Fitness Mistakes Women Over 40 Should Stop Making

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

Your body needs the right fuel to build muscle, to burn fat, to recover properly. That includes you having protein, that includes you having healthy fats, that includes you having carbs, not cutting out an entire food group, or surviving on salads and smoothies.

What's going on, everybody? Hey, you guys. Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I'm your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 213. Today, we're going to dive into the topic of the big no's in the fitness world and what to stay away from.

But before we dive into this topic today, you guys, three things. First of all, I hope that you all had an amazing, happy Thanksgiving. It was a day of gratitude. It was a day of blessings. It was a day of being surrounded by your friends and your family and some good food. I hope that you guys had the best days and enjoyed a lot of freaking good food.

Secondly, we have passed 700,000 downloads of The WarriorBabe Show in just shy of two years since its birth, which is so freaking cool. I just want to give a huge shout out to you guys and a big thank you to you guys. Coming up on January 9th, it will be its second birthday. I am probably over optimistic, but I would love to be able to hit a million downloads before the 9th of January, which would be so freaking cool. I doubt that's going to happen, but I'm going to keep it as a goal.

And then the third thing is, this is being recorded on Tuesday, December 3rd. It's going to go live for you guys this coming Friday. So an hour and a half after I'm done with this podcast, I am welcoming on an incredible guest. Many of you guys know this person. Many of you guys probably follow the insight of this person or just love this person's specific type of fitness content. And I am really excited to be hosting this person on The WarriorBabe Show. This will be an episode that will be live for you all to listen to next Friday. So it will be a week from this episode being live. It will air on Friday the 13th. Wow.

So, yeah, I'm really excited to be hosting that guest, and I'm really excited to have it shared with you guys as well. I'm sure you guys will find it super valuable and super interesting and just a really good time.

So with that being said, let's dive into today's episode, which I hope is going to save you guys a lot of frustration. It's going to save you guys a lot of wasted time. It's going to save you guys a lot of energy, especially going into the new year, into 2025.

And actually, let's take a recap really quick. This is coming up on my 10 years, and this is just coming to me right now as I'm recording this, from when I became a New Year's resolution baby. Ten years ago, in 2015, I was like, I am going to get my butt into gear. I'm going to take this seriously. I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to learn all the things. I'm going to try all the things. And this is the year it stuck for me, in 2015.

And I hope that this podcast, and all the others, or the information that you've heard from WarriorBabe or me, I hope in one way or another it sticks this year for you. And that the strategies, the tactics, the things that we talk about, the resources that are provided to you within our ecosystem help you through this year, 2025, and make it the best year possible for you. So with that being said, today I hope that this podcast saves you time, energy, frustration, all of the things.

We're going to talk about the big no's in the fitness world, because there's so much information out there about fitness, about nutrition. And let's be honest, it's entirely freaking overwhelming. I remember back in 2015, I was so overwhelmed by all the different things that were saying, do this, do that. They were saying different things, contradicting things. And it was overwhelming. And then there's the other side of it. Some things are great, but a lot of it, not so much. So today I want to break it down to the top things to avoid or to resist doing on your fitness journey.

Maybe this is your new year and this is your resolution that you're making for yourself, and you're diving into this and wanting to understand all the things. So whether you're new to this or you're looking to refine your approach, these tips are going to help you steer clear of the noise and focus on what truly works.

So let's dive into the first one. Let's talk about the big trap so many people fall into, which is the quick fix mentality. This shows up as fad diets, as extreme detoxes, or as programs promising ridiculous results, like you're going to lose 10 pounds in seven days. Let's be really freaking clear on that. These are not sustainable and they are not setting you up for long-term success. Why? Because quick fixes usually involve extreme calorie restriction or drastic measures that, not can, but will mess up your metabolism, your hormones, and also your mental health. Plus they teach you nothing about building habits.

You opt in to this type of program or detox or fad diet, but it's most likely a huge calorie restriction telling you to only eat X amount of a type of meal a day, which is maybe max 1,000 to 1,100 calories. And you follow eating that every single day, or you don't, and you follow it five days out of the week. And then you're not eating enough. And then you're starting to go backwards from where you wanted to go, because your body's not getting enough fuel to properly fuel the fat loss. So you're actually storing extra fat, but then you're also stressing out your body. So you're storing extra cortisol and you start getting more bloated and more uncomfortable.

And then you maybe either gain weight, or let's say you do lose the weight, but you don't realize what you were doing along the way, because you were so focused on an outcome that you weren't paying attention to the day-to-day habits that you were putting into play. You weren't consciously aware of it. These things don't teach you that. And then the weight comes back just as quickly as it came off and it leaves you feeling defeated. It leaves you feeling stuck in a cycle of yo-yo dieting.

If this is you, and you're looking for the next quick fix coming January 1st, which is the majority of people, you dive into this. And then it comes to March, April, and they're either where they want to be, and then they give up everything that they just put into play in the last three to four months. And then they gain everything back because they weren't taught, they weren't teaching themselves how to stick with it, how to ingrain these habits.

This gets me, you guys can probably hear it. It gets me so worked up and so frustrated because these things are still out there. And my heart goes out to the people that fall into these traps, because some of you guys don't know better, right? You're just like, I want this outcome and this is the pathway for me to get it, so I'm going to do it. That's what gets me worked up, because I want to save you. I want to be able to fix that. But change has to happen of one's own accord. So you have to be open-minded to the things I'm saying here right now and not fall victim to these things.

What to do instead is commit to the long game, understanding that sustainable fat loss and muscle building happens over months. It happens over years. It doesn't happen over days. And you have to trust the process. You have to focus on the day-to-day habits that you are building, and be aware of the day-to-day habits you are building, instead of being so attached to the outcome. And remember, it's not about how fast you get there, but how long you can stay there.

So it doesn't matter how fast you can get to the result in three months. Can you keep that result for the next eight months? For the remainder of the year? For the next nine months? Can you? Because if you can't, then you are still stuck in this process. So it's thinking about the long game and paying attention to the long game, understanding this concept. Okay?

So that first one is the quick fix mentality. There are no magic pills. There are no magic programs. Literally, it is committing to the long game and focusing on sustainable long-term habits and building upon them day after day after day. You do that, it will compound, and you will get to the results that you want.

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. Next, let's talk about overtraining. The belief that more is always better is false. I see this all the time. People think that they need to work out every single day, sometimes twice a day, burning 1,200 calories or 2,000 calories to get results. But here's the thing. Your body needs time to recover.

If you are constantly putting your body in that type of state, when you overtrain, you're not giving your muscles the chance to repair and the chance to grow stronger. And this is actually going to completely stall your progress and lead to burnout. It's going to lead to injuries or it's going to lead to hormonal imbalances. If you are overtraining twice a day, focusing on calorie expenditure, you're also creating so much more stress on your body than it can handle.

You're probably like, this is great, fight or flight. But you don't get sustainable long-term results from being in that state. Your body needs the time to recover. It needs the time to de-stress. It needs the time to sleep. It needs food. It needs the optimal amount. If you ask me, it's about less is more here, no matter where you're at. If you're in your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, your 60s, less is more.

Overtraining doesn't just affect your physical health. It also affects your energy. It affects your mood. It affects your motivation. It affects your sleep. It affects the results that you want. So the better approach is what I'm sure many of you guys have heard, and maybe even say but don't take your own advice on: work smarter, not harder. A well-structured program with four to five focused training days per week is more effective than working out every single day, six days a week, doing cardio, and focusing on X amount of calorie expenditure. Do not skip your rest days. They're just as important as your training days. Okay?

So the second one is overtraining. More isn't always better. Less is more here, and working smarter, not harder, is your ideal outcome in this situation.

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.

Another big one is thinking that you can out-train a bad diet. Trust me. It doesn't matter how hard you hit the gym. If your nutrition is not aligned with your goals, you're not going to see the results that you want. This doesn't mean you have to be perfect with your nutrition, but it does mean you need to prioritize it.

Your body needs the right fuel to build muscle, to burn fat, to recover properly. That includes you having protein, that includes you having healthy fats, that includes you having carbs. Not cutting out an entire food group or surviving on salads and smoothies. And I say it that way because that was me. I was surviving on salads, smoothies, and chicken and vegetables when I thought that I was doing it the right way, when I didn't understand what it means to properly fuel your body. It's like, I'm eating healthy. No. I'm eating healthy, but I'm not eating enough of what my body needed.

That's where a lot of women are stuck. They go into January 1, and I can say this because this was me, and they're like, I'm going to make better food choices. They make better food choices because they pick whole foods, but then they eat like birds. And they expect to be able to build muscle. The tissue of your muscle needs the right nutrition and the right macronutrients to fuel the muscle building process that you want, in order to be toned and to burn fat and to get the physical results that you want.

So to my ladies out there, whether it's a bad diet or even if it's a healthy diet, this one is: you can't out-train a bad diet. I would even argue that a bad diet is what I just described, because you're not giving yourself enough. Bad is a harsh term, but you can't expect to wake up, have a protein bar and a protein shake, and then at noon have a salad, and then at night have chicken and vegetables. That was me. And I was maybe eating only about 1,000 calories in that all together. And for muscle building, you need about double that, if not a little bit more. Right?

So just hear me out when I say that, because it doesn't matter if you're eating healthy or if you're ignoring your nutrition, you can't out-train that. You can't go work harder inside the gym. Nutrition is about balance and consistency. You need to track your macros if you want to understand how much you truly are eating on a daily basis. That gives you that awareness, and you can still enjoy the foods that you love. You can still enjoy treats. You can still enjoy ice cream. You can still enjoy those things in moderation. It's about the bigger picture. Right? So that was the third one: you can't out-train a bad diet.

The fourth one is one of the biggest mindset traps: comparison. It is so easy. And I remember this from my journey at the beginning, when I was on Instagram looking at someone else's body or looking at their progress and feeling like I'm not doing enough. And maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you're looking at someone on Instagram and you're looking at their progress or you're looking at before and afters, and you're like, man, I'm not doing enough.

Here's the thing. You're not them. And I had to tell myself the same thing. I'm not them. My journey is completely different than theirs, and it's not going to look like anyone else's. My journey is going to look drastically different. If you see somebody lose 50 pounds and you only have to lose 20, it's going to be drastically different for you, and vice versa.

So comparing yourself to others is only going to derail your confidence. It's going to make you second-guess your progress. And it's going to lead you to feel like you are not doing enough and that you are failing at your own journey. The only way you fail is if you give up. So instead, focus on your own wins. No matter how small they are, focus on and celebrate your own progress, whether it's lifting heavier weights, feeling more energized, or just staying more consistent. That is your journey.

And remember, what you see on social media is often a highlight reel, not the full picture. Not a lot of people share enough of the downs of a fitness journey, or the frustrations of a fitness journey, or the inconsistency of a fitness journey. Know that when you're looking at somebody's Instagram that looks like they are just winning at life, it is a highlight reel. It's all of their successes and it's not showing the full picture.

Stay in your own lane. Keep showing up for you. And trust that if you are doing things your way, in what it means to be consistent, which is showing up for yourself the best way that you can on a daily basis, in alignment with your goals, then that's all you need, and trust that your own efforts will pay off. So the fourth one is stop comparing yourself to other people.

The last one, which is another big no in the fitness world, is an all-or-nothing mentality. This shows up as thinking you need to follow your plan perfectly or else it's not worth doing at all. Listen, life doesn't work like that. There are going to be days where you're not 100% on track, and that is okay. Progress isn't about being perfect. It's about being consistent over time.

One missed workout or one meal off. For those of you guys that may be struggling from Thanksgiving last week, Thanksgiving is now over. So if this is you, you do need to kick it into gear. But one missed workout or one missed meal, say you got to Thanksgiving and you're beating yourself up the next day, but you still got back on track, that's not going to ruin your progress. What matters is what you do most of the time, not every single time.

So with this one, I want you to give yourself grace and remember that fitness is a journey. It's not a destination. Trust me when I say that, being 10 years into my own journey, it is exactly that. I don't have an end point. I don't have an end goal. Back in the day, I did when I was competing. But outside of competing, where I am now, since I'm retired and done, I just look at it as: my overall well-being needs to show up with eating healthy and working out on a daily basis, because that's going to keep me sane. That's going to keep me healthy. And it's going to keep me playing the long game of longevity for life.

So remember that this is a journey. This isn't a destination. If you are going into the new year seeking out an outcome and a destination, it's going to come back and bite you in the ass. I would literally just walk into the new year and be like, okay, 2025 is the year of my fitness journey. And then you're going to say the same thing in 2026. And you're going to say the same thing in 2027. This is the year of my fitness journey. How can I improve? How can I get better? Where can I make different changes than I did last time? Do I need to sign up for an accountability coach and maybe work with someone that knows what they're doing, instead of trying to do everything by myself and take the guesswork out of it? Do I need to eat better? Do I need to train differently? What is it? That's the way you should look at it.

Showing up consistently, even imperfectly, will always beat chasing perfection and burning out. So just remember that. You can't have an all-or-nothing mentality, because you're going to burn out. You're going to get tired of it. Nobody's perfect. Even the ones I mentioned in the last one, with the highlight reel of all of their successes, those people mess up. I mess up.

So just knowing that that happens will hopefully give you a little bit more leeway to be graceful with yourself going into the new year, or wherever you're at in your journey, realizing that if I'm not 100% on track, that's okay. And if I'm not following my plan perfectly, that's okay. But if you're following it consistently over time, that's great. So if you miss a workout or you miss a planned meal, that's okay. It's not going to ruin your progress. What matters is what you do most of the time. If you are consistent most of the time, you will win. You don't have to be consistent 100% of the time.

All right. Last but not least, really quick, I'm going to add a little bonus one: avoid chasing trends instead of sticking to proven principles. There's always something new, especially as we go into the new year. And I just want to put this in your head, so if you see it anywhere or things are popping up on social media, you can say, Nikkiey said this on this episode, and I'm not going to do it.

There's always going to be a must-try workout or a diet trend popping up, but not all of them are backed by science, or effective for the long term, or have been studied on women. So instead of jumping on every new trend, focus on the basics. Focus on progressive strength training. Focus on balanced nutrition. Focus on getting adequate recovery. Focus on drinking enough water. Focus on managing your stress, and getting better sleep. These are the foundations of success and they will never go out of style.

Coming into the new year, these trends are going to be grabbing your attention. They might be shiny. They might be exciting. They say they're going to deliver X, Y, and Z, but they rarely deliver lasting results. Stick to what works. Stick to building the habits. Stick to understanding yourself, and stick to things that will support you for the long term. Okay?

So before we wrap it up, let's really quickly talk through those big no's in the fitness world and what to stay away from. Number one, quick fix programs that promise the impossible. Number two, overtraining and neglecting recovery. Number three, thinking that you can out-train a bad diet or ignore proper nutrition. Four, comparing yourself to others and losing sight of your own progress, your own journey. Number five was falling into the all-or-nothing mentality. And the last one was choosing trends instead of focusing on foundational principles.

When you resist those traps and focus on what truly matters, focusing on consistency, balance, and sustainability, you set yourself up for long-term success. So remember that. Remember that fitness is so drastically different for everybody. And that's why we offer customized one-on-one coaching inside the WarriorBabe program. Because it is about building a lifestyle that works specifically for you. For all of the thousands of different individuals that are listening to this podcast, one fitness routine or lifestyle is not going to look the same as somebody else's. It's about building one that works for you, and not following fads or shortcuts or what a bunch of people are following, like the PDFs that 50 people can download, the same thing for all of them. Remember that as we walk into this new year.

All right, you guys. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys. And I will see you in the next episode.

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 of the difference, 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.