061 Healthy Body, Healthy Business: Self-Care Strategies for Entrepreneurs with Amy Wilson
If you're feeling overwhelmed and exhausted from trying to juggle your business and personal life, then you are not alone! You may already be sacrificing sleep, exercise, and healthy eating in order to keep up with the demands of your business, but instead of feeling energized and fulfilled, you're feeling burnt out and stressed. It's time to recognize that neglecting your health is not the key to achieving sustainable success as an entrepreneur. It's time to prioritize your well-being in order to thrive both personally and professionally.
"You cannot run on empty and run a business. You will burn out." - Amy Wilson
Watch the video of this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/snUlIVnGCv8
You can find Amy here: www.amykwilson.com https://www.instagram.com/thenutritioncoachpharmacist/
Message "MONEY" to Amy on Instagram and get the free resources mentioned in the show.
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00:00:00 - Regan Bashara
I don't even do, like, an introduction right now. So we're just gonna like, what is it called on SNL? Cold open. That's what we're doing right now. Hi, welcome to money through ease. This is your host, Regan. I have my friend Amy Wilson on today as our Amy. Welcome. Hello. Hello. Awesome. She is the nutrition coach pharmacist. You can find her@Amykwilson.com and on Instagram at the nutrition coachpharmacist. Sorry about that. So she's going to talk to you all today, because I am a small business owner and entrepreneur, and I know that if I let my urges get in the way, that I would probably just work 24/7 until I burn myself out and then slept for three days. And that is not the way for anybody to live their lives. But as entrepreneurs and small business owners, we're the ones, like, setting our schedule, and we sometimes forget that, oh, yeah, we have to rest and eat and sleep and hydrate and stuff. So Amy's going to share a little bit about health for entrepreneurs and living a good lifestyle in support of you running your business.
00:01:09 - Amy Wilson
Absolutely. I think I'll just put my two cent in because as the nutrition coach pharmacist, I know that's a lot of words. So not only am I a nutrition coach, I'm a pharmacist and I'm a fitness professional. So, yes, I know what it's like to burn the candle at both ends, and I know what it's like to try to take care of everybody else and not me. And so, yeah, let's talk about that today. And let's talk about how, as entrepreneurs, that sometimes we put everybody first, and especially women entrepreneurs, because not only do we put the family first, we put our customers first, we put our clients first, and then we're like, oh, I'm burned out. I'm done. What a fortune.
00:01:54 - Regan Bashara
We're so service oriented. Like, people like our gender, we're just taught to always be in service to other people, always be helpful, be willing to give up all your time and energy for free to your children and your husband and your family and your clients, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, oh, my gosh, can I be in service to myself first? Is that possible? It, in fact, is possible, but you have to consciously make the decision.
00:02:17 - Amy Wilson
Absolutely. And then let's put in there with social media and the metrics and trying to get. And I'm probably putting my age here. Calgon, take me away. It's that commercial. Calgon, take me do we feel that way because of. I always tell my clients, we got to find balance, and it actually starts with us first. Any of my entrepreneurs, I have lots of entrepreneur clients because we forget to take care of our health. I mean, I actually have other. It's funny, I have other nutrition coaches who come to me because I see the same thing. I have a coach. Coaches need coaches because we're good at calling everybody else out on their beat and what they need to do. And we say, you need to take care of you first, and you do this in your business. But when it comes to us personally, we're like, oh, yeah, that's for everybody else, not us.
00:03:16 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. Are you, like, the person that's like, I need the therapist. Therapist. I need that next level up because I know the basic. I'm good with that. Like, okay, I got it. But here's what I'm actually struggling with. It is at a much deeper level, and I need somebody to really sit me down and be like, listen.
00:03:33 - Amy Wilson
Yeah. Honestly, yes. And I think most of us are like that because I would say most of us are probably OCD, type a, wanting to do everything perfectly. And we have all these key performance indexes or the key KPIs. We have all these goals. We have all these checkboxes. And once again, those checkboxes usually come back to us personally. It's our business, or it's what's going on with the kids. And we forget that we can't burn the candle at both ends. And let's talk midlife. Let's talk 30s, midlife and older. We have hormones, and we need to take care of those hormones. And what we do is we grab.
00:04:19 - Regan Bashara
For the quick stuff.
00:04:20 - Amy Wilson
We grab for the drive through or even worse. And this is the biggest thing with my clients, is that we just don't eat, and then we can't figure out. We can't figure out what's going on. And. But I'm gaining weight. I don't understand. But I'm not eating. And I'm like, that is exactly. You nailed it right there. But they're like, but I'm not eating. I'm like, yes, but we're told that if we don't eat and we move more, that's the answer.
00:04:58 - Regan Bashara
Because everything's just so simple. The human body is not at all complex.
00:05:02 - Amy Wilson
No, not at all. And calories in versus calories out is the worst thing that we ever, ever said because it just does not work that way. Right. And so when we think of that, oh, it's okay that I'm running the candle, burning the candle at both ends. It's okay that I'm doing everything. It's okay that I'm doing this and I'm not eating, and I'm skipping meals because it's causing me not to eat, and therefore I'm not consuming calories. Well, hello, ladies. My name is Amy K. Wilson. I used to do that, too, and it doesn't work. And in fact, it actually backfires. So a lot of my clients come to me overweight, or it's not really overweight. I call it over inflamed because it's chronic inflammation and eating is hard. Being a busy professional and figuring out when to eat is not an easy task. What I tell my clients is that take your worst case scenario client, the one that you've helped the most, the one that you talk them off the ledge. I don't know how many times, or we all have that client. We can think about it right now.
00:06:10 - Regan Bashara
Make a picture of immediately.
00:06:11 - Amy Wilson
Yeah, you picture them, right? And you had this aha moment where you had this breakthrough, and it was just making it work with them, because you can't go against your own nature. You can't. But when you start making it work with you and not against you, and start planning. Hello, entrepreneurs. What do we have to do the most of is plan. We also have to plan how we move our body, and it only takes 30 minutes a day. You don't have to spend hours in the gym. In fact, I don't go to the gym except for once a week now and teach. If you see that door behind me, there is a little hallway that goes to another room, and that's where I work out. Time saver. Time saver. So as entrepreneurs, we also have to think of things that's going to save us time, but still going to give us the results. And that's a huge one. If you can work out at home, and then when you can plan, your meals necessarily have to prep. But if you have a plan in place, you have the groceries at home, you have easy meals, then that makes everything more doable. And then we spend more time wasted. What do you want for dinner tonight? I don't know. What do you want? I don't know.
00:07:23 - Regan Bashara
Sounds good.
00:07:24 - Amy Wilson
I have no idea.
00:07:25 - Regan Bashara
The conversation.
00:07:26 - Amy Wilson
Right, the conversation.
00:07:28 - Regan Bashara
Well, do you want to order Doordash? Yeah, I do.
00:07:35 - Amy Wilson
And honestly, the amount of time that you had that conversation figured out, where you want to order from. Doordash. Doordash finally gets to your house. You inhale the food, because you're starving now, you could have easily made something very quickly at home.
00:07:50 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. I love that for you.
00:07:52 - Amy Wilson
Yeah, it's better for you. And here's the caveat of that. Guess what? You have more energy. Hello. We need that as entrepreneurs. We need as much energy as possible. And you can think clear, because you are not ingesting all this process quick crap food. And, hello, hormones. It helps your hormones. And the other thing it does is I am a nutrition coach who does not, like, talk about weight loss. And you're probably like, okay, why the hell is she on this program? I'm like, that's all I want.
00:08:22 - Regan Bashara
I mean, I wouldn't have you here. If you were like, you need to lose weight. You wouldn't be here. No, just that.
00:08:27 - Amy Wilson
Right? Because weight loss. We have got to get out of this conversation about weight loss, because every time you lose weight, you're losing muscle. Your scale is not telling you if you're losing body fat or muscle. What we need to focus on is decreasing chronic inflammation. What we need to focus on is increasing the amount of muscle you have. And when you start eating right, well, then you start not only preserving your muscle, you build muscle. And then your body's like, she's actually feeding me for a change. Wow. I don't have to use muscle for fuel anymore. I can start using some fat for fuel. And then we start losing chronic inflammation. Then we start losing inches. And I don't think anybody realizes that that's really what they want. They want to feel good in their clothes. That has nothing to do with the scale. Yeah, absolutely nothing to do with the scale. Feeling good about your posture, how you look, your muscle tone has everything to do with chronic inflammation and losing it, and it has to do with building muscle. The shape that you want in your body comes from muscle. And as entrepreneurs, we don't even think about that. All we're thinking about is our clients. And so we forget about taking care of us first, and that's what you have to do. It's like the same thing with your kids. You have to put your oxygen mask on first before you help anybody else. It's all those things that people say. It's the same thing when it comes to your business, because you cannot run on empty and run a business. You will burn out.
00:10:05 - Regan Bashara
Yeah.
00:10:07 - Amy Wilson
And I'm a one woman show. I'm sure a lot of people on this podcast are a one woman, and I get it. I understand. It's like, I'm my social media person. I do my own reels and all this. But I also make sure that my 30 minutes workout gets done. My meals are planned because I know I'm not effective if I don't feel good. Yeah. And if I am burned out, everything just seems so much more difficult.
00:10:38 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. I don't do, like, new year's resolutions and stuff, but I made the intention to move my body more this year. My word of the year for 2024 is to stretch, or just stretch, like, mentally. Physically. I want to reestablish a movement routine because I stopped last year. I used to teach Zumba. I used to be a zumba instructor. And when I stopped doing that, I just stopped movement pretty much altogether. And I've become more and more sedentary, and I'm just like, it doesn't feel good. My body just doesn't feel good when I'm like that. And so I have started this wellness kind of program where she does do the 30 minutes workouts, and it also involves stretching and foam rolling. And I've been sick the past couple of weeks, and so I've bare minimum done the foam rolling, had coughing fits every single time. And then I'm just like, I'm doing what I can to just move my body at this point and just stretch. But I also know that I have to lean in and recognize whenever my energy, if I'm just starting on empty, too, it's okay to do the bare minimum. Or if I do end up ordering out and ordering Doordash, I still try to make a better choice for what I decide on, because at the end of the day, I just need to be fed and sitting down and putting my meal onto a plate instead of eating it out of the box and sitting in the chair and making sure I get all of my bottles of water in for the day. Those things are all little tiny bites that I can take to support myself throughout the day. And for a while recently, I've noticed that I've just been eating just to consume calories, because I'm like, well, I just know I have to. And it wasn't like a diet culture thing. It was just like, oh, crap, I need to go eat something. And I want to shift that back to, I want to prepare a meal for myself that's delicious, that I sit down and enjoy and savor. You have to make the decision ahead of time, like meal planning, meal prepping. I love doing that. But there are some weekends that I'm like, there's no way I'm getting in the kitchen. So I'm throwing chicken in the instant pot and pressing go. That's the extent of it.
00:12:49 - Amy Wilson
That's awesome. And so as entrepreneurs, we have to think about, okay, so you don't have time to do certain things. What are things that you are willing to once they spend money on or things that you are willing for convenience that will help you. So it may be someone like me investing in a coach that's going to help you. It may be something like, I'm trying out a thing called. And any of these products I am not affiliated with, I'm trying something called just meat. It is already precooked meats because that's usually our biggest problems, that we don't have protein or we're so sick and tired of the same chicken breast because there's times. Today is a good example. I have been running since 05:00 a.m.. I went ahead and got my workout in because I knew it was going to be a rough day. But it's been running. And if I didn't have those meals already done, that meat already done, like you said, it's doordash. And around here, there really isn't that many good choices. Now there are some good choices. Core life is one of my favorites. If you have a core life around there, that's a good one. But here in Louisville, there's a place called prepping for peppers. She's a chef, and she does what's called macro prep, which is protein, fat, and carbohydrates. There are a lot of people getting into that where you can have those meals already done for you. And sometimes that is cheaper, because if you're someone who goes to the grocery store, this is what I love. In January 1, let's throw everything out. Everything gone. And I'm not a resolution person either. And then you look in the cupboard and you're looking, it's like, oh, I don't even know how to make a chicken breast. I don't want to make anything. Or you go to the grocery store and everything goes to waste because life happens and you don't have time. And when you have someone else who makes things for you, yeah, there's initial cost factor, but if you think about the waste that you are not throwing away and your time put a price on your time, sometimes that's the best way to do it. If somebody already pre made everything for you, it's a healthy alternative and it works. I think people sometimes feel like they have to be superwoman. It's like, I have to make dinner. I have to do this. I have to do this. Well, let's see how we can make it easier for you. If you can do it at home. Perfect. If convenience is a huge issue, then let's make it the best choice of convenience and without guilt. I am not a resolution person either. Let's see what we can do to make ourselves improved. Not a resolution, because it's hard. We are creatures of habit. You probably see that with entrepreneurs. We're creatures of habit. It's very hard to change some things. And I just did kind of a thing on my YouTube. It's like the best thing that I can recommend this year is someone read atomic habits by James clear. If you have not, because it's all about the 1%, it's all about getting better every day. It's starting with the bare minimum. So let's say you want to walk every day and it might just be putting your tennis shoes on every single day. Getting in that habit of putting your tennis shoes on and then it might be going outside and walking for two minutes.
00:16:06 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. To the end of your driveway and back.
00:16:09 - Amy Wilson
The end of your driveway and back. Yeah. And then maybe the next time you want to do it two times. But it's just getting into the habit of starting and then making it 1% better every day. And sometimes, especially entrepreneurs, we have that go getter that we think we have to do everything and anything that we just have to put the brakes on and be like, okay, no, I just need to show up. Might be small, but I just need to do it. Just show up for me and get that built into my day. And then before you know it, it's there and then you can move on. And it's called habit stacking. Add something else. Yeah, but don't try to do everything. That's what January 1 is like. Okay, I got rid of the pantry. I got rid of the stuff in the refrigerator. I'm joined a gym. I'm going to be there at 430 in the morning. Yeah. That lasts two weeks. No, you're not a morning person. I can tell you right now, you're never going to be a morning person. That is DNA. That is in your dna. So why fight your dna? Let's use your dna the way that you normally do things and make it work for you.
00:17:19 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. And I like that you brought up what it habit stacking. I call it like task chaining or chaining tasks. Like if I know that I'm already going to be doing something every single morning, like preparing my cup of coffee, that is when I sit down and record my TikTok videos every morning because I'm just like, now I've just chained that task to something that I was already doing. And if I'm going to be scrolling anyways or just sitting there, I can be doing something productive and sharing my thoughts or just creating some short form content that does not have to be perfect. It's just a matter of checking off the task, just getting it done and getting it out there. So I like that you brought that up. And then with finding your natural cycles, like you've talked about hormones a couple of times, I don't think a lot of people realize that being awake is because of your hormones. Going to sleep is because of your hormones. Your body builds up hormones during the day that put you to sleep at night. Your awareness, your consciousness is based on your hormones. So if you're not getting up at 430 naturally, it's probably not going to be sustainable to try to force yourself into that habit. But when do you naturally have energy during the day? Do you like to go take a walk at lunch? That's perfect. Time to pause and reflect and get outside and do some movement. What are you already doing? Can we work with that schedule? Can we work with your body's natural rhythms to support you better?
00:18:42 - Amy Wilson
And that's perfect because I'm sure as a zoom instructor, you got it, too. It's like, what time is the best time to work out? Well, my answer is, whatever. The best time for you is to work out because, yeah, are there studies about early morning, mid afternoon, evening? Sure there are, but it's what can you stick with? And then it's also, what's the best kind of exercise? Well, I'm a big proponent of let's go ahead and quit doing all the cardio that we're doing. Let's do some cardio. But let's also make sure that we are doing some weightlifting and weight training. It has to be enjoyable. So I'll have clients going, can I still do my zumba class? Can I still do my rib class? I'm like, absolutely. But we're also going to make sure that you're getting your weight training in, and I don't want you to do orange theory every single day because that does hurt our hormones. And yes, I used to teach zumba every single day. Don't do zumba every day. I love zumba. I love shaking it.
00:19:41 - Regan Bashara
It's so much rough on the knees.
00:19:43 - Amy Wilson
It's rough on the knees. It's rough on the back.
00:19:46 - Regan Bashara
I did try to implement all of.
00:19:48 - Amy Wilson
Us old instructors feel it now.
00:19:50 - Regan Bashara
Yeah, I did try to implement like, body weight resistance training and some of the songs, like making sure to do squats, or I had like arm songs that everybody would end up crying during because they're like, my arms hurt so bad, you can't even lift your arms up at the end. But I see the value of weight training for sure, because as we're getting older and aging, stability of our spine and our bone structure is based on muscle tone and having strength for everyday tasks. You don't want to be the person that can't get up on and off the toilet whenever you're older without assistance as long as possible. I would like for that to be the case. Doing these things consistently now is going to help me have a better quality of life for longer, which is my reason for doing that. It's not even about how I look or how my clothes fit. Like, I can find clothes that are going to be comfortable, any size that I am. But for me, it truly is about what is my quality of life like now, how can I extend that quality for as long as possible? That takes consistency, that takes commitment to a movement practice and routine.
00:20:59 - Amy Wilson
I like to say I'm a pharmacist who prefers that you're not on medication. And so, as entrepreneurs, if we are not taking care of ourselves, if we are not eating the best, we're not moving our body. Okay, so now we're looking at preventable diseases. We're looking at possibly getting hypertension, high blood pressure, prediabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol, things that cause inflammation, you might notice that you have headaches, you might notice you have joint pain, you might notice that you're not sleeping well. And we're really good at rationalizing. It's because I'm working too hard. It's because the kids, it's because of the husband, it's because my other job or this is going on. Instead of looking in house and saying, okay, what can I do to help? Can I eat a little better? Can I stretch? Can I do daily gratitude? What can I do to bring my cortisol levels down? Because stress, stress, stress, stress. Go, go. That kind of fight or flight all the time is really bumping up those cortisol levels. Well, cortisol is a great hormone in little mouths we have, like, when you.
00:22:13 - Regan Bashara
Need it, when you're being.
00:22:13 - Amy Wilson
When you need it, right? Exactly. Yeah, I like that. Chased by lion, chased by bear. But if you're not sleeping at night, your cortisol levels are too high. You can't go to bed at night. Your cortisol levels are too high. You're seeing a lot of inflammation. More likely it's your cortisol levels too high. As we get older, muffin top around and we can't get rid of this midsection, a lot of that's cortisol. So things that we can do to decrease. And once again, it comes back to finding balance with ourselves first, finding balance with our job, with our entrepreneurship or side hustle or whatever it is, and realizing that it's okay. You do not have to be on twenty four seven. You will not lose a client if you are not on Instagram 24/7 if somebody really wants to work with you, they're going to make sure that they're going to work with you. If they say, oh, well, someone else responded first because you didn't get back to me quick enough, then they're not your people. Because if they're really connecting with you on a personal level, they're going to want to talk to you. They're going to want to pick your brain, they're going to want to have that relationship with you. And don't get in the comparison journey because I know that's very hard for all of us because it's a follower thing, right? But the one thing I am seeing, especially with social media and Instagram right now and oh, please let this keep going, it seems like the people who have smaller amounts of followers who are actually doing real content, not so much influencer content, are getting more views, are getting more engagement. Stick to you. Stick to what you believe in, what you know, and just let be Elsa. Let it go. Just let it go because it's not serving you, just as junk food's not serving you, just as going to the gym for 3 hours or thinking that you have to do that and beating yourself up because you don't have the time, that's not serving you. So let it go. Do whatever Marie Kondo you have to do. If it's not bringing you joy, it's gone. And come down to the basics. Take care of you. Let's get you energy. Let's get you focused in taking care of you. And then you'll be amazed at how that kind of just does a nice little positive snowball effect into your business.
00:24:38 - Regan Bashara
Totally agree. You brought up not beating yourself up. I think that is just, like, the most important part. Because when we are in a place where we're feeling guilty about what we're not doing or how we're doing, things wrong and we're beating up on ourself about that. How is anybody going to make a good decision from that place, from that place of like, well, I just can't do anything right. I don't do this, this and this or blah, blah, blah. Coming from the place of shitting on yourself, shaming yourself is not going to motivate you towards making good changes, but maybe turning it around and asking yourself, what's like one small thing that I could do today? Make sure I get enough water. Just make sure that I have my ounces that I need to have for today. Asking yourself little questions like that can create that positive movement forward. Instead of just being like, well, I might as well not do anything because I can't do anything right and I'm doing all these things wrong.
00:25:33 - Amy Wilson
And don't beat yourself up with metrics. And that's not only metrics on social media, that's your metrics. Oh, I didn't get 30 minutes in, so what? I might not, oh, I only got in 8oz of water. I always love that. Well, you don't go slash all your tires. You don't do that. If you have one flat tire, you don't go slash rest of them. So be mindful of getting into that dark place, because it's very hard to sometimes dig ourselves out of that dark place and be okay with, hey, I showed up today, I finished a thing of water. It wasn't three, it was a thing, and I got my workout in, or I was able to really do a quick ten minute walk and celebrate those successes, just as you would celebrate the milestone of your business. Whether it's your first client or first success story, celebrate those because those are just as important. And then once again, that parlays. And don't beat yourself up with the comparison game of, well, you know what? She seems to have it all. She's running her business and she's this, and her kids seem to be perfect. Remember, what you see on social media is the highlight reel. You don't see what's going on behind closed doors. You don't see if that person has a team. You don't see if that person is doing the one woman show like a lot of us are doing, and be proud of the things that you're doing, but also come back and say, okay, I have to take care of me.
00:27:08 - Regan Bashara
Because then what's the purpose?
00:27:10 - Amy Wilson
What's the purpose? If you are running ragged, if you are hurting your health, if you're doing this side hustle or whatever to make extra money and it's for retirement or something else, and you can't enjoy it or it's causing you more grief and stress that it's making you ill, migraines, exhausted. Okay, we need to have a conversation because your health is the most important thing first. And if you're putting that as the last, no, your health and taking care of you, important first side hustle, entrepreneurship second. And you'll be so much better when you start doing that.
00:27:54 - Regan Bashara
Yeah, I agree. I don't try to compare myself to anybody on social media. Social media is a tool that I use to reach the people that need to work with me. I know they're out there. So it's my job to show up and be like, hey, I do this thing. I know you need help. I know. And so I do need to pay attention to the metrics in that I need to be able to reach the people that I want to reach. So there is a little game that you have to play with. Like, I know how the algorithm works, so I need to do the things that are going to algorithm put me in front of the people I need to be in front of. But it's not to be like any sort of measure of my value or my worth as a person that I have so many followers. I'm just trying to gain more followers so that I can help more people.
00:28:44 - Amy Wilson
That is a beautiful place to be. So you're not worried about the vanity metrics you're seeing? And my thing is always impact over income. If I can help one person today, if I can help one person get healthy, if I can help one person start decreasing their medication or prevent medication, that's what it's all about. And you're the same way. It's like, if I can speak to the person that needs help, I can get to that person. That's what it's all about. And that's a beautiful place to be.
00:29:17 - Regan Bashara
Yeah, because when I started this business, I was literally hiding. I was so scared that anybody was going to perceive me and think of me as just a salesman or whatever, all that crap. And I had to get over that pretty quickly because I was like, well, I'm not going to get fucking clients by hiding. I need to tell people what the hell I'm doing and how I can help them because they're out there looking for help. People are scrolling because we all scroll. But in the back of everybody's mind, if you ask them, what's the one thing that if you were given this today would be the most helpful thing for your business or your personal life, everybody would have an answer immediately. So there's people out there that need my help. So if I'm hiding, I'm doing a disservice to them. Actually, I need to show up and be like, here's a thing I can help you with this. Here's how we're going to do it. Do you want to work with me? And I've completely 180 because when I started, I was just like, maybe somebody will refer somebody to me sometime. And I'm like, no, I got to get up there now. This is how I am now. I've just come that far to be.
00:30:25 - Amy Wilson
Like, it's hard to put yourself out there. It's hard to have criticism, and it's hard to have people who are your friends going, well, why do you do this all the time? And I always say to my clients who are very successful, and they're like, I just don't want to put myself out there. And I'm like, one, be proud of the fact that you've lost inches, that you are healthy. And two, if there are people who aren't in your corner cheering you on, why are you with those people? They're showing their true colors. You want to be with a tribe that's lifting you up, not bringing you down. And same with entrepreneurship. There's a lot of females who will, unfortunately, are not into raising everybody up. Okay, that's fine. Peace out. See you later.
00:31:10 - Regan Bashara
Yeah.
00:31:11 - Amy Wilson
You're not my people. You're not going to somebody I want to work with. There are plenty of people who need to hear financial tips. There are plenty of people who need to hear about being an entrepreneur and had this conversation with one of my friends. She's like, I only made this much money and spent this much. I'm like, so, okay, what do we need to do? There's a problem. But she's like, I still want to think about it. I still want to think about it. Yeah, I know. I can see your eyes going. But it's the same way with health. We don't want to think about it until we go to the doctor's office with your money. You don't think about it until the creditors are coming or you're maxed out your credit cards trying to build this business instead of taking those necessary steps that you need to do. And what we need to do is once again, focus on some of the basics that's going to help you, because I can't imagine if you don't know your business how much money is coming out, how stressful that is. And then let's put that with your health, okay? It's a double Miami. So if you get your financial in order, and it's always interesting with financial and health, I honestly think they go hand in hand. They really do. Because when you get your finances in order and you have them kind of like in a plan, you can parlay that over to your health. It's the same way you can have a plan and they really are synergistic. You want good finances and good health so that when you get into your retirement, that you're able to enjoy both.
00:32:50 - Regan Bashara
Yeah. I also think they're very intrinsically tied because of our financial systems and our health care systems and all of that. Just being such a privileged, like, if you don't have privilege, you're probably going to be unhealthy for a couple of different reasons that are actually kind of shitty. And so we need to address that systemic issue as well, including, on an individual level, having a plan for myself, trying to stick with it, not beating myself up whenever I maybe slip up. Or with finances, you can have a budget, but if you overspend a little bit, what do you put yourself in? Time out or something? Put up your credit, your card so that you can't know, we just try and do better the next time. And it's the same thing with health or any sort of movement, routine or diet. But I just mean like the way that you consume food, messing up or whatever, it's just like, well, we don't have to wait till next Monday. We don't have to wait till next January 1 for you to try again the next meal. The next time you go to eat food is when you're going to try again to do better and do what you need to do to take care of your body. So I do see those as the same thing on an individual level, but also the systems too. If you are poor, if you are in any sort of class of people that has been marginalized, they've shown that it is directly linked to health outcomes too, which is fucking scary.
00:34:22 - Amy Wilson
And it's horrible, absolutely horrible that we have that when we can change it. That's the thing is it is very fixable and it can be changed. That just kills me. And I think sometimes that we have to think on, sometimes we have to look at priorities. And I know that may sound like, oh, she's going to lecture. No, it's not really lecturing.
00:34:44 - Regan Bashara
That's all podcasting is.
00:34:48 - Amy Wilson
But people talk about goals. And I'm like, okay, you can talk all about goals. You want, I want to get into a different size. I want to do this. But if your priorities don't align with your goals, and that's with health and finance, so if it's like, hey, I want to go on a vacation, but not put it on a credit card, is a priority, or maybe that's a goal, but if your priority is not in line with, hey, I'm not going to Starbucks every day to spend seven $8, or I'm not going to spend the money on the latest fad, then if your priority is that I'm going to go spend money on Starbucks every day because that's a priority, and I need to have the latest fad because that's a dopamine hit and I need that, then your goal of paying your vacation with no credit cards is not going to happen. It's the same way as if I want to lose inches, I want to get healthier, I want to lose chronic inflammation, and that's my goal. But my priority is I go through Starbucks every day and get late, and I'm going to go ahead and not make my own food, I'm going to go through the drive through every day at lunch. And your priorities need to line up with your goal. And if they don't, then that's a definite conversation that you need to have with a coach to help you say, okay, these are my goals. How can I align my priorities with them so that I can get there?
00:36:29 - Regan Bashara
Yeah, I think you're using the word priority. What it's making me think of is how I use the word value. Like, if I have a value of taking care of myself or self care in the way that I care for my body as a mammal, an animal body that needs to be hydrated and fed and rest and all that stuff. If my value is self care in that way, then engaging in these activities that are just like spur of the moment activities, or not making good choices about what I eat or not drinking enough water, not getting enough rest, overworking myself, that's not in alignment with that value of self care. So, like priority value, I think we are talking about the same thing. But I agree, if you set a goal for your business and it's not in line with your actual values, there's going to be some sort of resistance that you feel that's going to keep you from getting to that goal. Because if your values are this, but the goal is not in alignment with that, there's going to be something that holds you back. Spoiler alert, it's yourself. Because you're acting out of alignment.
00:37:36 - Amy Wilson
You're acting.
00:37:36 - Regan Bashara
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
00:37:37 - Amy Wilson
We have a winner.
00:37:38 - Regan Bashara
Exactly. Yeah. So can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in business? I always ask folks this. Share with us your business story and maybe give some advice for people who are business owners themselves. Beyond the nutrition and movement routines and stuff. What is your tip for business owners?
00:38:01 - Amy Wilson
I got started, so I did nutrition coaching before and got burned out because I did story. A lot of entrepreneurs, you get burned out. You're like.
00:38:14 - Regan Bashara
Got the t shirt. Been there, done that.
00:38:18 - Amy Wilson
2019. I was not feeling good. I was gaining inches. I was teaching like crazy, teaching fitness classes. I'm a full time pharmacist and was not feeling good. I was fluffy. Headaches, joint pain, and I thought it was just perimenopause. I'm like, this is perimenopause. And frustrated because I'm like, do I have to just put my hands up and say, this is it. This is the way it's going to be.
00:38:58 - Regan Bashara
This is playing the cards you're dealt. Like, okay.
00:39:01 - Amy Wilson
Right? Yeah, this is it. And I'm like, but, no, I don't feel good. I know. I don't like this. I watched a couple other instructor friends, zumba instructors, by the way, do a program called faster way to fat loss, and it was amazing. They lost inches, but they looked good. I don't know. If you ever see someone who diets and loses weight very quickly, they don't look good. They look tired. Their skin's gray. Their hair is very stringy. They looked strong. And not only that, they felt so good, but I watched them to fail, because that's what happens. You see somebody on Instagram, you see somebody on Facebook, and your friends like, oh, my gosh, amazing, okay? And then six months later, they're back to where they were like. And I'm like, no, it has to be something that's sustainable. It has to be something that works, because I've coached other programs, and I always was frustrated at the fact after six weeks, you just go back to the way you were. It didn't change anything. And so I took a Hail Mary pass and I signed up for it, not expecting anything. I had to take care of me. I jumped all in. I was like, you know what? I got to change my beliefs. If what was working, I wouldn't be here. So suck it up, Amy. Suck it up. Do the work. And, hey, if it works, great. If it doesn't. Oh, well. I was not expecting it to work. It was mind blowing because it was science. It was working out less, which almost killed me because I thought, oh, my God, I can't do. That was lifting weights. It was eating real food. And all of a sudden, the aches and pains were gone. The migraines. That's been huge. The migraines were gone because those migraines, debilitating and inflammation. I could put my wedding ring back on, and it was just all these things. And not only that, after the six weeks, I kept getting better and better and better. I'm like, all right, I'm being called. This is where I need to be, because not only am I going through this, other people are going through this who need help. I document my journey on Facebook. I had a lot of people reach out. I'm like, all time. It's time for me to get back in the ring. This is my calling. And I went to their certification and started my own business. I'm a fashioned fat loss coach. It's kind of like a franchise almost, and was like, you know what? This is it. I wasn't doing it for a certain amount of money. I wasn't doing it because I wanted to be an entrepreneur again. God, no. But it was a calling. And when I told my husband I was getting back into nutrition coaching, he was like, it's about time. I like, what about time? He's like, that is what you do. People come to you and ask. And I'm like, well, why didn't you say something in the first place? And he's like, well, I was like, you know, you. You have to come to it at your own time. Whatever.
00:42:03 - Regan Bashara
That's me. That's right here. It's your girl, right? I got to figure it out for myself, unfortunately, yeah.
00:42:12 - Amy Wilson
So that's it. So, in October 2020, I opened the nutrition coach pharmacist, and it wasn't with the intention of helping people lose weight. I wanted a different angle. And the angle is getting healthy. The angle is taking you back. The angle is to keep you out of my nursing homes, because that's what I do. I'm a long term care consultant. Nursing homes, you don't want to live there. And so if I can help others like me, entrepreneurs, fitness instructors, people going through perimenopause, menopause, those who have prediabetes or existing conditions, who want to get healthy and live their best life so that you can look at yourself in 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, that person who's looking back going, you know what? You took care of me. Thank you. Because you don't want to be 2030 years going, man, if only. I wish that's the worst to have.
00:43:05 - Regan Bashara
If only.
00:43:06 - Amy Wilson
And I wish if we can take that window of opportunity now and do something, doesn't have to be a lot. Doesn't have to be a lot and do that 1% better every day, learn those good habits so that what we're doing as entrepreneurs, what we're doing to provide for our family or maybe our future, that we can enjoy it and not feel so exhausted. So that's how I got into it. And. Yeah. Has it been ups and downs? Absolutely. Because sometimes I get into those KPIs, sometimes I get into that social media or how many people will visit my website, how many people? All that kind of stuff. It's nature. It's nature that you want to look.
00:43:48 - Regan Bashara
At that I've got something to measure.
00:43:50 - Amy Wilson
Great.
00:43:50 - Regan Bashara
Let me focus on.
00:43:51 - Amy Wilson
Yeah, let's do it. But then it always comes around. Be like, you know what? Okay, I need to show up every day for me, for my business, and for the people who want to hear me. And those are the people I will resonate with. Because followers don't equal clients. We all have to remember that views don't equal clients. And hits on your website don't equal clients. It's when you have that connection with somebody, that's where the client comes in. And it's remembering also that I still need to take care of me because that's where I got into it in the first place, is that I wasn't taking care of me. And so I have made that a focal point, that I have little checkboxes. Did I get this done today? Did I get this done for me? And then my business is next.
00:44:39 - Regan Bashara
We love a task.
00:44:41 - Amy Wilson
Yeah. Erin Condren all the way. Then it's like, okay, did you get the reel done? Did you make your post? Did you do this and that kind of thing? But my workout and my meals and everything else is pre planned beforehand. And then everything else can flow. And it's freeing. It makes it where I can find balance. Because I got to the spectrum that even with this business last year, I was burning the candle at both ends and realized that it wasn't serving anybody, it wasn't serving me, it wasn't serving my clients, it wasn't serving my future clients. And so finding that balance really has been the key.
00:45:17 - Regan Bashara
Awesome. I think looking into the future almost and asking your future self, what is she going to think? Of me or what are they going to think of me, of what decision I'm trying to make now? I actually got coached on this yesterday about debt, like credit card debt, which is like what I'm always getting coached on. And she was asking me like, well, if you want to have this feeling and then what kind of decision would you make from that feeling? And I was like, well, I guess I could do this because probably future me is going to look back and be like, you know what, I appreciate you making your credit card payments and not being late on those. But then I was like, also, future me isn't going to shit on me or regret anything that if I do or don't, if I know that in the future I'm not going to beat up on myself now in this moment, I'll be okay no matter what I decide. And from there I'm like, well, then I'll make the decision that I want to make right now because I know I'm not going to shit on myself. And future me is going to look back and be like, you know what? That was a good choice. I appreciate you doing that for me. So coming from that angle, too, anytime you're coming up to a decision where you're like, I just don't know what to do, thinking about like, well, if I'm not going to get in trouble or if I'm not going to have anybody tell me I told you so, then what would I choose? If I were ten years down the line, looking back on this moment being like, oh, I'm really glad I made this choice, what would that choice be? I think that's a useful frame to put on any decision.
00:46:52 - Amy Wilson
And I think sometimes, I hate to say this, but I will say this. Sometimes the most difficult decisions in my life have been the best. The ones that scared the crap out of me, the ones that were kind know, do I want to take this angle? And those who I always say are kind of like life changing decisions, the Hail Mary pass to do the program, to become a coach, job switches, that kind of thing, have always been good decisions. Looking back, they scared the crap out of me. And I'm like, do I really want to do this? Because it's hard to get out of your comfort zone. It really is. And when you do that and you jump and then you look back going, yeah, I did that. Even if it wasn't the best, but you did it. And sometimes you're looking back going, okay, I wasn't the best, but I learned from it.
00:47:47 - Regan Bashara
I didn't die.
00:47:49 - Amy Wilson
And I didn't die. Yeah. And I learned a lot. And it's serving me now because now I can use that experience on down the road.
00:47:59 - Regan Bashara
Totally. Thanks so much for being on. Would you mind telling us how we can work with you if we're interested in doing that and what services you've got going on and how we can find you on all the social medias?
00:48:11 - Amy Wilson
Sure. So the best social media is Instagram, and it's the nutrition coach pharmacist. The nutrition coach pharmacist. I do have a five day fat loss blueprint that will give you lots of recipes that you can double and triple. And then it also has two of my favorite recipes. One is chili that tastes just like Wendy's chili, but you can make it an instant pot, and it's easy.
00:48:36 - Regan Bashara
Love an instant pot in this house.
00:48:40 - Amy Wilson
If you message me and just message money.
00:48:43 - Regan Bashara
Okay.
00:48:43 - Amy Wilson
M-O-N-E-Y. Because that's what we were. Podcasts. If you message me money, I will send you a five day blueprint. And if you are interested in seeing my blogs or anything else, you can go to my website, which is Amykwilson.com. So the nutrition coachpharmacist. And then if you go to my website, you can get all the other ones. Amykwilson.com.
00:49:08 - Regan Bashara
Perfect. Thanks so much for being on and sharing your expertise with us today. Everybody go out there and do some movement and eat something. Like sit down and put it on a plate that is paper styrofoam and eat it.
00:49:22 - Amy Wilson
That's awesome.
00:49:22 - Regan Bashara
Yes. Thanks, Amy. All right, y'all, we'll tune back in next week for another episode. Bye.