Eating More to Lose Weight After Years of Under-Eating

Nikkiey: And then eating the thousand calories a day, and your body's like, what are you doing to me? I need more food.

Paige: My son's like, eat this. I'm like, I can't eat that. I was terrified of, I can't eat those french fries with you or those chicken nuggets with you, or have pizza on your birthday or have some of your birthday cake, because, oh my gosh, that's just going to throw me all off if I do that.

Nikkiey: What's going on, everybody? Today we have another WarriorBabe here with us. Her name is Paige. Before WarriorBabe, Paige was faced with more health issues than most: injuries, chronic pain, medications, and full-on living that busy lifestyle. She thought that she had to eat less and push harder just to maintain her weight, but it was leaving her exhausted, in pain and struggling to keep up with her son, and also to see the results that she had wanted.

She then found WarriorBabe, and now she's eating more. She's training smarter and stronger than she's ever imagined. And not only has she transformed physically, but she's also rediscovered joy in movement and food and in life itself. Today we're going to dive into her story. She's going to share all the things with us. Welcome, Paige. Excited to have you here.

Paige: Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Nikkiey: Can you let listeners know a little bit about you? Where are you from, how old are you, and what do you do for your job?

Paige: Yeah, so I'm in Denver, Colorado. I'm almost 39. Kind of scary to be there, but almost 39. And I am a nurse. I do home nursing and take care of people in their homes. I just recently started my own company at the beginning of the year, which has been a whole slew of stress, but I'm super excited to be doing it. And I love taking care of people.

Nikkiey: That's awesome. Fellow nurse in the house. Let's go. Congratulations on the start of your business.

Paige: Thank you.

Nikkiey: All right, so take us back. What was your health and your fitness like prior to WarriorBabe?

Paige: Poor, to say the least. Ever since my 20s, I always had this idea that if I just cut down on what I was eating, cut down on carbs, pretty much ate like a mouse, I could maintain my weight. But as I got older, that got harder to do. Even if I cut what I was eating, it seemed like I stayed the same weight or just added weight on despite not eating anything.

And my health has been a roller coaster since, I would say, 2007. I had West Nile, which was... steroids, which messed my whole system up, threw me off entirely, and I had procedures done, that kind of stuff. Tired. And then I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about a year and a half, two years later. So I struggled with stomach issues and eating, and then I had a real fear of eating because it would cause my stomach to get upset. It was easier to not eat, because then my stomach didn't hurt.

And then I got arthritis, and then I hurt my back. When I hurt my back, I ended up with surgery about a year later, which didn't fix me like I was hopeful for, and I ended up with bone spurs. Those caused severe pain when I was moving, when I was walking too much, just standing, sleeping, pretty much anything. I'd have back spasms. So I was on muscle relaxants, which make you extremely tired, not functional, and narcotics to help with the pain.

So my physical health kind of went down at that point. I didn't want to move, which was not the right thing to do for back pain or back injuries. I'd go to physical therapy and they'd tell me to do these things, but it hurt. Trying to do anything people recommended just hurt. I started getting injections. Those didn't really help. And then I started getting ablations, which did help with some of the nerve pain. But I still had chronic lower back pain with my arthritis and the back injury. So I was on pain medications and muscle relaxants to get through doing anything.

Then I had my son, which was amazing. He's six and a half now. But I had blood clots when I had him, so I ended up with stents in my left iliac artery. That put me down, because my left leg got really swollen and I could hardly walk 10 feet without fatigue in my leg. So I really struggled to keep up with my son, and that part really hurt, because I wanted to be able to play with him and get on the ground and wrestle with him and play tag and go to activities with his friends and all that kind of stuff. And it was like, I'm tired, I don't feel good, I hurt. That broke my heart. I think that was the hardest thing, just not being able to play with him when he wanted to play, and telling him, mommy hurts. Mommy's not that old, but mommy hurts and feels like she's in her 80s at this point.

That was when I started looking for programs, workout programs, stretching programs, but I couldn't find anything that was made for me, I guess. Everything was a 30-day program or a 60-day program, and it worked for that 30 days, which was fantastic. But then it was gone after the 30 days. It didn't really teach me anything or change my habits or my daily routines. I never really built it into my daily life. I had been in search of something, and I spent countless money on different programs that, like I said, never really worked, or I'd get two weeks in and it was like, I can't do half the exercises because I have to modify them. They hurt.

Nikkiey: You've been through it all. Wow. It sounds like back in 2007 is when it started, right? So it's been quite a time of things that you've gone through.

Paige: Yeah, it has been.

Nikkiey: And now you're here, which is pretty cool. You're on the other side of it, and we'll get to how you're feeling. Take us back, though, to when you were eating what, like a thousand calories a day?

Paige: When Lauren, my coach, asked me to just track for the first week so she could figure out what I was eating, I'm putting it in and I'm like, oh, I don't want to put that in. I feel like I'm eating too much, I'm eating the wrong things. But she was like, just be honest. So I put it in, and she's like, okay, you're eating like a thousand calories a day. I didn't realize that that's how much I was eating. I was surprised. I'm like, well, I'm eating a thousand calories, I should be a hundred pounds. I should weigh nothing eating a thousand calories, but yet I was fluffy. I wasn't big, but I was 130. And for me, that was heavier than I was in high school when I was playing soccer and everything. And I felt fluffy. I wasn't comfortable in my own skin.

Nikkiey: How did eating a thousand calories affect...

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with 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. Look, 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.

Plus, this was during all the time that you were going through all those different trials and tribulations. How did that impact you on a daily basis in terms of your mood, your energy and your overall well-being?

Paige: It was not good. I didn't sleep. I'd sleep four or five hours on average, kind of broken. My sleep was terrible. And then I'd get so exhausted that I would sleep well one night and then wouldn't sleep again forever. I had no energy to do anything during the day. Waking up in the morning, it was like three hours later and I'm like, I have to get going. How many energy drinks can I drink? What can I take to help me perk up for just a few hours so I can get through my day? Afternoon energy drinks, and none of it worked. It wasn't good. It wasn't healthy, for sure. Cranky, mood swings. I didn't tolerate stress well. And playing with my son, doing those things, going out and having a weekend, or even thinking about doing a fun trip to Disney or something like that was like, oh my God, that sounds horrific, because there's no way I'm going to be able to walk around Disney. I'm not going to have the energy and be able to sustain doing that and have a good time, or have my son have a good time.

Nikkiey: Yeah. And those are some of the things that you wish you could have done back then that you weren't able to do because of everything you were going through. And then eating the thousand calories a day, and your body's like, what are you doing to me?

Paige: My son's like, eat this, and I'm like, I can't eat that. I was terrified of, I can't eat those french fries with you or those chicken nuggets with you, or have pizza on your birthday or some of your birthday cake, because, oh my gosh, that's just going to throw me all off if I do that.

Nikkiey: What do you wish you had known sooner? Because with everything that you went through, at least from my perspective hearing it with you right now, it's like you were walking on eggshells. I couldn't eat this, I couldn't do that. You were uncomfortable, you were in pain. There was so much going on in your world. Looking back, with all the things that you know now about fueling your body the right way and training it properly and moving and exercising, what do you wish you'd known sooner?

Paige: I wish I had known about WarriorBabe sooner. Truly, I wish I had known that there was something out there like this years ago, before I had my son. I wish I had known that eating is good. I absolutely love eating now. And giving your body what it needs and moving it the right way and doing those activities, how much better I feel emotionally. I'm happy. I'm more energetic. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a mom, I'm still working, I still have my days where I'm tired. It's not like I feel great a thousand percent of the time. But I would say 90 percent of the time I actually feel like I'm not even almost 39 years old. Before, it was like I was 80 all the time.

Nikkiey: When you were saying all of that, I was like, you're way too young to be experiencing all of those things.

Paige: Yeah.

Nikkiey: What do you think was the moment that made you realize, I can't keep living this way, I need to make a change?

Paige: I think it was with my son, as he kept getting older and getting more mobile and talking about wanting to play sports. I didn't want to just go and sit and watch him play. He's an only child, so he wants me to be there playing with him. And I was like, I can't do this. I have to figure out something. I have to be able to be there for my son and feel better overall.

And honestly, it was between that and taking care of a patient at that time who was in his eighties. He was a rock star. He worked out every day. He had no excuses. He modified his entire home gym so that his arthritic hands could hold on to things, and he had seats in different places so he could sit during different exercises. But he worked out every single day, because that's what kept him going. I was like, if he can do this at 83, why can't I do something? I have no reason I can't do something and change what I'm doing.

Nikkiey: Wow. That's a man to look back on and say he was a driving force in making me make some type of change.

Paige: He was.

Nikkiey: When you were going through all of those experiences, how did that affect your confidence, your mindset, your overall happiness?

Paige: I had no motivation. I had no drive. I had a lot of drive when I was younger. I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to do all these things. I like to go camping. I like to go out and explore. I like to hike. I used to ski. And I couldn't do it. I lost my enjoyment for life, I guess. The reason why we go to work every day, why we wake up every day and do things, is so that you can enjoy life and enjoy the good parts of it, and I didn't have that anymore. I dreaded doing things. I was worried about the pain. I was worried about stomach issues. I was worried about everything. I thought of all the reasons why I couldn't do things, or what could go wrong, or what would hurt, so that I would talk myself out of doing anything enjoyable.

Nikkiey: Wow. Thank you for sharing all of this, by the way. I want the listeners to know that there's somebody out there who may be experiencing the same thing right now, and they're not alone. They may be experiencing one or maybe all of the things that you went through, and they're hearing your story and thinking, wow, I resonate with you right now. I hear you. I want to be like Paige. I want to make a difference in myself and be able to get better. Thinking about that, was there ever a moment that you doubted whether you could feel strong again and be pain-free? How did you work through that doubt?

Paige: A hundred percent. I never thought I could run again. I never thought I could lift weights. I was like, maybe I can do a band workout. Yoga was out of the picture. I was like, I can't bend, I can't twist without hurting. I was so fearful of my back that I thought if I lift weights or anything, I'm going to have this horrible back spasm and I'm going to end up in the ER because I can't move. That's how bad I was. My husband would pick me up off the floor and carry me into the ER because I couldn't move. My back was so tight and pissed off. Childbirth was easier than the muscle spasms were.

Nikkiey: Geez. In that moment you must have felt so helpless and hopeless.

Paige: Oh, it was. I never thought I would be able to do anything. Even picking up my son. As he's gotten bigger, it was like, how am I going to carry him when he's tired and we need to carry him in from the car? I'm not going to be able to ever pick him up and carry him in. And I love carrying him in. He's big. I'm carrying this big 45, 50 pounds up the stairs, and now I'm like, oh, I can do it. I don't even think about it. I don't even question if I can do it. And I love every second of it.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. So let's bring it up to that point. How did you find WarriorBabe?

Paige: I think my phone knows what I've been searching for. I was doing a lot of searches on workout programs and things I could do with my back, and nutrition and weight loss and all this stuff. Luckily, WarriorBabe popped up in some ads on Facebook. I saw your face and clicked on it, and second-guessed myself a few times. Clicked it, saved it, and then watched a couple of videos.

Nikkiey: What were you skeptical about? What were you second-guessing?

Paige: If I could even do it. I'm like, is it like every other program that says it's personalized, and it's not really that? Can I do it? Can I fit this into my busy life? Honestly, I watched one of your podcasts or videos on excuses.

Nikkiey: Okay.

Paige: On not making excuses and not letting excuses get in the way. And I think that was what made me finally move forward. You were right. I had a thousand excuses, and I had good excuses, but they were still excuses. In reality, I wanted that better life. I wanted to be everything that I wasn't, and to quit making excuses and not let those medical issues be my excuse for why I can't live and why I can't have energy and play with my son.

Nikkiey: You just gave me full-body chills. Taking ownership of the things that you could take control of to make things better in your life, off that podcast. That makes my heart happy. Okay. So when you first started WarriorBabe, you enrolled, you met your amazing coach Lauren, and then you continued on. What were your first thoughts in the first couple of weeks or months?

Paige: When I started, it was like, how am I going to find 30 minutes a few times a week to work out? And surprisingly, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. That's where having the coach was perfect, because I told her what my reservations were, what my concerns were, what my restrictions were, and school schedules and work and everything. And she was like, we're going to ease into it. We're not going to hit the ground running. We're not going to over-exhaust you or overwhelm you. And if you're feeling that way at any point, let me know and we'll modify. So it wasn't like I had to hit the ground running with an hour-long workout and hit my nutrition right off the bat. I think that was what sold me from the get-go: I didn't have to be perfect from day one. I didn't have to nail it right off the bat or figure it all out from day one. I had a coach there to help ease me into it and help me figure it out and ask questions.

Nikkiey: There are two things to pull out of what you said right there. You told your coach all of the reservations and how you were feeling. Can I do that? Can I make it work? You communicated all of those things you were feeling so that she could be the coach and, as we say internally at WarriorBabe, meet our clients where they're at, meet our babes where they're at, so we can make it a personalized program for you. You don't have to feel like you have to follow a set, exact structure like all those other programs that are PDFs, where this is the meal you have to eat or this is what you have to do, and God forbid it goes 45 minutes but you only have 30 minutes. That's where the perfectionist mentality can totally take over and say, I can't do this, and then you don't.

Paige: Right.

Nikkiey: So the communication and meeting you where you're at helps alleviate that perfectionist mindset.

Paige: And even just meeting with my coach and telling her about my back pain and my serious concerns. I was terrified of picking up a weight. I was like, I don't want to hurt. And she did it beautifully. She eased me into things, started me with ones that were very safe for my back and low weight, and eased me up into what I'm doing now, which I never would have thought I would be able to do without back pain, ever. To be able to do deadlifts without back pain. She worked me up into that. She didn't just start me with heavy weights and risky things. She built up my core. She built up all the muscles around it so that I could support my back, so that I wouldn't re-injure my back. And that's the best part of WarriorBabe.

Nikkiey: Amazing. I love to hear that. When you started, you said it was the 30 minutes to work out that you were worried about. What about the nutrition aspect? How did you take on macronutrients at first?

Paige: I think the hardest part was figuring out weighing things. I wasn't used to weighing food. I had never weighed food or really looked at it. I just ate small little baby portions of things. Or if I knew it had a lot of fat or a ton of carbs, I just didn't eat much of it, or any of it. So figuring those numbers out was just getting used to it, I guess. It wasn't really hard. I think macros are awesome. I think they're an easy way of doing it, because it's not that hard: carbs, fat, protein, however you get those. You can make it really complicated, or you can start out easy with just carbs, fat and protein, whatever kind of carbs they are, whatever kind of fat it is, whatever kind of protein. And then as you get through the program, you can figure out what the better carbs are and the better fats and the better proteins. But to start with, just get those in, get those numbers.

Nikkiey: I love to hear that. You didn't know anything about macros beforehand, did you?

Paige: I didn't.

Nikkiey: So you just listened to the coach and said, all right, protein, fats and carbs, I can do this. That's amazing. Let's go.

Paige: Or the meal plan. Even just her looking through my first week of what foods I was eating and coming up with a sample meal plan gave me an idea of what I could eat that I'm actually eating. It wasn't, okay, here's a bunch of salads and gourmet meals that I've never made before in my life.

Nikkiey: With like 50 ingredients that you need to fit into MyFitnessPal at the same time.

Paige: Right. It was like, okay, these are foods I'm actually eating. And I could even message my coach and ask, hey, how do I fit chicken nuggets and french fries into my day so that I can eat those with my kiddo one day after school, when he wants to go to McWendy's, he calls it.

Nikkiey: You do McDonald's and Wendy's together?

Paige: McDonald's for the nuggets and then Wendy's for the Frosty.

Nikkiey: Right, exactly.

Paige: But she helped me figure out how to eat that stuff and be able to enjoy those foods with my kiddo. That was the awesome part with the macros: I can still eat normal food, and it made it enjoyable to actually have the macros. I kept telling people, I'm not on a diet. It's not a diet. I'm not on a diet plan. It's a lifestyle. This is just food. This is just what foods I eat, but it's not a diet.

Nikkiey: Love that. That's music to my ears. I love the days, too, where I can just go to Chick-fil-A and fit in Chick-fil-A. I don't feel deprived. And as you're saying, it doesn't have to be that hard. You can enjoy the food and still go out and have food with your kids. It's a good time. It's not a diet. It's a skill set for the rest of your life.

Paige: It is. It's something sustainable. I don't feel like I've modified anything. I'm just counting numbers and fitting them in.

Nikkiey: Yeah, totally. Absolutely.

Hey, I just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you're enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons, and it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show.

So you mentioned earlier that when you were unsure, watching the videos and the ads and looking at the website, you were thinking, is this just like every other program? Specifically, what made WarriorBabe stand out to you above everything else?

Paige: I think it was that it was personalized, and that it was a total package. It wasn't just bits and pieces. I had a coach for nutrition, life, workouts. It was everything. Sometimes I felt like I was writing in my diary that week, because I'm like, oh, my stressors, this is my diary entry. She's counseling me once a week. So it was mind, body, soul, the whole shebang, with the coach piece of it. And then she helped me with what foods I can eat and how to fit those in, or adding more carbs, or taking some fat away because my stomach was hurting, or my energy's low so I need a little bit more of this. And modifying the protein as I was working: I could actually eat more protein, but she did that gradually with me, so my stomach never hurt. I was utterly surprised that I could eat so much and my stomach wouldn't hurt.

So I think it was the fact that it was an all-inclusive, personalized program for every babe. Whatever issues you have coming into it, or whatever reservations or whatever history you have, your coach works through those with you. I had a fear of eating, and she helped me work through the fear of eating. And I absolutely love eating now. I struggle to go through a cut because I actually really enjoy food at this point. I'm like, I don't really want to do a cut. I don't want to be tired. I don't want to feel hungry. I enjoy feeling satisfied by the end of the day.

Nikkiey: How many macros and calories are you eating now?

Paige: I'm at 2,360 for my calories, so I'm at about 260 carbs, 80 fat and 145 protein.

Nikkiey: Okay, just in case anybody forgot how much Paige was eating before, that was around a thousand calories. 1,088, I remember what you wrote on the form. And now you're eating double that. 2,300, more than double. There are so many women who fear eating more, and as you just mentioned, you would have feared that too. So what were your fears around eating more, and how did you trust the process when your coach was increasing your calories? What did that feel like?

Paige: She did it gradually. It was, okay, we're going to add 100 calories this week and see how you feel. And then if I felt great, she'd say, do you want to bump, or do you want to stay there for another week? So I could make that choice: let's give it another week, or heck no, I'm hungry, let's do it. Listening to my body and saying, no, I actually am hungry, so let's add a little bit more, and easing into it. Being able to talk through it with her, what my symptoms were as far as not sleeping or feeling tired or feeling hungry, and she's like, all right, why don't we add a little bit here, add a little bit here, see how you feel. Let me know at any point in the next week if you're having issues and I can drop it back down if we need to. I think that was probably what helped the most with increasing. I still had control, but I had a coach who was educating me through the process of why I needed those calories. And I could see how my body was doing. With the pictures, with the lifting, with doing everything, I could feel the improvement. I could see the improvement. So it made it easier to trust and say, okay, she knows what she's doing. Finally just giving control to you: I'll tell you what's going on, and you tell me what I need.

Nikkiey: But when you mentioned you were in control, the way I look at it, that was everything to me right there. You're in control of it. You're basically in the driver's seat, but you can turn to your coach, who's in the passenger seat, and say, hey, this is what I'm feeling, this is the biofeedback I'm feeling in my body, this is how I'm sleeping, I'm X, Y and Z. And then she can play back to you and say, okay, cool, here's my knowledge and what I understand, this is why we're going to do it, and then give you the control to go take the action. That right there is amazing. That's what it's all about: having somebody to bounce off who knows what they're doing, and then you being receptive and taking action.

Paige: Yeah.

Nikkiey: What was one specific moment, if you remember, early on when you first started, when you realized, wow, this is actually working? What was that like?

Paige: It was amazing. It was just like, wow, I actually found something, and I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I think I told anybody and everybody about it. When I first joined, I'm not going to lie, my husband giggled a little bit, like, Xena warrior. And now I'm happy to tell anybody that I'm a WarriorBabe and tell them all about the program. No shame. I will shout it from the rooftops and tell anybody I can about it. I think it was at 90 days. I looked at my pictures and I was like, holy moly, how is this the same person? I'm eating more, I lost weight, and I was putting on some muscle, getting toned. And people are like, well, are you cutting how much you're eating? And I'm like, no, I'm eating so much more than I was eating, and I lost weight. Who would have thought?

Nikkiey: Who would have thought? Your body's like, yay, thank you. Oh, that's so cool. Well, bring us up to where you are now. Since joining WarriorBabe, where are you in your journey?

Paige: So now I'm in a maintenance phase, and I like maintenance right now. I did a build for a little bit, which was fantastic to do through the holidays, I'm not going to lie, because I could eat a lot at Christmas and through Thanksgiving. I thoroughly enjoyed all my meals. And then I went back into maintenance, and I'm living happy in maintenance. Good energy levels. I sleep. I think me and Lauren rejoiced over the fact that I was getting on average seven hours a night, which is a huge improvement from where I was.

Nikkiey: Where were you before?

Paige: Four or five if I was lucky, and it was broken. It was horrible. Now I'm actually dreaming again, which is amazing. I didn't dream forever, because I don't think I ever actually hit REM sleep consistently.

And my pain. I think it was about six months into the program that I was like, I don't think I need my Flexeril, my muscle relaxant. So I started to just not take the muscle relaxant, to see how I was doing without it. And I've been off the muscle relaxant now for a year, which is amazing. Honestly, I never thought I'd be off of the muscle relaxant, ever.

Nikkiey: How does that make you feel?

Paige: Oh, absolutely amazing. I was terrified. I'm 38, and I'm like, when I get older, I'm going to be on so many meds. I didn't want it to get worse, because I am a nurse and I know the domino effect of how that works. I was like, I'm going to be on so much pain medication and I'm not going to be able to control anything. I'm going to be lucky if I can walk. So to be able to get off of the muscle relaxant, I was just ecstatic.

And then probably about three months after that, I started cutting back on my narcotic pain medications. Now I'm down to occasionally having to take it before bed, like once every six weeks-ish. It's because it's snowing and the weather is really crappy and my arthritis is acting up. It's rare that I do, or it's when my ablation is wearing off. I have a bone spur, so it can't be fixed. But it's only when that starts to wear off that I might need to start taking it. It's amazing being off. I never would have thought I'd be able to be off of the narcotics and the muscle relaxants. That was just something I figured was stuck with me for the rest of my life.

Nikkiey: Wow. That is so incredible. That's definitely something to be very excited about, knowing that you don't have to take that and you're not subject to it for the rest of your life. What are some other top achievements you've had? Those are some big ones, reducing pain medications and coming off the narcotics. What are two or three other ones you can think of?

Paige: My mobility. Stretching has been a big part of everything we've done, and I can actually touch my toes. My flexibility is amazing compared to what it used to be. I remember going to physical therapy and they're like, okay, when does it hurt? And I'm barely leaning over and it hurts. Now I can bend over and touch my toes. I can get 70 percent of the splits, almost. I've gotten so much more flexible, which has been amazing. I can actually stretch and feel it, and it feels good. It doesn't just hurt.

And I can play with my kid. I've gone running with him. All of a sudden I've just taken off chasing him and running, and I get done and I'm like, wow, it doesn't hurt. I wanted to run with him, and I actually had the energy and the stamina to do it, and I didn't regret it the next day. I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I hurt so bad. I woke up and it wasn't anything. I just had a good day with my kid.

Nikkiey: Oh, that's incredible. So you're running again too.

Paige: I can, yes. I didn't think I'd ever be able to bounce and have that impact with my back.

Nikkiey: Wow. That's awesome. What do you feel like you're able to do now that you couldn't do before?

Paige: I can run. I can play. I can bounce. I can go do Disney. For my kiddo's birthday when he turned six, we walked 20,000-plus steps every single day, and I felt great for the entire week that we did it. I carried him for half of it, and my husband carried him for the other half when he got tired. I was able to carry him for the second half of the day when his little legs were tuckered out after 10,000 steps, and ride on the rides without pain, and just do all those fun things. I would have never thought I'd be able to do that with him.

Nikkiey: That's so cool. Paige, you should be really proud of yourself for all those accomplishments.

Paige: Thank you.

Nikkiey: You've put in the work. You listened to Lauren. You were receptive to doing workouts and fitting them in, and you got rid of your excuses. And you're eating 2,300 calories now, feeding your body what it needs, which is probably the biggest component of your success with pain reduction, and vice versa. Second to exercising and moving your body is eating the food that your body has been wanting you to eat for years.

Paige: Putting nutrients back in.

Nikkiey: Yes, exactly. Getting some protein in your body.

Paige: Uh-huh. Yes.

Nikkiey: If you had never made a change, where do you think you'd be today?

Paige: I don't even want to think about where I'd be.

Nikkiey: I know.

Paige: I don't want to go back there. My kiddo was wrestling, and I can actually get down on the wrestling mat and wrestle around with him. I would have never been able to do that. And with the pain medications, I probably at some point would have needed more. The muscle relaxants made me tired, and I couldn't function. I'm a nurse. I like to take care of people, and I'm good at taking care of people. I was horrible at taking care of myself, and that was going to get worse. I might not have been able to continue taking care of people and function and go to work and do the things I love there, as well as at home taking care of my kiddo and my family. But taking care of myself was just as important, so that I could take care of the people I want to take care of.

Nikkiey: Yeah, you've got to put yourself first. I totally feel you on that. I too went into nursing to help people, and you help people all day long. The last thing you want to do is try to help yourself at the end of the day. You just want to eat and go to bed so you can wake up and do it again the next day. So it's pretty admirable that you realized, hey, I've got to take care of myself, I've got to put myself first, for everybody around you. What made me realize it was that if I could eat my meal in the ER when I worked there, I'd be happier and more satisfied to go deal with my next patient, rather than being irritable or mad because I wasn't giving myself the fuel I needed. Once you take care of yourself, that just makes you show up better as a nurse.

Paige: Oh, absolutely. Your mood. Not getting cranky, not getting agitated, or being so tired that you can't even think or process things the way that you should. And even starting my company at the beginning of the year, I don't think I ever would have had the energy to even think about doing that.

Nikkiey: Totally.

Paige: Because I was just tired. There's no way I would have had the energy to be a mom and work and start up my own company. That would not have been a possibility.

Nikkiey: It's so cool to see where you are today. Hearing everything you shared at the beginning, all of those trials and tribulations and pain and exhaustion and being uncomfortable, I was like, holy cow, she's only 39 years old. You've gone through it. But to hear where you are now: the pain is less, you're off medications, you're running more, and you're eating more than double the amount. That's just so cool to hear. And it's one of the reasons why I wake up every day and pour into WarriorBabe and our coaching team, so they can deliver this to you guys. Because you're the one that took the action. You're the one that trusted in us at the start and dove in. Now you're a year and a half in, so you're into your second year. Do you think you're going to go into another year after that?

Paige: I'm at a toss-up. I'm kind of at a point where Lauren is still amazing and helpful, but I'm not finding myself needing to lean on her as much as I was. I told her I would love to keep her for like a once-a-month check-in, just if I have a quick question, or, hey, I did my macros and I'm not quite sure if I did them right. Kind of like a step down from where I'm at. So we've still got time to decide before August.

Nikkiey: Yeah. I think by then we'll probably have something in the pipeline for you, because there are more babes who want that too. We used to have that, and we might bring it back. And to the second point, you feel like you can essentially, as we like to call it, graduate from the program, which is ultimately what we want. We want our coaches to be able to give you the knowledge, education and understanding so that you're fully in control of your body, you understand it, and you can navigate nutrition and fitness the way you need to. Because you shouldn't need a coach for the rest of your life. It's nice to have that knowledge base for yourself so you can continue on. That's what we love to hear, too. Lauren's done a great job with that.

Paige: It's nice having a coach, though. I do like having that accountability partner, that person where I'm like, all right, I need to check in and put my weight in, take my measurements. It's that no-excuse kind of thing. Check in, throw it at her really quick: I don't know how I'm doing.

The other part I didn't mention before that I absolutely love about WarriorBabe: I got sick, and I had to take like two weeks off. When I had COVID, I had no energy, I was tired. But I didn't want to miss my workouts, because I had been pretty consistent with things. She always called me her consistency queen because I was very consistent. So I dreaded not getting my workouts in or not tracking all my macros because I was so tired. And she's like, it's okay, take a break, recover. Your body needs to recover. Sleep, eat healthy, get yourself better and get back into it. As soon as I felt better, it was like, all right, let's jump back in. And she's like, all right, just take it easy. You don't need to hit the ground running. Check your ego at the door and just take it light for the first week, and let's see how you feel.

And she's given me exercises for the camper. We've gone camping, and I'm like, I don't want to miss a workout, but I need something I can do while traveling. So she's given me some different workouts I can take on the go, bodyweight workouts or band workouts, and those have been awesome to have in my back pocket for when we go on a trip, to still get a little bit of a workout in if I want to. And she's like, or take a break. Take the weekend off. Take a Friday off. It's okay to skip one occasionally. It's not going to ruin your results forever.

Nikkiey: It's a lifestyle.

Paige: It is.

Nikkiey: You don't need to be perfect and show up every single time, 365 days a year, as long as you're consistent. Consistent and perfect are two different things.

Paige: Exactly.

Nikkiey: So for somebody watching this right now who may be unsure about taking the next step, what would you tell them about WarriorBabe and the impact it could have on their life?

Paige: It's a lifestyle change, and it's forever. It's 100 percent different than any other program out there. It's not slimming down fast to get into a dress or go on a vacation. It's an overall lifestyle to make you feel better and improve your energy, or whatever your personal goals are. It's not written in stone. It's whatever you want it to be, whatever you're looking for. If you just want to feel healthier and be more active, or if you want to bulk up and get super strong and build muscle, that's great. Or if you just want to tone down, or if you just want to maintain. The program is for anybody who wants to have a better lifestyle and enjoy food and exercise and energy and sleep and all of the above.

Nikkiey: I love that. And this could be a full-circle moment for you, like that man who set up his home gym the right way so he could still work out. Because someone listening to this might be where you were, ready to just give up and say, I'm too far gone, with all of the things you were experiencing. What would you say to somebody right now who feels like they're too far gone to make any real change for themselves?

Paige: Nobody's too far gone. I had every excuse under the sun: the pain, the fear of pain, the fear of eating, the stomach pain. And you have a coach, and they help you work through every step of that. Knee pain, shoulder pain. I can hit her with, hey, my shoulder's hurting with this one, and she'll modify it for me that week, or she'll take it out entirely if that one's bugging me. It's made for you. It's made for each babe that signs up, whatever their goals are and whatever their restrictions are. It's not a one-size-fits-all program.

Nikkiey: Amazing. Well, Paige, thank you for being here, sharing your story and inspiring anybody who's listening to this. For anyone listening, Paige's story proves that no matter what obstacles you face in life, whether it's chronic pain or medical conditions or years of struggling with food or fitness, there's always a way forward. You can get past your excuses and you can take control of your health. She found a way to fuel her body and move her body that actually works, and now she's not just surviving, she's thriving. So if you're listening to this, take the first step. Do it today. Your future self will definitely thank you, just as Paige's future self is definitely thanking her today. So thank you, Paige, for being here. I appreciate you and I appreciate your time.

Real quick: if this episode resonated with you or gave you the push 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 the 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.