Interview with Health & Wellness Success Coach, Allyson Mallah

1. Can you tell us something about yourself and what you do?

I am a “Health and Wealth Success Coach”. I work with executives, aspiring and tenured entrepreneurs to achieve their leadership and business objectives while using peak health and fitness to drive their bottom line.

I am WILD about coaching, which is helping people close the gaps between where they are right now and where they want to be. I am credentialed through an ICF (International Coach Federation) program and a NASM certified personal trainer and performance expert.

2. You’re a business and health expert helping individuals improve their business, health and life. What motivated you to pick these specialties? What was the turning point that led you to do this type of work?

I have always loved greatness, regardless of if it was an athlete, an entrepreneur, a philosopher, etc. People that drive success into their lives interest me and I am interested in helping people live monetarily successful lives as well as healthy and fulfilling ones. I was motivated to pick these specialties being that I have spent the past decade working as a top performing business consultant in corporate America, helping startup and medium to large sized companies attract and retain top talent, mitigate risk and scale. Being an award-winning athlete and fitness expert as well, it’s a combination made in heaven for driving peak performance in business and life.

3. What is your top 3 problems that you see in your field of entrepreneur coaching? How do you help people break through these issues?

1- FEAR
2- LACK OF AWARNESS
3- LACK OF CLARITY

I coach them around these issues and guide them toward finding the “right” solutions to achieve their goals. It’s different for each individual, but it has a lot to do with beliefs, core values, and utilizing their strengths.

4. Why do you think it’s essential for company leaders to support and invest in wellness programs?

A company’s greatest asset are the people working for them. Wellness programs are dedicated to supporting that greatest “asset” to make sure that they are emotionally, mentally and physically at the top of their game. Aside from the various return on investment benefits that employers will see like (less absenteeism, lower workers comp claims, higher productivity, lower turnover rate, better health insurance rates) their employees will work harder and smarter when they truly feel cared for. The bottom line is “on the line” without wellness programs.

5. How did you get started in fitness? Do you have any athletic background?

I have been in love with sports since a young age. From bike riding and rollerblading around my hometown near upstate New York, to competing in softball tournament teams, indoor soccer leagues and seasonal leagues during high school. Being a type-A, tenacious personality, I found at an early age that the gym was a great stress-relieving outlet for me and I thrived on the endorphins that catalyzed the rest of my day.

6. What made you decide to get into fitness modeling?

Since my youth, I used to fantasize about looking like women that appeared in fitness magazines. At that time, my beliefs were different than they are today. I used to whole-heartedly BELIEVE that it was genetically impossible for me to look like these women I idolized. That belief was deepened when a misinformed loved one reaffirmed that I “would have to starve to death to look that way”. I continued to workout out and eat on a yo-yo type of diet for many years, yet managed to shed a bunch of weight after college. Then I caught the fitness competition bug, which later shifted my beliefs about what was possible for me.

No experience in my life has trumped the shock, the euphoria and the empowerment that I received from doing what was necessary to kick tail in that competition, Not only did I qualify for nationals in my first competition, but I completely transformed my body. From experiencing this shift first-hand, I knew I needed and wanted to share it with others to encourage their own desired transformations.

7. How does your discipline as a Fitness Professional influence your life as a whole?

Health and Fitness is first in my life. I am a firm believer that we cannot give our best until we give to ourselves through being healthy and fit in mind, body and spirit. That being said, I will only settle for giving my best. My discipline as an athlete and health professional provides an insurmountable amount of satisfaction and inner strength that carries over into the work I do with others. It is the foundational fuel, which keeps me pushing to be better, provides clarity, genius ideas, grounding and soul satisfaction. In the gym I have developed a focus that I get asked about by curious gym-goers on a daily basis.

The questions aren’t so much around my typical diet and workout regimen, but more like “what do you think about when you work out?” “what allows you to push that hard and for that long?” I have learned that where the mind goes, the body follows and the more that one can get aligned with what inspires or fuels them at a deep level, the better the results they will achieve. Period.

8. In terms with your career as a Health and Wellness Coach, how do you motivate people to stay healthy and fit?

In coaching, whether I am helping a client with a health objective, a business objective, or a life-related objective, I always coach them from “where they are at”. What I mean when I say that, is (what do they really want? If their response is not specific, than I coach them around getting clear about what the end result looks and feels like. What do they believe and are those beliefs going to support them or not? I am all about the mindset first and foremost.

9. Being an inspiration to others, what inspires you the most?

What inspires me the most is seeing people surprise themselves. When I can see “that look” in someone’s eyes or by the way they speak. I’m inspired when I hear a mindset shift, a confidence boost, someone taking ownership and responsibility of their results no matter what. I am inspired when I see grit and heart put into what they do. I love seeing, hearing and experiencing the empowerment of others. This makes my heart sing.

10. Have you participated in fitness competitions? What were the results?

Yes, I competed in a Figure Competition back in March 2011. I qualified for nationals out of 30 girls, took 2nd place in my class and cried for the next 4 days- stunned by what I had accomplished. It was an aw-inspiring, life-changing experience to say the least. The determination, the guts, the unwavering commitment to trust the plan, trust my coach, push through workouts regardless of my mood, and to NEVER EVER, EVER even an ounce, cheat on my diet. Being able to stay on the figure show diet plan that I was on was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

11. We’re curious, what’s your typical diet like? My typical diet is eating clean, whole foods. I eat about 5 to 6 meal per day.

I eat a high protein diet turning to egg whites, chicken, quinoa, lentils, steak, and fish as my main sources. I also eat a substantial amount of fruits, veggies, and higher-fat foods like chocolate, peanut butter, icecream, avocado and vegan cookies, and hummus. I tend to stay away from eating bread and starchy carbs in excess. I have found that by having a balanced diet, my body reacts in a beautiful way, where my metabolism is healthy and charged. And because I hit it hard at the gym and love power training, I can get away with eating a lot more food and I still get to rock my 6 pack!

12. Are you taking any supplements? How useful do you think they are?

I do not take any supplements anymore. I used to take glutamine for muscle recovery do daily protein powders, but since I have gone “all natural” I find that my skin and hair looks more beautiful when I get my protein from natural foods!

13. What is your workout routine? What specific program do you follow? (Please include a few details – training split, sets/reps, exercises, types of cardio, etc.)

CARDIO:

I like to get in at least 30 mins a day for cardio and then hit the weights. For cardio I run outside for 4-5 miles about 4 times per week. On other days I will climb stairs, hit the rowing machine, or speed walk up a steep incline.

STABILITY, STRENGTH & POWER TRAINING:

I do a lot of leg/booty lifting days now. I break out heavy vs. light leg days. On both days I will finish with about 10 minutes of intense ab work.

Heavy Leg Days 2x per week: For each exercise I will do 3-4 sets of 9-11 reps
Exercises: Squats, Leg Press, Lunges, Plié squats, horizontal legpress.

Light Leg Days 2 x per week: I will do them until failure.
Exercises: Lunge jumps, Flying-weighted air-jax, box step ups, tuck jumps, walking lunge, tube walking (side to side), sprints, suicides

Back Day: 1x a week. I will do 3-4 sets and 10-15 reps.
Exercises: One arm dumbbell row, seated cable row, lat pulldown,

14. What is the most challenging thing you deal with in order to stay in shape?

Keeping it interesting! I love the routine of going to the gym, but I also love to learn and grow, so after awhile I get sick of my routine and switch it up. I used to do a lot of cardio through turbo-kickboxing classes which were a blast, then I switched to spin and rpm for a few months, then I realized that I wanted to lean out my midsection and tush so I started running and have been for the last few months. I listen to my body and I also listen to my mind, keeping my #1 priority, to make it not only challenging but FUN!

15. What is your short term and long term plan in the fitness industry? Are you working on any projects?

My short term plan for the fitness industry is to align myself with tenacious, smart and passionate leaders as well as organizations who’s primary focus attacking the obesity epidemic or contributing to peak performance. I am extremely passionate about this topic and I believe that we as fitness professionals, cannot give up or give in and believe that people are inherently lazy or point fingers at the other obstacles in our way. The future is in our hands to turn it around or we as a society will keep getting fatter, more depressed and continue to die off early and unfulfilled. It is my primary interest to coach people to their deepest “wanting” and have faith that it correlates with feeling their best, which good health and fitness.

My long-term plan is to become a powerful speaker on “health and wealth” related topics, increase the quality of life for a mass audience, and continue to grow as a leader in this industry.

16. Any shout outs?

Big shout out to Ms. Natalie Minh for giving me the honor and opportunity to be in her magazine and for being one of those powerful, brilliant business women that I deeply admire, and love. Big smooch coming at you! I want to give another shout out to her organization, FMI, which has connected me with invaluable connections and information. I LOVE YOU ALL- YOU ARE PRICELESS TO ME!

17. Last words, where can we find you on the Internet?

You can find me at www.allysonmallah.com