Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
Hi! I’m Josh Elledge, the Chief Executive Angel of SavingsAngel.com and welcome to the SavingsAngel show! I’m podcasting to you from a windy and chilly Orlando, Florida.
I am an extremely busy consumer expert, money-saving advocate, syndicated newspaper columnist, and the guy that turns digital entrepreneurs into media celebrities with UpMyInfluence.com. I love what I do and can’t wait to get going on today’s episode.
In order to help you save more, earn more and live more abundantly on today’s show I’ll be covering:
- Weight Loss For Busy Parents, Part 1
- Stay Accountable Losing Weight
- Group Coaching Program
- Own Your Physical Wellness
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And as always, if you have any specific questions, or if there is something you’d like to hear me talk about, you can drop me a comment in the podcast feedback, write me on my Facebook group, or call my podcast hotline at 407.205.9250 and leave me a message. I’ll answer your question, write you back, or – with your permission – I might even share your question or story with others on this show.
Have a wonderful week – full of saving more, earning more, and living more abundantly – and thank you for listening!
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00:02
Right with this right now we've got Amanda Ward, who is my friend Amanda, we've been friends for 556 years, something like that. It's been a whole year. And I, Amanda, you're you're one of my go to people when it comes to health, wellness, certainly fitness and weight loss. And you have just such a great philosophy on all of this and you work so well for particularly busy parents, which I happen to be my wife is a busy parent. You do a lot of great work with your community, which is just so wonderful supportive. And I can say that, personally, having now been a part of that for quite some time. And what I wanted to create with you Amanda is this is a subject Weight Loss and wellness is is a subject that's, that matters a great deal to me simply because, you know, a number of years ago, gosh, it was about 1112 years ago, I was about 50 pounds heavier than I am right now. I used to be kind of a big boy, and it wasn't a good look for me. And I, you know, it impacted my health impacted my energy it impacted by sleep, it impacted my ability to play with my kids in an active way that that I've been able to since that point. And I know, Amanda, that that, you know, that extra weight is is something that, you know, it affects a lot of people and and I kind of share that in that the you know, I've been fit in my life, you know, from a, you know, what did the scales and the charts have to say, and then I've been very unfair From what to the scales and the charts have to say, and I have to tell you like I, life for me, is just a lot easier. It's a lot. I feel like it's more in alignment with who I am on the inside when I have that fullness of energy and that that vibrance and that life and and again, I'm only speaking for myself in terms of, you know my own journey with us, but I wanted to share this three part series Amanda for someone else that maybe identifies with a little bit of what I'm talking about. Or maybe it's not that psych deep and psychological for them. Maybe they're just looking in the mirror and they're like, Yeah, I don't like that won't fix that. Right. Amanda are my go to person to talk about that. And so this three part series we're going to have the videos are going to be on our YouTube channel for savings Angel the we're going to Three conversations are each going to be in an episode of savings Angel. And then if you go to savings, Angel calm, you'll find all three episodes and Amanda and this first one, we're going to talk about general weight loss for busy parents, what's not working for busy parents and what does work for busy parents. And then we'll talk about some of the work that you've been able to do and some of the results and we'll talk about our my own results and working together. And the well I'll just spoiler alert, Amanda in less than six days. In fact, it was 43 days. I had lost three and a quarter inches off my waist since you and I started working together. Yeah, and now another quarter inch in. I guess it would be less than two weeks past like I'm still yapping which is crazy. And we'll talk about like what you and I did over the course of these three episodes. But Amanda, forgive me for monologuing. So, so long, thank you so much for joining us.
4:07
Oh my gosh. Well, thanks for having me here. I'm excited to talk about what I do every day. What would you and I got to share together and congratulations. I know, it's fun to hear you say that not just because, okay, nobody is opposed to dropping several inches off of their waistline. But it's about what that means for you and how like what you learned in the process and how it's not just about pant sizes. It's about oh my gosh, like there's so much more in here. And that's kind of my world is what's what's in there.
4:37
Yeah, yeah. So Amanda, you are on the web at awarding life.com which, which kind of cute because it's a play on your name as well. Amanda ward.
4:49
That's right.
4:51
And so, in this first one, I want to talk about a little bit of the psychology of what's going on, and why is it then You know, again we just went through Christmas the holidays and you know there's so much going on. It's chaotic. It's the What did you call it? The vortex?
5:10
vortex? Yeah, that space between Christmas and New Year's where you don't know what's going on what day it is what time it is where your schedule is. Yeah,
5:17
right. Right. So obviously when we have that many things put into our schedule, and then we're surrounded by unhealthy food. It's very, very common that that a lot of people are going to put on a few pounds during December right?
5:33
Yep. Yep. And and I don't know if this is relieving to whoever's listening, but if you just put on weight in the past couple of weeks because of the things that have snuck in or crept in or that you don't usually have it's not the end of the world like that is such an easy thing. And it's really just your body's like freak out reaction. I don't I I am pretty Taipei but I think across the board of personalities, we've all freaked out from time to time had a meltdown reacted to something about And that's really what our body is doing. So that's an easy fix.
6:03
Well, cool. So what what is happening when people get so busy? And why does that end up being contrary to maybe a full physical? Well being?
6:20
I have to say, you know, when you when you bring up the term fizziness, it's, I know, it might not feel fun to hear this, but it really is about an awareness of our priorities, right? Like, it's no question that these things have to get done or that it It feels maybe even externally good to do all of these things, or you feel like you have to maybe it's work stuff, whatever. But the long and short of it is that at the end of the day, I don't have to ask very many people to get a consensus that health and fitness and wellness personal wellness is a priority for me. But the question is, is how is our daily living aligned with that priority and that's where The ball really like falls into our own court. And when we get caught up and maybe temporary or external standards and demands of just going through the motions, taking things off the list, it's easy to go, oh, I'll get to that, or January 1 is coming or Oh, summer body, I'll start working on that in March or whatever, it's easy to kind of like attach on to these cultural influences. That is the diet industry. Hello. Um, and so business really kind of is just a big distraction from what's really important to us.
7:31
You know, it's interesting, I was just going through a bunch of old photos and kind of preparation for our work together, because I wanted to find a couple of pictures when I was at my heaviest. And I noticed some patterns and that is, is that I was in pretty darn good shape. And then I got married, and then I put on some weight. And then, many years later, we had our first child. And so when Olivia was born, Boy, I really got big and so I don't know why it's sympathy. Wait, I've heard you know, dad's kind of putting that on. But that really, you know, was were kind of, I kind of let myself get to a place physically where I wasn't really happy with that.
8:23
Yeah, well, you know, you say that you're a mom
8:25
as well Amanda.
8:26
Well, I was gonna say this is a major life event and we can't even talk having a baby up to being busy. Like that's a huge thing. And it happens to so many of us so are you telling me Amanda that because I had a baby like, no, I need to put the baby down because my health and fitness is important. No, but we learn to adapt around things. And if we don't have constant and consistent reminders for ourselves of what is important to us, we're gonna easily get sucked in another direction. That's human nature and I love it being said like this. Like We all have blind spots, right? And we can't see our own blind spots. We need somebody else to pull us like kind of just a little to the side and go, Hey, but don't forget, yes, your baby is the most important thing in the world to you and you're really enjoying this downtime, or maybe you don't feel like working out right now or whatever. But wait until she's three or four, he's five or six and you want to be out there running around and doing all these things, and 3030 to 40 plus pounds, whatever that is that you gained during that time, that's going to stop you from doing the things that you really want to do. So a lot of it again, I come back to the word awareness and alignment like staying connected and it's not all or nothing. You don't have to go to the gym seven days a week and you know, only eat lettuce and you know, like there are ways to make life doable, enjoyable and convenient and still be honoring your desires.
9:50
And again, I should point out that in Episode Two or conversation number two, Amanda we're going to talk specifically we're going to do a little bit more deeper dive on eating now. Number three, we're going to talk about exercise. And as a bonus in Episode Three, on the savings Angel show podcast, I'm actually going to share how I was able to get the politan experience for about one third, one fourth, the cost. I'll go through all the numbers, exactly what I did, because that was something that was helpful for me personally. But in this conversation, Amanda, I really want to focus on how is it Listen, you know, putting on 2030 pounds. It's not hard to do, like, I think a standard like American lifestyle, like I can just talk specifically about, you know, going and visiting family. And I'm looking at the food options that are kind of like culturally foisted upon us. And you know, when, you know, over the past couple months when I've been very conscious, you know, when dessert has been offered to me, and then I'm like, No, thank you. Oh, come on. It's the holiday. days or, you know, there is a lot of cultural pressure to wait a minute, why would you not, you know, imbibe, you know, why would you not have extra drinks? Or why would you not have, you know, extra dessert or that sort of thing and that's culturally, it's just, it's very normalized.
11:20
Oh my gosh, so much and, you know, you're really really pinging on like, my, my, my nerd out zone, which is human psychology and behavior and how the nutrition melds with that and all of that, but, but what you're really paying on is human psychology. And the fact is, is that when we don't have structure, accountability, a plan and understanding of what's good for self and what is in our best interests, when we don't have those things in place, and some boundaries and parameters around them. We will always fall back on whatever the loudest noise is, we will always fall back on either an old strong hand It or what's going on around us in the room or what the environmental influences tell us, we will always adhere to that. Because, you know, as human beings, we're in a constant conflict of creature comfort, do what feels good. Do it now. And wait a minute, that's not going to turn out very well for me, let me plan ahead. Let me make better decisions like those. That's our conflict. It's our prefrontal cortex versus our, our lower brain, which some people call the animal brain. So you know, instincts versus really like, better self thinking is what's going on there.
13:00
Well, I like to say that I help people transform into the people that they were created to be. Meaning that there is an individual way that you are to be living that is aligned with your body, your needs, what feels good to you what you enjoy doing your purpose, your passion, and it doesn't look like anybody else's. And so while I have dabbled in specific approaches to nutrition, and dieting and fitness and and all of that, you know, kind of these programs and things that are out there. I don't believe that any one of those things is for everyone. And so that's what I do is I have several levels that you could work with me at but but long, long story short is I want you to figure out where you are living in your best wellness. And sometimes that's easy, and you get into flow and you can just check in all the time and just kind of this is my new way of living and sometimes we dive in deeper. I know like I personally have struggled with autoimmune disorder. My whole life. And so as I'm a licensed therapist, and a nutrition coach and a personal trainer, and so I have really come to own that there is no one way of getting to wellness, like you really have to bring the whole person into the picture. So that you can find out you know, maybe your food is impacting your mood or maybe your mood is impacting your behavior and all of the things that come with that. So sometimes we have to dig in a little bit deeper. And, and the long, long story short, is that I want you to feel good being you and that's mind body and spirit.
14:34
And we should also say that naturally you have clients that you work personally with. And then what's really great is that you offer a very, very low priced group coaching program that offers accountability and and that's what I want to kind of shift into. Kind of can you kind of share what your your accountability group coaching program is like and by the way, I should say it's 10 bucks a month. And, and we're going to talk about this why accountability is, it's the secret sauce in my opinion. I think you know, what you do? My experience, I think a lot of diets can work. Some are more healthy than others. But at the end of the day, it's you know, and we'll talk about this but you know, it's it's what choice what decisions do you make? What are those micro decisions that you make on a daily or an hourly or a minute by minute basis? It's you go to the movies, and you know, do you eat the buttered popcorn? Or do you say I'm good and maybe you bring my you sneaking a healthy snack like me? You're not supposed to do that. But But you find a way right or you know, if everybody's You know, having glasses of wine and you're like, Okay, well, you know, I'll just have a small, very small white as opposed to, you know, four glasses of red. These are decisions that we have to make and and I'm not here to say that any of them is right or wrong for somebody but right it's, it's that consciousness and that accountability that really helps facilitate whatever it is that we say we're committed to. We get to ultimately decide what that looks like. And Amanda Can you kind of explain how your group coaching program works and by the way, we do have a program and I don't make any affiliate money or any of this I I just love the work that Amanda does. But if you do go to savings angel.com slash 2020 so it's 2020 at savings Angel comm slash 2020 Amanda you you Even though it's only $10 a month, someone can actually get their first month. Totally free. If they use that link and thank you so much for doing that, by the way.
17:11
Yeah, well, I I think the goal with one it being so low price to begin with and to offering this free month is that I believe as many people as possible should have access to truth to unconditional support and to the accountability that gets them where they want to be in life. And like I said, I have dabbled in different programs as I've gotten my certifications and degrees over the years. And I've really settled into I want to tell the truth. And then I want to I want to help you recognize that your truth when it comes to body wellness, mind, wellness, spirit, wellness, all these things is going to look different than somebody else's. And so we have to start somewhere. And so the the group coaching program that I offer is really like that that broadest level where we have a community of obviously support but of education like it Teach what are what are macros? What is metabolism? How does it work, what foods contribute to inflammation, which contributes to everything from anxiety to, you know, chronic diseases and things like that there's a lot of education. But I provided in bite sized pieces that someone can take and decide they want to learn more about and stay with it or that they can go, Okay, that's cool and all but what do I eat today? Right? So there are their structure when it comes to understanding how we implement all of this sciency like nerdy nutrition speak. Maybe we don't need to dive into that and own that for ourselves. But we really just need to know what to put in our mouth all day long. So I translate that in the structure of the programming, I have an online classroom where you know, you get your own set of logins, and you can go in and there are user friendly modules and guides for people to either print out or access without distraction. But also there's an exclusive Facebook community where, you know, you always risk going into social media and getting distracted but this is the community aspect of this program, I post every day a coaching post that is specific and relevant to whatever it is we happen to be doing during a time of the year, and I'll touch on that in a second. But then the kicker and what I have found to be equal to your secret sauce is every day, there's a daily check in posts, and I say, Hey, this is your chance to come home to you. It's not about you reporting what you ate or how much you worked out, or how off the rails you feel. It's it's a place for you to come home to you and go Oh, yeah. Did I do what I said I was going to do? Do I have questions about what I need to do? And what am I going to do tomorrow? And that that moment in time somebody whether you do it at eight o'clock at night or you do it at 6am The next morning, it's that's on you, that's fine, but it's a place to go Oh, yeah, I have this mega resource of unconditional support where I'm not being told I'm bad for eating too much of this or less of that are, you know, not the right foods. It's just education. And then hey, Is what you're doing, helping you reach your goals? And if it's not, how can I help you do that. And so, again, it's the education. It's the unconditional support. It's the accountability of coming home to self and doing what's aligned with your best wellness. And so that's the the group coaching program. In a nutshell, we do hit on different topics throughout the year. Again, I really thrive on being honest and educating. So whatever's going on in the world of fitness and wellness, I want to help educate on that so that we can kind of quiet the noise and stay aligned to what's good for us. It would be really easy to just hop on the first keto wagon that came along or was clean eating this or all these paleo people say this is best or what about intermittent fasting and so while I I'm not not saying anything about any one of those things, I actually practice several of them. But I want you to know what's all what that's all about. And then I also want you to check into yourself and go Okay, is this working for me? Is this part of my wellness blueprint? Is this a part of what's alive? With me, and that's that's kind of how we approach things through the conversation of it being a community, and not just a plug and play DIY thing.
21:08
Yeah. And so Amanda, one more thing before we end and this first of three episodes. Yeah. Talk to me about why accountability really matters. Like if someone has a goal, and they say, Listen, 2020 is the year, I really want to lose these final 1520 pounds. How can accountability help them to accomplish that goal? Oh, my gosh, and why does it work better than just reading another Diet book?
21:42
Right. And we could totally talk for hours. But I think we actually have it's a great way to wind things up because we kind of touched on this already. We are all humans. We all have the same temptations and tendencies that kind of have us constantly in conflict and so it's We don't involve another human being in our process and that human being like, it's great to do things with friends, I love going to work out with my friends, I want to running with my friends as well my favorite things to do. However, if I don't tell someone who has my best interest in mind and not just Hey, I like to have fun with you in mind, then we are that much more likely to get pulled in the direction of whatever feels good in the moment, whatever temptation is loud us remember, we always already touched on that a little bit. But you know, there was a there was actually very recently this time of year is very popular for hearing these type of statistics. But it's true. Very recently studied. A published study said that, you know, you're 65% more likely to achieve your goal if you involve an accountability partner. And then it went on to talk about how those people if they have consistent routine structure in addition to that partner than they are 95% more likely to achieve their goal. So I mean, human studies are showing us what we already know about behavior. And and all it takes is hooking up with somebody who's going to say, Hey, did you do what you said you were going to do? We're meeting at this time again tomorrow, you're gonna have to tell me again. So we get to play on our human tendencies and our psychological weaknesses and make them work for us instead of against us.
23:23
Amanda, being a part of your accountability group has allowed me in 43 days, I was able to shed three and a quarter inches off my waist, and we're going to talk a little bit more about my experience in our working together, you and I also had the opportunity to kind of just so people know there are opportunities to work more closely with you. If if they want more individualized and personalized help, and so we were able to do that as well, where I had a specific eating plan that you would recommend it, which I followed it, and it worked. So and but it goes so much more beyond eating and exercise. And again, it's all psychology it really really is is those micro decisions but we're going to get into eating and exercise in our next couple episodes. So make sure you hit subscribe, make sure that you've you know, you find some way to save or bookmark this. Make sure you get notifications. When these next two episodes go live. If you go to savings, Angel calm, make sure you get our email because I'll alert you when the next to go live. And again, if you want to get 30 days free to dive in, start jumping into the library of video content that Amanda has created that will help support you in your fitness and thriving goals for 2020. You can just go to savings at joel.com slash 2020 and again you get 30 days free Amanda thank you so much for that. And if you decide that you want to stay within the community that's just 10 bucks a month and so and honestly again, it's that support it's that accountability it's that you know that that some some bit of structure and knowing like what do i do and then have a bunch of people support you in that it's the perfect formula so Amanda that's why another reason why I really wanted to share you with our with our savings Angel community because I love you've got a you've got a servant leaders hard you certainly know your stuff. And you've helped a lot of good people. We're going to talk about some some additional I shared my own story, but in episode two and three, maybe we'll have you share a couple of stories of people that you've worked with and the outcome that you've had people been able to help them get. But Amanda, we're, we're Oh man, time goes by so quickly. So look for episode two and three. Amanda, thank you so much for joining us.
26:00
Thanks for having me.
26:14
Forgive me for monologuing. So, so long.
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