How She Transformed Her Body At 74 Years Old w/ WarriorBabe Kathy

00:00I am getting stronger. I'm doing heavier weights. I'm doing more reps than I dreamed I would before. The things that you were doing on your own, why do you feel like they weren't working? Well, I think they weren't working because I'd gone through ups and downs of a lot of diets. I was on Weight Watchers. The one thing she did, though, is she told me I was working out too much. And what's going on, everybody?

00:30Hey, today I have another WarriorBabe here with us. She is now 74 years old, but at 73, Kathy could have accepted the slow decline, the sleep struggles that she was experiencing, and the stubborn weight gain that crept on after her surgeries. And, you know, just the life changes that a lot of us experienced at that time. So, but instead, she decided to do something different. And with WarriorBabe now, she ditched outdated beliefs.

01:01She learned how to properly fuel her body. And she found a community that helped her get stronger in every way. And she's proof that it's never too late to learn, to grow, to put old stories and narratives behind and rewrite your story. And today, she's here to share her journey with us. Welcome, Kathy. Thank you so much, Nikki. It's really great to be here. And I'm happy to share what I've been through because I think that a lot of women have gone through very similar kinds of things in their lives.

01:32I always say I was the little teapot in the family. I was the short and stout. No. But the truth is, is that we can't change our genetics and how tall we are or how wide we are. But we can change how we work with it. I've gone through ups and downs of a lot of diets. I was on Weight Watchers. I did every decade. I had a new thing that I did. And I would get down and then I would go back up. I was following the guidelines of the days at the time and the food suggestions of the food pyramid and the things that we had learned in the past.

02:05And everything was always a struggle for me. And a few years ago, I did find something that was really helpful for me. I lost weight. I started working out. I got very fit. And then, unfortunately, I had to have some surgery. It slowed me down greatly. And then COVID hit. My life just pretty much went on hold. I was still trying to do things, but I wasn't as active and I wasn't as attentive to what I was putting in my body. And I started to get that muffin top and everything I had done before, nothing worked anymore. And a friend of mine had joined Warrior Babe.

02:36She said, I've been following this lady online for a while and I joined it. And she was having amazing results. But I was in such a place in my mind, I was not ready to make a commitment. It was hard for me. I still kept trying all the old stuff. And the more I tried, the worse I felt. I was pressed. I was disappointed in myself because I knew better and I wasn't getting any better. And so I had to do a huge mindset because if I was going to make a commitment, I was going to make a commitment and go full win.

03:06So on my 73rd birthday, I joined Warrior Babes. And that is when I made that commitment. And honestly, it just amazed me how, for me, the food change, learning about things that I thought I knew but was misinformed about. And it made a difference in me. And I didn't have a lot to lose, although where I had it was very obvious. I ended up losing a pound a week. For 12 weeks, I lost 12 pounds. And everybody saw it. It just felt so much better. And I was looking at myself thinking, wow, I really still can do these things.

03:39So I finished my first year and decided, you know what, in the first year, I got myself healthier. I got a lot more knowledge. And so now I'm going to get stronger. So I committed for another year. Look at you go, Kathy. That's awesome. To be where you were before you started Warrior Babes. That was a beautiful, short little glimpse of your before and now where you are. And I want to unpack little bits and pieces of it. You mentioned that foot surgery. And you mentioned struggling to get back into a healthy routine. During that time, what do you feel like was the most frustrating part when you were feeling like you were dealing with the foot surgery and then trying to get back?

04:15What was the most frustrating part during that time? I had been participating in gym activities and classes. And I was very, very active. And now I could not do those things. I couldn't bear weight on one foot. I actually borrowed a walker and took it to the gym with me so that I could kneel on the seat while I tried to do some other walking. It was really a struggle because I could not put the energy into it that I had been able to before. I felt weaker. I did not want to be one of those people that said, oh, gee, I can't do this anymore.

04:47So then I stopped. Because if I were to stop, you get rusty. When you get into your 70s, that rust doesn't go away. You had to keep moving. It was a struggle. I had no control over the fact that I had to have that surgery. But I did have control over whether or not I was going to let that totally stop me. And it didn't. But I was not as successful as I had been. And that, to me, was disappointing. You mentioned, too, like you were doing Weight Watchers. You were doing like food pyramids. And you were trying all those things back in the day. And the things that you were doing on your own.

05:17And why do you feel like they weren't working? Well, I think they weren't working because they were just for, you're going to lose 10 pounds. You're going to lose 20 pounds. You're going to lose 40 pounds, which I did. And what happens is you think, oh, I met my goal. And my goal was to lose 40 pounds. But my goal should have been to lose the weight to be healthier and to be more fit and to know what to do. And basically, I stopped when I reached my goal. And I've learned in Warrior Babe, you don't stop when you reach your goal.

05:49You reach your goal and you set the next one. And there's always a future. I just love that mindset. That made a huge difference. I love that. And that's a beautiful, just like you even just reiterating that so clearly. No, it means that you got, you understand it and you got it. Do you feel like there was like a moment that made you realize that something really needed to change? Well, it was after probably about six weeks of really trying to get back to where I was and spending the time, energy and effort in doing what I had done.

06:21And I saw absolutely no improvement. That was when it hit me. I have to do something. There has to be something. I am not going to just sit in a chair and say, oh, well, this is the way it is. And I can't do this because there is something I can do. And I was not going to stop. And let me just throw this in real quick. My mom was in her 90s and my mom had very, very badly deformed feet and she didn't care. She walked two miles every day because that's what she could do. And she said she was not going to let that stop her from doing what she knew she needed to do.

06:55And I thought if my mom could do that with her bad feet that she had, I'm going to be able to do it even if it means that I'm going to overcome the foot problems. Heck yeah. What a mentality. She was a good role model for that. I love that. You both have like a warrior babe mindset. Do what you got to do to stay on track with your goals. Don't let the excuses get in the way. You mentioned in your form that when I was reading it that you spoke about like your sister's encouragement to take care of your health. How did that shape your mindset going into this? My sister, basically she had a terminal disease and I took care of her for a few months before she passed.

07:31And the one thing she kept talking to me about was food choices. You know, how to make better food choices and how to fuel yourself to try to these kinds of illnesses. These debilitating illnesses and life ending illnesses. And she kept telling me, I really don't want you to ever have to go through what I'm going through. So we talked a lot about that when she was with me. That's when I started changing some of those things, changing the foods I was eating, being more careful about what choices I was making. And the main thing was I knew where she was and I knew she wanted to help me as much as she could.

08:03But I wanted to do it in honor of her. And I thought, you know what? I can be better because I'm honoring her by what she went through. That's so beautiful. What emotions came up as you like reflected on those moments and you made the decision to finally like focus on yourself? I looked at her. She was much younger than me when this happened. And she knew she was not going to see her children and her grandchildren. She knew that. And all I kept thinking is I want to be able to see mine. And it just it just really tears your heart out when you think of that.

08:35You know, when you know somebody who wanted to so badly fight for something that was out of her reach. And she was handing me something that I could work toward. It may or may not have worked at that time when I made that decision, but I was going to give it my best shot. And I'm wow, I did. Well, thank you for sharing that. Those emotions were there. And I appreciate you leaning into it. That perspective is beautiful that you recognize that she wasn't going to be able to see the beauty of life. But you wanted to be able to make sure that you saw that and you saw that she was trying to give you that gift.

09:09That's just a beautiful perspective. And wow, very, very heartfelt. I want to go to the limiting beliefs, like a lot of stories that women have. I feel like that was you prior to Warrior Babe. And your coach has really helped you. And we were as we were talking a little bit before, it gives you a little nudge here and there where you need it. But what limiting beliefs did you have to let go of to move forward with this new type of lifestyle? The first thing was that I was always going to be overweight because that's the way I was made. That's the way I was built. And there was nothing I could do about it.

09:40That was always something that was in my head, that basically I was always going to be the little teapot, short and stout. That's all there was to it. I believed that and I internalized that. And so I would lose weight. And then when I would gain it back, it would be like, oh, well, that's exactly what my mental state was. That's what I accepted. That was my limiting belief. Another one is, you know, when I grew up, I was in a small town in a coal mining town and we didn't have girls sports. We had gym. That was it. And so I didn't have a lot of experience with things like that.

10:11So to me, it was like, well, I'm a girl. I can't do these things. I can't lift everything. I can't be as active because I'm a girl. And you know what? That's not true. Yeah. I can do things. I can do things. You're not going to be able to keep the weight off. That was another thing. You're not going to be able to. Well, darn right. If I keep thinking I can't keep the weight off, I'm not going to keep the weight off. But if I think this is sustainable, it's going to be sustainable. I love that. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause?

10:43It'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.

11:14Take 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. How did you first hear about us? Let's start with that question. Well, my friend who is basically, she's like my workout buddy. She had followed you for a while online and she decided she was going to join. She knew what I was going through after my surgeries and everything. And she said, you know, I think this would help you.

11:44And I said, well, what do you mean? She said, well, I really think that it would help you. I think you would get a lot out of this program. But all I knew was how much commitment she had made. And I knew that I was not in the state mentally to be able to do that commitment. But I continued to watch her. I even did some workouts with her. As we got like further on through that year, I started thinking, you know, I'm not making any changes in me. Nothing is happening. I'm working and nothing's nothing's working. And so I am going to make that commitment. And so that's when I made my connection with WarriorBabe.

12:17And I said, I'm going to do this. I'm ready to make that commitment. And I went all in. Oh, let's go. I'm so happy you did. I can't wait to jump to your accomplishments and talk about all the things that you've achieved so far. But first, what were your thoughts when you first started your Warrior Babe journey, like the first few months and like learning about our approach? Well, the first thing was I really liked the VIP meetings. I really did like those because it reinforced a lot of the mindset things that I had been fighting with myself.

12:48And it was nice to hear these things being reinforced. I tried to make every single one of them if there was any way that I could. And I did make most of them. But when I met with my coach, she understood everything. You know, I explained to her what I the things I've been through, some of the stuff that that I was dealing with and how I try to work around it. And she was so helpful and gave me things that really, really helped me with my workouts. The one thing she did, though, is she told me I was working out too much and not eating

13:20enough. How did you take that? I did not believe her for a minute. Nope, nope, nope. I'm like, what are you saying, lady? Are you nuts? And she said, no. She said, you're working out. You're overworking out. And you are under eating. And she gave me this regime of eating that I was supposed to follow. And I'm like, I can't eat that. It was like double the amount of food that you were eating.

13:51So foreign to me. And she does, she does tease me occasionally because I, I, I love soup and I ate soup every day. And I still do eat soup a lot. And she said, all you did was eat soup. You have to eat other food. I trusted her, but I didn't believe it. And I did what she told me to do. And it worked. Amen. Trust us now. Believe us later. Absolutely worked. It was a hard process to get used to since that was never anything that I had done before.

14:22It's getting better. I appreciate you trusting us at 73 years old, right? That's a lot to like, you have your ways, you have your understandings, what you've learned, what you've navigated through all the different things that you've tried. And then to have an approach that pretty much knocks down and is completely different than all of the other things that you have tried to be open and trusting to that is huge because not many people can accept to train less and to eat more. It's so counterintuitive and it doesn't make any sense until you actually do it. And then you see the results.

14:53You mentioned starting the program on your 73rd birthday. That's such a powerful moment. Like, what was that like? I hadn't even thought of it that way at the time. I just thought, okay, I'm ready to make the commitment. And so then I made the arrangements and everything. And the next thing I knew when I got my call, I realized, well, this is actually my birthday. And I am doing this on my birthday. In retrospect, it was a great milestone. I look at it as this is the next layer of or the next level of my life. I'm not looking at it as, oh, I'm on the downside.

15:25I'm looking at it as I'm... 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, 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.

16:01Imagine 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 forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. On the outside. Heck yeah. Yes, you are. What felt different about Warrior Babe compared to all the other things that you've tried before?

16:34Like I said, it was, first of all, you don't go into it because you're losing weight. You go into it because you are fueling your body the way it needs to be, and you're exercising yourself to become more capable and fit. And that it's not a weight loss program. And everything else I was on was to lose weight. And so that to me was a big thing because there are people who maybe they do need to lose weight, but Warrior Babe gives them something different. And I think that it affects them in feeling stronger,

17:07learning more about themselves and about their own bodies and what they actually do need. And that takes your mind off of the weight, which was always a hard thing for me looking at that scale. I said, that is the tool of the devil. But I don't like that. That's a great way of putting it because honestly it is. That was really a totally different approach. I really valued that because it wasn't just going to look like I said, oh, I want to lose X number of pounds. And that's my goal when I stop, which is what most weight loss plans do.

17:40And this does not do that. And I think that's really important. Oh, I love that. How about working with a coach? What's that like? I'll say I had trainers and I did have a trainer who was sort of a coach and they were helpful, but I didn't feel commitment from them. And I feel that my coach is committed to all of us on our team. And she wants us to succeed and she will do what she can. She will help if I have any question. If I ask her anything and she will come back with something to help me out.

18:13She'll give me even a voicemail, a video, something. That is totally new to me to have somebody be that close to connect with me. That isn't just my friend who, you know, works out with me or something. But she really committed to my success and she celebrates my success. And I appreciate that very much. Your success is our success. Your success is her success, right? I love that. Okay, let's talk about where you're at in Warrior Wave now. Like where are you in your journey? You completed a year. You're on another year. How about some of the accomplishments, like your biggest wins?

18:43A couple wins. First of all, I am now at that stage where she's saying I need to not lose any more weight. But I have noticed I am getting stronger. I'm doing heavier weights. I'm doing more reps than I dreamed I would before. I've had people who are, like if I see them at the gym and they're basically solid pieces of muscle. And they come up to me and they say, oh my goodness, your back looks great. Okay. That is a win to me, you know.

19:15I feel I've improved my sleep. That's been a big journey for me. And I really appreciate that the coaches, Warrior Babe coaches talk about that. Because I don't think that is stressed enough to not just people my age, but most women. People my age just assume that they're going to have problems. The people younger than me do too. And they really need to get sleep. And that is so important. That has improved tremendously for me. Yeah, you went from five hours to seven and a half hours and getting stronger.

19:45How does that make you feel day to day? Like I said, this is one of those things. It's like, I'm going to be harder to kill. That's the important thing. Yes. I love that. I always felt, oh, someday, you know, if something happens, like if I fall in the parking lot of the grocery store, then I'm going to see this, oh, elderly woman, you know, in the news. And I'm like, I don't want to be that person. That's real, though. That's real.

20:16Like, that's valid. Wow. I feel confident. I feel, I have confidence. I feel capable. I feel really content with myself. I can feel that through your words through the computer. How much are you eating now? I'm always so curious. That's my favorite testimony is when people say they're eating more. I am. She has me on 2192. 21. No way.

20:4774 years old and eating over 2000 calories a day. I could not. I'm shook. I'm so, that makes my heart so happy. Every time she, she goes, oh, we're going to increase your food. I'm going, no, don't do this. Oh, my gosh. And tell me, when you came in, did you go into a retrain and you were eating more food? And you lost one pound a week doing that. Chef's kiss. That's amazing. That is amazing. And working out less, right?

21:18Yeah. Because she said, I do not want you working out any more than four hours a week. And that included her workouts. And because I was, I was going to the gym almost five, six days a week. And I was taking classes. And I was doing HIIT classes twice a week. And I mean, I was doing a lot of stuff. And that's why I was like, I can't stop. And she's like, no, you cannot do that. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I had to give up classes. That was hard. That was hard. How's your relationship now with your body, with your food, and with mindset?

21:50Thing is, there's some things that keep sneaking back in, you know, saying, ah, you really don't need it. You know, I need, I do need the food. I avoided fats in general. Not just good fats. Why? Because did you think they were going to make you fat? Well, that was one of those things that my mom was so concerned because I was the chubby one. And she wanted to make sure that she didn't want me to get too heavy. And so she would keep low fat. Plus, she didn't want me to get high cholesterol. And she didn't want me to get high blood pressure.

22:22That was why I said we made a lot of choices that were based on faulty information. It's really hard for me to balance those fats. That's probably the hardest thing. But is it mind blowing that you're eating over 2000 calories a day? I can't believe this. Like that's crazy. I can work with my husband. That's the best thing I've heard on any one of these interviews. One evening. I was looked at where I had been in my macros. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I still have this much to go. He saw me getting food ready.

22:53And he said, are you eating again? I said, I had a whole nother dinner. It was. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. That makes my heart so happy. I mean, you really go back to your statement. You're going to be harder to kill. You're eating right. We're working out more. You're sleeping better. What about if you never made this change? Like, where do you think that you'd be today? Okay. So had I not done this, I did think about this. Had I not done this, I would have still been in that phase where I was trying to do all the things I had done before that worked 10 years ago without thinking that my body has changed.

23:37My needs have changed. My activities have changed. And I would have still been doing things that were basically made up for somebody who was 10 years younger and doing the things that I was doing then. Because not knowing Warrior Babes, I would have been exercising more. I would have been eating less. All the things that got me into this problem in the first place. I'm so happy you're with us because you're on the other side. At the beginning of your journey, right, you had a friend that was in Warrior Babe and you saw what was going on.

24:10You were working out with her. You know, you're waiting for like the right time to put yourself first. What advice would you give someone that may be listening to this right now who's waiting for the right time to put themselves first? It doesn't matter how old you are because I see this. When I go to the gym, I bump into young moms, young working ladies who, you know, they come into the gym, they take a class and then I can't do what you're doing. They feel guilty taking time away from all the other responsibilities. I know because I did that too for many, many years. I put everything else ahead.

24:40I want them to know that the amount of commitment that you make for yourself as far as in Warrior Babes, you're still spending as much time on doing things for yourself that aren't as productive. And you would be better off putting it into yourself so that you feel you're going to be a better mom because you're going to have more energy to chase your kids or your grandkids. If you're a grandma, you're going to have more energy to be with them. You're going to have more energy to be with your spouse or your significant other, whatever.

25:10You're going to be able to enjoy the things that you used to do. You're not going to be too tired when you come home from work to say, oh, I'm too tired. I can't do anything. And so then you do nothing except you sit and you eat or you do something that is counterproductive to what your goal is. Do you see yourself being this person sitting on the sofa eating and watching TV? I love that perspective, Kathy. Thank you. And your story is such a powerful reminder that it's never too late to make a change. Your journey is going to inspire so many people to believe in what's possible for them too. Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask.

25:42If 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 the 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.

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