How She Got Stronger After Perimenopause w/ WarriorBabe Laura

00:00No matter what I tried, it did not work. My clothes size went up, my blood pressure went up, everything was getting off kilter and I couldn't figure it out. So I needed guidance and that's what this program, WarriorBabe, really checked off all the boxes for me. I've lost the weight that I wanted to. I'm pretty close to my initial goal. I'm probably like three pounds off. My dress fit amazing. I felt great. What's going on, everybody? Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another WarriorBabe interview.

00:34And I am very excited because I have Miss Lara here with us. And just a little bit of backstory with Lara before we get into her story. She spent years helping others stay strong as an occupational therapist, but internally, quietly, her own health and her own confidence were slipping. And perimenopause hit. Her body felt like it was betraying her and nothing she tried really worked. But then, insert WarriorBabe, Lara discovered a sustainable way to get stronger, to be healthier, and to be more confident than ever.

01:07And today, she's here to tell her story. Welcome, Lara. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. I'm honored to be here. Oh, I'm excited for you to share your story. And thank you for being here. Let's dive into what was your situation like before joining WarriorBabe? Like, what were you struggling with both physically and mentally in your health and fitness bucket of your life? Well, growing up, I was always very active. Never had any issues with my weight. Never had issues with my health. 20s, 30s, I was fine. It wasn't until my late 40s that I really hit a wall as far as, like, nothing worked anymore.

01:48I wasn't into really weightlifting or resistive training. I did a lot of cardio, and my cardio stopped working. I moved, and so my situation changed with my family and my environment and just my home life. It kind of put a wrench in things as far as how I worked out. My labs were off. My A1C went up. My clothes size went up. Blood pressure went up. Everything was getting off kilter, and I couldn't figure it out.

02:20And then I realized, you know, I went to the doctor, and I was basically in perimenopause. And so, you know, I tried to work out more. Walking, walking. You know, I did always power walking, so that wasn't working. And so I started looking at other programs to try to deal with the weight gain and the health issues I was having. You know, I got into the program where they would send me food that was pre-programmed and what kind of foods you chose, and they would send meals every month. And I got to where I was like, you know, I jump in with both feet whenever I try something.

02:52I, you know, put everything into it. So what I would do is, you know, I got these meals, and I decided that, you know, after about three months, it was working, but I wasn't learning how to feed myself. It was just that they would give me the meals. They would tell me how to eat. So I was getting bits and pieces of, you know, how to eat correctly, but not, it wasn't teaching me how to prepare my own food and what portions I should eat and why I'm eating this food and why I'm not eating that food. And I would try the intermittent fasting.

03:25And then I got tired of being starved. And so I kind of got used to things not working. And I was tired of being hungry all the time. Because my thing and how I dealt with my weight gain, I would avoid breakfast. I was afraid if I ate breakfast, that would kick off my hunger cues all day long. And so if I started eating too early, then I'd just want to eat all day long. So then, you know, so I just kind of gave up on everything. I looked at some things online. And so really nothing worked. So I was kind of, I was frustrated because I had always been a slender, active person in my youth.

03:57And now I'm, you know, just getting to where it's really hard for me to work, do my job as an occupational therapist, because my body was not responding the same way that I was used to it responding. And nothing seemed to be working to help it get back to what it was before. Yeah, I hear you. I hear the frustrations. That can be very frustrating when you are very active growing up. And you think that, you know, then diving into doing cardio, you feel like that that would give you the result that you were anticipating. And then to try these different programs that were giving you meals or,

04:29but you weren't seeing the results that you wanted. And then, you know, skipping breakfast, because you had these thoughts of, if I do this, I'm just going to like catapult the rest of my day and in the wrong way. Like, yeah, I can hear that. That being very frustrating. At what point, like, did you realize that something had to change? No matter what I tried, no matter what I tried did not work. You know, as far as the intermittent fasting, I was tired of starving. I didn't lose any weight doing that. And I was just miserable. I was looking at the clock like all morning, like, okay, when can I eat?

05:00Getting the meals, I was tired of eating pre-programmed meals. And I didn't necessarily want to eat the foods. And some actually were not good at all. And so I just realized, you know, I need something else needs to change. I need to lose this weight. My health is going to start taking a toll. You know, I don't want to keep gaining weight and feeling poorly all the time. You know, hating the way I looked, hating the way I felt. My balance was starting to be affected because I'm very active in my job. I have to, you know, transfer patients and walk them, squat down.

05:32And I get in all sorts of positions. I have to squeeze through areas. And I was getting to where I couldn't move. I wasn't as agile. And it scared me, actually. And I was like, you know, I'm starting to have balance problems like my patients do. And I was supposedly young and in good health. So that's when I started just, you know, just listening and looking. And you popped up online. And at first, I didn't listen because you're young. And I thought, oh, this is for the young crowd. And so, you know, I listened a little bit. And then I popped back off of your ad. And your ad came on again later.

06:02I thought, okay, well, let me just listen for a minute. And what you said really rang true with me. You said, you know, and I realized you're not talking to the young crowd. You're talking not necessarily to them. You're talking to someone like me that needed to hear. I needed to hear your message in that it was for people that cardio doesn't work anymore. Exercise doesn't work anymore. Cutting calories doesn't work. Skipping meals doesn't work. Restricting dieting doesn't work. And you were talking to the perimenopausal menopausal woman that has all these hormonal changes that their bodies aren't like they're like aliens now.

06:36And, you know, it's like whose body is this? It's not working for me anymore. And so then I just stopped and just listened to you. And then that's when I signed up. That's what made the difference. Oh, I love to hear that. I'm happy that we were we became a pivotal change for you. Absolutely. And your journey. One thing that I heard there that I think a lot of women backtracking before we dive into the warrior babe journey was you mentioning work and how it was starting to affect, you know, your job because there's a lot of women that experience it. I mean, you being an occupational therapist, other women being certain jobs that teachers

07:09doctors or lawyers or doctors or, you know, how whatever you have you tech specialists, they experience multiple, you know, different symptoms that lead them to think, you know, that affect their confidence or affect their ability to do their job the right way. So you mentioned that your job became harder because of your strength and because of your balance and, you know, having to be I'm just thinking from my health care days, like I know that you're moving people from sitting to sit to stands to a chair or from Hoyers to, you know, you're constantly having to use those muscles and moving them.

07:43Yeah, you're getting down squat positions to grab the patients by their their belts to transfer them over. How did that affect your your confidence or your identity as a caregiver? It scared me because when I would get up from, you know, helping someone with their their socks and shoes and I'd get up and start moving around, I would find myself losing my balance or it was just this most minute movement that would get me off and I could feel it and it was subtle. And that hit me hard because I work with the elderly and, you know, I always thought, you

08:16know, I'm going to stay healthy. I'm going to stay active and fit and I'm not going to have any of these issues. And then it hit me that I'm starting to have these issues. You know, my body is not responding the same way. I can't just scoot around this wheelchair like I could. I can't transfer the patient and my arm not fatigue so much. And so it hit me really hard because it scared me that, you know, I wasn't going to be able to work. I wasn't going to be able to, you know, do what I I've done this for like 35 years. And, you know, my identity with helping people, I felt like I was kind of becoming weaker.

08:49And how can my patients trust me if I'm not in the best shape? And I and I'm you know, how can they trust that I'm not going to let them drop? So that hit me hard. I think that was probably one of the pivotal things is I felt my balance getting off and I didn't have the core strength. Wow. I love that answer. I think that brings into a lot of perspective. One being it hit you hard in terms of you being able to care for these individuals the right way and the way that they needed. But also and it did it is not like a flash in front of your face that like while you're

09:20caring for these individuals and seeing their health decline, you're you are now experiencing your health declines like, oh, man, I could end up like this individual that's in the chair right now having somebody that's an occupational therapist helped me. Exactly. I thought I was taking care of myself. I thought I was doing everything right. And then I realized, you know, I'm gaining weight. My body's not responding. You know, my cholesterol is going up, my blood pressure, my A1C. I was watching all this creep up over the years and I couldn't get a hold of it and I wasn't

09:52controlling it. And it was scary that, you know, I could be going down this road that my where my patients are. Yeah. So, you know, very scary. I feel like. Yeah. 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.

10:25So, OK, let's go dive into starting warrior babe journey. You know, you mentioned what initially drew you into the program. What made you say yes to starting? Like you're on the call with one of our team members. You're talking through all of your struggles and how we can. And we're talking about how we can help you. What made you like say yes? To be honest, my daughter's wedding initially kicked it off. I knew that her wedding was coming up and I was like, OK, everything. The representative that I spoke to, she said everything right. She said I was going to have a coach, which I really wanted.

10:56I needed someone to guide me. You know, I knew how to care for the elderly population. I knew how to modify the exercises to their bodies and their illness and injury. I just didn't know how to, you know, make it work for me. I had never like exercised and lifted. I knew I needed to lift weights. I knew the importance of resistor training on the muscles and the bones. I knew all of this. Everything she said made sense to me. But what was so pivotal for me was the community and having a coach and someone helping me with my, you know, my nutrition, my macros, teaching me how to eat and how to portion and how to exercise and guide me through.

11:37I mean, I know how to lift weights. I didn't know how to pull all the pieces together and and make it work. I like I had all this knowledge. I just didn't know how to make it work for me. And what she said was, you know, was it the coach helping me with nutrition, helping me with exercise? I would have all this community support and listening to what you had said on your ad. So I was like, yes, I'm going to do this because like I said before, when I do something, I jump in with both feet. And what she said just clicked with me. And I knew it was like either now or never because nothing else was working.

12:08And I knew I needed someone help and guide me. And I thought this is perfect. I have a coach. I have a coach that I can like communicate with. I can text her. She can talk to me. She can give me exercises. So it's not like a lot of guesswork at first. So I needed guidance. And that's what this program, you know, really Warrior Babes really just checked off all the boxes. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause?

12:38It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore.

13:09Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit WarriorBabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's WarriorBabe.com forward slash apply. All right. Let's get back to the show. For me. Oh, I love that so much. Specifically, I love the part where you were like, I knew all of the things. I had the knowledge of strength training. But it's like putting that into action, you know, like the sets and the reps and what specific exercises to target, you know, the muscles.

13:46And, you know, it's like you combined your knowledge to working with the coach. And what I love to say, it's like you guys are on a two-way street working together to get to the end goal. And you're working with the coach. You know, that's your accountability partner right there. Absolutely. Yes. And I want to put in a pin, too, because we were catching up beforehand before we hit record. And Laura had mentioned that she just had her daughter's wedding this past weekend. So hearing that being your initial like why and your initial yes, like I want to put a pin there, but then circle back to when we get to your results and your journey now.

14:21Like it seems like a little bit like a chapter was closed in your Warrior Babe journey because that was your initial why. And I want to talk about that eventually. When you first joined, like what were your like a few of your aha moments after joining? I'm still not a huge fan of lifting weights. But I realized, I mean, I'm not because I've done cardio for so many years. I did not step foot in the gym ever. It intimidated me. I didn't have the confidence to go in there. But when I finally started lifting weights, I was like, oh, this feels so good.

14:54I'm actually getting cardio with lifting weights. I'm like, well, no one ever told me this. And just the rush of it and just how good I felt afterwards. Because, you know, it was like more like I can actually do this. And when I go in the gym, I'm not so intimidated. Still a little bit with some of the equipment. But, you know, and it's still not like the thing I look forward to. But I know how it makes me feel afterwards. And that drives me to keep going and keep doing it. You know, keep showing up for myself because it makes such a difference.

15:24And nothing else has helped me lose weight or change my body composition like lifting weights. So really my aha moment was like, oh, my gosh, I should have been doing this all along. Why did I do this? Well, I love that you were building your relationship with weight, with strength training and with weights in a positive direction. But you know what? I just got to validate that. Like, you know, it is it's intimidating walking into a gym and going into a weight room where a lot of women aren't necessarily meant like not meant to be.

15:57We're meant to be anywhere, but it's not a common ground where you find women at and then like never not strength training before. And, you know, thinking about your form and all like, you know, it can be very intimidating. And I know that you sharing that is going to resonate with a lot of babes because some of them are very afraid to get in there. But it's like at the end of the day, you know how you're going to feel. Now you did it. You've conquered that. Yeah, absolutely. And you feel amazing afterwards. Amazing. Yes. And I'm so proud of myself when I do it. I was like, yeah, I finished I finished that exercise routine and I feel so good.

16:31Yeah, it does. I mean, I feel like, you know, a wet noodle. But what was interesting in our team huddle, you know, and that's another thing that, you know, I'm sure we'll touch on. But the team huddle and the VIP calls, I learned something every single time, every single time, just from a tidbit to like a major like aha moment. Like, oh, my gosh, I knew that, but I didn't pull it in. I didn't think about it. And, you know, it's like as far as like exercise, you can work really hard.

17:04And if you eat the protein that you're supposed to eat as part of your macros and you preload all, I preload my food. So I make sure I get all my protein. And it's a lot. Sometimes it's a it's a task to eat all my protein. But I do it and it makes a difference when I lift weights. I don't I'm not like horribly sore the next day or 48 hours later because I feel like, you know, I have the protein to help rebuild the muscle. So that was also another one that I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, even though I push myself. Yeah. That's interesting to me.

17:35Yeah. You're getting weird. You're getting the needs of what your body demands. Yes. Feeling your body the right way now. The right way. Because I know I didn't eat the protein before. Before. I know I didn't eat enough. Yeah. Not me. Hey, you know, that's a lot of women, you know, a lot of women struggle with eating or just it's being aware of what protein. I mean, I didn't know what protein was when I first started my journey or like that. I needed to have my body weight in it. So it's like, you know, we've we've gotten you. It's an awareness that you've entered into. And I think to piggyback off of how you brought up the team huddles and the topics and the bringing in the education as to why.

18:12We're asking you to do these things. Why? We want you to eat more protein. It lands a little bit more for you, as you're saying. And each time you go on to these huddles, it's something new that you're like, oh, I was told this before, but now I know why. Right. Yes. Yes. It makes sense. And the more you hear it, the more it kind of gels. Like, OK, yes, because I've done this and I tried it and it and it works. It makes such a difference. All right. So where are we at now in your worry-beam journey? Like, so did you how do you feel at your daughter's wedding? Like, what results have you experienced so far?

18:44Yeah. Let's talk about that now. I've lost the weight that I wanted to. I'm pretty close to my initial goal. I'm probably like three pounds off. But, you know, I know it's not all about the scale. But my dress fit amazing. I felt great. For the first time in, like, since I was a teenager, my arms were exposed with my dress. One shoulder dress and my arms were exposed. And normally I never show my arm because my arms were just one thing that I hid for years. Because I just didn't like, just the way genetics, just the way I gained weight and the way my arms look, I just felt like a blob.

19:18And so working out, you know, has really changed my body composition. It's changed my confidence and the way I feel about myself. And I know it's not just all physical. I felt strong. I did. I felt, I felt able and I felt strong and I felt confident to wear the dress and just feel beautiful that day. I did. And I hadn't felt that in a long time. Oh, that's incredible. I'd love to hear that. And the confidence to us to come from, like, you came into this program saying that that was your why, that was your yes initially.

19:50And now, like, that door is, you just experienced it, you just lived it, you followed through. Like I like to say, you kept the promise that you made to yourself and you're reaping that reward of feeling confident. You're feeling beautiful. And, oh, I can't, you're going to send us some pictures of you and your dress. I will. Yeah. I will. Oh, that's awesome. Awesome. So how do you feel now compared to when you started? Oh, my gosh. I feel like a different person. It's interesting, you know, because I told you I'd never lifted weights or I had done any resistive training.

20:21I'm actually able to wear, before I moved up to where I live now, when I'm stressed, I stop eating. So I can lose weight because I'll stop eating. And I know that throws off my metabolism. It threw everything off. But I actually weighed less than what I weigh now. But my clothes now are smaller than when I weighed 15 pounds lighter than, if that makes sense. Yeah. I'm actually wearing smaller clothes because my body composition has changed so much. And I know I've achieved this goal. I've promised myself this is a journey.

20:51I'm not stopping here. I still want to tone my body a little bit more. I've lost the weight and I'm building muscle, but I'm still not. I feel, you know, I want to tone a little bit more and define my muscles a little bit more. I feel like I'm still in the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a great mindset to have. It's a great mindset to have. We are part of the long game right now and you're still at the beginning of it. I love that. You also mentioned, too, in the bio I was reading that you regained your balance and your agility and your strength. What part of that makes you feel like that progress makes you the proudest?

21:24I think because I feel like I've gained more control. It's very empowering to feel like you're not getting weaker and you're actually doing something for yourself. And, you know, for a long time I felt, am I being selfish because I'm focusing so much on myself, you know, trying to like not feel like a blob and not feel like I'm getting weaker and feeling more like a geriatric patient. So getting my agility back and getting my balance back, I move around and I don't get tired. I mean, I do hit like a lull in the afternoon, but because I constantly, I eat five times a day.

21:59So I keep myself from being hungry. And, you know, I watch other people that just hit that wall in the afternoon and I'm thinking, I really feel good. And I don't feel like I could curl up and go to sleep like I used to in the afternoons. And having the ability to transfer my patients. One patient I had that had like neurological issues and he tended to push back really hard when I stood him up. I realized from working out so much that my arms had gotten so strong that I was holding him up with my non-dominant arm.

22:30And so I was getting a lot of isometric for like a couple minutes just holding him. And I realized my arm was not shaking and it wasn't, you know, fatiguing like it normally would. So to me, that told me, you know, you're on the right path and you're getting stronger. I felt like I was reversing what my path that I was, you know, sliding down. And I felt like, you know, I finally get a hold of my health. And like I said, it was super empowering that I was doing something for myself. But yet it helps my patients. It benefited my family.

23:01My family sees such a huge difference in me. And, you know, for my kids, it's affected the way they eat and the way, you know, their health has changed. Yeah. And so it just made me feel like I was just on the right path. And I was doing something right for myself and for my family. Oh, that's beautiful. You did reverse. You totally did reverse what you were experiencing. I just want to acknowledge that. You, as we brought up earlier, you were noticing the signs that you probably see, you know, on a daily basis. Like, yeah, you see your patients.

23:32You see what they're struggling with. And you were aware that, hey, I'm starting to recognize these deficiencies within myself or things that I'm struggling with. And so you got into the, you advocated for yourself and you took on a journey that totally did reverse that. So you should be really proud of that. Yes, it's very exciting. I'm very proud of it. Yes, I appreciate you and the Warrior Babes program. I really do. And it's an honor to speak to you and just let you know how much it's meant to me. Oh, you're going to make me cry, Laura. In a great way.

24:02That's beautiful. Thank you. I appreciate that. I do want to highlight how that felt with, to watch your husband, how you just mentioned, to watch your husband and your son eat healthier and get back into shape alongside you. Can you elaborate on that a little bit more? Yes. My husband, the way we manage our food is that we will do mass cooking. So like for a couple of Saturdays, we will do like cook all our proteins and our sides. So we pre-prepare our meals and freeze them. So we have meals like 150 meals that are frozen that we pull out.

24:33So I know exactly how much protein I'm getting and my two sides of, you know, half cup of my carbs. So, and he eats the same meals. I can pull out and pre-log and my son eats this. So the portions we eat are like the portions that we've been supposed to be eating all along. You know, the four ounces and a protein and then my two half cup carbs on the side. So when we prepare, it's like a mass production. And so we know exactly what we're taking every day for lunch and for dinner.

25:05And so he's eating pretty much the same thing I'm eating. And my son has special needs. My son, I mean, he has lost probably like 20 pounds just eating correctly, just eating right and eating with the correct portions. And my husband, I think he's lost like 10 pounds so far. So it has made a huge difference in our health. It really has. Yes. And just the example of, you know, my husband, my husband's very proud. He sees that I have stuck with this and it's actually working and I'm, you know, getting my health back.

25:38So it's, it's motivated him to start, you know, working out a little bit more again, too. Absolutely. Incredible. Incredible. You're the catalyst for change, not just in your life, but in your family's life too, as well. So as we start to wrap up this interview together, is there anything that I maybe have missed in asking you that you would want any listener to know right now? Well, I kind of likened this program to what we always say as an occupational therapist and our profession is, you know, you can give a man a fish and feed him for the day or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

26:14And this program has taught me how to fish. You know, it's brought all the pieces together for me. It has, you know, all this knowledge I had and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't know how to make it work. And this is the one program that has actually made such a difference in my emotional health, in my mindset of how I see myself, my overall physical, how I see my body and how my confidence has grown. It's helped my immediate family, my son's health and my husband's health. And I'm so appreciative that, you know, in the community support with Warrior Babes has made just the difference with me.

26:52No other program I was in had the community support. And I think that's really what cinched it. You know, I have so much back and forth with my coach and then the team. I have an awesome team that we're in. Our team huddles are great. We give each other support through text and through the team huddle Zooms and just the VIP calls. I have gained so much information and so much knowledge. You know, it's helped me on my journey just to pull everything together and in a concise way. And I know I can carry this through.

27:22It's not something that I just do it temporarily. And then, you know, it's like, okay, now what do I do now? It's like I'm guided and this is like I can continue this journey and I have the confidence to do it. So I would say to anyone that if you're on the fence, this is the one program that really honestly worked and it still works. And it's you will not regret it. Wow, Laura. Thank you. That was beautiful. And I'm just grateful that you trusted in us from the beginning. I know that there was some skepticism in terms of age when you first saw me.

27:55Yes. And you continue to do your research and you continue to go down listening to Warrior Babes, like, you know, like our videos and our methodology. And I'm just so happy that you entrusted in us. Thank you. It's been worth it. It's been beautiful. And anybody that's listening to this, I just want you guys to know that Laura's story shows that transformation isn't just about weight loss or muscle. It's about, you know, in her entire journey, as you guys just heard, she's reclaimed her confidence and her strength at her age.

28:25She's proof that it's never too late to learn how to feel, to learn how to lift, to learn how to live with intention. You know, she took her life by her own grip and made a big change. You've reversed something you were experiencing. And if you guys are feeling like, you know, you're in a similar boat where Laura once was, like your body's betraying you, you're unsure of certain things that you're experiencing. Just know that, you know, your body's trying to tell you something to pay attention to. And, you know, let Laura's journey be a reminder that you can change your story as well.

28:56Absolutely. Laura, thank you for being here and sharing. You're welcome. Thank you. 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. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support. Thank you. Thank you.

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