From 1,000 Calories & Chronic Pain to 2,280 Calories & Strength w/ WarriorBabe Paige

00:00And then eating the thousand calories a day and your body is like, what are you doing to me? I need more food. My son's like, you know, eat this. I'm like, I can't eat that. You know, I was terrified of, you know, I can't eat those french fries with you or those chicken nuggets with you or have, you know, pizza on your birthday or have some of your birthday cake because, oh my gosh, I'm going to, you know, that's just going to throw me all off if I do that.

00:30What's going on, everybody? Hey, so today we have another WarriorBabe here with us. Her name is Paige. And before WarriorBabe, Paige was faced with more health issues than most. Injuries, chronic pain, medications, and full on living that busy lifestyle. And she thought that she had to eat less to push harder just to maintain her weight, but it was leaving her exhausted in pain and struggling to keep on going.

01:00Out 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. And 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. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Can you let listeners know a little bit about you?

01:30Like, where are you from? How old you are? And what do you do for your job? 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. So 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.

02:00But I'm super excited to be doing it. And I love taking care of people. That's awesome. Fellow nurse in the house, let's go. Congratulations on your start of your business. Thank you. All right. So let's take us back to what was your health and your fitness like prior to WarriorBabe? Poor. Poor. To get the least. I think ever since my, I would say my 20s, I always had this, you know, if I just cut down on what I was eating, cut down on carbs, you know, just pretty much ate like a mouse.

02:38I could maintain my weight. But as I got older, that got harder to do. Even if I cut, 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 a whole year of steroids, which, you know, messed my whole system up.

03:11And 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. And so I just kind of, you know, it was easier to not eat because then my stomach didn't hurt. And then I got arthritis and then I hurt my back.

03:47And 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 ended up with bone spurs. And 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.

04:24And so my physical 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. But, you know, I'd go to physical therapy and they'd tell me to do these things, but it hurt. You know, trying to do anything people recommended just hurt. I started getting injections. Those didn't really help.

04:56And 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. And so I was, you know, 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. So, but I had blood clots when I had him.

05:27And so I ended up with stents in my left iliac artery. But that put me down because my left leg got really swollen and couldn't hardly walk like 10 feet without fatigue in my leg. And 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, you know, activities with his friends and all that kind of stuff.

06:02And it was like, I'm tired. I don't feel good. I hurt, you know, and that broke my heart. I think that was the hardest thing was just not being able to play with him when he wanted to play and just telling him, mommy hurts, you know, and mommy's not that old, but mommy hurts and feels like she's, you know, 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.

06:34And, you know, 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. It didn't really change my habits or my daily routines. I never really built it into my daily life. Yeah, I think I had been in search of something, spent countless money on different programs that, like I said, never really worked. Or I'd get two weeks in, it was like, I can't do half the exercises because I have to modify them.

07:09They hurt. You've been through it all. Yeah. Wow. It sounds like when you were back in 2007. That's when it started, right? So that was, wow. So it's been a bit about a time of things that you've gone through. Yeah. Yeah. It has been. Now you're here, which is pretty cool. You're on the other side of it, which will get to how you're feeling. Take us back, though, to when you were eating, what, like a thousand calories a day? Yeah. When Lauren, when my coach, yeah, when she asked me to just track for the first, like, week so she could kind of figure out what I was eating and stuff.

07:46And I'm putting it in. I'm like, oh, I don't want to put that in. You know, like that. I feel like I'm eating too much. I'm eating the wrong things. But she was like, just be honest. And so I put it in and she's like, okay, you're eating like a thousand calories a day. And I was like, I didn't realize that that's how much I was eating. But I was surprised that I'm like, well, I'm only eating a thousand calories. I should be like, you know, a hundred pounds. I should weigh nothing eating a thousand calories. But yet I was fluffy. I mean, I wasn't big, but I was, you know, 130.

08:18And for me, that was heavier than I was in high school when I was playing soccer and everything. And I felt fluffy. I felt, you know, just I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. How did that affect eating a thousand calories? 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,

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09:24That's WarriorBabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. Okay, plus this was during all the time that you were going through all of those different trials and tribulations. How did that like impact you on a daily basis in terms of your mood, your energy, and your overall well-being? I was not good. I didn't sleep.

10:18I was not good.

10:48I was not good. I was not good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good.

11:18I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good.

11:48I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good.

12:18I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I was good. I absolutely love eating now. Um, and just giving your body what it needs and moving it the right way and doing those activities, how much better I feel emotionally. You know, I'm happy. I'm more energetic. I mean, don't be wrong. I'm still a mom. I'm still working. I still have my days that you're tired.

12:49It's not like, just feel great. A thousand percent of the time, but I would say, you know, 90% of the time I actually feel like maybe like I'm not even, you know, almost 39 years old before it was like I was 80 all the time. That's when you were saying all of that, I was like, you're way too young to be experiencing all of those things. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what was, what do you think was the moment that made you realize, like, I can't keep living this way.

13:19You know, I think it was with my son as he kept getting older and getting more mobile and talking about wanting to play sports and I wanted to, but I didn't, you know, I was like, I don't want to just go and sit and watch him play. He's an only child. And so it was like, he wants me to be there playing with him. And, 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.

13:54Um, and honestly it was, you know, between that and was taking care of a patient at that time who was in his eighties and he was a rock star. He worked out every day and he no excuses. 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

14:25worked out every single day because that's what kept him going. I was like, if he can, if he can do this at 83, why can't I do something? Like I have no reason I can't do something and change what I'm doing. Wow. Wow. Wow. That's a, that's a man to look back and be like, he was a driving force and making me make some type of change. He was. Yeah. When you were going through all of those, um, experiences, how did that affect like your

14:56confidence? And how did that, how did that affect your mindset? How did that affect like your overall like happiness? I had no motivation. I mean, I had no drive. I mean, I had a lot of drive when I was younger. I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to do, you know, all these things. And I like to go camping. I like to go out and, you know, explore. I like to hike. I like to do all those things. I used to ski. I used to, you know, and I couldn't do, I mean, I lost kind of my enjoyment for, for life, I guess.

15:26I mean, for 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 mean, it was, I dreaded doing things. I, you know, was worried about the pain. I was worried about stomach issues. I was, I was worried about everything. I mean, it was like, I thought of all the things of why I couldn't do them or what could

15:58go wrong or what, you know, what would hurt, what would not, you know, that I would talk myself out of doing anything enjoyable. Wow. Thank you for sharing all of this too, by the way. Of course. I want you to know too, like the listeners that are listening to this, they're like, there's somebody out there that may be experiencing the same thing right now and to know that you're not alone. And also that person that may be watching this isn't alone. They may be experiencing, if not one, or maybe all the things that you went through too as well. And they're hearing your story and be like, wow, like I resonate with you right now.

16:28I hear you. And I'm going to, I want to make, I want to be like Paige. Like I want to make it, I want to make a difference in myself and be able to, to get better. Uh, was there ever thinking about that and listening, hearing you say those things, was there ever a moment that like you doubted whether you could feel strong again and like, and be pain-free? Like how did you work through that doubt? A hundred percent. I mean, I never thought I could run again. I never thought I could lift weights. I didn't, you know, I was like, maybe I can do a band workout.

17:01Um, I never thought, you know, yoga was like out of the picture. I was like, I can't bend. I can't twist. I can't, you know, without hurting. Um, I was so fearful of my back that I was like, if I lift weights or anything, I'm going to have this horrible, you know, back spasm and I'm going to end up in the ER because I can't move. I mean, 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.

17:32And I mean, childbirth was easier than the muscle spasms were. So she's in that moment. You could have like feeling so helpless and hopeless. Oh, it was. Yeah. Um, it was, yeah. Yeah. I never thought I would be able to do anything. I mean, pick up my son. I mean, even that, you know, 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.

18:02And I love carrying him in. I mean, he's big and I'm like, you know, carrying this big 45, 50 pounds, you know, up the stairs and stuff. And now I'm like, Oh, I can, I can do it. And I don't even think about it. I don't even question if I can do it, you know, and I love every second of it. That's amazing. So let's, let's bring it up to that point. Like, how'd you find warrior babe? Yeah. So it was, I think, you know, my phone knows what I've been searching for. So I was doing a lot of searches on workout programs and things I could do with my back

18:34and nutrition and weight loss and all this stuff. And so luckily warrior babe on Facebook popped up on some ads and I saw your face and clicked on it. Um, and you know, second guessed myself a few times, you know, clicked it, saved it was like, yeah. And then watched a couple of videos and what were you skeptical about? Like, what were you, what were you second guessing? Uh, if I could even do it, I mean, it was, you know, I'm like, is it like every other

19:05program? Is it, you know, says that it's personalized or says that it's, you know, this, and it's not really that. And, you know, can I do it? Can I fit this into my busy life? Honestly, what made me, I watched one of your podcasts or videos on excuses. Um, and not making excuses and not letting excuses get in the way. And I think that was what made me finally move forward was you were right.

19:38Like excuses, like everything. I have a thousand excuses and I had good excuses, but they were still excuses. Um, and in reality, I've wanted, I wanted that better life. I wanted to be everything, you know, that I wasn't and quit making excuses and don't 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.

20:08You just gave me full body chills. Ownership of like the things that you could take control of to make things better in your life. All from that podcast. Yeah. That makes my heart happy. And to hear that. Good. Um, what, so when you first started, were your, were, were, how were your thoughts when you first, like, you know, you rolled and then you met your, you met your amazing coach Lauren, and then you continued on. Like what were your first thoughts during the first couple of weeks slash months? When I started, it was like, how am I going to find 30 minutes a few times a week to

20:40work out? You know? And surprisingly it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Um, but that's where having the coach was perfect because I told her what my reservations were, what my concerns were, what my, you know, 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, you know, over exhaust you or overwhelm you. And if you're feeling that way at any point, then let me know and we'll modify.

21:10And so it wasn't like I had to just hit the ground running with, you know, an hour long workout and, you know, hit my nutrition right off the bat. And I think that was what sold me from the get go was just that I didn't have to be perfect from day one. I didn't have to, you know, just nail it right off the bat or have, you know, figure it all out from day one. It was, I had a coach there to help ease me into it and help me figure it out and ask questions.

21:40Yeah. Well, two things to pull out of two that you said right there was you told your coach all of the reservations and how you're feeling. And can I do that? Can I work it? Can I make it work? Like you communicated with her, all of those things that you were feeling so that she could be the coach and try and, you know, meet what we say at Warrior Babe and internally is meet our clients where they're at, meet our babes where they're at. So we can make it a personalized program for you and you don't have to feel like you have to follow this set exact structure on, you know, all those other programs that are PDFs or this

22:12is your meal that you have to eat or this is your workout that you have to do. And God forbid it goes 45 minutes, but you can only have 30 minutes. You know what I mean? Like that's where the perfectionist mentality can totally capture, like totally take over and be like, I can't do this. And then, then you don't, you know? So the communication and meeting where you're at and then that helps to alleviate that perfectionist mindset. Oh boy. Well, and even just meeting with my coach and telling her about my back pain and my, my serious concerns.

22:42Like I was terrified of picking up a weight. I was like, I don't want to hurt. And she did it beautifully. Um, 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, never would have thought I would be able to do without back pain. Um, ever, um, to be able to do deadlifts without back pain.

23:12Um, but she worked me up into that. She didn't just start me, you know, with those heavy weights and with those risky things. She built up my core. She built up all the muscles around us so that I could support my back so that I wouldn't re injure my back. And that's the best part of warrior babe. That's amazing. I love to hear that. When you started to how, how you said it was like the 30 minutes that you had to work out and you were worried about that. What about the nutrition aspect? Like what, uh, how did you take on macronutrients at first?

23:46Uh, it took me, I mean, it wasn't, I think the hardest part was figuring out like weighing things. You know, I wasn't used to weighing food. I had never weighed food or really looked at, you know, I just ate small little baby portions of things or, you know, if I knew it had a lot of fat or it was a ton of carbs, I just didn't eat much of it, you know, or any of it. Um, and so, you know, figuring those numbers out, um, was a little just getting used to,

24:21I 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, that hard, you know, carbs, fat, protein, however you get those and you can, you know, make it really complicated if you want to, or you can start out easy and just carbs, fat, and protein, whatever kind of carbs they are, whatever kind of fat it is, whatever kind of protein. And then you can start as you get through the program, figure out what the better carbs are and what the better fats are and the better proteins.

24:53But to start with just get those in, get those numbers, you know, I love to hear that coming from, you didn't know anything about macros beforehand. Did you, I didn't. Mm. So you just, you just listened to the coach and was like, all right, protein, fats, and carbs. I can do this. And you just, that's amazing. Let's go on the meal plan. I mean, even just her looking through my first week of what foods I was eating and coming up with kind of a sample meal plan, gave me an idea of what I could eat that I'm actually

25:25eating. It wasn't, okay, here's a bunch of salads and, you know, gourmet meals that I've never made before in my life that I'm like, ah. I have like 50 ingredients that you need to like fit into my fitness pile at the same time. Right. Right. It was like, okay, these are foods I'm actually eating, you know? Um, and even being able to message my coach or tell her, Hey, you know, how do I fit chicken nuggets and French fries into my, my day so that I can eat those with my kiddo one day when, you know, after school and he wants to go to, you know, McWendy's he calls it, but we go

25:59over there and he wants to eat. You do McDonald's and Wendy's together. Is it just like, okay, that'd be, I mean, McDonald's for the, for the nuggets and then Wendy's for the frosty. Right. Exactly. Right. Um, but she helped me figure that out how to, you know, eat that stuff and be able to enjoy those foods with my kiddo. And that was the awesome part with the macros is I, you know, I can still eat normal food

26:30and it made it enjoyable to actually have the macros. I didn't like, I kept telling people I'm not an, on a diet. It's not a diet. I'm not on a diet plan. It's, it's a lifestyle. It's not a diet. This is just a lifestyle. And this is just food. This is just what foods I eat, but it's not diet. Um, love that. There'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. It's a, it's an amazing, like, I don't feel deprived.

27:02And as you know, as you're saying too, it's like, you can have things that you, it doesn't have to be that hard and you can enjoy the food and you can still go out and have food with your kids. Like it's a good, it's a good time. It's not a diet. It's a skill set that we're sorry for the rest of your life. Exactly. It is. It's something sustainable, something, you know, I don't feel like I've modified. I just am counting numbers and fitting them into that. Yeah, totally. Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show.

27:32It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it and there's so much more to come with it. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also 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 when you were unsure and you're watching the videos and the ads and you started to go look on the website that you were like, is this just like every other program? What are we just like every other program? And then specifically like what made worry babe stand out to you above everything else?

28:04What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think?

28:34What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think?

29:04What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think?

29:34What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think?

30:04What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? What made you think? Okay. Just to, if anybody forgot how much Paige was eating prior, that was around 1000 calories, 1088. I remember what you wrote on the form.

30:34Yeah. And now you're eating double that? 2300? More than double, yeah. More than double. Yeah. Did you, what were some of the, cause there's so many women that fear eating more. And as you just mentioned, you had to fear too as well. So what were your fears around eating more and how did you trust the process of like, Hey, Lauren's increasing my calories. I mean, your coach is increasing your calories. Like what, what'd that make you feel like? You know, she did it gradually. Um, so it's not like she, you know, it was okay.

31:04We're going to add a hundred 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? And so I could make that choice of like, I'm still, let's give it another week or heck no, I'm hungry. Let's do it. Um, and listening to my body and saying like, no, I actually am hungry. And so let's add a little bit more and easing into it, but being able to talk through it with her, you know, as to what my symptoms were, as far as not sleeping or feeling tired

31:38or feeling hungry. And then she's like, all right, well, 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. And so I think that was probably what helped the most with increasing those was that I, I had control still, but I had a coach that was educating me through the process of why I needed those. And I could see how my body was doing. I mean, with the pictures, with the lifting, with doing everything, I could feel the improvement.

32:13I could see the improvement. And so it made it easier to, to trust and be like, okay, she knows what she's doing. Yeah. Yeah. You know, finally just, okay. Yeah. Giving control to you and I'll just tell you what's going on and you tell me what I need. But even you said, mentioned you were in control. Like the way I look at that was to everything to me right there. Cause you say you're in control of it and you're basically in the driver's seat, but you can turn to your coaches in the passenger seat and be like, Hey, this is what I'm feeling. This is a biofeedback that I'm feeling in my body.

32:45This is how I'm sleeping. You know, uh, I'm X, Y, and Z. And then she can play back to you and be like, okay, cool. Here's my knowledge. And, 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 such a, that's, that's, um, that's amazing. That's what it's all about. You know, having somebody be able to bounce off that knows what they're doing. Then you being the receptive person to take action and go do it. Yeah. Um, what was one moment, like a specific moment, if you remember at all early on when you first

33:18started, when you realized like, wow, this is actually working. And what was that like? It was, um, just, um, I mean, 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. I mean, when I first joined, I'm not going to lie, you know, I was like, warrior, babe, my husband giggled a little bit, like, like Xena warrior.

33:48You know? And now I'm happy to tell anybody that I'm a warrior babe and tell them all about the program. And I like, no shame. I will shout it from the rooftops and tell anybody I can about it because it was like, I think it was like at 90 days. I mean, I looked at my pictures and I was like, holy moly. Like, how is this the same person? I'm eating more. I lost weight. And I mean, I was putting on some muscle, like getting toned.

34:22And I mean, it was just, you know, 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 lost weight. I mean, who would have thought? 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. Like since joining warrior babe, where are you now in your journey? Yeah. So now I'm, I'm at a maintenance phase, which I see. I like maintenance right now.

34:53I did a build, um, 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. Um, and then I went back into maintenance and I'm living happy in maintenance. Um, good energy levels. I sleep. I think me and Lauren like rejoiced over the fact that I was getting like on average seven hours a night, which is a huge improvement from where I was at.

35:24Where were you at before? Like four or five, if I was lucky. I mean, and it was broken. Yeah, it was, it was horrible. I mean, and now I'm actually like, I'm dreaming again, which is amazing. I didn't dream forever. Cause I don't think I ever actually hit REM sleep. REM sleep consistently. Yeah. So, um, but my pain, my pain, I think it was about six months into the program that I was like, you know, I don't think I need my flex roll, my muscle relaxant.

35:59And so I started to just not take the muscle relaxant. I was like, okay, we're going to see how I'm doing without it. And I've been off the muscle relaxant now for a year. Um, which is amazing. I never thought I'd be off of the muscle relaxant, honestly, ever. Um, how's that make you feel? Um, Oh, absolutely amazing. I mean, I was terrified of, you know, I'm 30, 38 and I'm like, um, you know, when I'm

36:30getting older, I'm going to be on so much meds trying to manage my pain. And I didn't want it to get worse. Cause I am a nurse. I know, you know, kind of the domino effect of how that works. And I was like, I'm going to be on so much pain medication and I'm not going to be able to control, um, anything. I mean, I'm going to be lucky if I can walk, you know, and to be able to get off of the muscle relaxant. I mean, I was just ecstatic. Um, but just ecstatic.

37:00And then probably about three months after that, I started cutting back on my narcotic pain medications. Um, and now I'm down to, um, I occasionally have to take it before bed, like once every six weeks ish. I mean, it's like, cause it's snowing and the weather's really crappy and my arthritis is just like, you know, um, you know, but it's, you know, it's rare that I do.

37:34Um, or it's when my ablation is wearing off, um, which is, you know, something I have a bone spur, so it can't, you know, be fixed. Um, but it's only when that starts to wear off that I might need to start taking it. Um, but I mean, it's amazing being off. 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, you know, stuck with me for the rest of my life.

38:05Wow. That is so incredible. Yeah. Yeah. That's something definitely to be very excited about knowing that you don't have to take that and you're not subdued to it for the rest of your life. Like, wow. Yeah. What are some other top achievements that you've had? I mean, those are some big ones, like, reducing pain medications, coming off the narcotics. Like, what are, what are maybe two or three other ones that you can think of? Uh, my mobility. Um, so stretching has been a big part of everything we've done.

38:36And so, I mean, I can actually like touch my toes. I can actually, I mean, my flexibility is amazing compared to what it used to be. Um, I mean, I remember going to physical therapy and they're like, okay, when does it hurt? And I'm like, you know, barely leaning over and it hurts. Um, and I can bend over and touch my toes. I mean, I can, you know, like get 70% of the splits almost, you know, I mean, I've gotten so much more flexible.

39:06Um, which has been amazing. I can actually stretch and feel it and it feels good. It doesn't just hurt. Um, and I can play with my kid. I've gone running with him. All of a sudden I'm just taking off chasing him and running and I get done. I'm like, wow, like I don't, it doesn't hurt. And 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, wasn't anything.

39:38It was just, I had a good day with my kid. Oh, that's incredible. Um, and you, yeah. So you're running again too. I can. Yes. Which is, yeah. I didn't think I'd ever be able to bounce and have that impact with my back. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. What do you feel like you're able to do now that you couldn't do before? I can run. I can play. I can bounce. I can go do.

40:08I mean, we went to Disney for my kiddo's birthday. Um, when he turned six and we walked 20,000 plus steps every single day. And I felt great for the entire week that we did it. Um, I carried him for half of it. My husband carried him for the other half, you know, when he got tired and I was able to carry him, you know, for the second half of the day when his little legs were tuckered out after 10,000 steps, you know, and ride on the rides without pain and just do all those

40:42fun things. I mean, I just would have never thought I'd be able to do that with him. That's so cool. Paige, you should be really proud of yourself for all those accomplishments that you've made. Thank you. You've put in the work. You, you listened to Lauren, you were receptive to doing workouts and fitting it in and got rid of your excuses. You're eating 2300 calories now feeding your body what it needs, which is definitely a huge, that is probably the biggest component to your successes of pain reduction and vice versa.

41:14Second to you exercising and moving your body is eating the food that your body has been wanting you to eat for years. Putting the nutrients back in. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Getting some protein in your body. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. If you would never be the change, where do you think you'd be today? I don't even want to think about where I'd be. I mean, I know. I know. I don't want to go back there, but. No, no.

41:44I mean, it's, you know, my kiddo was wrestling and I can actually get down on the wrestling mat and wrestle around with him. And I would have never been able to do that. Yeah. Um, you know, and the pain medications, I probably, you know, at some point would have needed more. Um, you know, the muscle relaxants and those made me tired. I mean, and I couldn't function and I, you know, I'm a nurse. I like to take care of people and I'm good at taking care of people.

42:14I was horrible at taking care of myself. Um, 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 and taking care of my kiddo and my family. Yeah. Um, but taking care of myself was just as important so that I could take care of the people I want to take care of. Like, yeah, you gotta put yourself first, but I totally feel you on that. Like I love, I too, went into nursing to help people and you help people all day long.

42:48Last thing you want to do is try and help yourself. At the end of the day, you just want to eat and go to bed. Right. So you can do it again the next day. So that's pretty admirable that you realize that, Hey, I gotta, I gotta take care of myself. I gotta put myself first so that everybody around you, like even what made me realize was that if I can eat my meal in the ER when I worked there, then I'll be more happy and satisfied to go deal with my next patient rather than being irritable or mad or something like that. Cause I wasn't giving myself the fuel that it needed.

43:18And that just makes you show up better as a nurse to, to once you take care of yourself. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Your mood. I mean, you know, not getting cranky, not getting agitated or just being so tired that you can't even think or process things the way that you should. And you know, you can, um, 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.

43:48Um, you know, because I was just tired. It was like, there's no way I don't have the energy to be a mom and work and start up my own company. There's just, that would have not been a possibility. Yeah. It's so cool to see where you are now today. Like hearing that at the beginning of what you shared and all of those trials and tribulations and pain, exhaustion and being uncomfortable. Like, I, there was so much you shared there at the beginning. I was like, Holy cow, she's only 39 years old. Like you've gone through it. But to hear where you are now is pain, you know, pain is less and you're off medications and you're running more and you're eating double the more than double the amount.

44:27And that's just, that's just so cool to hear. And one of the reasons why I wake up every day and pour into warrior babe and our coaching team and that they deliver this to you guys. And then thank you. Cause you're the one that took the action. You know, you're the one that trusted in us at the start and, and dove in now you're a year and a half in. So you, you got into the, to the second year. How long do you think you're going to go into another year after that? I'm at a toss up.

44:57I'm kind of at a point where, um, Lauren, you know, is still amazing and helpful, but I'm not finding myself needing to lean on her as much as I was. Um, 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'm, you know, did my macros and not quite sure if I did them right. Kind of like a step down, you know, from where I'm at. Yeah.

45:27Um, so we've got time to still decide before August. So. Yeah. Yeah. There's that, I think that by then we'll probably have something in the pipeline in terms of you, because there's more babies. I want that too, as well. Um, we used to have that in the pipeline, but we might bring it back, um, to that one point. And also to the second point was that you feel like you can, you know, essentially we like to call it like graduate from the program, which is like ultimately what we want. Like our coaches, we want them to be able to give you guys a knowledge and education, the understanding where you are fully in control of your body and you understand it.

46:01And you can navigate nutrition and fitness the way that you need to, because you don't need to, you shouldn't need a coach for the rest of your life. But right. It's, it's nice to have that, um, to have that knowledge base for yourself so you can continue on. That's what we'd love to hear too. It's awesome. Yeah, I've done a great job with that. It's nice having a coach though. I do like having that accountability partner, I guess, you know, just that person I'm like, all right, she's gonna, I need to check in, put my weight in, you know, take my measurements.

46:31It's that no excuse kind of thing. It's that. Yeah. Check in, throw it at her really quick, you know, I don't know how I'm doing. Um, yeah. But the other part that I didn't mention before with warrior babe that I absolutely love is that I, you know, I got sick. And so, yeah, I had to take like two weeks off cause I, you know, when I had COVID, it was like, I have no energy. I'm tired. There's no way, but I didn't want to miss my workouts. Cause I had been pretty consistent with things.

47:03And she always called me her consistency queen. Cause I was very consistent. And 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. And I wanted to get back into it. It was amazing. As soon as I felt better, it was like, all right, let's jump back in.

47:33She'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, you know? Um, and giving me exercises for the camper. We've gone out and gone camping and I'm like, I don't want to miss a workout, but I need something I can do traveling. And so she's given me some different workouts that I can take on the go, body weight workouts or band workouts. And those have been awesome to have in my back pocket for when we go on a trip, um, to still get a little bit of a workout in if I want to, you know?

48:09And she's like, or take a break, take the weekend off, you know, take a Friday off. It's okay to skip one occasionally. It's not going to like ruin your results forever. Yeah. It's a lifestyle. It is. Yeah. You don't need to be perfect and show up every single time at 365, as long as you're just consistent, which consistent and perfect are two different things. Exactly. Yeah. Yep. So for somebody that's watching this right now, who may be unsure about like taking the next step, what would you tell them about warrior babe and the impact?

48:42And the impact it could have on their life. It's a lifestyle change and it's, it's forever. I mean, it's a hundred percent different than any other program out there. It's not slimmed down fast to get into a dress or to go on a vacation. It's an overall just lifestyle to make you feel better and improve your energy or whatever your personal goals are.

49:14It'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 just be more active, or if you want to bulk up and get, you know, super strong and muscles, that's great. Or if you just want to tone down and, you know, or if you just want to maintain, like the program is for anybody who just wants to have a better lifestyle and enjoy food and exercise and energy and sleep and all of the above.

49:52I love that. And this could be like a full circle moment for you for that man that had was making his gym all the right way so he could still work out. Because if someone's listening to this, like for you maybe, the way I was perceiving it was like, you could have easily just continued to give up and said like, I'm too far gone with all of the things that you were experiencing. What would you say to somebody right now that maybe feels like they're too far gone to make any type of real change for themselves?

50:23Nobody's too far gone. I mean, 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. I mean, I can hit her with, hey, my shoulder's hurting with this one and she'll modify it for me that week, you know, or she'll take it out entirely if that one's bugging me.

50:55Um, it's made for you. It's made for each babe that signs up and whatever their goals are and whatever their restrictions are, it's made for them. It's not a one size fits all program. Amazing. Well, Paige, thank you for being here and sharing your story and inspiring anybody that's listening to this. And anyway, that is listening to this, you know, 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 and you can get past your mistake, your, your not mistakes, you can pass your excuses and you can take control of your health.

51:36And you know, she found a way to feel her body and move her body that actually works. And now she's not just surviving, she's thriving. So if you guys are listening to this, take the first step, do it today. Your future self would definitely thank you as Paige's future self is definitely thanking her today. So thank you, Paige, for being here. Appreciate you. Appreciate your time. Real quick. If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word.

52:09Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

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