Emily Lever Coaching Podcast

Vacation doesn't have to mean abandoning your health goals or obsessing over perfect routines. In this episode, Emily and AJ break down how to stay active while traveling without falling into the "all or nothing" mindset. From hotel-room band workouts and beach kettlebell sessions to hiking, swimming, and chasing kids around the pool, they share practical ways to keep movement flexible, enjoyable, and realistic while still fully embracing the vacation experience.

Essential Lessons:

• Avoid the "all or nothing" mindset: Missing a workout or changing your routine while traveling does not erase your progress. Consistency and movement matter more than perfection.
• Movement counts even if it's not a formal workout: Hiking, swimming, walking 20,000 steps, playing with kids, and exploring new places are all valid forms of exercise.
• Travel workouts can be simple and flexible: Resistance bands, bodyweight exercises, kettlebells, and even sand-filled buckets or portable sandbags can create effective workouts anywhere.
• Adjust workouts to fit the destination: Exercise should complement the vacation experience, not control it. A city trip may mean more walking, while a beach stay may allow more structured training.
• Short workouts are still worthwhile: Even 20 to 30 minutes of movement can improve digestion, sleep, energy, and overall well-being while traveling.

"What is the environment around me, what things can I use, and what movements would I do. Don't think of necessarily the machines, but think about what movement I would do with my body, and how I would mimic that movement." - AJ

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

In Part 2 of our B vitamin deep dive, we continue the conversation by unpacking the powerhouse roles of vitamins B6 through B12. From balancing hormones and supporting healthy pregnancies to protecting your brain, nerves, and DNA, these nutrients are essential for energy, recovery, and long-term health. The episode also highlights why vegetarians, older adults, pregnant women, and anyone training hard may need to pay closer attention to deficiencies and supplementation.

What You'll Learn:

• B6 supports brain and hormone health: It helps regulate neurotransmitters, reduce seizure risk, and balance estrogen levels.
• Biotin does more than improve hair, skin, and nails: It is crucial during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and protein metabolism.
• Folate is vital for pregnancy and nervous system function: Adequate intake dramatically reduces the risk of birth defects like spina bifida.
• B12 protects your nerves and preserves DNA: It helps prevent anemia, supports brain function, and is especially important for vegetarians and older adults.

"Folic acid supplementation in grains, like bread items and cereals, is one of the greatest public health initiatives of the 20th century." - AJ

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

B vitamins are some of the most overlooked nutrients, yet they play a critical role in turning food into energy, supporting fat loss, improving iron absorption, managing cholesterol, and promoting wound healing. In this episode, Emily and AJ break down vitamins B1 through B5, explaining how these nutrients affect metabolism and overall health, why deficiencies often go unnoticed, and which foods and supplements can help you optimize your intake.

What You'll Gain:

• B vitamins power your metabolism: Vitamins B1 and B2 are essential for converting carbohydrates and fats into usable energy.
• Food sources require intentional choices: Nutritional yeast, organ meats, eggs, almonds, and red meat are some of the richest sources of B vitamins.
• B vitamins support more than energy: They also help with iron absorption, cholesterol management, mental health, and tissue repair.
• Supplement quality and timing matter: Different forms of B vitamins are absorbed differently, and some, like B5 and biotin, should not be taken together.
• "If you are using supplementation, you should be talking to somebody who can actually guide you thoroughly for what you specifically need." - Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Stay on track this summer without missing out. This episode breaks down how to navigate vacations, barbecues, and social events without falling into the all-or-nothing trap, showing that progress isn't ruined by one meal but by inconsistent habits over time. Instead of extremes, Emily and AJ emphasize balance through simple, repeatable actions like eating normally before events, prioritizing protein and hydration, planning ahead, and staying active in flexible ways. The real shift comes from mindset and identity, choosing moderation, consistency, and self-trust over perfection, so you can enjoy the moment while still making progress.

What You'll Walk Away With:

• Avoid the all-or-nothing mindset: Progress comes from balance, not extremes. One imperfect meal won't derail you, but swinging between restriction and overindulgence will.
• Stick to simple, consistent habits: Eat normally before events, prioritize protein, stay hydrated, and keep basic routines even when your schedule is less structured.
• Plan ahead to stay in control: Bring a dish, have snacks on hand, and think through your meals so you don't show up overly hungry or make impulsive choices.
• Focus on weekly consistency, not single moments: It's not one event that impacts progress, it's when one meal turns into an entire weekend of being off track.
• Shift your identity, not just your actions: Long-term success comes from seeing yourself as someone who can be flexible and make balanced choices anywhere, not someone who is either "on" or "off."

"It doesn't have to be perfect, that should never be the goal. But the idea is to create more consistency over time, so that there aren't these big swings, and so your body can adapt to what you're actually trying to accomplish."-Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Magnesium might be one of the most underrated supplements—but it's involved in over 300 processes in your body, from energy production to sleep and recovery, and most people are either using the wrong type or taking it incorrectly. This episode breaks down what magnesium actually does, the key differences between its various forms, how to choose the right one based on your goals (sleep, digestion, energy, or focus), and why timing, dosing, and absorption matter just as much as the supplement itself. Tune in!

What You'll Learn:

• Core role: Magnesium is essential for energy production, muscle function, nervous system balance, blood sugar control, and quality sleep.
• Form matters: Highly absorbable forms like glycinate, malate, threonate, and citrate are effective, while oxide is cheap but largely ineffective.
• Match the goal: Each form serves a purpose—glycinate for sleep, citrate for digestion, malate for energy, and threonate for brain function.
• Dose + timing: Around 300–400 mg daily is typical, but effectiveness depends on taking the right type at the right time, ideally with food.
• Food first: A balanced diet can meet most magnesium needs, with supplements best used to target specific deficiencies or goals.

"If you are starting any supplement, your first question should be, why am I taking this supplement? What is the intended purpose of this? And this is so important for magnesium, because it's going to help you, not only pick the type of magnesium you are going to use, but it will help you determine how and when to take it."-Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Muscle growth isn't about doing more, it's about doing it better: this episode breaks down how progressive overload works by pushing your muscles to 100% effort, creating tiny breakdowns that your body repairs stronger over time, leading to real strength and visible results—but only if you stay consistent, focus on fewer high-quality exercises, prioritize proper form, and stop chasing sweat or constant workout changes, shifting instead to a mindset of intentional effort and measurable progress.

Here's What You'll Discover:

• Progressive overload is the foundation of muscle growth: Pushing your muscles to near failure creates small breakdowns that your body repairs stronger, leading to increased muscle size and strength over time.
• Less is more when training efficiently: Instead of doing many exercises, focus on 3–4 key movements with proper warm-ups and give maximum (100%) effort during working sets.
• Consistency beats constant variation: Repeating the same core lifts allows your body to adapt and progress; changing workouts too often limits real muscle development.
• Form and effort matter more than sweat or weight: Proper technique and true intensity (training to failure) drive results, not how sweaty you get or how heavy you lift with poor control.

"So when you use more of a progressive overload strategy, you are causing stress to your muscles. Stress being a general term, it's like a stimulus, and your body is forced to adapt to that stimulus, and by adapting, it's going to grow, it's going to recruit more muscle fibers, it's going to gain strength, increase size. The adaptation part is the key." - AJ

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Confused by all the hype around progressive overload? This episode breaks it down in the simplest way possible—showing that real results don't come from just lifting heavier, but from pushing your true 100% effort with proper form, full range of motion, and intentional techniques like tempo and time under tension. In this first part, Emily and AJ debunk the biggest gym myths, revealing that progress isn't about ego or constant weight increases, but about consistency, patience, and actually challenging your muscles the right way—whether that means adding weight, slowing things down, or even dialing it back to improve engagement.

Inside this episode:

• Progressive overload is about effort, not just heavier weight: True progress comes from reaching near 100% effort in your working sets, not simply increasing the weight each session.
• Form and full range of motion matter more than ego lifting: Lifting heavier with poor form or partial reps limits muscle growth and increases injury risk; quality always beats quantity.
• There are multiple ways to progressively overload: You can challenge your muscles by adjusting tempo, increasing time under tension, improving range of motion, or refining control—not just by adding weight.
• Progress isn't linear and requires patience: Strength gains slow over time, and sometimes reducing weight to improve muscle engagement is more effective for long-term growth.

"It's not just about adding weight. The priority should be, of course, doing the full movement with good form." Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Vitamin D isn't just about sunshine, it's the missing link behind stronger bones, better workouts, faster recovery, and even a more resilient immune system. In this episode, Emily and AJ break down how vitamin D works hand-in-hand with calcium, magnesium, and vitamin K2 to optimize absorption and overall health, while highlighting that gut health, balanced nutrition, and proper supplementation all play a critical role. They also reveal why athletes and active individuals need higher levels, how deficiency can quietly impact strength and recovery, and why consistent dosing, not quick fixes, is key to long-term results.

What You'll Gain:

• Vitamin D needs support to work effectively: It helps absorb calcium, but nutrients like vitamin K2 and magnesium are essential to direct calcium into bones and improve overall absorption.
• Gut health impacts nutrient tolerance and absorption: Many people who think they're lactose intolerant may actually have gut issues, and improving gut health can restore tolerance to nutrient-rich foods like dairy.
• Vitamin D is crucial for performance and recovery: Low levels are linked to decreased strength, higher injury risk, poor recovery, and increased inflammation, making it especially important for active individuals.
• Consistency and correct dosing matter: Vitamin D supplementation works over time, not instantly; proper dosing (and understanding units like IU vs mcg) plus regular intake is key to avoiding deficiency or toxicity.

"Supplements are what they're called, they're supplements. They are not your main thing. You should always try to change your diet before you are leaning into supplements."

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

Vitamin D might be the most overlooked key to your health and in part one of this two-part episode, Emily & AJ reveal why so many people are unknowingly deficient and what that means for your body. They break down how it helps your body absorb calcium to protect your bones, while also impacting immunity, muscle function, and disease risk, plus the surprising reasons deficiency is so common, from sun exposure and diet to skin type and lifestyle, setting up part two for solutions and optimization.

What You'll Walk Away With:

• Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption, making it critical for strong bones and preventing conditions like osteopenia and osteoporosis.
• Deficiency is extremely common worldwide and often goes unnoticed due to mild or vague symptoms.
• Beyond bone health, vitamin D supports immunity, muscle function, and may help reduce risks of chronic diseases.
• Factors like limited sun exposure, skin pigmentation, diet, age, and body fat levels all influence vitamin D levels.

"Sunshine is going to be the most effective midday because of the angle of the sun, and it's going to be less effective through clothing. Pasteurized egg yolks are going to provide a lot of vitamin D, so is cod liver oil, certain fish and then mushroom is a big one" - Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.

If you think you're eating "high protein," you might be getting fooled. This episode breaks down how misleading labels, serving sizes, and marketing claims can derail your nutrition, while teaching you how to actually identify real protein sources, build balanced meals around them, and hit your protein goals for better muscle maintenance, fat loss, and overall health.

What You'll Learn:

• Don't trust "high protein" labels, read the nutrition facts: Marketing can be misleading, so always check serving size and actual protein content before assuming a product is protein-rich.
• Aim for ~20–30g of protein per meal: Anything below 20g is generally not a strong standalone protein source, especially if you're trying to support muscle, recovery, or fat loss.
• Use simple ratios to assess protein quality: Compare protein to calories (or carbs/fats), if protein is low relative to calories, it's not an efficient protein source.
• Build meals around protein first: Choose your protein source (e.g., chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, ground meat) before adding carbs and fats to create more balanced, satisfying meals.
• Whole foods > processed "protein" products: While bars, shakes, and packaged foods can help, prioritize whole, minimally processed sources for better nutrition and more reliable protein intake.

"In case you are not aware of this, you do not need to fear whole eggs for cholesterol reasons. They are so nutrient dense, they are one of the most important foods you can actually have for the micronutrient profile, in my opinion, and they have a positive impact on your overall fats that you are intaking. So please eat whole eggs." - Emily

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who's stuck in the start-over cycle. Your support helps more people find the podcast and build healthier habits that last.

Until next time—keep showing up, stay consistent, and remember: small steps add up to big change.