From Losing 100lbs To Coaching Fitness With Amanda Paige Lewis

Actors are often treated like athletes in the musical theatre industry.

And rightfully so.

The amount of stamina it takes to sustain an 8+ show a week schedule on Broadway is staggering - if you factor in athletic singing, dancing and acting in dozens of lengthy production numbers. It truly takes a certain type of person to succeed in theatre. Amanda is one of them.

Amanda Paige Lewis

Amanda Paige Lewis is an actress and model based in NYC. As an actor, Amanda performed regionally at the Weston Playhouse, Theatre Aspen, Theatre By The Sea, and The Lake Dillon Theatre Company, and has appeared in numerous commercials and print ads. She is also an indoor cycling instructor at Flywheel Sports and a proud member of Actors Equity Association. She received her BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory. 

In episode 73 of the Actor Aesthetic Podcast, Amanda chats with host Maggie Bera about her health journey and passion for fitness, survival jobs, agents, auditioning in NYC, branding yourself through social media, and sobbing in the pasta aisle at Westside Market (LOL!).

Here’s a snippet of our conversation.

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When you’re not performing, what’s your “survival job?”

So I teach at Flywheel, which is an indoor cycling studio. We are based out of New York but we have locations all over the world… And I have a crazy story about fitness and lifestyle.

Let’s hear it!

So I used to be heavy. I'm about 5’6 and used to weigh roughly 199 pounds. I was in an very unhealthy state and I knew for what I could do and my ability, it wasn't lining up. I went to a performing arts high school so I was working all day long and eating at lunch and eating when I got home… but I was eating like bags of potato chips. Then I was going to dance rehearsal and I couldn't keep up because I was so tired and drinking a lot of soda… a lot of carbonated beverages.

So it was not about your weight. It was about your health.

Totally. And I think the reason why the changes happened, the heaviness kind of fell off and I ended up getting more fit and into shape was because my eating habits changed. Once I became healthy, my body started reacting in a healthier way. And I could keep up - I wasn't so out of breath in rehearsal. I just started mentally on this healthy journey… which it takes more than people just saying, “you should eat better.” You actually have to commit to it.

I remember eventually seeing a photo and being like, “wow, I look good… and I feel happy.” I didn’t feel like I needed to hide in a picture. And I just felt more confident. I started to calorie count and focus on what I was putting in my body because you know… they say, “you are what you eat!” and it's a real thing.

If you eat good, you will feel good.

I'm so grateful because I've maintained where I'm at, and now I have a job in fitness and I teach classes. It’s the first job in my life where I feel like it's not about me anymore - it's about other people. And I think I was missing that just doing theater.

Theatre can often feel very selfish.

Yeah. And as much as I loved performing and being in it all the time… I would go home at night and not feel fulfilled.

So how did you get involved with Flywheel?

Flywheel sort of fell into my lap. It started in Boston - a lot of kids in my class were barre instructors, with a lot of dance background. Flywheel also offers a barre aspect, so you could either teach the cycling classes or barre. A lot of the girls taught that so I used to take those classes. But when I took cycling… I was like, “I want to do that!” I was hit by this amazing physical, overwhelming sensation of being in a dark room and just sitting with yourself and working out in a really challenging way.

I signed up to audition just like you would audition for a normal call. I had this experience of being in front of people and being able to sort of hold my own - so I knew what the feeling was going to be. I went in with 30 other people, and they only chose 6 of us. I was like, “excuse me, how did I get chosen?!” I was this little theater girl who had zero fitness experience… I just liked working out. I just trusted my skill and taught a couple songs… and then I got the call. I started training like two weeks later. And the rest was history.

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To hear the rest of the conversation, head on over to Episode 73 of the Actor Aesthetic Podcast.