Can You Lose Weight in Your 70s? Jean's 55-Pound Story

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Jean: I could go to a gym in the morning if I wanted to. I'm old. I can belong to pretty much any gym I want for free. I don't want to go to the gym. And so Jess lets me work from home, gives me workouts to do from home. She gives me a program that I can do. And that's huge for me.

Nikkiey: What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show. Today I have Jean with us. She is 75 years young, and she has completely transformed her health and her fitness journey with WarriorBabe and has made incredible lifestyle changes, as we were just catching up on right before I hit record. I can't wait for her to share all the things she has done for herself through this program, like prioritizing sleep, waking up early to exercise, and adopting a sustainable plan that's given her more energy and confidence than ever.

She is a retired RN and a grandmother who balances her busy days watching her young grandchildren. Her story is a powerful testament to the fact that it's never too late to take control of your health and thrive. I am just so excited for her to pour into you guys today. So let's dive into her journey. Jean, where are you at in the U.S.? Tell us where you're from.

Jean: I'm in Michigan, outside of Detroit. Cold. But I was out walking this morning in the cold, by the way.

Nikkiey: I love to hear that. It's freezing. I'm from PA, Pennsylvania, and it's cold too, so I feel you on that. Well, welcome to the show. I'm excited to have you here.

Jean: Thank you. I'm loving it. It's been really, really good for me. I can't even tell you enough how good it's been for me.

Nikkiey: I can't wait for you to unpack that. I just want the listeners to be reminded of your age. I know I said it in the opening, but I want that number to stay in their mind as we go through this interview together. How old are you?

Jean: I am 75. I will be 76 in March.

Nikkiey: March what?

Jean: March 3rd.

Nikkiey: Hey, March 22nd.

Jean: Oh, that's good. March babies. I had one of my own that was a March baby, and a couple of grandchildren in there. So March is a good month.

Nikkiey: Yes, it is. Also, what I want the listeners to have in mind before we continue: share a little bit about how old your mom was when she passed and how many years you might have left to live.

Jean: My mom was 104 when she passed on January 1st of 2020. So I look at my life and think, hmm, I better get it together, because I could live a long time, and I didn't want to live like I was. I didn't want to have those years and have them be crummy years. Mom was always thin. I was thin when I was young, a whole lot thinner. But after menopause and around menopause, I let it go. And so I just slowly gained and gained.

Nikkiey: We're going to dive into that story. You filled out a questionnaire beforehand so we could get more of the depths of your story to bring to life here in this interview. You shared that before joining, you were always a night person and you struggled with weight gain after menopause. Can you talk about the challenges you faced and what prompted you to make the change?

Jean: Well, for me, I was going up and down stairs and I would be short of breath. I was getting arthritis, which I did have; I had to have a replacement. But the point is, my arthritis was starting to bother me at that time for the first time in my life. And because I was a night person, I always told myself I didn't have time to exercise. I watch those grandkids. It's been about a year and a half, a little more now, and at the time I started this, I still had two that were not even in school yet. I still have one that's only in school sometimes, but at least I have some days when she's in school all day.

So I felt like I didn't have time. I was tired all the time. I wasn't getting adequate sleep. I wasn't really eating enough, is what I really discovered. I'd let my metabolism get so bad. I was also getting heavier. I certainly wasn't getting any thinner. And so I always just told myself I didn't have time because I was up early watching kids.

Nikkiey: You mentioned while we were catching up right before we hit record that you were 106 pounds in your earliest days, and then you had your first baby and you were 104, and then menopause hit. How much did you gain through menopause?

Jean: To be perfectly honest, I've lost 55 pounds since I started this. I flirted with almost 200 pounds at one time.

Nikkiey: By the way, I don't mean to interrupt, but we have client wins inside our company communication channels, and you have shown up there so many times. As soon as you hit the 50-pound loss, Jess was just blowing you up in there.

Jean: Well, it has felt so good. But as I said, I just let it slowly climb. As I told you beforehand, I was a smoker, and around menopause is when I decided I was done smoking. I had quit numerous times over the years. When I would quit, I would gain weight, and I'd immediately go back to smoking. Around menopause, around 50, I decided that it probably was unhealthier to be smoking than it was to be fat. So I stopped worrying about what my weight was and decided I was never going to let that be the excuse for going back to smoking. So I didn't. But I blew up.

Over those last 25 years, I just let it get out of control. I kept looking at my weight going, someday you're going to double your weight. You're going to double what you should be, the way I was going. And I would look at that and think, that is just horrible.

Nikkiey: With the 55 pounds you lost, where were you before?

Jean: I had gotten to about 185. I'm going to go into one more cut here. I feel like even this weight is a little high for me. I wish I could tell you it was all muscle. I definitely am stronger, don't get me wrong. Even at my age, I gained muscle. There's no question.

Nikkiey: Your pictures look incredible.

Jean: I've still got a fair amount of fat on this little body, I'm pretty darn sure.

Nikkiey: So your daughter is the one who told you about WarriorBabe and mentioned that we had a focus on older women, and the fact that it was started by... because, you know, I'm also an RN, with my BSN. How did that influence your decision?

Jean: Well, she had joined. Jen was a member, and I didn't know that; we didn't talk about it until then. But she said, Mom, I found this group. She had seen your podcast. And truly, being an RN, it might sound snobby, but the medical background said to me, and said to her, this woman might know something.

Nikkiey: I love that.

Jean: Do you know what I'm saying?

Nikkiey: Oh, that's great.

Jean: We look at it and go, well, we're pretty smart, and we think maybe you've got something. Because I know something or two. As I say, I've tried Weight Watchers, and it worked for a while. I've done other things. It's not that I never did anything. And my daughter doesn't have the weight problem that I have at all. Jen really was kind of a bodybuilder kind of person when she was younger. She actually got my husband and me going to the gym years ago. So she's always been into fitness much more so than her mother.

I got exercise because I was a dancer. We skied. My husband and I traveled. I was very active, and that's where I got all my exercise. I did start going to the gym, as I say; Jen got us going there. But exercise was not a necessary part of my life because I got enough exercise. Then as I've gotten older, my husband passed away. I've been a widow for nine years. During that time, I stopped exercising, per se, and stopped the natural exercise too. We used to go to the gym, and I got lazy. I got lazy. I stopped going to the gym.

Nikkiey: So through those years, and then the decision you made, I guess inspired partly by my RN and BSN, how did you think the way WarriorBabe approached things, using macros and home workouts, was going to help you at your stage of life?

Jean: For me, first of all, I could exercise at home, and I'd have a coach that was individual to me, even though we're not face to face every day. She's not in my face getting after me. I liked having somebody tell me what I could do. I needed a roadmap. That's what I told Jess when we first talked. I said, I think I need a roadmap. I can't figure it out on my own. It's obvious looking at me that I can't do it on my own.

And I thought I was eating OK. But in fact, when I gave her my first couple of weeks, she said, you're under-eating. In my mind, I guess I knew I was. I was eating breakfast, and then I might not eat again till late in the evening after I got back home from watching kids. I might go the whole day.

Nikkiey: Yeah.

Jean: And I wasn't hungry. Why? Because my body figured it wasn't going to get fed.

Nikkiey: Your body was adapted to your caloric intake.

Jean: Yeah. It wasn't going to get fed, so that was OK. And then I wouldn't eat well. I would stop and get a hamburger. It'd be nine o'clock at night, and now I have to eat something and I don't want to go and fix it. So your approach of figuring out your food ahead of time, planning what you're going to do, was huge for me, because I wasn't planning. I was just grabbing when I had the time.

Nikkiey: Grab and go.

Jean: Grab and go. It was a horrible plan, but it's what I was doing. And then I would get home and I'd need wind-down time, I thought. So I just ate something, garbage I shouldn't be eating.

Nikkiey: How many grams of protein were you eating before compared to now?

Jean: Oh, my gosh. Nowhere close. Oh, nowhere close.

Nikkiey: Did you know about protein?

Jean: I didn't think about it. I wasn't really conscious of what I was doing. I might eat yogurt with granola in the morning, or I might have oatmeal in the morning. But then I would just go, and my daughter would say to me, Mom, you have to eat more. You have to eat something. And I'd say, I'm not really hungry, Jen. I wasn't hungry.

Nikkiey: We're going to pin that. I want to hear where you were at prior to WarriorBabe and how you were eating, because a lot of women are totally eating that way right now, and they're just like, oh, I'm not hungry throughout the day. Well, this is why: your metabolism is adapted to that caloric intake.

Jean: Oh, yeah. Now I'm hungry.

Nikkiey: So that's why I want to pin it. OK, great. Leave that cliffhanger right there, Jean, because we're going to circle back to where you are now. But don't answer that yet.

So with what you were doing beforehand, you mentioned you were pretty active. You mentioned that now you're getting up at like 5 a.m. You're prioritizing exercise before watching your grandchildren, which has completely changed your routine. How has this shift impacted your daily life and your energy levels?

Jean: Oh, I feel so much better. I feel so much better. I'm getting more sleep than I ever did, even though I do get up at five o'clock most mornings, some mornings six. It depends. Sometimes I can get up a little later.

Nikkiey: That inspires me. I'm getting up at seven. I'm like, if Jean can get up at five o'clock, I can do that too.

Jean: Yeah, because now I'm a morning exercise person. To be perfectly honest, by evening I am tired and I don't want to exercise anymore. Some nights I come home earlier, at 6 or 6:30. But some nights it's 9 or 9:30. It depends on who I'm watching that night, who I'm putting to bed that night. At one house, I always put the youngest to bed. At the other house, it's only some nights that mom works that late, and then I help dad. Dad puts one to bed, I put the other one to bed.

But anyway, the point is, when I come home, I go to bed. Whereas before, when I came home, I thought I had to watch the news. Why? What is even on the news that I care about? I'd think, well, I have to stay up and watch the 11 o'clock news. No, I don't. I can go to bed at 9 o'clock, sometimes 8:30, and I'm just fine with it.

Nikkiey: Amen.

Jean: And then I can get up the next morning and I feel good. I hated getting up in the morning. I didn't get up in the morning until I had children. I worked afternoons because I really wasn't a morning person. I was really a night person. And afternoons in my day, not in your day, were only eight hours, first of all, but it was 4 to 12:30. That was the afternoon shift.

Nikkiey: 3 to 11 for us.

Jean: Yeah, 3 to 11, right. But it was 4 to 12:30. And then when I was pregnant, they were shifting me around to different shifts. I worked midnights. I could do that. But days, no. It was much too early for me. I couldn't do 7 to 7, or 7 to 3, not what the kids are doing nowadays.

Nikkiey: 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, what improvements or progress have you made since joining WarriorBabe? For example, you've mentioned that you've been sleeping better, you've been feeling healthier, you have a sustainable plan for the first time. What other progress and improvements have you made?

Nikkiey: Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with the body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, 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. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

Jean: Well, as I say, the food has been amazing, because I plan for the week. I always cooked; I like to cook. So I always cook my meals, and then I eat the same thing all week. Now I cook that meal, break the protein portion into dinners, and freeze it. Right now I've got soup in there, a couple different kinds of soup that I've made. I've got chicken in there. I've got cabbage rolls in there. I've got all this stuff frozen. So when I plan out the next week, I can think, what do I want? What do I think I want to eat? And in addition, on the nights that I'm home, I have fish, I do other things.

But the point is, I've really planned my meals. And planning my meals is so freeing. It is so freeing. I make my salads; I like salads at lunchtime. Now, I know a lot of people don't like to eat the same thing. I don't care.

Nikkiey: I love that you were saying that so honestly, because so many people go into it thinking nutrition has to be different recipes and all these different ingredients. And it's already overwhelming to begin with for somebody to start a new fitness routine, like going to the gym, and also focus on nutrition. If you can make it silly, stupid, simple like that...

Jean: I do. I copy and paste.

Nikkiey: Simple. What did you say?

Jean: I copy and paste from MyFitnessPal. I just copy these meals. Just copy that meal. I'm happy with that meal.

Nikkiey: It takes the thought process out of it, where you don't have to think. You already have the grandkids to take care of in your life. You just copy and paste.

Jean: Yep.

Nikkiey: And plus, I'm sure that makes you more consistent, right?

Jean: Oh, it absolutely does. It's huge. It's huge. And I have snacks figured out. I have all the stuff in between figured out. That's not to say the next one might not vary. Vegetables might be different. I might change some things in there. But I have the basics that I can just throw in there and know that it's going to work and that it's within my macros for that particular day.

And as I say, I plan out a week ahead every time. On the weekends, I babysit every third weekend, because I have a daughter that works every third weekend. Usually I only really watch the youngest most of those weekends for her. But the point is, I plan for the week what I'm going to be eating, so I don't have to think about it.

Nikkiey: I love that so much.

Jean: That's amazing for me.

Nikkiey: Yes. And that's one of the reasons why you are so successful and have had the amazing transformation you've had. First of all, I want everyone to rewind the last five or six minutes to hear you talk about how much more freeing it is with the way you structured your days and your meals and how you freeze things. At the beginning of their journey, a lot of people struggle because they think macros is so time-consuming, and logging in MyFitnessPal is going to take them half an hour to an hour, which is true at the beginning. Was that you at the beginning of your journey? And how long does it take you now?

Jean: Oh, now it takes no time at all. As I say, I just go back and go, what day did I have that? Let's look at that week. Oh, yeah, I'll throw that here, and I'll put this for this day and this for that day. But at the beginning, it did take time. I was definitely slower. But once I figured it out... the weighing stuff, I had done that kind of thing with Weight Watchers.

The thing I really like is that I can have whatever I want, if I can make it fit. And when I don't... I have a lot of birthdays. I've got nine grandkids. I've got my own three kids. I've got a couple of sisters in the area and a brother. So we celebrate things, and I love it. On those days, if I was on Weight Watchers or paying attention to what I was doing, I used to think, well, I can't have that ice cream and cake, or I can't have this or that. And I don't tell myself that anymore. I'll have what I want to have. A day is a day, and it doesn't make the whole thing gone. Do you know what I'm saying? Because that day, if I had tracked it all, I'd be too high for sure in carbs, probably fats, probably not protein.

Nikkiey: Exactly. It's all party carbs and fats.

Jean: But I don't feel guilty. I feel it's okay. I took that day, I did that, and it doesn't change my general progress.

Nikkiey: Did you always have that mindset?

Jean: No. No.

Nikkiey: Like, oh man, I screwed up today, let me bleed it into tomorrow, and then I'll start back up on Monday. Were you that type of person? Or was it more like, okay, I messed up today? What kind of mentality?

Jean: Well, in the past, that was more my mentality. But with this program, mindset has been really... I love quotes that I see all the time. Jess is always posting quotes. She's always posting things that tell you it's okay. And it's what you tell yourself. It's what you tell yourself.

Before I started this program, what I told myself was, I can't lose. I'm too old. I can't exercise that much. I do all my exercise at home because I don't want to go out in the morning. I could go to a gym in the morning if I wanted to. I'm old. I can belong to pretty much any gym I want for free, because I'm old and my insurance provides it. But I don't want to go to the gym. And so Jess lets me work from home, gives me workouts to do from home. She gives me a program that I can do. And that's huge for me.

Nikkiey: I love that.

Jean: That's really made a big difference, because that's the other thing I said to myself. Again, we used to go to the gym a lot. But I always said I didn't have time to go to the gym. I have time to go upstairs. That's where my equipment is.

Nikkiey: I love that. Everybody says they don't have enough time. You have enough time. You could just get a dumbbell. What do you have in your home?

Jean: I went out and bought another treadmill, because the treadmill I got after my husband died, we had up north, so I gave it away up there. But I did buy a treadmill because I knew there would be days I wouldn't want to go outside. And I'm at the point now where I hate my treadmill. I use it when I have to. Today I think it was nine degrees out, and I don't know what the wind chill was, but I was out there walking, because I don't like walking upstairs on it unless I have to.

Nikkiey: I don't know what more needs to be said than that from Jean. Everybody better be inspired to get their ass outside even if it's nine degrees. Get some steps in.

Jean: It was great. I loved it. I'm out every morning. I've got these little things that go on my boots so I don't slip and slide, because it's kind of icy and snowy out there right now. We used to call them crampons. I don't know what they're called now. But I put them on the bottom of my boots so I don't fall down. That wouldn't be good on the ice, because people don't all shovel.

Nikkiey: So you just mentioned the food freedom you experience, and that the macro approach has been freeing for you in how you think about food. Has that been the biggest breakthrough, the biggest game changer for you?

Jean: That and getting more sleep. Prioritizing sleep, which I never did. I know the nights that I can't get enough sleep, because there are nights I have to go to bed too late and get up too early, and I can't change that. And I know I don't have the energy the next day.

And again, having a coach has been huge. She's been extremely supportive. I can tell her anything. When I had my hip replacement, she was able to give me exercises that I could do, so I was still moving, because the hip surgeon wouldn't let me do anything, not even lower body.

Nikkiey: In the year and a half you've been with WarriorBabe, while losing 55 pounds, you also had hip replacement surgery.

Jean: Oh, yeah. I had my hip replacement last March. I had thought that if they just injected it, it'd be okay. And when I went and saw him, he said, oh no, this is done. And even at that point, I felt that I healed and did as well as I did because I was using WarriorBabe.

I traveled to France in May on a pilgrimage for two weeks, and we walked up and down more stairs than you ever thought about in a day. And I did it all. I loved it. I could do it. And I would never have been able to do that had I not joined this. I was absolutely so thankful when I was there. One day in France, my tracker told me we'd walked 300-and-some steps that day. Because it was a pilgrimage, we went to the churches, and the churches in Europe were built on hills to protect them during wars. That's why they're up so high. They had more of a vantage point over the city and less chance of being hit, although a lot of them had holes in them from the wars. So all these churches were up high, and some of the people we traveled with couldn't do it. And I walked every one of those doggone steps, and I felt good doing it.

Nikkiey: That's so great. Not many women can say that after having a hip replacement. Working in nursing, you saw so many people that would fall, and then it would just be a downward trajectory from there.

Jean: Yeah. When my doctor told me I could have that hip replacement in March and I'd be able to make that trek in May, I said, are you sure? He said, absolutely. Absolutely, you'll be able to do it.

Nikkiey: Two months.

Jean: Hip replacement is so different today. Now, I haven't worked in nursing since the early '80s. I shouldn't say I didn't work. My husband went into business, and I was doing his work and working in nursing, and I couldn't do both. So I had to take over his books and stop the nursing. But the point is, it's so different today. It's much less invasive as far as the muscles they go through. So it's a different deal.

Nikkiey: Recovery is so top notch. What do you think made the difference?

Jean: Oh, no question that having lost the weight, as much as I had by then, was huge. And the fact that I'd been exercising. I was trying to get that leg stronger, because I knew when I started this program that I was favoring that side enough that I was losing strength in that leg, which was a bad thing. So I really was working on trying to get it stronger, which it did. It was certainly better by far when I had the surgery than it had been before I started.

Nikkiey: Wow. That's incredible. It's so inspiring for anybody going through surgery, even hip surgery. It could be anything, it could be general. But it's so inspiring to know, okay, if I set myself up beforehand and I prime my body to endure what it's about to endure, I'm going to recover.

Jean: Yeah. It was huge. That's what I said. I knew I never would have done as well if I had just been where I was the year before. No way I would have done that well. And I wouldn't have been able to go to France. I wanted to do that. When he told me I'd be okay, I said, okay, you're sure? I'll go for it. Because I knew I was going to be miserable flying. I couldn't sit. Sitting was bothering me. I've got grandkids, of course, like I said, and we have basketball games. I couldn't sit on the bleachers very long. I had to stand. With football games, I was having the same thing. It was really bothering me.

And it was amazing when I went to France. It was mostly old ladies that went, and they were like, can't believe you just got that hip replaced. And I said, I know, it's amazing.

Nikkiey: So I want to bring back what we talked about at the beginning, with you not really feeling hungry throughout the day, and only eating at the end of the night and snacking. Now, with you prepping your meals, you have a plan that Jess has given you. You have macros to follow. Where are you now with your health and fitness journey? Like you shared, you feel better, it feels more sustainable, but what does it look like today for you? How much are you eating? We know you lost 55 pounds. Have you lost more since, or are you at 55 right now?

Jean: I'm right around 55 right now. I've been in maintenance for a while, and I'm not really losing in maintenance. I would like to, but I'm not really losing, which is not really the goal of maintenance.

Nikkiey: Exactly.

Jean: I just hoped I still would. So, as I said, I think I want to go into one more cut, because I would like to be thinner. I would like to be thinner. I think I'd be healthier. First of all, I used to be 5'3", and now I'm down to 5'1". So I'm shrinking and still fatter. This is really a problem.

Nikkiey: That's true. We shrink.

Jean: Oh, we certainly do.

Nikkiey: So what is the goal? We know weight isn't the thing, and you've definitely put on some muscle.

Jean: No, I realize that.

Nikkiey: Amazing for your age. What is the weight goal you want to get to?

Jean: For me, I'd like to be closer to 120 than 130. I'm at 130 right now, and I'd like to be closer to 120. I think it's a more reasonable weight. Again, if this was all muscle, I'd probably be okay at 130. But since I know it's not all muscle... I can see the muscle, I feel better, I'm happier with my shape, but I know there's still a lot of fat in there that shouldn't be. And I just think health-wise, I need to get rid of some of that. It's really for health. Who cares what I look like today? Nobody else really cares.

And I told Jess a long time ago, there came a time, and it might be a funny thing to say, but I could see myself in the mirror again. For so many years, who I was looking at wasn't me to me, because I'd just gotten to a place where I shouldn't be. And so now what I see in the mirror is so much better.

As I say, nobody else really cares. But we're going to Florida. There'll be 11 of us. I'm going with six of my grandkids and my kids and their mates. We're going to walk all over the place. I want to be active still. I like to be active still. I want to be able to enjoy these years with those grandkids and with my kids.

Nikkiey: Absolutely.

Jean: So that's my goal. And the scale, first of all, used to be my enemy, and it's no longer my enemy. That's the other thing they talked about. I heard people say it, and I thought, oh, it's so true. Now I get on that scale, and I'm happy with it most of the time. And if I pop up some, I think, eh, I think I was okay this week. I look at it and go, well, maybe it's just where my body is today. So day-to-day isn't much. But I would like to get down a little more, and you'll see. Maybe that isn't reasonable, but I think it is.

Nikkiey: You'll know. Your body will tell you if it is or it isn't. It's a reasonable goal for sure.

Jean: But again, it's because I feel better smaller.

Nikkiey: And I love the other goals you have too, the non-scale victories, like keeping up and being active with your grandchildren.

Jean: Oh, yeah. That's been my whole reason from day one, really: I've got these young grandkids. I've got 25-year-old ones too; I don't have all little ones. But they go down to five, so I still have little ones that I like to be with and love watching. I've got two daughters and they're both RNs.

Nikkiey: Oh, that's good.

Jean: And they both work, so I'm watching their kids. Between them, they've got six kids. And I want to keep doing that. I like it.

Nikkiey: So bringing it back to that, how much food were you eating before and how much are you eating now?

Jean: Oh, I'm eating more now.

Nikkiey: Holy cow. How much are you eating? Where are your macros at right now?

Jean: Well, I'm only at about 1,600 calories right now.

Nikkiey: But I just need to say, "only" 1,600 calories for a 75-year-old who is 5'1". Not many women that age and that small can say they're eating 1,600 calories. A lot of women are eating 900 to 1,000 calories a day unintentionally, without being aware of it.

Jean: Right. And that's probably what I was doing. I was just way too low. And I'm hungry now, by the way.

Nikkiey: That's beautiful. And you've lost 55 pounds by eating more.

Jean: Oh, yeah. No question. When I first started, I was at 1,250 calories. That was my beginning. And I felt like I was eating a lot.

Nikkiey: Of course, initially. What is this? I've been adapted to eating only a meal a day.

Jean: Yeah. That I really felt was a lot of food. Now I know that's not very much food.

Nikkiey: Oh, I love that mindset. 1,200 calories is like bird food.

Jean: That's right. But again, I would like to lose a little more, just because overall, as I say, I feel much better. No question. I feel better as far as getting more sleep, eating enough, exercising, walking. I love my walks when I go out in the morning.

Nikkiey: That's amazing.

Jean: Today was cold, but it was sunny cold. It was a blue sky, a little snow coming down.

Nikkiey: What would you say is one of your proudest accomplishments with WarriorBabe?

Jean: That I've stuck to it. That I've stuck to it, and I like it. I joined for a second year because I thought, I really like this. I can be successful with this. This is helpful to me. And I still need that accountability. I consider my coaching accountability.

And like I said before, nobody cares other than my kids. They're going to care if I really let it get out of tune. That's why my daughter mentioned it, because we all knew I wasn't eating right. But for me, I still need the accountability, and I love it. Jess has been very, very helpful. And she gives me new routines to do, which I like. When I was going to the gym, I was doing the same stuff all the time.

Nikkiey: Heck yeah. That's nice, where you can hand the steering wheel to somebody else. You're doing the work, but she's giving you the tools.

Jean: That's what I told her. I needed a roadmap. For me, that's really what I needed, and she's giving me a roadmap. I'm a map kind of person.

Nikkiey: Love that. What would you say to somebody listening right now who feels unsure about taking the next step with WarriorBabe?

Jean: Oh man, go for it. If you want it. You know what I'm saying? I wanted to change. I did have that desire to change. I just felt it wasn't going to be possible because I was too old. I have arthritis, what can I do, kind of attitude. But that was just, as Jess would say, an excuse, not a real reason.

Nikkiey: Amen to that.

Jean: That is what it was. I don't have time. I'm too old. No. There are 24 hours in this doggone day. If we want to find the time, we can. I had to find the time in the morning. For me, that's where I had to find it. I had thought I had to be in my bed, and I figured out I didn't.

Nikkiey: Where do you think you would be right now if you hadn't joined WarriorBabe?

Jean: Oh, I would still be up there at 180, 190. No question. No question. And I know I wouldn't have done nearly as well with my hip surgery. I know when I went to France, I would not have had as much fun. Because I did. I had a blast. I loved it. I had wine every day, which I don't drink every day, but I was in France. And I didn't feel bad about having my wine every day. And I came back and I don't have wine anymore.

Nikkiey: And see, balance. It's all about balance.

Jean: Yeah. It was like, I can have this. Come on, I'm in France. They had really good wine, by the way.

Nikkiey: What advice would you give to someone in their 50s, 60s or 70s who might think it's too late to make the change?

Jean: Oh, man. It's not too late. It's fun. It's really been fun. I've just enjoyed it. I like the challenge. It's been a challenge. I like the challenge when I get a new fitness routine of seeing how much weight I can do, what I can do. So that has been really healthy for me. It's a good challenge.

But like I said, if you want to be more active, if you want to feel better, man, this works. And it's such a sustainable thing. Like I said, Weight Watchers, a diet per se, is very different to me than this. This does not strike me as a diet, which is a very different look to me than something like Weight Watchers, where you can have X number of servings of vegetables. I can have as much vegetables as I want, as long as it fits. You know what I'm saying? I don't have that half a cup of this or half a cup of that kind of attitude anymore. Let's see how many grams I can throw on that scale and still make it work.

Nikkiey: I love that. We always say macros is a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. It's not a diet.

Jean: Truly. Truly. As I said, I am so appreciative of this program.

Nikkiey: I am so appreciative of you for taking the information, taking the plan and executing on it. I look at coaching, what Jess does with you, and then you being your own human and taking it, and you guys working together to make the transformation happen, which is a huge part of you being successful. So I appreciate you being a go-getter and getting it done. Everyone should adopt your mindset. You started out one way, but you wanted to change. That's truly what it takes, the want and the desire.

Jean: Yeah. You have to want it. You can't do it because somebody else tells you you have to do this or you should do this. I think it's very different. In my case, I knew I wasn't happy where I was. But as I say, I'm so appreciative of this program, and it is the combination of all of it. It's what you tell yourself. Because again, excuses versus reasons, that was very eye-opening to me. Really. It sounds funny, because we all know that an excuse is different than a reason. But when it's thrown at you: hey, what you tell yourself is not always true, folks. It is not.

Nikkiey: And you're a testament to that. Your story is a powerful reminder that it's never too late to make a change, to prioritize your health and to embrace a sustainable lifestyle. Thank you so much for sharing that story with everybody listening. If Jean's story has inspired you, remember that your next step could be the start of something truly life-changing. Jean, you've totally proven that. So I appreciate you sharing your story, opening up and letting everyone know what's possible for them too, if they just put their mind to it.

Jean: Yeah, it is. This is a wonderful program. It has been so helpful.

Nikkiey: Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for being here and showing us what's possible.

Jean: Thank you.

Nikkiey: Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference in helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.