"I am such a tomboy," says in-demand fitness model Amber Elizabeth. "I'm not really into that whole girlie 'look at me' thing. I'm really understated. I don't really want to attract attention to myself, so the whole idea of modeling was like, 'no.'"

Bells are ringing. Her exclusive manager, Topher DésPrés at Silver Model Management in Manhattan, has been getting an off-the-hook reaction.  Although he pushes her as hard as a personal trainer, he’s also leading her in the right direction, helping her to understand the truths – and the myths  -- of the media biz.

It's a far cry from her non-model-like beginnings, but it's this kind of variety that is spicing up her life.

"I was raised as a missionary kid and both my parents were employed at the time at a Bible college," she says. "I grew up in the Congo, Africa. When I came to the United States, we lived in upstate New York."

She still holds firm to her Christian faith (and also holds a regular 9-5 job), which gives her the yin and yang she needs to keep it real. When not doing high martial arts kicks, she's keeping both feet on the ground.

Unlike many models of her young age, she has a loving, dedicated spouse who approves of her modeling and trusts her to take the high road. 

"He's very supportive," she says. "I think that initially, it was a test for both of us. We're saying, 'we're married, but I'm going to be in front of all these guys who are gigantically muscular and good looking.' I think that the more open I was with him, the more comfortable he got. And now he's just like, 'I want to support you in this.' He knows for me that, in a man, muscles just aren't enough, good-looking just isn't enough. He's the only guy who holds up to all my standards."

Meanwhile, Amber is meeting and exceeding the industry standards as she makes memorable appearances in the most prominent of fitness magazines, including Women's Fitness, Men's Health, Muscle and Fitness, Women's Health, Prevention, HERS and the current cover of Oxygen. And if that doesn’t make you want to take a breath, there will be more covers lined up to hit the stands within the next couple months (we’ll keep you posted!). 

"The mission for me is that I think I can do both," she says. "I can be a model and I can provoke a lot of thought in creating a beautiful image, but rather than portraying sexual thoughts, I want people to look at it and say, 'wow.' I feel that I'm doing it in a classy way. Some of my pictures are definitely sexy, but the message is not sex."

The "wow" that she's soliciting from a growing group of admirers is also a direct result of her plan for staying magazine-cover fit.

"I usually do a six-week cycle," she says. "I try to change up my workout every six weeks. I did a couple months of kick boxing and now I'm in a heavy lifting phase to build a lot of muscle. I want to fill out my shoulders and broaden up my back a little.

"I usually try to take a day off a week from the gym, and it's usually either Wednesday or Sunday. Because every week my mom has family night, and the whole family goes over and my mom makes us dinner.

"Usually when I'm in the gym, it's 30-40 minutes of cardio, and I always try to do intervals. I throw in a lot of speed work. Changing up the pace keeps me interested. In addition to the cardio, I'll do one or two body parts per day. I change it up a lot.

"As far as diet, I learned the hard way that if you cut something out completely, you're just going to crash harder when it's over. I went off carbs completely, no vegetables and no fruit, for four days, and I think it took one day after I was done to gain it all back. It was crazy. It was insane. I'm all about eating clean, but not completely depriving myself of the things I really like. In the meantime, I keep nice and busy, stay in the gym and stay strong. I fuel my body as an athlete, not as a model. And I think that that probably makes the difference.

"I think it's so important to find a balance in working out and in eating. It's easy to keep losing weight or to keep getting more muscular. That can be a dangerous little spiral that you can create for yourself."

As Amber spirals in the other direction, she studies for her certification as a personal trainer and offers advice for those about to rock the camera.

"As far as being in front of the camera, I'm comfortable there but I don't crave that thought. I don't have this deep need to impress people. If they like what they see, then that's awesome. The fact that I'm relaxed and I don't feel the pressure to please everybody in the room really allows me to flow with whatever is going on and produce the pictures that people are looking for."

Still, the modeling world holds a sense of wonder and vague amazement for her as she continues to build her white-hot career.

She says, "I just can't believe that people are interested and want to see what's going on and are excited to book me. It blows my mind. I still see myself as this twelve-year-old girl with this backward baseball cap on."

See? You can take the tomboy to a major modeling career, but you can't take the tomboy out of the girl. 

Photos courtesy of Silver Model Management.

For more information about Amber Elizabeth, go to 

www.silvermodels.com.

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