How to Get Leaner and Stronger at 50: Amber's Story

Amber: I really think I was living in victimhood. I really do believe that. And it's in that victimhood that it was making me sick, and making me make decisions based out of an "I can't" attitude. I gained 70 pounds with my son. 70 pounds. I believe that things do happen to people. They are victims of situations, but those situations are opportunities to change and shift and become.

Nikkiey: What's going on, everybody? Today I have WarriorBabe Amber here with us. Before WarriorBabe, she knew that she wanted more for herself. She knew she wanted more strength, more confidence and a version of herself that felt unstoppable. But it wasn't until a single moment of clarity that she realized she had work to do. She didn't just want change. She wanted to be committed to the journey too. And that's when she found WarriorBabe. She's now leaner, she's now stronger and she's thriving in ways that she never imagined. Today we're going to get into her story. Amber, thanks for being here.

Amber: Thanks for having me.

Nikkiey: You're welcome. Can you share with the listeners where you're from, how old you are and what you do for work?

Amber: I am in southern Oklahoma, and I just turned 50 on December 7th of last year. What was the last part of that question? Sorry.

Nikkiey: What do you do for work?

Amber: Oh, I'm a stay-at-home mom.

Nikkiey: Oh, nice. How many kiddos do you have?

Amber: I have two of my own, 10 years apart. One's 28, and one's going to be 18 next month. And then I have two stepchildren.

Nikkiey: Oh, yeah. How old are they?

Amber: 22 and 23.

Nikkiey: Oh, cool. So they're all 18 and up.

Amber: Yeah. So now I'm moving into my own. It's a whole different lifestyle, learning to let go of what I was doing. I'm transitioning into a new phase of my life, and this couldn't have come at a better time for me, honestly.

Nikkiey: That's so exciting. I can't wait to dive into your story. Let's start with where you were. What was your health and fitness like before joining WarriorBabe?

Amber: Well, I have been an athlete literally all of my life. I feel like I came out of the womb as an athlete. My mom has stories of me running down the hall doing a front flip at two years old, landing on my feet.

Nikkiey: Oh, I love that.

Amber: I'm an athlete. Well, I injured my knee my senior year and it mentally messed with me. I instantly knew in that moment, or I thought, let me say, that my life as I knew it was over, because I was never going to be able to function the same way. I tore my ACL, waited 10 years to get it repaired, and got severe arthritis in the right knee. And I really leaned into that limitation as if it was real. Truly, I did. I never paid attention over time to the fact that it's just an obstacle to pivot around. Instead of it controlling me, I could work with it.

So I had my second daughter in 2007, and I stepped on the scale in probably 2009. I hadn't done that in a long time. Someone had asked me, "Are you pregnant? When are you going to have a baby?" And it crushed me, because I wasn't pregnant.

Nikkiey: Right. No.

Amber: It killed me. But as much as it hurt, it allowed me to start contemplating myself and the trajectory of giving myself the love that I needed. I stepped on the scale and it was 199. And I thought, holy cow.

Nikkiey: How tall are you?

Amber: Five eleven. So that doesn't seem like much, but when I was 21 and I got pregnant with my son, I was 123. I was undernourished, as we understand undernourished now. So many people are undernourished, right? I gained 70 pounds with my son. 70 pounds.

Nikkiey: Wow.

Amber: It was like I let go and allowed myself to be fed, but not in the right ways. Not in the right ways. And then I had my daughter, and then I saw 199 and I thought, something's got to change. It was a very important moment, because I thought, I cannot hit 200. I cannot do it. So I started making changes. They were not the healthiest. I just started paying attention to the doable thing. What's the doable thing I can change? I had a philosophy of "this for that." I replaced this with that, and it was just the doable steps, and soon it turned into, wow, I've lost like 20 pounds.

Nikkiey: What were you doing for that?

Amber: It wasn't the healthiest things, but I would stop eating the normal things I would eat. I did what I knew to do, which was go to the store, go to the Lean Cuisines in the freezer section, eat some more vegetables, don't eat as much, slow down your eating, those kinds of things. I just started listening to myself, and I eliminated pop, soda, from my life and replaced it with water. Then I started diving into information and data. I'm a huge data junkie. I want to know the data. So I learned and learned and learned. Then I hit about 175 and I just plateaued. I could not get below it. And then I started to have hormonal changes, and this is where we start to transition into the story of how I found WarriorBabe.

But I can give a little more detail on the things I had done prior. There was the eating, but also joining programs. I joined CrossFit, I joined exercise things, thinking it's going to be exercise that really changes it. And it was very beneficial, but then I started realizing, well, it must be what I'm eating.

Rewind to that time in 2009 when I was 199. I started having blood pressure issues. I was having emotional issues. I was on antidepressants, I was on high blood pressure medicine. I was doing all of these things that are kind of the go-to: well, take this thing and it's going to fix you. And I really benefited temporarily from those things, but they have limitations and they have other side effects that go with them. So I made a decision to get really super healthy in my life and start supplementing, eating cleaner, eating organic. I got off the blood pressure medicine. I got off the antidepressants. I went to a functional medicine doctor, got my labs run, and we are sitting at a really good place health-wise. My labs are really great.

But I did programs like Eat to Perform, which was about metabolism, and I learned a lot on that journey, but they're no longer around, and I actually stopped using them when I decided to go with WarriorBabe. I tried Weight Watchers. I did Richard Simmons. I did it all. I cannot tell you how many different things I tried.

The thing about it is, I was reading a book by Dr. Stacy Sims, I think it's called Roar, and she says women are not small men. And I was like...

Nikkiey: What was your biggest takeaway from that statement?

Amber: I was like, you know what? Everything that I've been doing and every bit of information I've been digesting really feels like it's geared toward young, maybe college-age men. Now, when I was young, my body functioned a little more like that. It kind of worked. And then it didn't. It was almost counterproductive to go hard at CrossFit, and I'm like, why am I puffy? Five days a week teaching dance fitness and going to CrossFit, and it's like, what's happening?

Nikkiey: I want to unpack a few of the things you said there. One, I think "this for that" was a pretty wild method you came up with to gain some type of control and get back to being healthy. You had that big, profound moment of, 199 is way too much for me. But even just to have the recognition of, okay, I need to remove some things to give me healthier things, and you lost 20 pounds. I want to highlight that, because seeing that and doing that for yourself is so hard for some people. If there could be a takeaway here right now, even if people don't want to invest in a program, simply removing things from their home to get healthier is huge. You should be so proud of yourself for that.

Amber: Thank you. Yes, it is. It's a philosophy I share with everybody. You think you can't do something, but you really can. And I say, find the doable yes within your body. Find the doable yes, pick it and replace it with something that you know in your heart feels better than what you were doing.

Nikkiey: Love that.

Amber: Taking a big, huge step into something often leads to failure if you are not truly dedicated. So if you're just starting out on the journey, it's one step. What can you do? Do that. And soon it turns into a thousand things that led into a big thing. It's really my philosophy of life.

Nikkiey: I love that. That's a great philosophy, and I hope those who are listening can tag onto that. Something else I want to pull out from what you said is the programs you tried. You tried so many, and you were doing CrossFit and dance classes. How many days a week were you working out?

Amber: Five, six.

Nikkiey: Five, six. That's like twice a day, maybe three times a day.

Amber: I was burning 1,300 calories doing dance fitness in a day.

Nikkiey: And how old were you at this point?

Amber: Oh, I was probably 44, 45.

Nikkiey: Okay. Are you through menopause now, or post?

Amber: No, not all the way. Pre.

Nikkiey: Yeah, pre. So this was a time when you were noticing your hormones start to shift, and you recognized, like Dr. Stacy Sims says, that what worked for you in your 20s and 30s wasn't really doing the job anymore once you got into your 40s, and now you're the big five-oh.

Amber: Yes.

Nikkiey: So with that working out and burning 1,300 calories, how much food do you think you were eating in a day back then?

Amber: Not even enough. Not even close. Get this: I decided I was going to do keto in the middle of it. No carbs.

Nikkiey: Really? That's pretty smart. That's real smart.

Amber: And I'm getting puffier and puffier and achier and achier, and more tired, no sleep. I'm just like, what's wrong? I wasn't listening to myself at all. I was taking the advice I had seen all around me from videos. That's on me too, but at the same time I didn't know. I didn't understand.

Nikkiey: Right. What I want to pull out here is that you weren't listening to yourself, but you were puffy and tired and achy and pretty much falling apart.

Amber: Yeah.

Nikkiey: And I'd guess a little moody, because you weren't feeding yourself and you weren't recovering well. Dealing with those types of struggles, how did that make you feel physically and mentally?

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Amber: Oh, like, what's this all for? What's the point? That's what it felt like. What are you doing this for? This must not be meant for you. A healthy lifestyle must not be meant for you. You're doing all the right things, all the things it says to do. Exercise hard. And I see it all around me now that I know. I see everybody doing the thing they've been told and programmed is how you get there. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue, because I realize it's just not for everybody right now, where they are. But you really don't have to go so hard, and you'll get better results. Not like this. There's a different energy behind it. It's forcing it versus allowing it, listening and moving with what feels right. Allowing instead of forcing is a huge change, a huge shift.

Nikkiey: It's huge. I love how you said it's just not for them right now on their journey. But it's crazy to think how many people are programmed and conditioned to follow the new diet, follow the new program. January 1st, let's eat healthier, let's change 100 things at once. And we're still here, and they're still doing it. But eventually they'll get the answer.

Amber: So I followed Dr. Joe Dispenza. He's my man. Three years. Three years changed my life. And you can either change because of crisis, or you can change before crisis. I lost my dad in March of 2023. It's interesting, because almost a year later is when I joined WarriorBabe. He died from diabetes. And I watched him. As I watched his life story, the positives and the negatives, I took it on. And I said, you're showing me through your life how to do more for myself. I did tell him. I said, "Dad, I'm listening to you. I am listening to you." Because he kind of wished he would have known sooner. He wished he would have paid attention sooner. And then the crisis hit. And I'm telling you, he was driven. Even when the crisis hit, he started doing the right things. And when I heard Dr. Joe say that, I thought, why can't I do it before crisis? It requires feeling and being present in your life and sensing your body. So that's really it for me. Listening to my body is the most important thing for me right now.

Nikkiey: Yeah. Okay, let's segue into how you found WarriorBabe. What was going on initially? I know you mentioned Joe Dispenza. Go ahead and share that story.

Amber: This is my favorite story to tell. I'm a huge believer in manifestation. I'm a huge believer in changing your life and becoming the creator of your life versus living in victimhood. I believe that things do happen to people. They are victims of situations, but those situations are opportunities to change and shift and become. And he taught me that, truly. I really think I was living in victimhood. I really do believe that. And it's in that victimhood that it was making me sick. It's part of what made me sick, and made me make decisions based out of an "I can't" attitude, really.

So I started doing the work of Dr. Joe. I was at a retreat in Marco Island. It's called an AFU, a four-day meditation retreat. I was so dedicated. I went to four retreats in one year: two seven-day and two four-day. I was at Marco Island in 2023, November, I believe. No, it was January. Sorry, January. And he said, "We're going to be doing our first-ever 10-day retreat in Cancun." And I imagined myself on the beach as I was, and I went, no way.

Nikkiey: Was this when you were 199, around that time?

Amber: No, I was still 175, but I was puffy, and my abdomen was inflamed, and I just could not imagine it. I wanted to. And in that moment, it was a split second of victimhood. And then I went, no. Look where you are. You're in a meditation. This is your chance. This is your moment to create.

It's so interesting what I'm learning from that experience too. In my mind, it was Cancun that I wanted. In my mind, the story was the thing I wanted. Then I found out it was going to be the week of my 50th birthday. And I sat at that retreat in a meditation and said, I am going to allow the best potential for myself to come into my life to succeed. I'm not going to force it. I'm going to sit and wait, and when it arrives, I'm going to know it.

And about two months later, I'm scrolling through Facebook, and there's your face and your videos, and you're talking about women over 40, and you have this great attitude. And I'm like, oh, I feel it. It's like this energy surge in my body. Is this it? So I dug in, and I saw you talking about hormonal changes and how you have one-on-one coaching, and it's about women and hormones and metabolism and eating right and body composition. And I'm like, oh, yes, yes, yes. And I thought, don't hesitate. Do it now. Because there's this thing where we say yes and then we hesitate, and the energy kind of slides by. It's not that it won't come back around, but I was like, this is my moment.

So I enrolled, and I loved so many things about it, because I could tell by the wording and the way it was said that this was going to keep me in the driver's seat of my life. This isn't about becoming subservient to something. I am going to be able to stay in the driver's seat of my life and have the true, knowledgeable guidance and direction that I need from qualified professionals who will assist me in transitioning my life into what I desired. So that's really how it happened.

I had a lot of things down in terms of macros and how to get the protein in, just because of my own studying and learning and experimentation. So what WarriorBabe really provided for me was the knowledge of women over 40. And I'm not talking about somebody who just went on the internet and read something. My coach is truly educated, not just in nutrition and exercise, but in leadership. I don't know how to describe this. I've looked for this all of my life. I'm telling you, in every avenue I've been in, CrossFit, group fitness classes, I've looked for that person I consider to be the inspiration and leader who is guiding me into that position for myself, and not always the one above me looking down on me. And I know the nuances of it. The verbiage is just so different. Elsewhere there's not a belief in the person. They can't speak positive things to the person about how amazing they are. They can only do corrective criticism, or "you're not doing this right." There's not this uplifting, supportive feel.

And my coach, Sarah, is that 100%. Sometimes on my video check-ins, I'm like, girl, I'm going to play this in the background all day long. She'll say stuff like, "I want to be like you, Amber. When I grow up, I want to be like you." She is so amazing. I love her. She truly is. And she gives the best advice. I don't know how to say this other than she doesn't see herself as better. She sees herself as having data and a neutral position. Essentially: I'm in a neutral position to watch and observe you, and you can allow me to tell you when it looks like you're slacking a little bit. What's going on? And it's not, "Oh, you're weak." It's, "What's going on? Are you tired? What is it? This isn't you. I know you. You're capable. You're strong." It's everything I ever desired. Not to mention the ladies I've met in the group.

I always visualize leadership and community as a roundtable, where people are facing each other and everybody comes to the table with something to offer. Nobody's at the head and everybody's leading. It's kind of like Dr. Joe's philosophy. Everybody's leading. They're all creators of life. And that's exactly what I'm getting here.

Nikkiey: Oh, man, that was so profound, from start to finish. At the retreat you had a vision for yourself, but you didn't allow victimhood or anything to be externally responsible for where you were. You sat in that and took on the challenge of, no, I'm stepping into the next best version of myself, and I'm going to wait and see what comes. And then the ad pops up. It's crazy.

Amber: I couldn't believe it.

Nikkiey: Because you were ready. You were ready at that point. You didn't allow yourself to fall back into, "Oh, no, I can't do that. I don't feel good in my body," with circumstances in your external world supporting those thoughts.

Amber: Right. Yes. 100%. The funny thing is, Nikkiey, listen: I didn't go to Cancun. It was the body I wanted. It wasn't the story. Registration came up and I'm like, I already got what I wanted. It was the body. There's something very interesting about it. I have a story that I write, and I use it either to push myself or to degrade myself. Cancun: yes, you can. Oh, no, you can't, you're fat, you're fluffy. And then it was this moment of opportunity to reset and go toward creator instead of victimhood. That's not to say Cancun won't come again, because I might go, but the energy is around what I am today. I can believe it, but it just blows me away. It blows me away.

Nikkiey: As it should.

Amber: I didn't know what I was capable of. I did not understand. I surpassed what I envisioned. I surpassed it. And there's no end goal. It's milestones now.

Nikkiey: What I like to say is, you believe in manifestation, and same here. I believe in God or a higher power. And what he'll do for you is, when you have expectations for yourself, he'll blow them out of the water with something so much better and more. Every time.

Amber: Every time. And having this interview with you is also part of the desire within me. I wanted to be the testimony, because testimonies are the thing that make people believe. They're the four-minute mile. One person does it, then I do it. I truly wanted to do something I consider great, because so many people inspired me, to inspire others to their greatness and their capability. It's truly full circle, and I want more and more of it. It feels like I'm just standing in love all the time. Every time I think about the story, it just feels like love to me. That's really what it's all about: the giving, the sharing and the becoming.

Nikkiey: Yeah, 100%. Everything is love. Good love, people love, God, everything.

Nikkiey: Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show.

When you started WarriorBabe, what made it stand out from everything else you've tried?

Amber: It was the focus on women over 40. It was truly that. It was also your word choices. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt like real support. It felt like I was going to stay in the driver's seat. But I also want to talk about the price, okay? Because with the price, you will stay committed. You will stay focused on your dedication to yourself and following through. That was super important to me. I'll show people this program and they'll say, "That's expensive." And I say, your life is worth it. Your life is worth it. Trust me. I've not found anything like it out there, personally. I truly mean that. And I'm staying for another round. I'm almost asking, is there going to be a lifetime membership opportunity?

Nikkiey: I guess there are lifers in here. Many are here two years, three years, some of them four years.

Amber: Because it's always going to be evolving. Another thing about Sarah is she can feel into me, in a sense, because she's that neutral observer too. She's like, "I really think you could be a coach. I really think you should get a nutrition certification." She knows me so well. She says, "I think you would be great at it. I know you would be." And these positive affirmations that she genuinely feels from her heart are worth so much to me.

Nikkiey: Love to hear it. I love how you explained her earlier, in terms of words of encouragement rather than words that put you down, like a control mechanism. Instead it's, "Nah, you got this. I see you, and you can do better," so you take the control rather than feeling belittled.

Amber: Absolutely. And I'm this way too, so I know it when I see it. She believes in people. She doesn't see anything but the capability. And I've been there. I understand when somebody isn't lining up with it. She's already moved past that phase where you try to force people. She really knows what she's doing. You can't make somebody want to be there, but as long as you hold them there in your mind, the potential is always there for them to rise to who they are, every time.

Nikkiey: 1,000%. 1,000%. So let's go back to when you first joined WarriorBabe. You came in, talked to the enrollment advisor, then one of our customer success reps got you to Sarah. And from Sarah, I know you went on a retrain, and then you were increasing your calories. What were your initial thoughts out of the gate?

Amber: Honestly, I thought, this is what I need, because I was putting a lot of mental energy into figuring out what I should be eating, how I should be eating, what's the programming for today. It gave me an opportunity to let someone do that for me for a little while so that I could put my energy into becoming.

Nikkiey: Love that. You took the guesswork out of it and just did the plan.

Amber: Yes. And now I'm at a place where I've gotten into the rhythm and habit of things, and now I really want to know the how. How do you figure macros?

Nikkiey: Oh, yeah.

Amber: So I'm there. And there's this energy around me of capability that used to not be there. I really know I'm capable of anything I put my mind to. I am absolutely certain of it.

Nikkiey: Heck yeah.

Amber: Finding what it is I want to do takes some time for me sometimes, but once I see it, it's like a lightning bolt. Nothing's going to stop me at all. And that's how WarriorBabe was. When I saw that video, I'll never forget it. I was just casually looking, and it felt like God said, "Here you go. Here's what you've been looking for."

Nikkiey: You were ready.

Amber: I was ready to hold it, too.

Nikkiey: When you're looking for change, are you ready to hold it?

Amber: That's right. You don't want something you can't hold. That's the capacity to be able to do it.

Nikkiey: You deserve it, and you stepped fully into it. A lot of people revert, as you said earlier. That's where people stay in their old patterns, old behaviors, old narratives and old thought processes. You were like, no, I'm here, I'm ready to go.

Amber: Thanks. The struggle now is opening up. I'm so self-driven, and I want deeper connections with community now. So this is learning how to stay in the driver's seat and allow community in at a different level than this one-on-one coach, having a good experience around it, and staying realistic and positive at the same time. I live in a small town, and finding connection in person has been challenging.

Nikkiey: Sure. Totally. You recognize your energy, you recognize how driven you are and where you stand in your thoughts and your power. And then you may be walking next to or running into someone who isn't yet on the path you've already walked.

Amber: Yes. And staying in that space of: sure, I love what I love, but it doesn't mean everybody's going to love what I love. But there is a part of me that really wants to connect with people who are the same way. That's what the retreats give me. I go to the retreats and I get that experience full on, being with like-minded people.

Nikkiey: It's about being in communities of like-minded people. 1,000%. When you're at the energy level, vibration and frequency where you are, you'll attract more people who are there.

Amber: Right. And holding that frequency. It's like what we were talking about, creator versus victimhood. Anytime I feel that pull to go back into the mindset of victimhood, I feel into it. I'm okay with even using stories like the Cancun story to feel into the potential of connection with like-minded people. And I know the reason I desire that is for expansion of myself. It's truly for expansion, growth and evolution of self, being around great leaders, being around people who believe in potential and opportunity and creating their life. That's what I have to keep feeling into, because I'm in an environment where, everywhere I look, it seems like it's nowhere to be found. So I keep trying to hold that frequency. And I know this is training for me, to stay in the frequency of believing and feeling and sensing and knowing that it's possible. Don't force anything. Allow it. It's a constant state of that.

Nikkiey: Heck yeah. Love that. Solid energy. You mentioned at the beginning that when you first started WarriorBabe, in those first couple of months, you were very confident. You knew this was where you were meant to be and you knew you would succeed. What gave you that confidence?

Amber: It was Dr. Joe's work, truly. It really was. It's the mind shift into creator that happened through his work. It really came on strong about a year into it. I was meditating two to three hours a day, first thing in the morning. I was getting up at three or four o'clock in the morning to meditate, because I wanted to start my day that way. I started to read some of his books, and I was like, no, it's his interviews I want. So I joined the progressive and intensive course online, and I was just consuming it. And it started to make sense to me. I was like, oh, you've been walking around as the victim of your life. You don't even know that these feelings you're feeling are habitual, giving your body these little hits of victimhood, and it's trying to protect you, so it's trying to keep you in the same space. I just kept listening to the work and shifting into that. It felt like overnight. I know it wasn't, because I had to put the work in.

I would tell my husband about these meditations I was doing. They're called Blessing of the Energy Centers. I loved those. But as soon as I would try to do manifestation, in the beginning, I was like, what is going on? I cannot think of anything I want to manifest. I'm stuck. So I was just tuning into the body. And I think that was me getting acclimated and comfortable with the systems of my body, tuning in and listening to it. And then suddenly I was able to feel when my body was saying yes or no. And I shifted into creator out of victimhood. It took some time. It really did.

Nikkiey: To pull on that a little more, you said it right there: you did the work. You took on manifestation. You took on changing your thoughts into more supportive ones that help you be the creator of your life. That is what's required. People will sit back and say, this is too hard, or eating macros is too hard, or working out is too hard, because they haven't truly tried to build the skill required for them to change. You took on, I'm going to do the work, and that's where you gained the confidence. People are confident because they've been putting in the work. They're okay with failing, they're okay with trying, they're okay with doing different things. As you mentioned, you could do one meditation, and the other one you couldn't do yet, but you kept going. That's what I hear from you: that's what gave you the confidence to know this program was going to be successful for you, because you were going to do the work.

Amber: For sure. There's a community of people who think, don't do anything, it just happens for you. Well, not quite. As soon as you align to the yes, call it the big yes, everything else is worth it. All the work is worth it, because you've got your eye on the prize and you know you're capable. There are a lot of intricate details inside of there, but it's really putting in the work and consuming information and books on what you want to become. Read about people who have inspired you. That's why I stay confident: because they did it. So I just have to figure out how. And that's why I want to do the unthinkable, so that more people will dream bigger for themselves and go, wow, she did that. I don't think there's much we aren't capable of as human beings, honestly. I truly believe we are capable of great things.

Nikkiey: 100%, absolutely.

Amber: And of course in Dr. Joe's work, I see some seriously amazing, miraculous things happen.

Nikkiey: Yeah, he's done incredible things. I follow him too. I'm reading Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.

Amber: That's a good one.

Nikkiey: It's a great book. So let's talk about where you're at now since joining WarriorBabe. Where are you with results? What are some of your top achievements?

Amber: Oh my gosh, I wrote some down. I've lost 18 pounds, which, you know, pounds, okay. But four inches in my waist in 11 months, and two and a half inches in my hips. Sarah's always like, "I'm going to put you on stage. I'm seriously going to put you on stage. You could walk out there right now and they wouldn't question it." That's what she says. And I was like, what?

Nikkiey: You look incredible.

Amber: She says, "I knew she was under there. I knew she was in there." And when I look in the mirror, I just love myself for what I've done. I'm amazed. The results are, like I said, beyond what I could have dreamed. And it's not over. Sarah and I are talking about composition now. Let's gain a booty, let's grow some legs, let's get some delts, let's get that waistline. It seems like the sky's the limit to me, honestly.

Nikkiey: For someone listening right now who's 50 years old, hearing your goals, who may be sitting in the position of, "I'm going through menopause and the doctor told me this is just life and what happens," what would you say to her?

Amber: No, don't listen to that. Do not listen to that. It's not true. And like I said earlier, start with the doable. If you're sitting around in your chair, get up and move. That's a shift. That's a change. If you're used to getting on Instagram in the evening or after work, go for a walk. Just small changes. It's the little steps. It's the journey. This, this, this. It's possible. And it's going to be bigger than you even imagined when you say yes. Saying yes equals "I know I can." I know I can, and I will. It's possible.

Nikkiey: How does it feel to finally have a program that sticks, a coach that understands you, and to be gaining knowledge that will sustain you for life in health, fitness and mindset?

Amber: It's a huge gift. It's a gift from the universe. I can see that I had to have all these experiences that told me what I liked and what I didn't like. And then when it was time and I could hold the capacity of it, the perfect thing was out there. What you're looking for is out there. And that's WarriorBabe for me. It was this perfect little box with perfect little wrapping and a perfect little red bow, at a perfect time in my life. I love the feeling of being in the driver's seat and having support. That's it, to me.

Nikkiey: Amen.

Amber: As a woman who is not the same as a man in terms of my makeup, my chemistry, it's not the same. So I need knowledgeable people I can come to and say, "You know what? I'm not sleeping like I was, all of a sudden." And they know what to say. They know what to ask. And boom, boom, boom: try this. And generally, it works. It really does.

Nikkiey: 100%. If you work it, which you are, which is awesome.

Amber: Thanks.

Nikkiey: I think we kind of already talked about this, but if you had never made the change of choosing WarriorBabe, where do you think you'd be today, and how does that make you feel?

Amber: I know I would be a little further along the line, but I would still feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall. That's what I believe. I would not stop. I know myself. I would keep trying, because I know it's possible. But if I hadn't found WarriorBabe... I don't know of any other program that focuses on women over 40, personally. There are books, there are interviews you can watch, but to have that one-on-one, week by week, somebody looking at your numbers, looking at your weight, looking at it and saying, "This is what we're going to do, let's tweak it here." And the gift of relaxing into it and letting them guide you through that first half. If I didn't have the data I had prior to coming in, I would have loved that piece where it's like, I don't have to know what my macros are, just tell me. I don't have to make the workout; here it is. I'm just going to go do exactly what I'm told, and I will see results every single time. That's the benefit for somebody who's just starting on this journey and doesn't have any data or information at all. That's why WarriorBabe would be fantastic, among a million other things. You can relax into it and know your guidance is going to lead you where you want to go. That's what I think about WarriorBabe.

Nikkiey: Where are you in terms of how many days you're working out now and how much food you're eating?

Amber: Oh, gosh. Let's see. I'm lifting five days, with low-intensity steady-state cardio, 20 to 40 minutes, every day. She has me doing it every day. And I'm eating 80 carbs, 50 fat and 155 protein right now, on this last bit.

Nikkiey: Why 80 carbs, 50 fat?

Amber: That's what she's got me set at.

Nikkiey: Interesting. How many calories is that in total?

Amber: I hardly ever look at the calories. I'm always looking at the macros.

Nikkiey: What phase are you in right now?

Amber: It's 1,390 on the calories. We're getting ready to shift. We're taking it week by week, is what she said, because I keep telling her, I'm here, let's get all we can out of it. And she's watching the weight fluctuation. And I think, personally, she's letting me feel into it. I'm thinking I'm only going to do 80 carbs for one week. I'm on day two of the 80 carbs right now, and I think my body is saying, let's go up a little bit.

Nikkiey: I was just curious why you guys wanted to try that out.

Amber: Because it was me. I was saying, I want to juice this. I want to juice it for all I can. I'm not wanting to get on stage, but I just want to see what it's like to hit 80 carbs for a week. I want to know my body, and whether I actually see any real drastic change, and what the effects of that are. I'm kind of an experience kind of person. I won't know until I experience it.

Nikkiey: No, I respect that. You're playing around to see what changes you feel in your body with certain nutrition tweaks, or training tweaks, just to understand how your body operates. That's how I always am, constantly, in everything I do. That's how you get more in control. You're in the driver's seat, as you mentioned, but now you're even more in control, because everyone's body is different. Understanding that at a high level will give you more insight into, hey, this works, or this doesn't.

Amber: Right. And I'm already feeling like, okay, a week of this is enough. I can tell. It's not really affecting my sleep. That's the other thing: I have a ring that tells me how my sleep is, and it's not affecting my sleep. I'm staying hydrated, I'm eating enough protein, and in this phase I'm making sure I'm eating real food. I'm eating chicken breast, I'm eating shrimp, I'm eating salmon, not trying to fill in protein with protein powder here and there. There's a new product I absolutely love, One Up. It's a clear protein, but it tastes like lemonade. Those are little treats I let myself have, but this week, not so much. I'm really trying to hit it, because I just want to know how my body responds.

Nikkiey: That's awesome. I love that. We're going to start to wrap up this interview. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your story.

Amber: Thank you.

Nikkiey: What would you say to someone right now who feels lost, tired of trying everything, and unsure of taking the next step? How could WarriorBabe make an impact on their life?

Amber: It makes your life so much easier. That's what it did for me. You don't have to keep trying to figure out what's best for you. They will know and they will lead you. Let them take the wheel and just do what you're told. Eventually you're going to start picking up how to do it. And they're still going to be in your corner. They're still going to have your back. And there's never an end game to it, ever.

Nikkiey: Amen.

Amber: You'll reach a milestone and then you'll want to set a new one. And Sarah is working with me. I got here, and I could tell she was hesitant: okay, if you want to, let's do this. If you want to do 80 carbs, let's do it. I think you could do it. That's what I love about her. She knows me well enough to know that I'm going to listen if it's not for me. But anyway, let them take the wheel and do what they say in the beginning. That's what WarriorBabe can do for you.

Nikkiey: I love that. You can trust it.

Amber: Yep. Trust the process.

Nikkiey: We say, "Trust us now, believe us later." That is our motto.

Amber: That's right.

Nikkiey: Well, I think your story has been so profound in remembering that real transformation started with one decision. One decision to show up, to do the work, to say yes, and to trust yourself that you are fully capable of doing whatever you put your mind to. You were ready to do that. And it's a good reminder for those listening: you have this thought that you can achieve something, or you want to do something, and an opportunity will come your way once you sit with it and say yes to it. Because you didn't just change your body. You built a lifestyle that fuels your confidence, your strength and your long-term success as you navigate and learn all these things for yourself so you can pursue it long-term. And if anybody listening is waiting for the perfect moment, this is it. This is your perfect moment to say yes, start today and see what's possible. You can achieve anything you put your mind to. And Amber, your story is definitely a pillar reminding everybody that they can.

Amber: Thank you.

Nikkiey: And thank you for being here and sharing your story. I appreciate it.

Amber: Thanks for having me. It means a lot.

Nikkiey: Of course. Keep crushing it.

Amber: I will.

Nikkiey: You still have a month left in your first year, and you're going for your second year, right?

Amber: Yep, I sure am. I told my husband, there's no negotiating. I'm doing it.

Nikkiey: Yes. Good stuff. Awesome.

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