Meet the Squad: An Interview with Madeline Moves
An interview with Madeline Moves
...on social media, counting macros, and sharing her passion to move
Madeline Custer is as active as they come. As a P.E. teacher, fitness blogger, and wellness advocate, she has been sharing her passion to move for as long as she can remember. Madeline knows first-hand just how important staying active is, but even more so how you should listen to your body. Her online guides have helped women all over the world change their lives, and she isn't done yet.
So I wanted to check-in with Madeline - see what she does on a daily basis, what makes her tick, and how in the hell she stays so active. I'm so excited to have her on TWR as my February guest in a monthly series I call Meet the SQUAD. I know you will enjoy her genuine vibe as much as me.
1. So tell us, who is Madeline Moves?
I’m Madeline and like you, I think Cassidy is as cool as they come, so I’m sure we would get along, too. I’m 25 and from a little flatter part of country-- Greenville, South Carolina (although the mountains out West call regularly and I answer with trips that are never long enough). My profession is very unprofessional and I’ve completely beaten the system since I get paid to run around with kids all day is my favorite athletic clothes. I’m a P.E. teacher for K5-5th grade at a large private school and also coach middle school girls soccer. It’s an absolute blast and has been pure joy to instil a love for movement into the next generation for the past four years.
When I’m not teaching, you can find me planning the next adventure with my husband (we like to travel quite a bit), training for the Boston marathon, circuit training, spending time with large family--(I’m one of 5 kids), hiking local trails or soaking up the sun (with SPF 275 of course). I truly crave movement and the science behind it as it relates to so many physical performance aspects, but more than that, the incredibly profound effect it has on my soul. God created me to move, and I am most at rest in Him when I am moving. That might seem contradictory, but for me, it isn’t.
2. How did you get started in the fitness industry?
I’m not sure I am in the fitness industry, but if I am, I always have been. Ever since I was little, my two older brothers had me involved in something competitive. I played tennis, swam, ran and played soccer growing up, but soccer holds the best memories for me because I was able to play in college. It was a natural progression for me to want to learn more in college, and also to serve the next generation, so I chose physical education as a major. If there’s money to be made in the fitness industry, it probably won’t be by me--I don’t have a business mindset, but I love to move and I’ll share that love and everything I’ve learned with anybody--whether they are in Kindergarten or a nursing home.
3. You’re a big advocate of counting macros. What advice would you give someone who’s looking to start incorporating this method into his or her routine?
I am an advocate of anything that works for a person on every level. If your food approach causes inward stress, but outward results, it’s not working. If a person’s approach to food leaves them temporarily satisfied with treats and indulgences, but is ultimately not providing them nourishment or fuel, it’s still inadequate. Tracking macros has been the most balanced, accurate, educational way to pair the best of all my previous conceptions of nutrition into one, so yes---an advocate I am.
My advice would be to start tracking everything you eat for a few days into an app. Get to know your foods and what is in them. You might learn that you avoid carbs like the plague, but your fats are out of control. Most people learn they have to be much more intentional about protein and that the oreo isn’t worth the guilt trip.
4. Have you ever struggled with your health and fitness? If so, how did you overcome these struggles?
I truly have never gone through a phase that I was injured or had any kind of disordered patterns towards health or food…...my biggest struggle comes from being selfish with my hobbies and passions. I could easily say no to an opportunity to catch up with girlfriends because I would rather not miss my morning workout or forego a movie on Friday night with my husband knowing that I have to get up early for a run. And at one time I had an imbalanced view of the two components. Thankfully, I’ve learned that exercise enhances LIFE, and that it is only as beneficial as it balanced. I would say that has been my biggest lesson learned.
5. How has social media played a part in your online business?
To be honest, I don’t know if I have an online business, and if I do, it’s a bit of an accident. As people started asking for workouts that I was sharing on IG stories and on my blog, it became quite the process of keeping up. So many questions about sets and reps and form and it just wasn’t the most efficient way to share. Girls started falling in love with the feeling of weights, but sweaty, heart-pounding weighted circuits that combine their love for cardio also. Runners started getting stronger and faster as they tried them and it snowballed into putting them into a format that anyone could follow--a workout guide, the MOVE SWEAT SHRED guide. It’s 8 weeks of my workouts combined with cardio and it’s killer, but in the best way.
And girls wanted to pair their newfound love for the gym with nutrition that was going to get them specific results. Some needed to repair their metabolism from yo-yo dieting but didn’t know where to start. Other wanted to lose 10 lbs, but still have a sense of understanding on how to do it and how to KNOW they will see results. Enter macro coaching. I opened it up for one day and had to close it because I couldn’t handle all the clients and give them the kind of experience I was intending to provide. My goal with the 8 Week Macro Coaching is to truly give a person all the information (28 page PDF) and all the hands-on support to teach them how to count macros, adjust macros, maximize macros for any phase of life they are in. They won’t need to hire a coach unless they need accountability. Every girl will have the knowledge to reverse diet or enter a cutting phase or maintain using the method of macro counting because they have LEARNED (I am a teacher after all).
6. Your top 3 rules to live by when it comes to your health.
Never Stop Viewing It as a Gift
Habits over Motivation
Invest in Other People’s Health, Not Just Your Own
7. How do you stay fueled throughout your day?
I’m a big fan of hearty meals-- I usually start with a huge egg white omelet with tons of veggies or cream of wheat with protein powder if it’s a breakfast I have to make at school.
Lunch is usually grilled chicken with roasted vegetables, rice, quinoa, butternut squash-- something comforting and warm in the winter
But my staple is protein ice cream-- I think I had it every day (including snow days) last year. The toppings change, but the recipe is just so yummy that I eat it even on the coldest nights of the year….you’ll understand if you try it.
8. You’ve got some serious goals set for yourself. What’s in store for Madeline Moves in the coming year?
I want to provide more women with tools to make the self-sufficient. There is nothing I have that they can’t…...no secret workout, no magic macro counting formula. Some women just need a plan and hand to hold until they are equipped and ready to get after it. And even once they are equipped and independent, we can still enjoy the common bonds of supporting women become the best they can be. I love that. That’s what I want to do more this year----be a small part of someone’s journey.
9. Words to sweat by:
Circuits - they are my jam and I make some mean ones.
10. If you could choose between traveling the world for free or joining the US soccer team, what would you choose?
TRAVEL. Unless Drew also got to make the US Men’s National Team (and honestly he could-- he’s an incredible player and the US Men need a kick in the pants). So I would choose travel because we can do it together and if you’ve seen him, you know why all available minutes are going to be spent with him.
11. What does #GIRLGETAFTERIT mean to you?
GO. Stop caring what people think when you bust out burpees and drip sweat. Who really cares if you have to walk some during your first 5k? Don’t hold yourself back because you PERCEIVE something isn’t possible. Whatever “it” is to you is possible and women are lining up ready to support you…….and even if they weren’t, you would still be strong enough.
Madeline wearing the #GIRLGETAFTERIT Crew Neck
12. Where can we find you?
I’d love for you to come on over - slide into my DM’s, comments, whatever! I love everything TWR stands for and if you feel the same, we’ll be fast friends:
INSTAGRAM
madeline_moves
BLOG
https://madelinemoves.com/
READ MORE MEET THE SQUAD INTERVIEWS HERE!
