Amanda "Manders" | Nutrition Coach & CrossFit/Olympic Weightlifting Athlete

Welcome to the platform podcast. I'm your host Jordan Kunde-Wright, founder and head coach of the Twin Cities Kettlebell Club And I'm on a mission to help others build sustainable healthy habits I know how hard that can be because I've struggled and succeeded to varying degrees throughout my life But I've lost over a hundred pounds and kept it off for over a decade now the key for me was discovering my passion for lifting weights in Kettlebell Sport on this podcast we'll talk to athletes coaches experts and everyday people about Kettlebell's fitness programming nutrition mindset making an impact and generally striving to grow and leave a legacy of positive change Please join me. All right welcome into the platform podcast. My guest today is my first non-Kettlebell sport coach or athlete which I am very very excited about her name is Amanda soon to be teal But she simply goes by manders so I'm just going to call her Amanda and I'm very excited to have her on she is a nutrition coach and a CrossFit athlete Amanda wake welcome into the platform podcast. Thanks for coming on Thanks for having me. I was super excited me too so To get started Tell me first a little bit about your athletic background. How did you how did you come up? Were you a very athletic kid growing up or did you fall into more more as an adult? Yeah, I was going to say or lack thereof honestly. I was not I was not an athletic kid. I did dance and theater that was where my background came from and the only actual sport that I played was basketball But that was kind of a lost cause because I'm very short So I was not I mean, I was decent, but it was definitely not the sport for me So then I kind of just transitioned just into dance theater and the only real athletic background that I have came from dance Well, that's not to finish the athletics the athleticism dance at all because I was a theater kid as well as being an athlete Yeah, I was totally in theater growing up and I actually took a ballet class in college just to The actual intention of strengthening my ankles and getting better for football, but holy crap ballet is hard Ballet ballet is probably the hardest of the differences because when we were when we were in theater school You know, you had to do up sure you know a little bit of everything. So you had to do you know some jazz and tap ballet But ballet was by far the hardest Yeah, no, that was not my forte either, but in this flexibility aspect for sure helped me in CrossFit without a doubt Yeah, so let's let's talk about CrossFit you you got into it What in 2014 it looks like on your bio. So how did how did you stumble into CrossFit from dance? Oh my gosh, well, I wasn't doing it. It was dance anymore Like competitively and I did kind of miss that like competitive aspect of things and I just I wanted to I was like one of those typical girls You know, that was like oh, I want to go to the gym and I want to be fit And um, I actually started at Gold Gym. I was not introduced into the fitness world based on CrossFit I went to Gold Gym absolutely hated it. I was like this is horrible And then I remember seeing a picture of Christmas Abbott back in the day And I was like, oh, what does she do? And then it was like that's where that's where the whole thing started and then I remember I googled Propagines near me and in my true social anxiety self I went to the gym like three times, pulled into the parking lot, saw all the really fit people They were doing kettlebell farmer carries. I literally never forget this They're in the parking lot doing farmer carries all of them with their shirts off And I was like, I can't do this and I trouble So it took me a little bit to actually get it. I was very intimidated and then once I started it It was just definitely uh, that was it. I've never looked back Nice. So you're are you from Florida originally? Are you from the Midwest? Like I'm trying to put the dots together of how you were from Florida Atlantic to Yeah, how did how did that all mean All the different things. So yeah, I lived in Florida for a very very long time And then so weirdly enough My now fiance has a friend that lives or lived I should say where he grew up in the Quad Cities Which is where I live now and I had known this girl as well just through like the fitness world She's like another Instagrammer, you know fitness kind of girl We talked on social media here and there and one day I had noticed that she Well, let me back up. I'll sit my now fiance had sent me a DM in relation to One of the like hate comments I was getting on my YouTube channel and we I clicked on his page because I was like who is this and I thought that we had a mutual friend Our friend Bonnie So I reached out to Bonnie and we were talking and she's like, oh my gosh She must be the best couple ever. He's the nicest guy could not take a better guy for you And I'm like, okay, you know, I have very little extra case in here. We are Two years later and I moved from Florida to the Midwest for him and now we're getting married in October Congratulations That is fantastic Yeah, the DMs actually worked out for one Yeah, so let's talk about that like because you're I mean, I'm like I'm hovering right at right at like 499 followers and I've been I've been waiting to see when it click actually clicks over to 500 But you're at like, you know thousands of followers You're a big deal on YouTube. You're you're you're what they would call an influencer And so you know the funny the funny story of how of how I actually got in touch with you one of my athletes Was like oh this girl is awesome You should totally reach out to her and I sent you I sent you a DM on on Instagram And I think I prefaced by like hey, I'm not a creepy guy just trying to hit on you on Instagram One of my athletes actually refer me to you, but you know, I think she's several several weeks for you to get back to me because you're like I have literally hundreds of direct messages a day. I get like 500 DMs a day So tell tell me about that how much of it is like hey there's how much of it's creepers and like what what is your experience like now being kind of a social media You know, you're kind of a big deal on social media. So what is that what is that like oh god? Well, thanks. I don't I try not to like I never Like in there. I really I try not to be that way I got it when I said that word. Yeah. Oh, I know Um, but yeah, then the DM box gets a little out of control for me Um, but that's the funny thing about this and you know I I'm not one to say like oh love at first sight It wasn't like that because obviously I didn't know him But I will tell you that I typically do not go through my inbox DMs and respond to men I just don't do it. I've never done it. Um, I wouldn't say there's a Massive amount, but there definitely is a decent amount and I just to be honest with you There's so many and it gets overwhelming that I just don't even bother doing it a lot of the times I'll check through like they now Instagram has sorted it from all to like Top rated or something weird in your DM request where it will push to the top the ones that it thinks you want to see the most So that's weird, but yeah a new feature, but so back then when he had messaged me I Said to myself this is really bizarre that I'm opening this message because I don't do this But his message like he was not he actually wasn't hitting on me Which is why I think I opened it It wasn't like a hey, I'm sliding in your DMs He was literally talking about what this guy had said to me and that's how we engaged in conversation And I said to myself why are you opening this so weird? You don't do this And I always tell him like you know when we think back to that I'm like I swear there was like this little voice in my head that told me like no, no, it's okay You can you can open this bug. He's nice And so I did and it was just I listened to that little voice in my head and it was right and Yeah, so that that's how it goes in the DM box. It's a big thing His message was in response to a like a hate comment you got a hater comment you got on YouTube too, right? So like yeah, thanks for the thanks for the hater Something positive out of a hater comment. I did which I will forever be so thankful for that He allowed me to meet my future husband. So thanks a lot to that douchebag I didn't even know what the hell he was saying. I get so many hate comments. It's unreal like Oh, it's stupid is that is that mostly is that mostly Instagramers that mostly YouTube equal distribution or or is there I'm curious because I don't have much content on on YouTube yet and I've been thinking about putting more content there But part of the reason I haven't is I've heard that you're going to get a ton of like Oh, yeah, brutal brutal. I didn't start getting them. I got okay. I would say it's more on YouTube for sure but I What I did not know and I'm not going to like it too much in detail because I don't want to give them the cloud But there is an entire group of people you're never going to believe this Their entire life is dedicated to watching influencers such as myself or you know other fitness people Not going to name them out specifically, but there are some people That they watch and they are on a forum that they talk about are every move Hate on us watch every single video every single post and I mean they are nasty like when I first found this my mental health was Absolutely in the trash like I wanted to completely quit everything But then I realized that that's actually what they wanted and it is A terrible and it's not just me like there's so many other people on Instagram and YouTube that have these like Hard core group of haters, but it's weird because they're like Obsessed they watch everything they know every single thing we do and they discuss it and it is the most Weird thing that I never knew I was going to encounter when I started growing a social media following I never knew that was a thing Well, I will I will quote something I heard from from another social media person while someone He's not really dedicated to social media, but another coach in the figure competitor or at least says you only get hate from below So don't worry about it Nobody nobody hates from above you know down, right? It's never it's never the Let it have bigger followings than you or that have a more successful business than you that are hating you No, it's always people that are that are beneath you It's that you're always getting hate from the bottom. So don't sweat it very true basically is basically his point so Wow, that's that's crazy to me like what are the I mean What are they criticize you for because you have credentials like you put good content out there You clearly walk the walk that you know like I'm really curious What are they what are they hating on you for like you're you're Like So I think and you know it honestly like I think that's what bothers me about it so much because I have never ever ever been a fitness person Who has claimed to you know be something that they're not I I am the first person that will be a hundred percent of Front about my school journey my school journey has been Forever because I switched careers. I was somebody who was die hard on being in law enforcement And all of the stuff that I initially started out in with all criminology criminal justice this We'll guess what when you switch to exercise science. They don't care about that shit So you got to start to run around oh exactly and I don't think people get that so like a lot of the things like people will say like oh my god I should take forever to finish your bachelor's degree I'm like yeah, you know why cuz I'm paying for that pocket. Okay. I have zero student loan debt And I've switched my major literally like 10 times since like 2012 So like you know, it's taken me a while my first degree from the very first school I went to has nothing to do with this one that I'm doing now So like I kind of don't really focus so much on like a bachelor's degree And some for some reason that's like a big thing that people hate on me for and I'm not entirely sure why because it's not like you know It's not like I'm saying I'm nutrition certified when I'm not like I have a nutrition certification I actually just signed up for the nutritional therapy practitioner school which starts in September And I've always just been very honest about it So I think that's what bothers me is that like you know, I've never like scammed people I've never like I don't know I've never done anything like I never photoshop nothing that's like controversial And so like that's what's weird to me about the hate that I get is it's just like very mean And it's just like a lot of it too They will make fun of me for like my just physical appearance like they make fun of my face being round and Just all kinds of weird stuff that doesn't really have any you know something to but they still do it because they know that it's hurtful So I mean obviously it says more about them that does not mean but it's weird the things the things that people will Like discuss in such detail. It's just so weird to me now What what do you think the gender dynamic is there because like I I get I've gotten some some negative comments about my appearance But it's never been like to the degree that it feels like women are painted into the corner It's like if you're strong you get shit for being too big and too manly if you're skinny You get shit for being too skinny if you're not skinny enough. You should for being too fat like it's like it feels like no matter what you do You're gonna get hate for something Yeah, absolutely and that's kind of it's funny I actually talked about this in one of my most watch youtube videos to date It's titled the truth about gaining muscle because I was never really overweight I was a fairly small person you know five two and when I started I was like a hundred pounds I was you know what they would call skinny fat like I had zero muscle at all and The only way that I could get bigger in terms of gaining muscle was to eat more So when I would go through these like periods and bolts I would put on some fat because I was doing it naturally right and then they would be like This and then as soon as I would start to cut again after I had gained the weight Then I would look a little bit more Jacked because hello. I'm cutting the fat off of what I just built and then the steroid accusations would roll in and And I was like oh my god, she's on steroids and I'm like bro Do you know what a girl is actually on steroids looks like because like It ain't it, you know, so I go through those like different types of hating but can't your initial question. It's female A hundred percent no doubt the only time I ever get hate for the guy is always like they have no shame It will be their actual page and they will be saying something about being too manly But any of the other hate pommens that are from like Like YouTube or if they're quote-unquote anonymous They are 100% females because I'll tell you what no man in this fight line would go through the effort in time to make a fake Instagram account and be part of a forum and stalk people all day long and talk about their appearance Yeah, that's crazy. That is crazy. That is That is very crazy to me, but I mean right it seems like you're in a good place with it now I mean you said initially initially it Put a tax on your mental health a little bit, but talk about that journey a little bit How have you how have you kind of taken ownership of like of of your appearance and being a strong female? I mean because like I want to give you a shout out for what you just accomplished in the gym I saw you you put up a 205 pound clean and jerk right is I've got that right it was 200 205 pounds Clean clean and jerk on the on the barbell right that's that's fucking sick Thank you. Thank you. I actually I actually failed the 205 jerk But I was really annoying because I can jerk and clean separately both more, but I can't do it together But so that was a 200 pound clean and jerk Yes, and then it was a 205 clean with the failed jerk So it's very frustrating, but yes, it was 200 pounds Well, it was really exciting for me because I'm I'm 120 Four pounds right now, so that's pretty you know decent for a natural athlete So yeah, the the mental health journey and for that goes I think it hurts I'm never going to lie to somebody like when they when they ask me about it because it says I'm sensitive And I'm definitely I take what people say to heart more more so than I should and so like when they would make fun of me for being Quotal hope fat or what have you which by the way, I don't really Oh, that's a phone on their topic, but like you know fat shaming and this and that is just so Grinds my gears like nothing else, but um it did hurt my feelings It did and it was like I looked at myself differently and even to this day There's sometimes I'm like oh, I can't post offices my face looks to like chip monkey And so like it has an effect. It's just like kids being bullied in school You know like I can remember what kids would bully me at school for still today and I'm 26 So I mean it it definitely sucks But then like you just said you know people will do that to you from the bottom I've never had like a true friend ever do something like that to me Obviously and people that are in my corner are very supportive and very uplifting And that's kind of what it came down to which is really surrounding myself with those kinds of people And being secure in who I was like if you want to sit there and you know Talk to about me and say that you think I'm on steroids It's honestly a compliment because this is five years of natural work And you're just probably mad because you can't do it and you want to undermine what I've put it So I kind of got to that point where I was just like you know what screw it like these people are so lame I'm out here like actually trying to better myself both in the gym and then in school like who cares It was taking me a long time to get my second degree Okay, like this is not like I dropped out of school and I'm just like trying to act like I have some you know Bachelor's degree that I don't I'm still working towards it. I'm honest and I'm okay with that So I think just you know Going through it for all the years of people being nasty is kind of just built a little bit more thick skin I got Yeah, totally. I can I can relate I I understand the the being bullied in school The those things stick with you way more than way more than yeah It's it's one of those things that you don't kind of ever get over Did it? Did it ever progress into like disordered eating for you or I know that that happens a lot in especially in dance In the dance circles because you get a lot of pressure To be a particular size or a particular look did that did you ever did you ever go down that that dark path or did you were you able to avoid that that darkness? Yeah, no, I'm still thankful. I never I never ever had something like that And I think that's just because I was not at the age where it typically gets to be that intense I was still fairly young and just by genetics I was always a very small child So I never dealt with like being bullied for my weight as a kid I was always the opposite like my ribs stick out because of scoliosis and I was thin to like I would get bullied for my ribs sticking out So it's actually the opposite So I never dealt with that and then even to this day like I knew what I was doing what I was bulking like I was intentionally bulking I wasn't wasn't out there you know Volking like crazy gaining like 20 pounds of fat or something in a few weeks It was very slow and progressive so and I'm a nutrition coach like that's what I do So I knew that the end result was going to be what I want And I just have to go through that uncomfortable phase of gaining a little bit more But it never really Progress into any type of eating disorder. Thank God honestly because that's the one thing I can say that I Don't like struggle with as a coach myself. I have a really good relationship with food. I kind of feel like I always have Well, that's yeah, that's awesome and you clearly have a very good relationship with your kitchen Because I look at the pictures And I'm like oh Delicious. Oh wait, let's oh that looks delicious too. Oh that looks delicious too So let's talk a little bit about your nutrition approach and and your cooking Let's start with your nutrition your nutrition philosophy and approach because you have a you have a precision nutrition Level one, which I also have and that yeah, that's more of a it's not tracking macros It's more of the right to I won't say intuitive But it's it's designed to be more around behavior modification and Picking up habits and building building successful habits But it seems like your your approach and practice is a lot of tracking macros So let's just talk to me a little bit about how you how you manage those two approaches and kind of what your overall philosophy is when it comes to nutrition Yes, I think there's definitely a time and place for tracking macros I'm not somebody who wants to track macros for the rest of my life Nor do I think really anybody should want to have that as a goal But I do think that it's really important for people who have never done it And they are trying to achieve a specific goal You know, it's not the end all be all they definitely can make progress without tracking macros That my kind of philosophy on it is to understand both the quality and the quantity of what you're putting into your body It's just going to give you the best results and help you learn about what you're taking in Because that's kind of where I want my clients to be when they you know no longer work with me I want them to be confident in the kitchen and know what a serving of you know or what four ounces of chicken looks like Or you know when they're picking things off of a restaurant menu They know that this is going to make them feel good or this is going to make them feel bad And really I think what helps them get there is knowing what they're taking in both macronutrient and micronutrient wise Because just to give you an example like I had a new client who had never really paid attention to anything sodium wise In her diet and she didn't really understand that a lot of the processed things and a lot of like you know just junky style foods for lack of a better word have a ton of sodium in them And she was noticing through tracking her foods and then also tracking her weight That her weight kept spiking really really high and dropping back down And I was like well, you know let's look at your sodium like you're really really high in sodium on these days Let's let's try to focus on that and bring that back in And then she had message we've actually like oh my god my rings on my fingers are not super tight This whole week because I've eaten so much less sodium So like I think that's an interesting concept for people just so that they can see Oh wow I ate 4,000 milligrams of sodium when I don't eat for it but yeah Oh oh believe me I've seen it all So then they're like oh my gosh I feel so much better and it's kind of like light bulb goes off because they're able to understand what exactly they're putting in their body So I think for the philosophy side of things I want to be able to help people understand But then also apply it in the long term to where they don't have to always be weighing and tracking their foods Yeah, I think that I think the thread that ties the precision nutrition approach and the flexible macro nutrient tracking Diet together is is the longitudinal adherence component right they want it to the reason you track your macros Is so that you can have the pizza if you if you adjust for it right yeah Exactly you know on a given day like oh okay I'm going to have pizza tonight So I'm going to have no carbs with breakfast very minimal carbs with lunch And make sure I get my proteins and I keep my fat relatively low Get my veggies get my microbes and then if I have three slices of pizza With dinner it still fits my macros and I didn't blow my I didn't blow my diet out for the day because I accounted for it and precision nutrition is kind of similar vein where they're like hey you can eat anything that you want So long as you Make it work with your overall perspective for the week, you know, I that's exactly Those approaches together is that longitudinal approach of adherence and making it making it fit your life I like the way you said it like that You it sounds like you part of your philosophy too is you're trying to coach independence Like you you are the type of coach who is trying to develop people to no longer need you You're trying to make you're trying to make your make your job Obbs are not necessary after a certain point right to educate them to Yeah, I don't need to keep hiring you Correct absolutely and I think that's really helpful for people just to be comfortable with what they know And be able to educate themselves and then just be Confident and move forward without somebody telling them what to do Because I think something that I see a lot and I don't write nail plans obviously because I'm not a dietitian But sometimes people I see that's a lot more commonly in the bodybuilding space They will have these nail plans that they just blindly follow And they have no concept of what exactly they're eating Polarically come to find out once they start tracking back or that's like severely So really under eating and then they wonder why you know they're having all these issues It's been gene or or what have you and I don't want people to feel like when it comes to nutrition That they have to blindly follow these things I want them to be able to feel knowledgeable and learn something from me Because that is what makes me feel valuable as a coach is to be able to provide that kind of You know support whether it be something in the form of education Or just experience or support whatever it might be I just want people to be able to use me For as much as they can be a sponge and then go off on their own basically That's kind of my goal as a coach Nice and how often when you when you have when somebody hires you as a nutrition coach How often are you checking in with them and kind of what's your what's what does it look like from the client's perspective So I work for company called black iron nutrition And it's great because we have an interactive software So each of my clients we get a weekly check-in But they have access to me via the software at any time So a lot of times I'll have clients that will send me a message midweek And they'll be like hey I'm going out to eat at this restaurant tomorrow Would you mind taking a look at the menu and helping me do whatever So they can message me at any time But the check-in process basically depending on your goals We have a lot of different track options So I have some clients who are strictly weight loss I have some who are performance based I have some who are just general health And then I have like very very very new beginners Who are just trying to learn how to track So the questions and the check-in process Looks a little bit different from client to client But overall it's an interactive software where they can log their weights Their measurements We have check-in pictures Then they can think they're my fitness pal diary Which is my personal favorite feature software Because I can see every single thing that they're eating every day Some micronutrients And then like I said they're check-in questions Depending upon which track they're on essentially But once a week is the process for each client Okay, cool Now what about you personally? Do you track all of your macros right now? Or are you in more of an intuitive phase right now? Like what goals are you working on? I guess is probably the right way to frame that first and foremost Because that really depends on how specific you need to be Right? Yes, exactly And I've gone through plenty of those phases I was going through a bit of an intuitive eating phase Over the last like During quarantine kind of I was just you know going in and out of tracking Just to see because I have a habit of not eating enough When that when I'm not tracking Protein I'm good at But it comes to like carbs for some reason I'll just really want them free and post workout And then I kind of just like to get about them So for me it's more interesting to be eating them Can we dive in on that really quick? Because that's something that I'm trying to reinforce With some of my athletes Of the importance of carbs for performance Because there's such a great fear of carbohydrates Can you just elaborate on a little bit for me? Oh absolutely So our body uses energy in the form of glycogen Which comes primarily from carbohydrates So you literally need carbohydrates to function both brain health And in your physical health as well especially muscles So your muscles When you're people a lot of times I think because it's funny I adjusted a video on this too about sugar They have this like negative correlation between carbs and sugar But it's like there's so many different types of carbs and sugar And when we're talking about pre and post workout It's so beneficial to have those carbohydrates pre But then post even more so Because once you're tearing your muscle fibers Working out in the gym Your body needs to replenish that And it's going to pull from the carbohydrates The glycogen directly to like from energy That's the only source that's getting it from Obviously you know protein and fat plays minimal roles But the main source is carbohydrates So if you're somebody who's like an endurance athlete Especially but weight training Like you need to eat your carbs You just got to do it And let's you get some medical issue You know where your doctor is like Something there's actually a scientific reason Why you shouldn't be Every other CrossFit athlete Weightlifting endurance athlete Nades to eat carbohydrates Absolutely So one of the things that I find really interesting About the CrossFit mantra right Is the they pushed very much a Paleo No cardio Low carb kind of approach And I was like I get that from the perspective of Who most of their client base is coming from Like 80% of their clients are people Who are coming off the couch Trying to get back and show you know And then they get into it And so I completely understand where they're like Get off the couch, get off the carbs Was their tagline right for a long time Right Greg I think it was Greg Glassman Said that a lot Get off the couch, get off the carbs But to your point right now Right at a certain point When you get serious about knocking out your wads You need some freaking carbs Like Absolutely Both before After and probably throughout your day In order to have the glycogen stores To be able to To be able to hit a 45 minute high intensity session That's going to put you over anaerobic threshold For 10-15 minutes at a time Sometimes Yeah Got to have that glycogen It's so true I wish more people would realize that But it's funny because When I took my cross to level one certification This was back when they were really still I don't even know if it's like this anymore If they've changed it But they were still pushing the zone block Do you remember those? No Oh you did Okay so zone was like huge Before Paleo I think it was right before paleo I remember the zone diet But I'm not I'm not familiar with the tone The zone Zone block I'm not That to me is a blocking So I'm playing offensive lines Yeah So blocks were like Okay think about it in the terms of macros They would say you could have x amount of blocks per day And like each amount of blocks Correlated to a certain amount of protein carbs in fact So it was kind of like a way to track macros But it was way complicated people When I did a video on this People in the comments Some people said it's still popular I don't know Really I've never seen anybody still use it But anyways Point is when that When I was Listening to those cross with athletes Who were the L1 staff at the time I literally was like You are legit fellowship Because you don't eat this way And I said to one of them Who's actually my friend now Funny enough he was my L1 staff Now he's one of my friends I said bro you don't eat that way And he's like no I know He's like that's what we have to say And I was like okay Here we go So that's kind of like when I want to get away from It's like you don't need to be blindly following something You need to do what's best for you Yeah And that is such a huge thing From from my perspective One of one of our core principles For the Twin Cities catalytic club And for me personally is I'm anti-dogmatic I hate dogma so much Because it forces people into these rigid Boxes And it tries to homogenize people As though there is one right diet There is one right nutritional approach And it's like Bio-individuality is such a thing And like you have to adjust your technique Based on your lever length and your body shape You have to train differently Based on the type of muscle fibers That you have in your body And what your goals are You have to eat differently Based on what your body likes And what it doesn't like What makes you feel good What doesn't make you feel good Or makes you perform what doesn't Right like everybody We're all these like Wonderful unique beautiful Disasters of biochemistry And bio-mechanics And like to have a training philosophy Or a nutrition philosophy That's like everyone must do this To me is one of the dumbest things You can do as a coach Or as an athlete Or you know just as a person Like to follow blindly And not think Like what makes me feel good What works for me Like that That's one of those things It just Grines my gears Right Like that just Yeah Yes, I agree 100% So let's talk a little bit about your training approach Do you coach any Do you coach any athletes in the gym As well I know nutrition is kind of your Like your bread and butter part in the pun But do you also Do you also coach at coach athletes as well Or do any personal training Or program design as well Not anymore I used to When I think it was pre-COVID I would say probably from 2019 Like in the mid-summer to the end of 2019 I was doing one-on-one sessions But I don't really get as much fulfillment Out of that as I do with nutrition I love training But I have a hard time With one-on-one I don't know what it is My fiance is So good at it And I really am envious of the way That he is able to Just crush those one-on-one sessions And people love talking to him about stuff And I don't know There's something I'm lacking In the one-on-one personal training session And I don't know what it is But it's just not my favorite thing And so I told Austin When we were kind of going into this new year I was like I really don't think I want to do PT sessions anymore They're just not fulfilling to me Now class setting I like I don't mind coaching class settings At all I have a lot of fun with those It's like being on stage for a performer Yeah It's definitely fun And you get your little group of people That normally come to take your class And that's super fun for me But I don't love coaching people to coach As much as I like coaching people to eat Or I mean coaching people to train Or so to eat it I don't know why I was just a personal preference I guess Oh I mean because I'm going to say I love working out But I love eating way more Like if you're a good nutrition coach And you can teach people how to make food That's delicious and fits their lifestyle Than their goals They're going to love you so much Because you're going to make them happy and healthy I mean that's fantastic That's a great thing What about your own personal training You're obviously you're pretty accomplished I mean your ratio on your clean and jerk Was like a 1.65 And just to contextualize that for people When I was a college offensive lineman On a football scholarship I cleaned and jerked 350 pounds At the body weight of 260 pounds And so that puts my ratio at like 1.4 Your ratio at 200 pounds at 125 is 1.6 So you're actually putting up more weight Clean and jerk at a better ratio To body weight than I was doing at 260 pounds So that's legit badass I just want to call that out Like that is legit Oh god thank Wait so you're putting up some serious numbers How have you gotten there? You said five years of work Like what's been your approach to training Man okay so I started CrossFit Diet CrossFit I learned the snatch and the clean and jerk Through my CrossFit gym Then my coach who owned the gym And my very first CrossFit gym I think he or one of the other members Was like I think he would be really good at Olympic weight listing And I was like okay Like I just I did what anyone told me at that point I was so like in love with it all But I was like yeah Um so I started Olympic weight listing in 2016 I want to say There was really um even though it was 2014 It was like the very very end of 2014 When I joined the gym it was like November I think and I didn't really get into until 15 So then I want to say it was either the end of 2015 Or early 2016 that I started competing in weight listing And I really enjoyed it Because at the time before they changed the weight classes I sat perfectly as a 53 Like I never had to cut weight I mean maybe a couple of pounds of water weight Just to make sure I was there But I sat just naturally at that weight And I was pretty For a local you know level I was pretty competitive And I made states and um I qualified for The American Open Series which I competed out And then this year had it not been for COVID I would have competed for I don't know I can't think of what it's called anymore Because I'm so out of the loop for these days But I started with that And then it's funny that you ask a question Because I go back and forth so much Like I'll do Olympic weight lifting So leave her a little bit And then I'm like I hate this I want to go back to CrossFit And then I'll do CrossFit And I'm like okay I'm bored I want to lift again And then I go back to lifting So after going back and forth Like that for literally years I mean I'm talking like I competed a lot of Paloza Crossgames like die hard CrossFit only And then I would go complete 180 to Olympic weightlifting And what I've learned is that you really can't do both successfully If you want to be competitive So I kind of just decided that I was going to do just what I enjoyed Which is honestly a little bit of everything So like I'll do some of them to weightlifting But then I will do CrossFit workouts And I really enjoy gymnastics So I work on a lot of like skill work And that's kind of where I'm at now Which is like a nice big hybrid of all of the above Nice Yeah and for people that are Uninitiated to the Olympic weightlifting scene Part of the reason you can't do CrossFit And Olympic weightlifting competitively at a high level Is because the the scheme is very different Like CrossFit is doing sub maximal load For as many reps as you can do In a particular time or as fast as you can go To a certain number of reps Whereas Olympic weightlifting At the highest competitive level Is one rep maximum output And those are very different physiological goals To train for You have to train your systems very very differently for that That's such a pain Because I really do enjoy both of them in different ways But I learned like through a lot of A lot of mental breakdowns from a platform That it's just not possible As much as I wanted it to be I just could not be the best weightlifter That I could be Or the best Cross but actually that I could be If I was doing them simultaneously Yeah, yeah it's really hard It's really hard to conjugate those two Because they're just Antithetical goals I mean you can't work on your one rep max And your endurance at the same time Like they're just They're just medical goals from a system perspective But I will say Yeah Cannibal sport and CrossFit Actually go really well together I don't know if you've ever done Cannibal sport But I would love to see what you could do On the platform with Cannibal sport Oh you'll have to Very analogous to CrossFit You would actually I think you would really Oh You have to send me the link to it Because I am really interested in that I would love to I would be so happy to introduce you to Cannibal sport It is very very fun And it really aligns Like people who are really good at Olympic weightlifting Like the technical components of it And people that are really into CrossFit tend to really like the mental challenge of it Because it's for time And it's for you're trying to do as many reps as you can With a specified rep Or with a specified weight For this period of time You know usually 10 minutes And it's very very challenging But it's also highly technical So it's that sub maximal load For time With as many reps as you can With the heaviest weight that you can manage But it's three specific movements Just like in powerlifting Or Olympic lifting It's only So it's clean and jerk Is called long cycle Jerk which you're familiar with jerk And then snatch But snatch is done with one hand So it's one bell in one hand And you go five minutes per Well you only get one hand switch in a 10 minute set And so you Typically people switch at the five minute point But you can do it You know whatever strategy works best for you But I think you would find it very very fun So I will Oh yeah, I always have more than always I'll try anything Cool So the next thing The next thing I really wanted to give you a chance to talk about Is why you don't drink And I know this is I know this is a big thing Kind of grinds your gears, right? Is that You have You're very public about the fact that you don't drink And I want to just give you an opportunity To talk about why that is And you know why that's not Cool, right? Why isn't that cool I don't know But I just want to give you the microphone And let you let you rant a little bit about Why you don't drink And how you how you want to make that cool I know I really wish I think there actually is So if you're not familiar My YouTube channel is simply meander And I just did a video The I think it was this past Monday And it's called Why I don't drink alcohol Straight edge 26 year old And I get this question a lot Because a lot of people who are tracking their macros They ask me how to track their alcohol Or how to do this and that And it kind of just kept getting brought up And I am probably One of the only people that I know Who doesn't drink at all And who also never has drinks But when I posted this video I got a lot of comments from people who were like Oh my god, thank you for saying this Like I just didn't know that like You know how to how to verbalize this Why I don't drink and why I wish people would stop asking me Or forcing me and there is A lot of people out there like me I just didn't know that And so that's why I decided to open up about it And I think for me personally It's been a combination of things So the first thing being is my dad Who I no longer have a relationship with He's been out of my life for a while But he had a lot of mental health issues But it would also correlate with drinking And as a child when I would see drinking happening There was also something negative happening along with it So I think that deep rooted It kind of created this correlation of Drinking equals bad Like something bad is going to happen And type of arguments and type of fight Some type of unhealthy behavior And it was things that like I can still remember Even when I was really little So that happened And then I think when I was eight My uncle actually died in a drunk driving accident And I remember being so upset about this Because I was just like I don't understand How somebody could drink and drive Like that was my huge thing That kind of scared me going into high school Like when I started understanding What could happen when people would drink and drive And I just for whatever reason When I started seeing people change Like they would start to get drunk Or their personalities would just become different I started feeling really uncomfortable And that was kind of like The start of noticing that I just felt differently about it Like I was never one that wanted to know what it felt like To be drunk or to do drugs I've never done either of those things And I just remember even like for my high school prom I didn't even go to it Because I was the one that was driving All of the kids who were drinking To and from parties Because I was so scared that some of them Were going to drink and drive and kill people So it's kind of been like a fear factor And then the more that I got older I started having stomach issues And then the GI doctors were basically like Here are some things that you really should avoid And alcohol was always at the top of the list And so it kind of gave me an excuse And I relied heavily on that as a crutch So I'd be like, oh great, like my stomach issues Don't allow me to drink I can just use that as a excuse The social permission to tell people Oh sure, I can't drink Because my doctor said it's bad for my stomach Yeah, and then so that's kind of where the whole thing started With you know, like why am I lying? I'm not really lying But why am I not just saying because I don't want to And also why is that not okay? That was where this video was born essentially Because it should be okay Like there should be no other acceptable response To where if you offer someone a drink And they say no, thank you Your only acceptable answer should be Okay, do you want anything else? That's it And the amount of times I have had to get an R9 With old, running just one Oh my god, why First of all, bitch, it's not your freaking business Second of all Second of all Why do you care what I'm putting in my body Like just think about that if the rolls are reversed And I was running around McDonald's With some like, you know, salad of health I don't know And I was like, why are you eating that? Like you need to eat this You just just have one bite Just have one bite You know, it's just like nobody does that So why do we do it the opposite way for drinking I just cannot contextualize it So I know, I just I wanted to put it out there About like it's okay for you to not drink For whatever the reason may be And I don't and I'm okay with that And now at this point I kind of pick and choose When I want to get into it If I'm out of social setting and people are drunk asking me I don't even bother But if someone is just like genuinely curious And they're like being respectful Then I'll absolutely explain to them, you know And you're not judgmental of people who do drink Like from what from what you've put on what your YouTube videos Like it's you're all about like it's your choice What you put on your body And I choose not to put this in my body Like I mean with the obvious exception of You know if you're being if you become an asshole Or you're being you know you're being dangerous Or treating people poorly Then obviously we should all care When that when it becomes a negative thing But it like you know if if somebody chooses To have a drink you don't care about that Right but Oh right that's exactly And it's just weird Right and what I find really interesting about this Is you know I have I've tested this theory myself Actually and when somebody asked me So like they'll offer me something wherever I am And I was like oh no think so don't drink And then if they say why I have tested being like oh I'm sober Initially kind of Incinuating that I'm recovering Which you got a problem before yeah Yes and their mentality then from that point is Oh my god good for you So proud of you And I always been going to understand that Because not taking anything away from recovering Alcohol extended that is fantastic That you're recovering you're sober now But I don't understand why the choice To not do it is also not I'm not asking for you know patent back or congratulations But I'm just saying that the respect issue Is not there for some reason Why is their positive affect associated with being in recovery Versus positive no positive affect for Just I just choose not to and I never have Just choose not to Right exactly and I don't know why That has to be such like a Crazy zinc or people to to understand But it's just near that it's just not respected Like if I offer somebody something to eat And they don't want it I'm not going to be like oh my god why I know it's weird to me It is it is a very it is a very it is a very weird thing And it's uh I love your I love your unofficial sociological experiments As somebody who studied psychology and sociology in college I find I find your sociological experiment Of testing different responses Very fascinating and fun and that's totally something I would do too I'm just to see what the what the different responses are But uh So how do you handle it with your with your clients When they when they do ask you because what most people don't actually know is alcohol actually is the fourth macro nutrient technically Yeah, obviously our our body can't actually process it because it's poison It's a very diluted poison all depending on the proof It's it's moderately diluted or very diluted poison But how do you handle it with your clients? I mean I think that is actually a good a good question that a lot of people would love the the opinion of of an expert on How should they adjust for alcohol and how do you track it in your macros if you're if you're serious about losing weight But you still want to be able to have a glass of wine, you know with dinner or you know something like that how should they go about tracking it? Yeah, and there's definitely no If you want to do it there's no proof that it's going to completely hinder your progress like yes There is definitely some negative side effects to it But for the most part you can like you said have a glass of wine and mac Alcohol has seven calories per gram, whereas you know fat has nine and carbs and protein have four so you can't Actually log it in the way that like the nutrition label on the bottle Well actually, I don't even know did they have it on the bottle because I've never looked at this but I know that like No, most I will say most most alcohol companies are not going at least when you're talking about hard liquor They are not going to they're not going to advertise what the calories are you will see it more in Your beer and like seltzers and things like that that are Typically, I'm just gonna say when they're being marketed to women or two people who are health conscious Then they will highlight the calorie count because they'll be like only 96 calories per can or only 110 calories per can or what That's I was just thinking yeah, they always have like oh only this per can or something like that So in that case what you would do is if you can find what the calorie amount is you can basically either Divide it by four to account for carbs Or you can divide it by nine to account for fat or you can kind of split it evenly between carbs and fat and and log it as that So it just kind of depends on what you feel more comfortable with I would probably just suggest to do it as both just because it's even and then you would have to Just leave that kind of blank you can create an entry if you really wanted to in my fitness house or however many carbs and fat You want to log it towards but there's kind of like it's not picture perfect Yeah, and If you want to nerd out a little bit here Please do how does your body actually process alcohol because it doesn't it doesn't process in the same pathways as either carbs or fat So can you talk a little bit about about that that process internally? Yeah, okay, so I actually think it's really great that you said that alcohol is poison because I think a lot of people forget that and It actually is So alcohol is broken down in your enzyme in your liver cells and it's called alcohol I've never I always just associated ADH that's what the The lettering is what it's alcohol dehydrogenate Oh god I totally but turned that word but you get the point ADH Yes, thank you. I always say that wrong So basically it's broken down in your liver and it takes about an hour to metabolize it, but I think It's different because people think that it's being like digested in the way that like your body uses protein carbs and fat It's actually not so I think that's why it's to be expelled from the body Yeah to literally be expelled and that's kind of why um, you know, you're they'll say like oh your blood alcohol content is this It's because it's eliminated through your bloodstream So that's what's happening when you're ingesting alcohol your liver Is breaking it down in the tablet and your liver with the enzymes and then it's being expelled through your bloodstream So really fun fact for you there Yeah, and and I've heard that um, and that's one that's one hour per serving of alcohol And I think people need to be really clear on that you know You talked about macro tracking helping people understand what the actual what servings actually look like as a trained bartender I can tell you that a 1.5 ounce serving of booze is that's our one point five ounce pour of booze is one serving One beer is one serving a three ounce pour of wine is one serving Well if you're holding you know a typical red wine glass that will hold like four or five servings in one glass And most girls that I make are going to have uh two to three ounces of of of spirits in them And you know depending on the you know the ABV of a beer it may have one point five servings of alcohol right So like people tend to underestimate their servings of alcohol consumption in the same way that people underestimate their Their number of calories or their macros that they consume so it's it's really important to understand that component of it as well It's it's per one serving that it takes an hour for your body to process and I've seen research that indicates that in that one hour that your body is processing the alcohol It's not doing anything else positive right? It's not it's not doing protein synthesis to help you rebuild new muscle tissue It's not metabolizing fat to to help you get to help you lose Body fat. It's it's not doing any of the things that our workouts are supposed to be helping us with or are that your goals are typically centered around Because your body because it's poison your body prioritizes Hey, we need to get rid of this before it kills us and it stops all the other major processes And I am I write in in that kind of Yeah, reduction of science Yeah, no, you're 100% accurate and that's why I was kind of laughing when you said it's literally poison because You don't typically hear people say that. I mean, I say that but I never want to say that to people because I don't want to seem like I'm judging them or being like Wow, I'm applying it in your body. You know, I'm not here to screw anyone's feelings Clearly wish I love that but yes, it's it is true and I think well if I remember correctly the alcohol gets eliminated from your bloodstream at it is like point point 0.01 per hour or something like that and like you said people are underestimating how much is actually in their drink So it takes your body a lot to metabolize and a lot to get rid of it So it's not doing anything other than legitimately poisoning you and then making your body work to excel it Yeah, and the the intoxication piece is always so fascinating to me because you know and that that that rate of Expelling is dependent on a lot of things, you know like how how damaged your liver may or may not be Your stress Hydration your food your you know all of the stuff. Yeah, so there's so many factors and then there's the whole thing from a psychological standpoint That's really fascinating to me has always been really fascinating to me a state dependent intoxication right so the the context within which you Typically drink matters for your perception of intoxication and how much it affects you That's why like you drinking with your friends as you normally do you may have two drinks and it's it doesn't get you buzz But when you go to a concert you have two drinks and suddenly your buzz Even if it's the exact same alcohol content because the context exchange and your body doesn't process it in the same way Like there's so many fascinating components to that. I know I'm nerding out a little bit too much on that No, I actually love I didn't know that Yeah, there's there's and then there's state dependent learning Which is the you know for somebody who hasn't who hasn't drank in their life? I can tell you as somebody who has drank in their life That there are there are motor skills that you actually learn if you typically learn them when you are intoxicated You are not going to be as good as good at them when you are not intoxicated Which is the you know the j-curve of like darts and darts and pools pub games right so you'll hear people that say like Oh, I'm not any good at darts until I've had two beers Well, that's because that's when they started learning to play darts and is after they had two beers And so that's when they learned and their body adapted to that learning environment And they learned the skill in that state so until they've had two beers They're actually accurate that they're not as good at darts until they've had two beers But then there's obviously the curve you know the inflection point of diminishing returns where once you've had You know four beers suddenly or your motor skills are now compromised. So Oh wow, that's so interesting. I did not know that Yeah, it's a super interesting phenomenon might you know if you feel like nerding out and rabbit holding down some research You can look at state dependent learning and state dependent intoxication. It's uh it's very it's very fun research and Uh, it's it's very interesting to point people to and to read some of those things, but uh That's awesome That's uh that's that's neither here nor there just an interesting An interesting uh nerdy phenomenon that I that I'm aware of from somebody who has nerdy phenomenon So now let's how I want to give you we've got like Well, I want to be respectful of your time. We blocked an hour I always want to be respectful of people's times But I do want to give you a chance to gush a little bit about about your hubby to be Because I mean he's he's a very handsome man. I can I can very comfortably say that he's he's a good looking guy And you guys are clearly both very into the uh into the fitness industry and you've also been posting a lot of your wedding prep and some you know You've put some cool stuff out there about your about your about your personal life So just I'm just gonna give you a chance to gush about your husband to be a little bit Oh, I like that to end on a little positive love. You know, that's cute. Yeah. Oh gosh He's great. Um, I mean he is a year typical like midwestern nice I mean just like your good old-fashioned Iowa nice guy He is so friendly. I've literally never met somebody that didn't like him. He could talk to a cardboard box Like he's just so personable and he knows how to talk to people I think that's one of his strongest attributes He just is like I mean he talks to people all day long from personal training because that's what he does primarily And it's just like incredible to watch him listen and so intently and he just is like the best He's just like a great problem solver because he doesn't get worked up about anything So you have like him on one end of the six and then you have me the polar opposite who's like nervous nelly 24-7 panicking about everything So it's great that we're able to come together and meet in the middle because there's no way That like I could be with anybody other than him like he is of my other half that is so complimentary to me But then it's good for him too because he has a hard time like standing up to people You know just cuz he's so anti-confrontational and he's so nice But like unfortunately people will take advantage of him for that and so And the mom will be there like yeah I'm like hell no we're into in that and so like I typically am the one not full like you know Tell people know or you know It's just great. We have a really good balance And he obviously is passionate about fitness and I can't say as much as the nutrition side of things though You would literally die if you saw what he eats in a day. It's embarrassing The joys of those genetics though his whole family is like so jack it's I kind of low-key hate him now because I mean he's a handsome second man He's tall. He's got his six pack going on and apparently he doesn't eat yeah real great. He doesn't eat that well I kind of you want to know I kind of low-key hate him a little bit right now He literally just text me from the other room He was like I hope your podcast is wrapping up soon because I have a pizza being delivered in 10 minutes and I was like I believe the whole thing too great Yeah, you know, but it's it's great that he's it's great that he's a kind of a very strong compliment that actually like my my wife And I have been together for all 15 years now and it's we're very similar in I'm super I'm super outgoing and she's more introverted and you know, I'm I'm I'm a bit I'm a bit much sometimes and she balances me out I'm aggressive and she's more conservative, you know, like just yeah, she's more risk averse I'm more risky so like it's it's very nice to have that that Yin and Yang, you know, the perfect Well, that's that's fantastic. I'm I wish I wish you guys really nothing but the best I'm so glad that you found each other because some asshole on YouTube Negative comment and he felt compelled right that he felt compelled to reach out and just be like hey not everybody out Here's an asshole and you opened your DM For against against your your usual protocols. So yeah, that's what it tends to work out so walk Well, man, just thank you so much for coming on. I really I really appreciate your time And I really enjoy this I really enjoyed this conversation and I want to make sure that we wrap in time for you to go enjoy your your pizza with With Austin Thank you for watching him eat people. Well, thank you so much for having me if it fits your macros you can you can have a slicer too Right, you know, if you if you to told you that he was gonna order pizza you probably would have made sure that it fit but You know that's that's something you guys can figure out but um before we sign off just how can people find you How can they hire you how can they you know see what you're doing on Instagram on YouTube I want to give you a chance to make sure that you can you can plug yourself because You're obviously a really good coach and you're you're doing it the right way trying to help people learn and and you know teach them as much as you can So I really appreciate that perspective, you know, give yourself a shout out and let people know how they can find you Well, thanks. Everything is just simply meander on Instagram and YouTube and take talk to but there's really not much Fitness content on there it's both in my dogs And if you want to check out my dog that's really the best part of my life actually They're simply smooters on Instagram and they are amazing And I also have these like specific voices for all three of them and like have full-on conversations with them And people say that it really improves their day so and I totally said we were gonna talk about that So like two minutes I'm just gonna say you have three pit bull mixes of some They're all rescues and you do merchandise for them that benefits the shelter that you got them from which is fucking awesome And I volunteer there every Thursday so every Thursday on my Instagram on my stories You get to see the adoptable dogs that are at the shelters and no kill shelter that I volunteer at and they're awesome like It's just so amazing and people love to see the dogs And I also really like to educate people on rescuing and pit bulls as well because I'm sure as you know They have such a bad reputation but all three of mine like will literally change your mind about pit bulls if you ever had any type of You know There's such there's such there's such there are no bad pit bulls just bad pit bull owners. They're such Yeah, absolutely never met one that I don't love so Me too Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time and I'm gonna let you go But I really appreciate you coming on. I really enjoyed the conversation. So thank you so much Oh, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it. No problem. Talk to you soon Bye Thanks for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. I'm Jordan Kunde-Wright If you have a question, please email me at twincities kettlebell club at gmail.com Follow us on instagram and facebook at twincities kettlebell club on twitter at tckb club Online at twincities kettlebell club.com And please help us grow our reach and give us a review on apple podcasts spotify stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Until next time