At 62 She Got Stronger and More Confident w/ WarriorBabe Johanna

00:00I'm totally transparent. I thought, gosh, maybe I should try this easy out that a lot of people are doing and using like an Ozempic thing. And I've never, ever considered something like that. I would do a really super intense spin class, be completely soaked, and then go right into a Pilates class. And really feeling like if I didn't push myself, I wasn't doing enough. So understanding the equation of how to deal with premenopausal, postmenopausal, all of these things that you can slowly increase calories as you gain muscle.

00:32I've lost almost 13 and a half pounds. What's going on, you guys? Hey, everyone. So today I have Johanna here with us, who she is a WarriorBabe, and she has been active and athletic her whole life. But she's gone through two total knee replacements and the challenges of aging. She found herself struggling in a way that she never had before. What worked in her younger years no longer got her results, which left her feeling frustrated and left her feeling discouraged.

01:07But then she found WarriorBabe and everything changed. And she discovered a method that not only helped her lose weight and built strength, but also gave her confidence, energy, and a plan that she can maintain for life. And today I am going to speak with Johanna here and dive into some questions so she can share her story with you guys. And I hope that one of you is just inspired by what she's going to share with us today. So, Johanna, welcome. Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

01:37Can you give the listeners a little bit of background about you? Like, where are you from? What do you do for work? And how old are you? Okay. Yes. I'm 62. I live in Bend, Oregon now. We just moved here about six months ago. And I lived in Los Angeles for my entire life. I'm an ecologist by trade. And in my younger years, I was actually a personal trainer and a group X instructor way back in the 80s. The big 80s with the leg warmers and the big hair.

02:11Okay. Okay. Cool. We'll dive maybe into some of the narratives slash stories that you were, you know, brought up in with being a trainer in that time and what it was like back then. I was just speaking to another warrior babe yesterday for an interview and she had mentioned about growing up in the 80s and the things that you guys were told of things to do. So, I'm sure we'll get and dabble into that discussion. But let's dive into where you were before finding warrior babe. Like, what were things going on in your world in terms of where you were mentally, where you were physically, and what were you trying to figure out before you found us?

02:50Well, as you mentioned, I've had two total knee replacements. They were five years apart. So, I've always been really active. I was a soccer player up until my adult years in my 30s. I stayed pretty active, but then when my knee started to fail, it set me back because one workout would take me out for like three days. In more recent years, dealing with aging parents and having to take care of them and move them and it just sort of, all of my stuff for me got set aside. All of, you know, I mean, I would hike, but my biggest frustration was finding a way in post-menopausal years,

03:27how to maintain fitness and the goals that I wanted. So, everything that I learned in my earlier years just didn't work anymore. So, super frustrating. Bring me back to what years it was when you had your knee replacements. My more recent one was about a year and a half ago. And the one before that was five years prior to that. It was a slow decline in movement. I actually found Pilates. So, I was doing a lot of Pilates.

03:57I was doing no weight training at all. And I think that the lack of muscle was in great part keeping me from maintaining the weight that I wanted. After my first knee replacement, I actually lost a great deal of weight really, really fast because I had a bad reaction to the surgery. So, I dropped 25 pounds in just like three weeks and lost lots of muscle at the same time.

04:29And then came back from that, but I was just doing lots and lots of cardio and Pilates. It was really hard to maintain. And so, the idea, I was trying intermittent fasting. I was trying, you know, paleo and all of the things I would try. But there was, you know, there's so much information out there that is in direct opposition. Right? And then I had a lot of food allergies that came up as well. So, gluten stuff and dairy stuff. And it was just hard to find my way. There's no guidance.

05:00And so, that's why when I found Warrior Babe and had this framework of having somebody let me know, this is how you eat. This is how much you work. And I remember in my initial interview, I said, look, I'm doing Pilates five or six times a week. Isn't that enough? Do I have to do weight training too? And I remember, I forget who it was, but she was wonderful. And she just kind of shook her head and said, no, not enough. So, let's unpack that a little bit more because a lot of women are in that same bucket that I've talked to for years now.

05:34They think that doing Pilates or doing yoga or doing, you know, like maybe some boot camp classes throughout the week or going to Orange Theory. They think that that is enough in order to, you know, some, the women that come to us majority of the time want to have more muscle to their body. They want to feel stronger. They want to be more toned. And can you help me understand why you thought Pilates was enough? Well, look, I'm an 80s aerobic queen. So, you know, I went to the actual Jane Fonda studio where, and I taught aerobics.

06:08I used to teach two hour classes that were just all cardio. I mean, crazy stuff. It's no wonder my knees wore out. Right. So I think that there's a, there's a misperception in information. And so I think that in part having the information that was outdated and then also just the information for women. Warrior Babes is a women run entity that you can understand the problems that are unique to women. And so, you know, intermittent fasting is great, I think, mostly for men, but I don't think it works so well for women.

06:44So I just think that understanding the equation of how to deal with premenopausal, postmenopausal, all of these things that you can slowly increase calories as you gain muscle, understand the importance of macronutrients and the types of workouts and the importance of taking days off, which is another thing that I hardly ever did. It's so imperative to finally understanding how to get and to maintain.

07:17I mean, at one point, if I'm totally transparent, I thought, gosh, maybe I should try this easy out that a lot of people are doing and using like an Olympic thing. And I've never, ever considered something like that. But it was like either that or I'm just resigning myself to the fact that this is my postmenopausal body and I'm giving up. Well, I appreciate that honesty. And you are not alone in that statement. There's so many women that say that, oh, the better years are behind me or, you know, they accept what they hear of, oh, this is just what it's like now that you're menopausal and postmenopausal.

07:49And then tagging on to what you said about all of the information that is out there. And it's so overwhelming. And it's, you know, there's do this, try this, try Ozempic. It's the quick way to lose weight. So I appreciate your honesty with that. You mentioned a little bit earlier, too, as well, that what worked for you in the past no longer seemed to be effective. How did that make you feel? Like I was failing. Like I'm not doing something right that I can't maintain a, you know, 1300 calorie day and not feel like I'm going to be homicidal at the end of three days, you know.

08:25So, yeah, it just made me feel like I no longer had the willpower or the determination that I had when I was younger. That's heavy. You know, that's a lot to think about. Well, I think it leads into self-esteem. You know, I've had a lot of different career changes throughout my life. I was, as I said, I was a personal trainer and I then I was a hypnotherapist. Then I went back to school kind of late in life and became a therapist and I actually work with a lot of women who struggle with body image and food issues.

08:57And, you know, I mean, I was a secret snacker. And, you know, a lot of those things that bring their shame based. I think that society has a lot to do with that. But to have a place to go where you have a community of women who are going through the same experience is game changing, truly. Thank you for the work that you do. And this conversation right now, I think, is really important. There's so many conversations in the fitness space that talk about, oh, this is what I ate and this is how I worked out.

09:28And this is my meal plan before and this is my workout strategy now. But like getting to the depths of the conversation that we're having right now and your honesty and transparency and sharing that it was it made you feel like you weren't doing enough or it made you not feel enough or it made you, you know, feel like that you were having shame based experience with it was snacking. Like there's so many women that experience those similar emotions. So knowing as someone's listening to this right now, like they're most likely feeling like, oh, my gosh, I'm not alone. Like Joanna's doing going to the same thing and there's other women that are going to the same thing.

10:00So I just thank you for that vulnerability and sharing that experience that you had. I want to pull it back to what you said with our platform. You've recognized the importance of rest and you recognize the importance of taking days off. What was what were you doing before Warrior Bay workout wise? Like how much were you training in a week? What were you doing? Tons of cardio. Like what did that look like? It was trying to get as much in every day as I could. Right. It was, you know, if I could do six or seven days a week, I would do that.

10:32I would sometimes go to a spin class. So the Pilates studio that I was at had both spin and Pilates. I would do a really super intense spin class, be completely soaked and then go right into a Pilates class. And I would do that numerous times a week. I mean, it was like craziness and really feeling like if I didn't push myself, I wasn't doing enough. How about what did your nutrition look like on those days? How much were you eating? Um, I think that it would, it would oscillate between being super strict and trying to, okay, let's talk about the carb thing.

11:08Right. Trying to avoid fats, trying to avoid carbs, like eating a lot of protein because it would satiate me. But, and then you get to a place where it's like, I don't want to do this anymore. And then you just eat whatever you want. And then you're just right. You know, I, I wouldn't say I had like a binge problem, but you would just like, there was no holds barred. It's like, I'm just gonna eat whatever I want for breakfast, get a snack. I'm going to eat, you know, ice cream after dinner. So it was like black or white. It's either I'm really, really on or I'm, I'm, you know, off of it.

11:42When you mentioned that carbs and the fats, what was the narrative going on in your mind about it? Cause everybody thinks different things about it. You know, I've heard so many different narratives, but I want to hear what it, what specifically the carbs and fats mean to you back then. Right. Low carb, low fat, just trying to stay away from the things that actually just gave you balance. Right. And it doesn't work. It just creates a feeling of, of deficit. And then you just kind of go off the rails and a lot of it too, I think that it's important to speak to the secrecy and, you know, how this struggle for years and years has always been, you know, in just in my own head and taking that out.

12:25I mean, doing the warrior babes and doing the, the, the progress photos. I mean, for me was like, really, I've never, ever done anything like that in my life to post photos of myself in, you know, a sports bra and underwear. It's like, I, I, I'm in, I've got to, I've got to change something. And the seek, the safe space of being in a woman only program and then having the support, not only with my coach, Alison Berg, who is amazing and her, her group of the unicorns, that support is amazing.

13:01But, you know, your posts, your podcasts, your Tuesday meetings, the Facebook page, there's even like a messenger just for Oregon babes is so, I mean, I don't feel alone in it. And I feel like other people are having the experience. And I think that's such an important piece of it. I love that. Okay. And that's, I, that's makes my heart so happy because that's all that our mission is at warrior babe is, uh, those exact things.

13:31I mean, it's to help a hundred thousand women regain the personal power for coughing their skin. But beneath that is having the community of women that are doing it together and know that they're on the same page and knowing that they're on the same journey. And if they were to step outside into their, you know, world that's around them in Oregon, and maybe there's a supporter that doesn't support them and, or there's criticism that comes along with any journey that somebody is on when they're trying to change themselves. You know, and they know, and warrior babes know that they can come to this community and they can be supported by the team of unicorns that you're with or by your coach, Alison, which she has, she's incredible.

14:09And, uh, all of the other, you know, resources that we have inside of the community. Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean a lot. If you could hit pause for just a second, leave a quick rating or a review or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. So let's talk about that. How did you find warrior babe? And like, how did you find it?

14:39And then what initially drew you into the program? I found you guys on Instagram. And so I was a voyeur for a long time, not a long time. I would say maybe about a month. I would watch your postings and I would read the comments and I'm like, Hmm, maybe, maybe. And then, um, over time, I think I thought, well, I'm just going to check it out. And then I did the onboarding meeting. Um, so yeah, it, it was, I think it kind of came to an apex when I had the thought about, should I just like,

15:13order this medication? And I thought, no, now you're back in the, in the seventies and the no dose days and the, you know, the dexatrim days and I'm aging myself, but, um, you know, any means possible to try to get to, you know, the skinniest. And, and back in those days it was skinny, skinny, you know, skinny fat, uh, basically. So unhealthy. I remember always being hungry back then, just always being starving and it didn't work.

15:45And I think that it actually set me up for failure in my later years. Well, I'm so glad that you found us. I'm so glad that the narrative is changing in your brain in terms of, um, and along with, you know, you're, again, you're not alone with that. There's so many women that experience it, but you recognize that like what worked, does it, you're not looking for the skinny, you're looking for the strong. And I can't wait to talk about the accomplishments that you have, uh, seen with warrior babe. The maybe, what were some of the, cause we all experienced the skepticism, the unsure, maybe some of the comments you were reading, what was the maybe that was going on in your mind for

16:20the month that, you know, initially put you off until you finally were like, I'm, I'm in it. That's a good question. I think that there's so much information out there and there's so many coaches and people posting stuff and, you know, I've always done this on my own. It's always been, you know, uh, a very private personal journey. And so this was really stepping outside of that. And I wasn't sure I was, I was ready or willing to, to do that. I'd never experienced it.

16:50Wow. Okay. That's a, I haven't heard that response yet, but that I'd so, what, if you do things by yourself and, and for so long, it's, it's interesting to step into another world where you're in a community and you have thousands of people in a Facebook group. And as you shared earlier, like that, something to you is, is what is you love about the program right now? Yes. Yes. Yeah. What do you think warrior babe and what you were hearing and what you saw on Instagram, what do you think made us stand out from other approaches that you have tried in the past?

17:23For one thing you said, you know, low cardio, low or no cardio. I'm like, really, really? So you, I helped the vision of a world where no cardio existed. Because that was always the grind, right? That was always the grind of, of having to do the cardio, right? And I, I, I done weightlifting 15 years ago and I have, of course, we all have all of the equipment, right? But I thought, you know, is that something I want to get back into?

17:55And it's just a complete shift of going from like the Pilates world, you know, where they reward you for, you know, how many times you've shown up this week and, you know, to just a completely different approach. And we, it's just not knowing, it's not knowing the right way to go. There's so much different information out there. It just wasn't knowing what was going to be the, the thing for me. So what made you come, what made you commit and say, I'm going to give this my all? It was during the onboarding meeting because I'm, I'm, you know, a skeptic at heart.

18:30She answered all of my questions, all of my concerns. And it was the commitment of, of buying into the program that I thought, okay, I'm, I'm either all in or I'm not right. And, you know, it's an investment, but if you, if you look at working with a personal trainer or, you know, I have girlfriends who have made that investment in, honestly, if you add up what they're paying, it's actually more than what this is.

19:00And so I thought, you know what, that's going to really help my motivation to knowing that I've committed for a year and it's going to keep me on track. And, and so that was part of it. Love that. And I love that you came in with, I'm going to give it my all and I'm going to commit because I'm sure you heard about our 108010 principle in the onboarding experience with Alison is, you know, 10% of people come into our program and they are all for it. They're committed. They know that that's an investment in themselves and they know that it's up to them to put the

19:35program to work and they get the results within the 90 days. Then there's 80% that are like, you know, the narratives, the limiting beliefs that still creep in, but they're, they're, they're consistent. They're, they're showing up. They're likely to get results pretty quickly too, as well. And then there's a 10% that never even leave the onboarding experience. Like they, they don't, they don't put the program to work. They don't show up. So I love that you came in being committed and you're like, I'm going to give this my all. This is an investment myself and I'm going to put the work in. And what's so cool is you put that work in.

20:08I mean, you joined us back in early October. And so let's go on that journey. Since starting Warrior Bay, where are you now in your journey? I've lost almost 13 and a half pounds and like two inches off my waist and two inches off my chest. And it's, it's noticeable. It is noticeable. And it's so interesting too, because I'm less invested in what the scale says so much, which has always been sort of the gold standard.

20:38Um, so when I started, I had, I weighed what I weighed when I was pregnant, just for a place of reference, which was over, over 145 and I'm five foot four. And this is after, as I said, with my knee surgery, I'd lost, I'd gotten down to like 121 pounds. And I mean, if I'm transparent, I had no butt. I turned around one time, did a double take and it's like.

21:10Panking butt. Yeah. Yeah. Which I, I mean, I, I've got a, I've got a bubble butt. So that was like, that was like, oh my goodness. So I gained some muscle back, but I don't think I was doing the right kinds of workouts to maintain it. So I didn't have enough muscle mass to maintain it. And so I thought, and now at that time I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do everything I can to stay this size and stay this weight. And then just as the years of five or six or seven years since that first knee replacement,

21:41it just crept back. Everything I tried to do backfired. I was just hungry. And so I couldn't stay on a nutritional path that, that was right for me. And I just gained it all back plus some. And so being at one 45 and a half, whatever it was, um, again, I was just like, okay, this is, this is the point of where I either go right or left. And if I go down a path and I'm just giving up essentially, and I'm just going to become

22:12one of these menopausal women, it's like, oh yeah, it's menopause. I've always really been very, very active. I'm a backpacker. I'm, you know, I did a lot of yoga. I, I'm always moving. Um, and that was devastating to me. It was very depressing. So now that, that, I mean, when I went into the program, I was, I had the thought going in that, that I'm doing this 200%. And I, I have fun. My husband is like, I could never track my macros like you're doing. He's just completely not interested.

22:45But to me, it's fun. It's like, I, and I don't, I don't meal plan out for the week. Like a lot of people do or prepare. I like to decide what I'm eating that day. And so in the morning I start with dinner and I put in my macros, what I'm having for dinner. And then I work backward from there. And it works great for me because I love to snack. So I put in my snacks and I put in, you know, I'm very health conscious. So I think I do a good, good job of balancing that, but that's just what works for me. Were you aware of what macros were before Warrior Babe?

23:15I was aware, but I'd never tracked them. I'd never tracked them like this. And before Warrior Babe, how much like post a knee replacement, when you kind of snowballed back up to 145, how much were you eating in that day with us being as active as you are? Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control.

23:46If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women.

24:20Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. What's your favorite? Ah, that's a good question. I would say maybe 19 to 20, 200 calories, give or take. With the proper macro, like with a macro breakdown or just focusing on calories? No, no, no, none of that. And how much are you eating now?

24:50Now I'm at 18, a little over 1800. I'm not, I'm generally not very hungry. I, there's days, there's some days that I'm like, oh, I only have this left. And other days it's like, how am I going to eat all this? And it's, it's hard sometimes to get enough protein in, but finding the hacks of, you know, ways to do that. I just, I dig it. I just really, it suits me. Yeah. I heard you. I read, you know, what Allison wrote about you is you're consistent and you're dedicated and you're, you just put the work in, which is how you've gotten the results.

25:24And in the 90 days that you've been with, or no, little, yeah, 90 days, little over 90 days, which is so cool. So let's talk about where you are now in terms of how many days a week are you working out? I am working out five days a week. I do, um, lower body on Mondays, upper body on Wednesdays, full body on Fridays. I do Pilates, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Um, and it takes Saturday and Sunday off, which is great. I love that.

25:55And I, I walk my dogs like two, three times a day. So how, how does your programming look with having the knee replacements? Is there any type of limitations that you have? No, no. You know, I think that I want to speak to how life can get in the way. You know, my husband who's 64, um, had five or six different, um, heart procedures. My, um, dad just passed away two years ago, but I had to move them to memory care.

26:27And my mom who's still alive and just managing all of these things. I think that for me, and I think for a lot of women that I work with a lot of women in my practice, that it's so easy to put our stuff last or give it up. Right. It's like, if I have to get all of this in, I will not do my stuff because that's the easiest thing to, to do and just take care of everybody. I think that needs to change. I think that, um, it's not that hard to make that commitment to yourself.

27:00I know if I don't get my workout in first thing in the morning, like I did a 6 30 AM workout this morning that a, it might not get done, but B, it feels so damn good to know I'm done. Yes. I love that. Yeah. I think that's really, um, thank you for bringing that up. I think that's really important to highlight. I'm glad that you did that. You know, life can be a chaotic life can be overwhelming and life can be, it can be the situations that's so easy to put everything else first and not put you first.

27:31Let's talk about some of your top achievements. I know you shared a few, but is there any other top achievements that you have outside of maybe the physical that you've noticed in the body composition changes? Well, I think that just working the program for me is, is such, it's such a great achievement. It's just staying on. I mean, it's been since early October and now we're at the end of January for me to have been this focused for me is a huge achievement. And now I'm trying to add in meditation, which I don't always get to, but I'm really good at

28:03suggesting that to other people, but not so good at doing it myself. I really want to get better at that. I think that one of the biggest achievements is what I kind of spoke to a little earlier is making the commitment to myself that I'm not willing to set aside what my, my program is for really anything, not for Thanksgiving, not for, I travel into LA once a month. You know, I plan out if I know I'm going to a restaurant with friends, which I, you know, having just moved there, I'll eat five, six meals out.

28:35I will Google the, the, the menu and decide ahead of time what I'm going to eat and put it into my macros. So then I'm just free to enjoy myself. That's awesome. I love that. Those are some solid top achievements to have. What about if you never made a change? Like if you had never made a change, where do you think you'd be today? At least 145 pounds. That's for sure. You know, I started buying bigger clothes, which was super depressing. Um, I think that there is a sense of loss of self that happens.

29:08There's a way of, of perceiving ourself that sometimes feels like we're younger than we are. But then I think you can get into a place where you feel older than you are. That wasn't anything I was willing to, to do so. But it was happening. It was already happening. Is there anything else that maybe I haven't asked you here today that you would want any listeners that are listening to this right now to know? I think that if there's any doubts, as I said, I'm a highly skeptical person that the, the program speaks for itself.

29:39One of the things that, that really drew me in was how many women are on the program. I think, I think it was like 17,000, something like this. And if that many women are connected to this program, it's not like a handful. I mean, that speaks for itself. But I think that the community, the idea that there's so much information floating around. I mean, the diet industry is one of the biggest money-making industries out there. And so it's so easy to get pulled into all of these, you know, get skinny quick things, but

30:13they never work. This is tangible. This is something that for me makes sense. I can look at it and it's not like just some magic that happens. It's something that I can look at and count on and that I can do forever. I love that. How's it feel to be like in control of that, like in control of your health and control your fitness and control your mindset? It's amazing. It's so empowering. Instead of just, it takes the guesswork out, right? It's like, well, maybe this will work.

30:44Oh, maybe I'll try that. Or maybe this will work. But that I think is such a huge piece. And, you know, society has a way of perceiving how we're supposed to be. It kind of removes all of that. It just removes it all. It's like, I am, I'm strong. I'm, I feel fit. I feel in control and empowered, just walking, just in my body, walking through the world. And that, that's worth everything to me. Oh my goodness. I love that.

31:15That's so powerful. That's a very powerful statement. You should be so proud too of all of the work that you're doing and, and have achieved. There's a lot of people, and you mentioned a little bit earlier, someone that's scared to invest in themselves. What, what advice would you give them about making their health a priority? For me, I think that when we get into these places and we look at past pictures of ourself of how we want to be, it's like, what amount of money would you pay to have that? Right.

31:45What would it be worth it? And I think that we would all, it's like, would you pay this per day? Absolutely. Right. No, no second thoughts. I think that it's an investment that it is the education. It's the connection. It's the knowing that there's a community. So yeah, you, you, to me, that's, that's worth everything. I love that. Thank you so much for trusting in warrior babe for, as you said, you're a very skeptical person at heart. So I just appreciate that, you know, you're able to trust us and that you put your faith

32:20in full like commitment and dedication into this program. And you truly have proved that there's no, no matter where you are in life, that it's never too late to regain this control that you have experienced for yourself and your health and your strength. Then, you know, you didn't just lose weight, but I've sensed that you've gained like a confidence. You've gained energy. You've gained, like, you can just, you can walk with stature and you feel good in your skin. And that's something that as you shared, you can maintain this for life, which is, that

32:52is why we do what we do. And that, and I just thank you so much for following the planet for trusting in us. And if anybody's listening to this right now and wondering if it's possible for you to the answer is yes. And all you need to do is just take the first step today. So check out warrior babe.com. But Joanna, thank you so much for being here with us and for sharing your story. I know that's going to inspire at least one person that's listened to it today. I hope so, Nikki. Thank you for all that you do. It's been everything to me. Thank you. Thank you. Real quick.

33:23If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.