4000 calories
a day. Yes.
So at that time, I used toI lived a lot of
like body shaming because I wasvery skinny.
(18:59):
People would pick the rightof saying comments
about my weight, about my look,about me looking like
a little kid, not having curves,being underweight, etc.,
without knowing what was behindall of that.
Like the sickness of anxiety.
And I would say that decidingto leave my job as an insurance
(19:21):
claim adjuster, which wasmaking me sick and start
to really take care of my body,mind, body and soul, all of it
slowing down my pace,respecting myself,
feeding myself with theright nutrition.
I was able to put on £35.
So now I'm five six.
(19:42):
I weighed £140 and I feelso good.
So, so good.
So there there is one thingthat we don't really talk about.
We usually like bodyshaming is on the other side,
on the overweight side,but it's also on the
underweight side.
And it can it hurts as much.
(20:04):
And I lived a lot of that.
Yeah.
Was that ever since youwere a child?
I've always been very thin,very athletic, like I have
a shape of a runner, so I guessI'm built to be a runner.
But yeah, so I've always beentiny but skinny only for that
part of my life where I wasvery sick.
(20:24):
Wicked with anxiety.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Did the anxiety startafter you had your children
or before that?
I would say these start after myfirst children when I was on
maternity leave and when I wasisolated, I felt really alone
and I had my first kid.
At 20 I got pregnant.
That wedding one.
(20:45):
So my friends were notat the point of having kids.
I was all by myself.
So it really started there.
Yeah. Okay.
So it took you quite a whileto crawl out of that hole.
Yeah. Yeah.
But long time until I tookthe decision that I needed
to change something in my life.
Yeah.
(21:05):
So what does your diet look likethese days?
And I don't mean diet. Diet?
You know, as far as eating.
How how do you eatto stay healthy?
Oh, yes.
Well, basically, I trynot to go in the aisles at the
grocery store.
I try to stay around.
So where there's food, wherethe veggies are, where the meat
is, I really try not toeat anything that is modified.
(21:28):
So I basically about 5 to6 times a day, which is a lot
I would say I eat around,I don't count my macros
or anything.
I'm not for that form formy person.
For me, I know that some people,some of my clients want to count
their macros and this is fine.
(21:48):
This is how they rememberlike again now and that now.
But for me it's moreinstinctive.
I try to put every food groupin every meal.
So for example, I broke bymy breakfast, but there's
always eggs in my breakfastor oatmeal with protein in it.
There's veggies, there's carbsas well.
So I don't cut any food groups.
(22:10):
I make sure I eatthe whole thing.
Yeah. Mhm.
Yeah.
Do you supplement with yoursports drinks.
Yes.
Yes I do.
I to eat I think digestiveproducts in the morning.
That really helps my ideas.
It's really, really changedsomething into my digestion.
I went to go see seven timesto develop them to once
(22:32):
a day normal.
So I think that helped mea lot too to be able to gain
weight, healthy weight.
And I also have a shakeafter I work out.
This is definitelysomething that I have to do
because with the waymy with the way
my metabolism is, it's so quickthat if I don't give myself
(22:53):
something, as soonas I'm done, I'm going to lose
muscle mass.
Yeah, Yeah.
Is it true that the more we eat,the faster our metabolism?
Yes, it is.
Yeah.
So we have to keep onfeeding our body,
giving it energy.
Exactly.
And people think the moreyou eat the, the more
(23:14):
you gain weight.
But it's, it's not trueif you eat the proper food,
if you eat the right foodfor you, your body will just
adapt to it.
Your metabolism will be quicker,you will build muscle mass
is just good for you.
Mhm. Yeah.
Is there a lot of planningthat goes into your food?
No, not necessarily.
Is just meal preppingtwo times a week.
(23:36):
Oh and young meal prep.
Yeah I do meal prep,I do meal prep.
It's, it's importantbecause if you're not ready
and if you don't have the foodthen you go to the restaurant,
that's what you do.
Or you skip meals,but you don't want to skip meals
or you don't want to goto the restaurant.
There's some ways you caneat healthy.
Going to the restaurant.
You need to, like, choosewhere you go.
(23:56):
But definitely for me, on Sundayand Wednesday, the are my days.
So I cook chicken, beef,shrimp, fish for the week.
I keep all my rice together,I keep all my veggies together
and I keep my meattogether again, depending
on what I want toeat, that I make my meals for
(24:18):
the next day.
Yeah.
And does your your family eatjust like you do?
Exactly like me now?
Kind of.
Yet do the childreneat five times a day?
They do.
They do they eat that.
They eat breakfast,They eat snack, lunch,
mac and dinner.
Okay.
So you consider the snacks part,the meal, the five meals
(24:40):
a day? Yes.
As long as the snackis complete.
So as long as you havemore than one group one,
they're more a food group.
So you don't want to have onlyan apple.
You want to have an applewith nuts or you want to
have an apple with cheese.
So you have the proteinand you have the carbs
for example.
So it needs to.
(25:01):
Yeah. Mhm.
One guy.
And what does Amelie's workoutschedule look like for the week.
Okay, so I've beendoing CrossFit for the past
few years.
I've got injured.
Exactly.
A year and a month agopreparing for a competition.
So I was basically off fora good nine months though going
(25:25):
from training 3 to 2, 3 hoursa day to nothing.
I have been super, super hard onvery hard.
But I started back at the gymas a beginner because I had
to rebuild all my strength,my core, all of it to be able
to that's heavier.
And now I'm just startingagain at CrossFit.
(25:46):
I'm going to makethe same mistake of overtraining
like I used to do.
I just love my sport,so I used to just push myself
and enjoy and love it.
But yeah, so, but now it'sI train about four times a week.
I don't want togo into the excess
like I used to.
Mhm.
Oh yeah.
(26:07):
So you go to a CrossFit gymor you do this on your own.
I go to a crusted gymat Bearcat, I go only once
or twice a weekand I go to Planet Fitness
the other days.
Oh yes.
I've seen you there.
Yeah.
It's okay.
So when you were youngerdid you, you already said that
(26:31):
you didn't have any sugar.
So you were a teenager.
Sure.
So tell me about your parents.
How did they influence youin your life as far as health
and fitness?
I think they have been the bestinfluence.
When I was young, I find itI found that hard
to see my friends with likesnacks of chocolate bars
(26:54):
and little goldfish,all of those things.
That's cool and neatwith like carrots and cheese.
I was like, What's happening?
And not even this motherlittle cute Derrick
Like the long Jared Gardenpieces, though.
Well, when I was young,I didn't really understand why
they would do that,but that was the best decision
(27:14):
they could have made.
Both of my parents are athletes,so I've been raised
with athletes and my dad used toplay handball.
I don't national accountspopular anymore, but he used to
play handball at veryhigh level.
My mom, too.
That's how they met.
But my mom runs marathon now.
(27:35):
She's almost six year oldand she runs 42 kilometers
and she's just likethe best shape of her life.
You see, Heard from the backand you're like, okay, she
she must be 40.
But no, she's not 40.
She's almost six right now.
So yeah, I always havegreat example and I follow
their example.
Very good.
(27:55):
So sometimes children don'twant to do what they're told.
Yeah, well, they weren't justtelling me.
They were showing me.
Yeah.
So children will do what you do,not what you tell them to do.
So that does the thingthat, that I find with
my children do replicateeverything you do.
(28:15):
So if you do good things,then you will do good things.
Like my three year old doesburpees squats.
She she moves, she comes toCrossFit with me.
Sometimes I just turn aroundand she's the way she says it's
running in the living room.
But you're doing sprintsand you think doing CrossFit,
that's it.
(28:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's going to be yourlittle gymnast, right?
Yeah, probably.
Were you ever involvedin gymnast six?
If not, what kinds of sportswere you in?
I wasn't gymnasticwhen I was young.
I up to, I would say a nine yearold where it was the competition
level.
My mom was like, There's no waywe're doing that.
(28:59):
So I stopped when I was at thecompetition level and she
put me in to trampoline as well.
I loved it.
That was amazing.
And I did also soccer,so competitive soccer for a
few years.
And then badminton.
Badminton.
I've been my biggest sport.
(29:19):
I would say I was really,really good in badminton.
Yeah.
So that would that wasthe sports that I did.
Yeah.
And do you do anyof those anymore?
No, no, none of them.
Badminton.
You have to find a partnerin the gym.
But yeah, I really enjoyedthat sport.
(29:40):
Yeah. Yeah.
So I don't even knowif they have badminton
around here.
You don't hear anybodytalk about that anymore,
knowing that back in the daysit was a thing, but now
I don't know.
Now it's pickleball having achance that.
No, I never tried.
Yeah, that's, that's becomingquite popular for all ages.
I know every year herewhere we live they have
(30:02):
pickleball competitions.
Okay. Yeah.
So there is teams going oneverywhere.
Teams, clubs.
Yeah.
Palm Coast area, Flagler Beach.
So that's.
That's a fun thing to get intoif you want to try that.
Probably get similar.
You know, it's a racket sport.
I was lucky the fostershoulder's working good, right?
(30:23):
Yeah.
You did a part of CrossFittrying to keep that body strong.
Yeah. Yeah.
Hopefully with no more injuries.
No.
I hear about so many peoplegetting injured in CrossFit.
Why do you think that is?
What can you say that might helpothers out there that want
to get involved in CrossFitbut are worried about injury?
(30:48):
First of all, without havingthe proper form,
they try to liftweights too heavy.
I think you should really focuson your form before starting
to load up your barand push yourself too hard.
This is the main thing,the bad form or the
pushing yourself too muchbecause you look at your you did
(31:09):
the person beside you and you'relike, Wow, they are
lifting heavy.
So you try to push yourselfbut to a limit where you
just can't go, you know?
And we are there's a lot ofnot pressure, but you get very
encouraged into lifting heavywhile doing CrossFit.
(31:30):
This is what's dangerous.
Yeah, the height, the height,the height, the when you're in
the momentum and you're like inthe workout, you just want
to go, go, go back and be Yeah.
Damage and and dangerous for me.
When I got injuredit was the day before
the competition.
The day before that, my,my rest prior to the
(31:52):
competition, the last day,the last workout where I tried
to lift a little bit heavierto be ready for that lift.
Then my back.
I should just respect my bodyand not try to push it
over my limits.
Mm.
So you injured your spine?
Yeah.
Mm.
Yeah.
(32:12):
Okay.
And you're feelinga lot better now.
Oh yeah, definitely.
But I'm taking it slow and easy,and I'm doing it for fun not to
compete anymore and then go.
Okay, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Competition always changeseverything.
Everything.
If you were togive our listeners
(32:33):
a goal to reach, what would youlike to say to them
and how can theyput effort forth to reach
that goal?
I would say a goalwithout a plan is just a dream.
You need to set up a plan.
You need to know wherehow you're going to reach
(32:55):
that goal, because it'syou don't plan for it,
you're not going to achieve it.
It's very important.
But one other thing that ismajor is don't try to change
everything at once.
Go step by step, because bygoing all out, what's going
to happen is you willbe motivated for one week,
(33:15):
two weeks, and then after you'llgo back to your old habit
and you will feel likeyou're failing.
And you don't want to feel thatbecause this is the number one
dealbreaker you want to havelittle small success
along the way.
So by starting solo, by startingsmart, you will be
(33:38):
able to attain that goal.
But just trust the process.
Trust the process.
Because if, for example,you want to lose £30,
we all want to lose fast.
I want I want it out in a month.
But how many yearsdid it take you to put on that
(33:59):
much weight?
You need to respect your bodyin order to keep their result
for forever.
Need to change your habits.
So by trying to go too intense,then you'll just do the
yo yo and go back to your oldyour old self.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
And what about motivation?
(34:20):
How do you tell people tostay motivated if they start
losing their motivation?
Because life throws thingsat us right?
Mm. Yeah.
Everybody experiencelike eventually and motivation
is nothing.
It has to do nothing withsuccess.
Motivation is justa feeling of like, okay, I'm
(34:42):
going now.
I don't feel motivatedevery day.
Like this morningI went to the gym
and I was like, I don't feellike it this morning.
I'm tired, but it's discipline.
So you have to work onyour discipline.
Small little goals, andby building your self-confidence
as well, every little winwill build up your
self-confidence.
(35:03):
So by doing what you saidyou would do, then
will go to sleep.
You will be proud of yourselfand this is how you will
build discipline.
So it's just try to rememberwhy you started.
MM Try to rememberwhere you want to go.
One thing that really workswell with me is my vision board.
And I mean, like I analyzemy vision board every day.
(35:26):
I go in front of itand I talk to my vision board.
It can look weird,but this is how I was able
to build everything that I buildin the past years by talking
to my vision boardand by changing all of those
little stepping stone goalsthat I had to an
achievement board.
MM As soon as I was ableto reach, for example,
(35:49):
a stepping stone, losing £5,for example, then you take
the £5 and you move itto the achievement side,
so you get proud of yourselfand that will keep you going.
And most of the time people willjust have the vision board,
which is amazing.
But you just want more andmore and more without
(36:10):
without just being proud ofwhat you did.
Yeah, okay.
Never heard of anachievement board.
What a great idea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sometimes we don't realizeall the things we've achieved
until you sit there and youtake a look at it.
Right?
Exactly.
That was once.
Once a vision.
And now their achievements.
(36:31):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good advice.
And then why not working outwith others, you know, to have
the camaraderie, right?
The energy level, knowing thatyou're going to meet somebody
for a workout so you can'tnot go because they're
counting on you, right?
(36:51):
Or even a trainer, a coach.
Talk a little bitabout the benefits of those.
Yes.
Well, basically, you becomethe average of the five people
you surround the most timewith your trainer.
If your circleis not necessarily a good circle
of influence, your trainerwill be and will be an
(37:13):
amazing thing.
Influence for youto reach that goal that you have
of being healthy or feeling goodand your body.
So by rubbing shoulderswith that person, you'll be able
to get where you want to be.
And so this iswhy accountability is one of the
more powerful thing.
And in order to talk toto achieve your goals, though,
(37:36):
you have someonewaiting for you.
You have someone that you knowat 10 a.m.
is a waiting for you.
You'll go If you have no onewaiting for you, you might be
like, Oh, you know what?
I'm going to sleep in todayso that this makes a major
difference.
And yeah, yes, absolutely.
(38:00):
And you've proved that withwith your followers, your group,
right?
Your your people that you'vehelped, they're bringing others
to you now or in there you'rehelping them.
Their friends are tryingto help them.
It's a community.
Why not use that communityto your advantage?
Exactly.
(38:20):
That that community is free.
It's free.
And they need they need youand you need them.
So it's it's really a win win.
It's a it's amazing.
It's winning all together.
So much nicer to win in a groupthan to win by yourself.
Mm Yes.
So 2024 is around the corner.
(38:41):
Not everybody makes New Year'sresolutions, but what's,
what's in the futurefor you, Amelie?
Any anything new, Any changes,any ideas?
Honestly, it's key buildingwhat we are currently building.
We want to have a major impact.
We want to reach out.
We have a goal and visionas a team to reach 150 people
(39:03):
for before the end of 2024at our beach workouts.
So yes, this is their goaland I am sure we will be able to
to reach it.
Yeah, it's a lot of work, butit's such a this is such a great
the impact that we can helpmake people and make people's
(39:23):
feel better in their body.
So that's really the mainmaybe for us.
Yes.
Mm.
Okay.
Well maybe doing this podcastwill get some word out to a lot
of local people.
More people will come and seewhat's going on over there
on the beach at what is thatNorth seventh Street may want
(39:43):
to correct.
Exactly.
Yeah. Yeah.
And tell us about your business.
Let's talk about thata little bit, too.
Why not, right?
Yes.
So basically, we openeda smoothie bar on the beach
to be able to meet up.
First of all, it was reallyto create a community and to
meet upper clients.
So our place to do the wellnessevaluation and as as you
(40:04):
probably know, we includesome supplements into our meal
plan.
So a place where they can trythe products before buying them.
Because so many timesI've ordered things online
or I've ordered thingsthat I've been recommended to me
spend $100 and I get it.
And I'm like, Oh my God,I can't.
I can't because it'snot good at all.
(40:26):
And so it's it's really a placewhere they can try and taste
and see if the light or if theyare about to skip the meal
and they are in the area,they can stop and have a shape
and meal replacement shapein order to like fill them self
with proper nutrition,good things, you know.
So this is really a place,it's a one stop shop where we do
(40:48):
very well evaluation,where we meet our client,
where we do meetings,where we do presentation
as well, nutrition presentation,little activities.
So we for 2024, we really wantto be involved in the community
and we're trying to get knownas much as possible as the
(41:11):
healthy place.
And it's like the beach. Yeah.
When is your next nutritionmeeting?
Informational and what is itabout?
Usually it's the thirdweek of the month on Tuesday,
but now it's Christmas. Yeah.
So we are skipping Decemberand we will start again
(41:32):
in January.
And usually it's reallyabout nutrition.
So explaining peoplehow they should,
what kind of plate should theythey make the myths
about nutrition.
We're trying to break the dietcycle of like trying to eat
chicken and rice and broccolibecause it doesn't have to be
(41:53):
like that to loseweight, you know,
And that's what we thinkwe need to eat.
So it's really to tryto educate people about good,
healthy habits.
Yeah, well.
Huh.
Beachfront nutritionon the corner of Seventh Street
and A180.
Yes Cute little placeand I see now you're you're
(42:13):
putting up a outside terraceYes if the it give you
a little bit more space peoplelike being outside being able
to see the ocean.
Yeah we have such but with thesunrise in the morning too.
Yeah.
Prime location all. Right.
Amelie, Anything elseyou would like to
tell our listenersabout yourself?
(42:34):
Well, not just believe inyourself and you can achieve
whatever you like.
You just have to set your mindto it and be surrounded by the
right people and keep goingand forget about motivation
because that doesn't work.
Anything in your whole processis really it's really discipline
that will get you goingand that will build your
(42:57):
self esteem.
Okay, Well, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
I know people are going to enjoylistening to what
you've had to say and hopefullycome and visit you out there
on the beach or at yourbeachfront nutrition.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
Same to you.
(43:18):
You know, since Angela Brysonfrom the Loving Life
Fitness Podcast.
To help others in their fitnessjourney.
It’s all possible! It’s timeto wake up.
(43:42):
Here we go.
This is Angela Grayson fromthe Loving Life Fitness Podcast.
To help others in their fitnessjourney.
It's all possible! It’s timeto wake up.
(00:35):
Here we go.
Hey, everybody, this isAngela Grayson coming to you
from the Loving LiveFitness Podcast.
Today on this show,we have Amelie Gerard
as my guest.
We're going to betalking about her journey
through life and howshe got involved in fitness
(00:56):
and how she's helping everyonethat she knows out there and new
acquaintances get to theirbest life.
So, hi, Amelie.
How are you?
I am super good.
Very excited to be with youtoday.
Yeah, me too.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
Let's go ahead and talk aboutyour beginnings.
(01:16):
Way back when used to bean insurance claims adjuster.
Wow.
What a boring job.
So you've gone from that totell us about your journey
in the beginning?
Yeah.
So I've always been veryattracted to everything
around fitness.
Nutrition about helping people,about me, myself being healthy.
(01:38):
And I used to be, as you said,an insurance claim adjuster,
but that wasn'treally my calling.
So I've been doing thatfor four years.
I've been making myselfsick, doing that, going to work,
getting screened that on onover the phone and the stress
and everything about itwas really, really painful
(01:59):
and really hard.
And it wasn't really aligningwith me who I was, you know, who
I wanted to become.
So at one point in my journey,I had to make a decision
to change my life, changedmy habits, changed
where I wanted to go.
So I just opened myself up toopportunities.
And this is whenthe whole fitness training, etc.
(02:24):
came into my world.
So you were always into healthand fitness yourself.
You were one of those peoplewho worked out or got involved
in sports and sports nutritionand you wanted to go
in a differentdirection and help
others with that.
Yes, exactly.
I've been raised in a familywhere nutrition was really,
(02:45):
really important.
We had no sugar, basicallyuntil we were teenagers
that we we learned the propernutrition from very early age.
So I've been always into that.
I've always been good in sports.
Everything that was touching,I was trying and I've been like
a natural athlete, if I can say.
(03:06):
I was into traininga lot, a lot, before I decided
to just jump in to the journey.
Yeah. Okay.
So you were 24 years oldwhen you decided to leave
the insurance business and moveinto sports, fitness.
Nutrition.
You pursued an educationin that area.
Yes.
So I did a few trainingon nutrition to be able to learn
(03:30):
athletic nutrition.
But the basic weight lossnutrition as well.
So I have certificationinto that and I had my trainer
courses back then in Canadathat I did in the United States
when I moved here.
Yes. Okay.
So that was in Canada.
And you got certifiedand then you had to come here
and do it all over again.
Yeah. Yeah.
Double education.
(03:51):
Whew.
And you wanted to specificallyget involved with women, women
who were either pregnantor have had their babies.
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
Because when I startedmy journey, I was 24 year old,
but I just had a baby myself.
And I was trying to find a placewhere I could train with my baby
(04:13):
and every gym that I went to,they were like, No, you can't
bring your baby here.
It's dangerous for them.
You cannot train with your baby,so you have to come
without your baby.
But I have the surround didn'tI didn't have the circle to take
care of her while I was awayand I was breastfeeding as well.
It was just impossiblefor me to work out
as I would like to because I'venever been like a runner or like
(04:37):
doing bicycle sets.
It wasn't something thatattracted me.
I really loved lifting weightsand doing like those type
of workouts, thoughI was looking for a place
to work out with my baby.
That's when I was introducedwith that Fit Club
community plan, like whatwe're doing on the beach
right now.
And I asked the owner of the gymif I could give a class of
(05:01):
mom and baby so I couldmyself work out but have other
moms in the same situationas me. Yeah.
So this is how everythingstarted.
And this was at a fit club gym.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's a girl classand you were able to have
your babies with youwhere you do on, like, lift ups
(05:22):
with your baby and push upsand yes, the non.
So tell me more.
What, what did you do?
It's basically a workout.
The what?
I made the workouts for womenwho just had babies.
So it was very safe for themto be able to work out
with the babies.
I didn't want to like any chanceof hurting them, so it was
(05:42):
made for moms and but yeah,you could do the activities,
the exercise with the babies.
You could just leave the babyin the carriage, whatever on
the carpet was really up to you.
I had some moms with the babycarriers.
I had someone with the baby.
And there are other moms.
Just no baby at all.
Just come with us for themselfand like work on themself.
(06:04):
So that was basically howwe build it, that group.
And around that we decidedto do walks and other
activities.
So moms could get togetherand get out of their house
as well.
Yeah. Okay.
And how did you incorporateyour nutrition education
into that?
As we know, usually when you arein postpartum, you had a baby,
(06:25):
so you usually put on alittle bit of weight
and you want to lose that weightafter debating to be
like optimize your results.
And basically people thinkthat by working out like crazy,
they're going to be able to losethe weight, but they don't check
what's in there in their plate.
They don't check whatthey are eating.
(06:45):
So usually they will justwork out a lot but
have no results at all.
It really gains hand in handsports.
It's so important.
But nutrition as wellas important to be able
to show your body,to have enough protein, enough
carbs in your nutrition,to be able to sustain
those workouts, just thinkingto breastfeeding,
just this thingyour normal life.
(07:07):
So basically whatwe were offering after the
the moms workout,we were offering three wellness
evaluation where we wouldevaluate body fat, percentage,
visceral fat hydrationand metabolic age, all of those
statistics.
And from there we wouldthis is where we were
starting from.
(07:28):
Okay, so you got theirnumbers down, figuring out
where they were at and whattheir goals were
and keep on going.
So somebody came inand wanted to lose a certain
amount of weightfrom having their baby.
What did you recommend for them?
It's really a one onone process.
It really depends on the personI have in front of me.
(07:50):
So I would analyze whatthey were eating during the day
and most of themdon't eat enough.
So they probably had.
Most people in this worldeat like one or two meals a day
and usually overeat at night.
So I would look at what a normaltypical day would be.
And we were we wouldwork around that.
(08:12):
And what I used to doin what I still do
is not a diet.
It's really a changeof eating habits to make sure
they have every nutrientthey need on every single meal
they have.
So make sure it's complete.
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
I would create a meal planaccording to their goals
and according to their lifestyleas well.
(08:32):
So, for example, an athletewill not eat the same way
as someone who's notmoving as much.
And yeah, so it's most of ourof my clients with doing
a meal plan with uswill eat more on the meal plan
than prior to theirmeal plan. Yeah.
Mm hmm.
(08:53):
And get healthier.
Yeah.
Did you have them come and workwith you regularly
to get on their theirphysical part of their journey?
Yes, I was.
I used to give 2to 3 class a week.
Most of them would attendmany classes a week,
which was amazing.
So I would see them.
(09:13):
It wasn't like it had never beena personal training journey.
It was always a grouptraining journey.
So if I had one mom thanit was one mom because I had 20
moms, then it was sweaty moms.
So it was always the community,the community side of it that
I really enjoy.
So they would come,they would meet other people, so
(09:34):
they never felt alone.
And I would do their follow upspread and their nutrition
and pollution of likethe weight loss learned
during yoga, the increaseof muscle mass, for example.
Depending on their goals,every set can reach.
So every second week we wouldsee on scale if the meal plan
is really good for them.
They are having a hard timeif everything is well below
(09:57):
the blue.
So you say that you have a teamof 4000 people.
Yes.
What does that mean?
But be more thousand people?
It can look big, but at thesame time it's it's amazing
because the waywe work is really okay.
You you are a client with me.
(10:18):
You fall in love with whatwe are doing with the product,
with the concept,with all of it.
And from that you getto inspired people around you.
You get to inspire people tostart moving.
You have an impact on the peoplethat surround you, on the
community, etc.
So this is really how I was ableto build a team.
(10:40):
My main focus was really to helpmom get more active and help
other people around them.
So I was I would start with themas clients and then
down the road with their resultand with the impact
they have around, then they justbring me people the used to
bring me people that wantedto get back on shape as well,
(11:02):
and we would help them together.
So it's really how I was ableto impact as many people
as 4000 people because Idon't know personally by empower
thousand people.
That's a lot of people, though.
It's by helping a few womenthat really love
the whole process and bring methose other people.
Yeah, Yeah.
(11:23):
And so this was allstarted in Canada and now
you've moved here to FlaglerBeach, Florida, and you're
starting all over again.
How is that going?
It is a big change.
It is a big changebecause that's how you can see.
My first language is French,so I'm in a country
(11:43):
where there's even if I am ableto express myself, there's still
a language barrier.
I'm not able to say everythinglike I would like to say.
And coming here, I don't knowanyone.
When I moved here,it was only me and my family.
So I had to get to know people,get to meet people, go out,
(12:06):
and we decided that we wouldstart the same.
We we wanted to have thesame impact as in Canada, but in
another way, because I feelI don't have a baby anymore.
Now, my kids are older todaythan they were before, so
the baby mama camp is likeno longer in the equation
(12:28):
because of that and becausewhat we are using is the beach
right now.
So you can't bringa newborn baby on the beach,
you know?
Yeah.
So it's a little different.
So we have to adapt differentlyhave been a big challenge.
But I mean, we're startingto have a pretty good impact
and I'm very proud of it.
Yeah.
(12:48):
Yeah, that's great.
Yes.
I haven't been to your beachworkouts yet, but I've seen
on Facebook the amount of peoplethat are coming and attending.
I'm sure every weekit's different, especially
now that the weatheris a little bit nicer here.
I'm sure you've gotquite a few people
coming out there and gettinginvolved.
(13:09):
And what I likeabout what you're what you're
doing out there is itdoesn't matter what level
the people are out.
You've got people out thereof all ages.
So how do you keep track ofall those people
and what's going on out thereso that they can still get
a good workout?
Well, when they start,we we tell them that it's
(13:31):
for every level.
So they have to followtheir own pace and they're
all a limitation.
We asked them before starting totell us if they have an injury
or anything that needsto be taken care of.
And we always give alternatives.
So we are a few coaches in frontand there's someone was showing
you exercise for advanced,more advanced people,
(13:54):
someone for intermediate peopleand someone for beginner.
So this way you make sureeverybody gets the workout,
everybody knows what to do.
Everybody know what alternativethey can do and nobody
gets injured.
Everybody is safe.
So that way this isI've always worked that way
with the three different leveland this is why everybody
(14:17):
gets to like push themselves,but not to a point where they
heard themselves because wedon't want that.
Yeah, Yeah.
So I know your your husbandis out there working right
alongside you.
Not very many people get to workin business with their spouses
and enjoy it and enjoyeach other.
You know, sometimes that doesn'talways work out,
(14:39):
but you guys areout there together giving it
your all, and I thinkthat's just great.
Yeah.
Inspiring peopleto do their best so they can
live a good life.
So really started all this.
Was it you or was thatyour husband or.
We actually started thesame month.
This this is what is this iswhat's crazy is that we started
(15:01):
the exact same month,but we didn't know each other.
We Yes.
So I started well, we are fromMontreal area in Quebec, Canada,
and I was on the South Shore.
It was on the North Shore.
We were 2 hours apartand we started the same month
doing the exact same thing.
So we were workingindependently for a few years
(15:24):
until we met each otherfive about five years ago.
So we met five years agoand then we started
dating from there.
But we were already in the worldof fitness and nutrition
and we started at the same time.
Prior to all of that.
RE Was a whole trainer,personal home trainer.
(15:45):
I was and as I said before,I was in a completely
different field.
But we met through the wholefitness journey and then
continued together.
That's yeah, nice.
So Canada, I hear there'sa lot of political unrest
going on there right now.
Is that one of the reasonswhy you guys laughed or no?
(16:05):
Yes, this is exactly the reasonwhy we left.
We were basically in Canada.
Everything was shut downfor two years, sort Florida.
Everything openedafter three months when COVID
happened.
But for us, we didn'tsee the end of it.
And the the vaccinewas really like there was a lot
(16:27):
a lot of pressurearound that and we didn't
want to get it and definitelydidn't want to give it to
our children.
And they were starting topush it on children.
So we we felt the needof escaping the country
in order to protect our rightsand what we wanted for family.
(16:47):
So this is whybasically we moved to Florida.
You. Mhm.
Okay.
And why did you choose Florida.
We wanted the sun.
We want sun.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And this is where we ended up.
I never been to Florida beforemoving here, so it was really,
yes, it was a blind move,but I don't regret it at all.
(17:11):
Okay.
And how lucky Flagler Beach isto have you guys here.
That's great.
Okay.
Let's let's go back and talka little bit more about you
and your fitness journey,because I know you've had
some struggles that you hadto fight through
to get your body and mindwhere you wanted to be.
Talk, talk about that.
(17:32):
Yeah.
People need tohear these stories so that
you can inspire.
Yeah.
Prior to my beginningin the fitness, I used to suffer
from anxiety, but severeanxiety.
I used to have about eightpanic attack a day.
I wasn't able to leavethe house.
I was basically not able tohave a conversation
with a strangerthat would make me
(17:54):
extremely anxious.
And I was extremely shy as well.
So basically before startingmy journey, but
I wasn't working, so the doctorstopped me from working
because of my panic attack and Iused to weight £105 before
the beginning of my journey.
(18:15):
I was really, reallyunderweight, but
it wasn't because I wasn'teating or feeding myself.
It was because Ihad the anxiety.
And the anxiety made mewith my IBS, which is
really related most of the time,and to mental health.
I was going too muchto the bathroom.
I used to go seven times a day,so I wasn't able to keep
(18:38):
any nutrients, soI was eating it.
It was coming out right away,so I wasn't able
to put on weight even thoughI was eating like 4000 calories
a day. Yes.
So at that time, I used toI lived a lot of
like body shaming because I wasvery skinny.
(18:59):
People would pick the rightof saying comments
about my weight, about my look,about me looking like
a little kid, not having curves,being underweight, etc.,
without knowing what was behindall of that.
Like the sickness of anxiety.
And I would say that decidingto leave my job as an insurance
(19:21):
claim adjuster, which wasmaking me sick and start
to really take care of my body,mind, body and soul, all of it
slowing down my pace,respecting myself,
feeding myself with theright nutrition.
I was able to put on £35.
So now I'm five six.
(19:42):
I weighed £140 and I feelso good.
So, so good.
So there there is one thingthat we don't really talk about.
We usually like bodyshaming is on the other side,
on the overweight side,but it's also on the
underweight side.
And it can it hurts as much.
(20:04):
And I lived a lot of that.
Yeah.
Was that ever since youwere a child?
I've always been very thin,very athletic, like I have
a shape of a runner, so I guessI'm built to be a runner.
But yeah, so I've always beentiny but skinny only for that
part of my life where I wasvery sick.
(20:24):
Wicked with anxiety.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Did the anxiety startafter you had your children
or before that?
I would say these start after myfirst children when I was on
maternity leave and when I wasisolated, I felt really alone
and I had my first kid.
At 20 I got pregnant.
That wedding one.
(20:45):
So my friends were notat the point of having kids.
I was all by myself.
So it really started there.
Yeah. Okay.
So it took you quite a whileto crawl out of that hole.
Yeah. Yeah.
But long time until I tookthe decision that I needed
to change something in my life.
Yeah.
(21:05):
So what does your diet look likethese days?
And I don't mean diet. Diet?
You know, as far as eating.
How how do you eatto stay healthy?
Oh, yes.
Well, basically, I trynot to go in the aisles at the
grocery store.
I try to stay around.
So where there's food, wherethe veggies are, where the meat
is, I really try not toeat anything that is modified.
(21:28):
So I basically about 5 to6 times a day, which is a lot
I would say I eat around,I don't count my macros
or anything.
I'm not for that form formy person.
For me, I know that some people,some of my clients want to count
their macros and this is fine.
(21:48):
This is how they rememberlike again now and that now.
But for me it's moreinstinctive.
I try to put every food groupin every meal.
So for example, I broke bymy breakfast, but there's
always eggs in my breakfastor oatmeal with protein in it.
There's veggies, there's carbsas well.
So I don't cut any food groups.
(22:10):
I make sure I eatthe whole thing.
Yeah. Mhm.
Yeah.
Do you supplement with yoursports drinks.
Yes.
Yes I do.
I to eat I think digestiveproducts in the morning.
That really helps my ideas.
It's really, really changedsomething into my digestion.
I went to go see seven timesto develop them to once
(22:32):
a day normal.
So I think that helped mea lot too to be able to gain
weight, healthy weight.
And I also have a shakeafter I work out.
This is definitelysomething that I have to do
because with the waymy with the way
my metabolism is, it's so quickthat if I don't give myself
(22:53):
something, as soonas I'm done, I'm going to lose
muscle mass.
Yeah, Yeah.
Is it true that the more we eat,the faster our metabolism?
Yes, it is.
Yeah.
So we have to keep onfeeding our body,
giving it energy.
Exactly.
And people think the moreyou eat the, the more
(23:14):
you gain weight.
But it's, it's not trueif you eat the proper food,
if you eat the right foodfor you, your body will just
adapt to it.
Your metabolism will be quicker,you will build muscle mass
is just good for you.
Mhm. Yeah.
Is there a lot of planningthat goes into your food?
No, not necessarily.
Is just meal preppingtwo times a week.
(23:36):
Oh and young meal prep.
Yeah I do meal prep,I do meal prep.
It's, it's importantbecause if you're not ready
and if you don't have the foodthen you go to the restaurant,
that's what you do.
Or you skip meals,but you don't want to skip meals
or you don't want to goto the restaurant.
There's some ways you caneat healthy.
Going to the restaurant.
You need to, like, choosewhere you go.
(23:56):
But definitely for me, on Sundayand Wednesday, the are my days.
So I cook chicken, beef,shrimp, fish for the week.
I keep all my rice together,I keep all my veggies together
and I keep my meattogether again, depending
on what I want toeat, that I make my meals for
(24:18):
the next day.
Yeah.
And does your your family eatjust like you do?
Exactly like me now?
Kind of.
Yet do the childreneat five times a day?
They do.
They do they eat that.
They eat breakfast,They eat snack, lunch,
mac and dinner.
Okay.
So you consider the snacks part,the meal, the five meals
(24:40):
a day? Yes.
As long as the snackis complete.
So as long as you havemore than one group one,
they're more a food group.
So you don't want to have onlyan apple.
You want to have an applewith nuts or you want to
have an apple with cheese.
So you have the proteinand you have the carbs
for example.
So it needs to.
(25:01):
Yeah. Mhm.
One guy.
And what does Amelie's workoutschedule look like for the week.
Okay, so I've beendoing CrossFit for the past
few years.
I've got injured.
Exactly.
A year and a month agopreparing for a competition.
So I was basically off fora good nine months though going
(25:25):
from training 3 to 2, 3 hoursa day to nothing.
I have been super, super hard onvery hard.
But I started back at the gymas a beginner because I had
to rebuild all my strength,my core, all of it to be able
to that's heavier.
And now I'm just startingagain at CrossFit.
(25:46):
I'm going to makethe same mistake of overtraining
like I used to do.
I just love my sport,so I used to just push myself
and enjoy and love it.
But yeah, so, but now it'sI train about four times a week.
I don't want togo into the excess
like I used to.
Mhm.
Oh yeah.
(26:07):
So you go to a CrossFit gymor you do this on your own.
I go to a crusted gymat Bearcat, I go only once
or twice a weekand I go to Planet Fitness
the other days.
Oh yes.
I've seen you there.
Yeah.
It's okay.
So when you were youngerdid you, you already said that
(26:31):
you didn't have any sugar.
So you were a teenager.
Sure.
So tell me about your parents.
How did they influence youin your life as far as health
and fitness?
I think they have been the bestinfluence.
When I was young, I find itI found that hard
to see my friends with likesnacks of chocolate bars
(26:54):
and little goldfish,all of those things.
That's cool and neatwith like carrots and cheese.
I was like, What's happening?
And not even this motherlittle cute Derrick
Like the long Jared Gardenpieces, though.
Well, when I was young,I didn't really understand why
they would do that,but that was the best decision
(27:14):
they could have made.
Both of my parents are athletes,so I've been raised
with athletes and my dad used toplay handball.
I don't national accountspopular anymore, but he used to
play handball at veryhigh level.
My mom, too.
That's how they met.
But my mom runs marathon now.
(27:35):
She's almost six year oldand she runs 42 kilometers
and she's just likethe best shape of her life.
You see, Heard from the backand you're like, okay, she
she must be 40.
But no, she's not 40.
She's almost six right now.
So yeah, I always havegreat example and I follow
their example.
Very good.
(27:55):
So sometimes children don'twant to do what they're told.
Yeah, well, they weren't justtelling me.
They were showing me.
Yeah.
So children will do what you do,not what you tell them to do.
So that does the thingthat, that I find with
my children do replicateeverything you do.
(28:15):
So if you do good things,then you will do good things.
Like my three year old doesburpees squats.
She she moves, she comes toCrossFit with me.
Sometimes I just turn aroundand she's the way she says it's
running in the living room.
But you're doing sprintsand you think doing CrossFit,
that's it.
(28:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's going to be yourlittle gymnast, right?
Yeah, probably.
Were you ever involvedin gymnast six?
If not, what kinds of sportswere you in?
I wasn't gymnasticwhen I was young.
I up to, I would say a nine yearold where it was the competition
level.
My mom was like, There's no waywe're doing that.
(28:59):
So I stopped when I was at thecompetition level and she
put me in to trampoline as well.
I loved it.
That was amazing.
And I did also soccer,so competitive soccer for a
few years.
And then badminton.
Badminton.
I've been my biggest sport.
(29:19):
I would say I was really,really good in badminton.
Yeah.
So that would that wasthe sports that I did.
Yeah.
And do you do anyof those anymore?
No, no, none of them.
Badminton.
You have to find a partnerin the gym.
But yeah, I really enjoyedthat sport.
(29:40):
Yeah. Yeah.
So I don't even knowif they have badminton
around here.
You don't hear anybodytalk about that anymore,
knowing that back in the daysit was a thing, but now
I don't know.
Now it's pickleball having achance that.
No, I never tried.
Yeah, that's, that's becomingquite popular for all ages.
I know every year herewhere we live they have
(30:02):
pickleball competitions.
Okay. Yeah.
So there is teams going oneverywhere.
Teams, clubs.
Yeah.
Palm Coast area, Flagler Beach.
So that's.
That's a fun thing to get intoif you want to try that.
Probably get similar.
You know, it's a racket sport.
I was lucky the fostershoulder's working good, right?
(30:23):
Yeah.
You did a part of CrossFittrying to keep that body strong.
Yeah. Yeah.
Hopefully with no more injuries.
No.
I hear about so many peoplegetting injured in CrossFit.
Why do you think that is?
What can you say that might helpothers out there that want
to get involved in CrossFitbut are worried about injury?
(30:48):
First of all, without havingthe proper form,
they try to liftweights too heavy.
I think you should really focuson your form before starting
to load up your barand push yourself too hard.
This is the main thing,the bad form or the
pushing yourself too muchbecause you look at your you did
(31:09):
the person beside you and you'relike, Wow, they are
lifting heavy.
So you try to push yourselfbut to a limit where you
just can't go, you know?
And we are there's a lot ofnot pressure, but you get very
encouraged into lifting heavywhile doing CrossFit.
(31:30):
This is what's dangerous.
Yeah, the height, the height,the height, the when you're in
the momentum and you're like inthe workout, you just want
to go, go, go back and be Yeah.
Damage and and dangerous for me.
When I got injuredit was the day before
the competition.
The day before that, my,my rest prior to the
(31:52):
competition, the last day,the last workout where I tried
to lift a little bit heavierto be ready for that lift.
Then my back.
I should just respect my bodyand not try to push it
over my limits.
Mm.
So you injured your spine?
Yeah.
Mm.
Yeah.
(32:12):
Okay.
And you're feelinga lot better now.
Oh yeah, definitely.
But I'm taking it slow and easy,and I'm doing it for fun not to
compete anymore and then go.
Okay, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Competition always changeseverything.
Everything.
If you were togive our listeners
(32:33):
a goal to reach, what would youlike to say to them
and how can theyput effort forth to reach
that goal?
I would say a goalwithout a plan is just a dream.
You need to set up a plan.
You need to know wherehow you're going to reach
(32:55):
that goal, because it'syou don't plan for it,
you're not going to achieve it.
It's very important.
But one other thing that ismajor is don't try to change
everything at once.
Go step by step, because bygoing all out, what's going
to happen is you willbe motivated for one week,
(33:15):
two weeks, and then after you'llgo back to your old habit
and you will feel likeyou're failing.
And you don't want to feel thatbecause this is the number one
dealbreaker you want to havelittle small success
along the way.
So by starting solo, by startingsmart, you will be
(33:38):
able to attain that goal.
But just trust the process.
Trust the process.
Because if, for example,you want to lose £30,
we all want to lose fast.
I want I want it out in a month.
But how many yearsdid it take you to put on that
(33:59):
much weight?
You need to respect your bodyin order to keep their result
for forever.
Need to change your habits.
So by trying to go too intense,then you'll just do the
yo yo and go back to your oldyour old self.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
And what about motivation?
(34:20):
How do you tell people tostay motivated if they start
losing their motivation?
Because life throws thingsat us right?
Mm. Yeah.
Everybody experiencelike eventually and motivation
is nothing.
It has to do nothing withsuccess.
Motivation is justa feeling of like, okay, I'm
(34:42):
going now.
I don't feel motivatedevery day.
Like this morningI went to the gym
and I was like, I don't feellike it this morning.
I'm tired, but it's discipline.
So you have to work onyour discipline.
Small little goals, andby building your self-confidence
as well, every little winwill build up your
self-confidence.
(35:03):
So by doing what you saidyou would do, then
will go to sleep.
You will be proud of yourselfand this is how you will
build discipline.
So it's just try to rememberwhy you started.
MM Try to rememberwhere you want to go.
One thing that really workswell with me is my vision board.
And I mean, like I analyzemy vision board every day.
(35:26):
I go in front of itand I talk to my vision board.
It can look weird,but this is how I was able
to build everything that I buildin the past years by talking
to my vision boardand by changing all of those
little stepping stone goalsthat I had to an
achievement board.
MM As soon as I was ableto reach, for example,
(35:49):
a stepping stone, losing £5,for example, then you take
the £5 and you move itto the achievement side,
so you get proud of yourselfand that will keep you going.
And most of the time people willjust have the vision board,
which is amazing.
But you just want more andmore and more without
(36:10):
without just being proud ofwhat you did.
Yeah, okay.
Never heard of anachievement board.
What a great idea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sometimes we don't realizeall the things we've achieved
until you sit there and youtake a look at it.
Right?
Exactly.
That was once.
Once a vision.
And now their achievements.
(36:31):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good advice.
And then why not working outwith others, you know, to have
the camaraderie, right?
The energy level, knowing thatyou're going to meet somebody
for a workout so you can'tnot go because they're
counting on you, right?
(36:51):
Or even a trainer, a coach.
Talk a little bitabout the benefits of those.
Yes.
Well, basically, you becomethe average of the five people
you surround the most timewith your trainer.
If your circleis not necessarily a good circle
of influence, your trainerwill be and will be an
(37:13):
amazing thing.
Influence for youto reach that goal that you have
of being healthy or feeling goodand your body.
So by rubbing shoulderswith that person, you'll be able
to get where you want to be.
And so this iswhy accountability is one of the
more powerful thing.
And in order to talk toto achieve your goals, though,
(37:36):
you have someonewaiting for you.
You have someone that you knowat 10 a.m.
is a waiting for you.
You'll go If you have no onewaiting for you, you might be
like, Oh, you know what?
I'm going to sleep in todayso that this makes a major
difference.
And yeah, yes, absolutely.
(38:00):
And you've proved that withwith your followers, your group,
right?
Your your people that you'vehelped, they're bringing others
to you now or in there you'rehelping them.
Their friends are tryingto help them.
It's a community.
Why not use that communityto your advantage?
Exactly.
(38:20):
That that community is free.
It's free.
And they need they need youand you need them.
So it's it's really a win win.
It's a it's amazing.
It's winning all together.
So much nicer to win in a groupthan to win by yourself.
Mm Yes.
So 2024 is around the corner.
(38:41):
Not everybody makes New Year'sresolutions, but what's,
what's in the futurefor you, Amelie?
Any anything new, Any changes,any ideas?
Honestly, it's key buildingwhat we are currently building.
We want to have a major impact.
We want to reach out.
We have a goal and visionas a team to reach 150 people
(39:03):
for before the end of 2024at our beach workouts.
So yes, this is their goaland I am sure we will be able to
to reach it.
Yeah, it's a lot of work, butit's such a this is such a great
the impact that we can helpmake people and make people's
(39:23):
feel better in their body.
So that's really the mainmaybe for us.
Yes.
Mm.
Okay.
Well maybe doing this podcastwill get some word out to a lot
of local people.
More people will come and seewhat's going on over there
on the beach at what is thatNorth seventh Street may want
(39:43):
to correct.
Exactly.
Yeah. Yeah.
And tell us about your business.
Let's talk about thata little bit, too.
Why not, right?
Yes.
So basically, we openeda smoothie bar on the beach
to be able to meet up.
First of all, it was reallyto create a community and to
meet upper clients.
So our place to do the wellnessevaluation and as as you
(40:04):
probably know, we includesome supplements into our meal
plan.
So a place where they can trythe products before buying them.
Because so many timesI've ordered things online
or I've ordered thingsthat I've been recommended to me
spend $100 and I get it.
And I'm like, Oh my God,I can't.
I can't because it'snot good at all.
(40:26):
And so it's it's really a placewhere they can try and taste
and see if the light or if theyare about to skip the meal
and they are in the area,they can stop and have a shape
and meal replacement shapein order to like fill them self
with proper nutrition,good things, you know.
So this is really a place,it's a one stop shop where we do
(40:48):
very well evaluation,where we meet our client,
where we do meetings,where we do presentation
as well, nutrition presentation,little activities.
So we for 2024, we really wantto be involved in the community
and we're trying to get knownas much as possible as the
(41:11):
healthy place.
And it's like the beach. Yeah.
When is your next nutritionmeeting?
Informational and what is itabout?
Usually it's the thirdweek of the month on Tuesday,
but now it's Christmas. Yeah.
So we are skipping Decemberand we will start again
(41:32):
in January.
And usually it's reallyabout nutrition.
So explaining peoplehow they should,
what kind of plate should theythey make the myths
about nutrition.
We're trying to break the dietcycle of like trying to eat
chicken and rice and broccolibecause it doesn't have to be
(41:53):
like that to loseweight, you know,
And that's what we thinkwe need to eat.
So it's really to tryto educate people about good,
healthy habits.
Yeah, well.
Huh.
Beachfront nutritionon the corner of Seventh Street
and A180.
Yes Cute little placeand I see now you're you're
(42:13):
putting up a outside terraceYes if the it give you
a little bit more space peoplelike being outside being able
to see the ocean.
Yeah we have such but with thesunrise in the morning too.
Yeah.
Prime location all. Right.
Amelie, Anything elseyou would like to
tell our listenersabout yourself?
(42:34):
Well, not just believe inyourself and you can achieve
whatever you like.
You just have to set your mindto it and be surrounded by the
right people and keep goingand forget about motivation
because that doesn't work.
Anything in your whole processis really it's really discipline
that will get you goingand that will build your
(42:57):
self esteem.
Okay, Well, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
I know people are going to enjoylistening to what
you've had to say and hopefullycome and visit you out there
on the beach or at yourbeachfront nutrition.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
Same to you.
(43:18):
You know, since Angela Brysonfrom the Loving Life
Fitness Podcast.
To help others in their fitnessjourney.
It’s all possible! It’s timeto wake up.
(43:42):
Here we go.
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