Losing Weight at 59 With Arthritis: Tina's Story

Tina: They're actually discussing getting a wheelchair for their mother. I was 215 pounds. And that was not an acceptable answer. I was rattled over that phone call and I stewed on that for about two weeks.

Nikkiey: Hey, so today we have WarriorBabe Tina with us. Tina's journey started with a simple goal in mind, which was to lose weight. But along the way, she gained so much more than that. She went from struggling with mobility and needing a cane to hiking mountain trails, feeling strong and shaping her body in ways that she never thought were possible. With the right guidance, the right training and the right support, she didn't just lose weight. She completely transformed her life. Today we're going to dive into her story, and she's here to tell it all. Welcome, Tina.

Tina: Hi. Glad to be here.

Nikkiey: Me too. I'm excited for you to share your story. Even with us just talking a little bit beforehand, there are exciting things that we're going to dive into. The way I like to start this off is just you sharing for the listeners where you are in the world, where you're located. You can even do what you just showed me, because I just learned something new, everyone. And what do you do for work, and how old are you?

Tina: Well, I live in Michigan. As most people know, it's a mitten, just like the shape of Michigan. I live over on the knuckle side, the pinky knuckle side of Michigan. We've got about two feet of snow out there right now and a little more coming, it looks like. I'm 59 years old, going to be 60 in May. Very proud that I've done so well with all of this. And what was the other thing you wanted to know?

Nikkiey: What do you do for work?

Tina: Oh, I work part-time at the library in Cadillac. It's a wonderful, wonderful place to work. All those books around you and everything else. I always have books around, you know.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. While I was waiting for you, I don't know if you heard me say this, which is a funny story that only you and I will understand, but I was reading instead of scrolling on my phone. I'm trying to do better.

Tina: That's so funny.

Nikkiey: Awesome. Well, thanks for being here again. Let's dive into where you first were. What was your situation? What was your health and your fitness like before you found WarriorBabe?

Tina: This is, I'd say, roughly three years back. My husband and I wanted to go see my son in Colorado. I had been seeing a chiropractor every week. I'd been seeing a massage therapist every week because I'd been in so much pain. I'd been walking with a cane. And I heard my son and my husband talking on the phone. They're talking without me, saying, "Yeah, well, it's going to be really rough on Mom, because I wanted to show you some trails. Maybe we can find her an easy one. I know we could get a wheelchair. Some of them are really wheelchair friendly." They're actually discussing getting a wheelchair for their mother. I was 215 pounds. And that was not an acceptable answer. I was rattled over that phone call, and I stewed on that for about two weeks.

I talked to the chiropractor. I talked to the massage therapist. I groused. And they both mentioned the same coach. It was a gentleman who's in Cadillac, and I worked with him for about two years. He taught me a lot about using the equipment and how to own the form and get the strength and all that stuff. But there was a lot lacking, and that was the nutrition side. So what I turned around and did is I started asking, asking, asking. I couldn't find anybody around town. They kept saying, go to a nutritionist. I tried a couple of nutritionists, and they told me to eat 1,200 calories. Cut out the carbs. No salt. I'm like, okay. No, that doesn't sound right.

So I started fishing around online. I kept coming up with you guys popping up on the screen. WarriorBabe. WarriorBabe. So I started asking around about WarriorBabe. I started looking at the BBB and trying to get some accreditations, and I could not get anything negative about you, because I always look for the negative. And I couldn't find any negative. So I was like, all right.

I went to my husband. I said, "I want you to know, you won't see a paycheck. I'm taking on a payment, and it's an important payment. So don't look at my paycheck. Don't ask for money. I'm joining WarriorBabe, and I am going to get the rest of my body in shape." He looked at me and goes, "What?" I said, "Don't ask. I'm just doing it. And there is no option for you. This is for me." And he says, "I know when to say no. I'm walking away. Enjoy." I said, "Just remember, you won't see a payment. This is my game, my accomplishment."

So I joined y'all. And I've learned so much about nutrition and more about the workouts, especially when it pertains to women. Women are just different, and they need some things to be a little bit different. I learned a lot more about how to adjust so it's a little more fitting for our frames. And here I am, 140 pounds and owning it.

Nikkiey: Oh, man. We're already five minutes in and she already gave away her accomplishments. No, Tina, you're crushing it. You are so crushing it. I want to unpack that. I love that. Bring all the excitement. You're doing such an incredible job on your journey. The way that you initially started, it's got to feel so uncomfortable hearing your husband and your child talk about how they're going to carry Mom through a trail, when you just want to be able to do that in that moment. It's got to be very uncomfortable. And then to go to your husband and be like, "Hey, I'm doing this," and then to do it, to actually put in the work, and to be where you are now, you should be so excited. It's amazing.

I want to pull back the story a little bit more so people can understand where you were in that moment of being 215 pounds. What did you feel at that moment was one of your biggest challenges when it came to losing the weight and trying to keep it off?

Tina: Well, I was looking in the mirror and I was like, I don't even know where to start. I don't know what to do. I was panicked. I was like, I am not going to Colorado in a wheelchair. I just didn't know how. I was panicked and I was mad and I was irritated. I was carrying all this weight, and I have arthritis, and I couldn't even close a fist. I could not make a full fist. It was partial all the time. And I was balling up my fists in anger, and I was like, I can't even make a fist. Something's got to change. So that's when I started talking to the chiropractor and the massage therapist, to start that first step in the journey.

I lost 50 pounds before I joined you all. But I still had so much more to go, because I ended up gaining it back, because I didn't know the nutritional levels. Oh, the heartbreak over that. I'm sitting there going, what do I do now? Now I'm working out and I'm gaining weight. This is not right. It was really, really hard in that time.

Nikkiey: And how much did you gain back? You said you lost 50.

Tina: I gained 25 back.

Nikkiey: 25 back. What happened there? Do you know why you gained 25?

Tina: The holidays, but it was mostly because the food was abundant and I chose to keep picking up that fork.

Nikkiey: Really. I appreciate that vulnerability and just shooting it straight. You said too that you needed to figure out the nutrition side of things. How did struggling with food choices make that process harder for you?

Tina: Well, I tried the 1,200. I tried basically watercress and apples, and trying not to have any bread and carbs. And I was starving. I was feeling lightheaded. I was having a lot of nausea. The digestive tract was going south. Nothing was working in that respect, but I was still gaining the weight. I was putting the little dime-size portions on my plate, like they tell you. Just a little of this, a little of that, a little of the other, and you'll be good. That wasn't working. I was still gaining the weight. I was like, it's inching up still, and I don't know what to do about this. So I talked to the gentleman that I had been working with, and he was like, "Well, I did give you a book." I was like, "I think I need a little bit more of a hands-on approach." So I got frustrated, and that's when I started looking around.

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All right, let's get back to the show. Rightfully so. "Here's a book. Go figure it out." It's hard to do when you don't have the knowledge or the understanding. A lot of people devote their education to this, years to it.

Tina: Yeah.

Nikkiey: You were in a position where you wanted to figure this out, and you wanted to figure it out fast so that you could feel better.

Tina: Absolutely.

Nikkiey: You mentioned needing a cane and having those mobility struggles. What did that feel like, being physically limited?

Tina: Oh, it was hard to even do my job at work. I mean, it's just shelving books, you know. But I found I couldn't even lift the books to shelve them. I had to put them on a cart and wheel that around. Now I can do a full length of books, right to the fingertips, and I can carry that sucker out there and do it, no problem. One-handed, man.

Nikkiey: You are a true WarriorBabe. Let's go.

Tina: I had trouble getting around the library without using the cart to help me, because I couldn't push the cart and the cane at the same time. It was just so hard. I was juggling the cane, trying to do my workload with it, and it just was not working well. The pain was always there. My feet were in agony. I will always have arthritis. I know that's hard to shake. But to be in that level of pain at my age just was not acceptable. And I just knew it had to be the weight that was doing it. You know, they say a person in motion stays in motion. So I had to do that.

Nikkiey: Yeah, 100%. I just heard that this morning too. One of the team members said it about her body. What is the saying? You just said it.

Tina: A person in motion stays in motion.

Nikkiey: Yes. Thank you.

Tina: No problem.

Nikkiey: So you mentioned right there losing weight. A goal of yours was just to lose weight. When did you realize that weight loss wasn't enough, and that you wanted to build more strength, be stronger and shape your body?

Tina: The feel of the equipment.

Nikkiey: Ah.

Tina: Just lifting it and feeling it course through you. I was like, ooh, I want more of this. It was like a drug, man. I wanted heavier. How do I get to where I can lift heavier? What can I do to build it up? Why can I only lift five pounds? Why can I only lift three pounds? How can I make it stronger? And he's going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You've got to back off and step up slow. Do more reps. You can't just jump into the next weight. Do more reps. When you get up to so many reps, 15, 20 reps, and it's not bothering you, it's time for you to pick up another set of weights." And he'd say, "And then own that. Make it so it's just too easy. And then you pick up the next set of weights." And I'm addicted. I don't know if there's a clinic for this, but I'm addicted.

Nikkiey: Lifters Anonymous.

Tina: Yeah.

Nikkiey: That's good. Oh, man. So before WarriorBabe, you were doing weights and you were lifting, right?

Tina: Yeah.

Nikkiey: And before WarriorBabe, you were figuring out the nutrition side. How much food do you think you were eating in a day?

Tina: I struggle with food. Food is not something I eat a lot of, but the foods that I did eat were the carbs. You can't swim in carbs. They cannot be your priority.

Nikkiey: It sounds amazing, though, right? Everybody wants to do that. But no, you've got to balance it out for sure.

Tina: Potatoes and gravy, yeah. But you still can eat all that stuff. You just have to learn to portion it better. That's all. And no, it's not the little dime size on the plate. You can actually eat. I eat more food than I can possibly put in in a day. I don't know how I get it in by the end of the day. I struggle to eat enough. I'm so full at the end of the day, and I'm sitting there going, I still have to eat the rest of that plate. And I think, wow, this beats the 1,200-calorie diet any day. I was eating and eating, and I'm going, "Caitlin, what do I do?" Now I've got my appetite back. I learned that my digestion was all broken. That's why I wasn't hungry. That's why I couldn't keep anything in. And now my stomach actually does growl. After all this time, my stomach is growling and telling me it's hungry. It needs food.

Nikkiey: That's music to my ears. That's your body recognizing and having that cue again of saying, "Hey, I'm hungry."

Tina: I didn't realize I even had a cue anymore.

Nikkiey: So before you went to your husband and said, "I'm doing this, don't even ask," in the moments after hearing that conversation between your family about the trail, and being 215 pounds, was there a moment where you doubted that you would ever feel strong and in control of your body again? And how did you push through that? Because being in pain and being 215 pounds and thinking about needing a wheelchair, I'm sure there's somebody else out there thinking about that, and they want to know how you pushed through.

Tina: I had a cheat sheet. I did myself dirty. I told everybody I'm losing the weight. I had to save face. I told everybody this is happening. So when I started to pull back and go, "Oh, no," I could hear and see all the eyes going, "Oh, well, she got close." I was like, no, that's not acceptable. I told everybody, and I am not backing down, because that's not me. I don't back down from a challenge. If I'd kept it to myself, I might have been able to say, well, nobody knows. But I told everybody around me, and even my boss asked me, "Why are you telling everybody this? What if you don't make it?" I said, "Because I can't fail now. I have to save face, and I will do this." And he was like, "Well, I'm rooting for you."

And I have had so much support from the library staff. They've even given me projects to make me work harder. I was the shifter of the books for months, because nobody wants to do it. It's so many books you're moving, because you have to reorganize as you get so many books out and so many books in. Those numbering sequences can get packed in some areas and expanded in others, so it has to be shifted. I was hauling hundreds of pounds of books every week. So they helped me own some of that weightlifting. It was amazing. They stepped in. They'd go, "Tina wants to do some more lifting. Hey, Tina, you think you can handle it?" And I'd go, "Bring it on. Just give me a little more time on my sheet, and I'm there." So it was amazing. I had the community at my back by doing that. I ended up gaining friends, gaining more community. It was amazing.

Nikkiey: You had the accountability system right behind you, pushing you along the way.

Tina: Absolutely. I recommend everybody telling everyone.

Nikkiey: That's a good way to start for sure. Way to kick yourself into gear there.

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So let's jump in. You said at the beginning that you kept seeing WarriorBabe. You kept seeing my face, kept seeing the videos online. What made you finally decide to take the leap? Was there something I said that resonated with you?

Tina: A lot of the other testimonies that y'all had. I sized it up. I compared them to other places. A lot of these organizations have good intentions, but there are so many different personalities out there, too. I didn't want that masculine guy sitting there going, "Push it, one more, one more." I'm not that person. And y'all had that variety of coaches. I was interviewed right at the beginning, and it was like, "I know just the right person for you." And you signed me up with Caitlin, and I'm telling you, nailed it. And that variety, to know that if something's not working, I could try someone else, maybe a different approach, whatever. That's accessible through this program. And I think that's amazing, that you have so much of that flexibility.

Nikkiey: That's awesome. When you first signed up, what were your first steps as you started the journey? You got assigned Caitlin, and then Caitlin gave you the protocol to follow for nutrition, or however you started off. We always say inside of WarriorBabe, "Meet the client where she's at." So what were your first thoughts on whatever protocol Caitlin gave you for the first month or two?

Tina: She was gentle at first.

Nikkiey: Did that change? That sounds like that changed.

Tina: As I learned, she was able to just put the numbers in there, and I was able to own them as we progressed. But at the beginning, you know, when you join an organization like Weight Watchers, you hear, this food is a one, this is a three, this is a two. Well, counting macros for me was just as vague as that was. No concept, really. I pick up an apple, and I go, it's an apple. What am I supposed to know about the nutritional value of this apple? I think it might have vitamin C, but how am I supposed to log this thing? We're talking basic, basic lack of knowledge here.

Nikkiey: Sure, yeah.

Tina: And slowly, she says, "I tell you what, this first week, I just want you to eat. Just eat and log, just like you do every day. Just eat." I said, "Well, how much?" "Just eat like you normally eat. Eat to full, eat to comfortable, whatever it is. Make notes. We'll talk." And so I did. She started seeing my habits, and that's when she set me up with my first set of numbers, my macros. And it worked for a little bit, but I had no concept. I was juggling around, just cooking things and randomly putting stuff on my plate and going, okay, I need a better scale. So that was one of my first purchases. That was a big one. Now I was measuring it. By the second week, it was like, "Well, it looks like you're struggling with this." And I tell you what, I struggled for probably the first three months, but that does not mean a sense of failure at all.

Nikkiey: Obviously. Unpack that a little bit, because I appreciate you saying you struggled for the first couple of months. A lot of women think they have to get it right out of the gate. A lot of women think they have to have their macros down yesterday, with a full understanding of it. So unpack what you meant by that. You didn't see it as a failure. Share a little bit more about that.

Tina: Yeah. I just kept saying, how do you do this? I don't know what to do. We have our wonderful little chat group within our team, as it were, and they're sitting there going, "I can't figure out these macros. I don't know how much protein is in a piece of this. How am I supposed to measure?" And she's explaining that you have all these menus. So I started looking through the menus, and I started seeing these pre-programmed menus and how they log out the calories and the carbs and the fats and all that other stuff right there with it. And I was like, oh, okay, I get that. I get it now. It started to click.

And then somebody said something about, "I'm just focusing only on the proteins," because protein is the most important push when you're trying to figure out your macros. If you can balance that out, a lot of the other stuff falls in place. That's what she had heard, and that's what she stated. And I was like, all right, I promise this week I am going to focus on the proteins. And dadgum if there wasn't some truth to it. It's a soft edge, but the other stuff started to fall into place. Once I figured out how to balance the proteins, the rest of it just started to work its way in. And it's not perfect. I'm not perfect every day or every week, and I don't want to be. I can have a little splurge or something. But I was still able to keep within my goals and within the direction that I wanted to go. So I compliment myself on my failures as well as my successes, because I've learned a lot from them.

Nikkiey: Yeah. I love that. That was so beautiful, the way you just said that. So the nutrition aspect, you figured it out along the way. You had some struggles. You had some roadblocks. You had some "how do I do this" and some learning to do. And you didn't give up. You kept going.

Tina: Doing it, not reading the book.

Nikkiey: Yeah. And so it worked out over time. You just continued to show up for yourself.

Tina: Absolutely.

Nikkiey: Let's talk about the workout side of things, because you were coming in with arthritis. How did Caitlin navigate building a workout plan for you?

Tina: Well, she's pointed out a few times that she has small hands also. So she helped me get an understanding of how wraps help you anchor to a bar better, things like that. She reiterated what I had been taught about when you can do so many reps, you can ramp up. She reminded me of things that I had learned but had put on the back burner because I'd gotten so frustrated. And she changed it up. It was really important that she changed it up. I keep looking to my right because my workbench is actually in my living room during the wintertime.

Nikkiey: Yeah. I can see the dumbbells behind you there, too.

Tina: I didn't know they were showing.

Nikkiey: No, please show them. Perfect. It's amazing that you can work out wherever.

Tina: And then my weight bench, you know, it's extra seating space for when we have company.

Nikkiey: Oh, that's amazing. No, that's great. I love that that's even being shown, because a lot of women think that they have to go to the gym in order to get results. And you're able to do it right here in your living room.

Tina: Absolutely. This past month, I was not able to get to the gym. So I asked her, I said, "I can't bring my barbells in the house. It's just too much." She said, "So could you take the barbells out for a month? Then we'll work inside." And she did. She accommodated my workouts, and I got a whole lot more dumbbell exercises and stretch bands for my abductors and adductors. And I'm killing it in here.

Nikkiey: Yeah, let's go. Yes, you are. You are killing it.

Tina: And ladies, I want to tell you one other thing. When your weight bench is in your living room, you can be watching TV and just do a few extra curls. It's good stuff.

Nikkiey: I love that. So from your perspective, as you were looking around, when WarriorBabe was showing up on Facebook, I'm sure many other things were too. What made WarriorBabe stand out from everything else that you were looking at or had tried?

Tina: One word: ladies. A whole bunch of ladies, not men. I wanted that one-on-one interaction. I wanted that because our bodies change, especially going through menopause and stuff. Men don't have a menopause. Men don't pause. They just keep on going, and we change.

Nikkiey: Oh my gosh. I've never heard that before. I love that. That's great.

Tina: We transition many times over through our lives. They're just on the ski slope that keeps going, man.

Nikkiey: I'm going to have to use that, Tina. I'm speaking at a conference next month about menopause, and I'm going to have to say, as WarriorBabe Tina says, men don't pause. Women change. That's a great way of sharing that.

Tina: I like the word transition better, because we do. We flow from our childhood, and then we go into the teenage years. You've got your change. Then you start having kids, and now women really change again, and that's a whole different thing than what the boys had to go through. And then you stop having kids, and the body says no more kids. You go through another change. And this whole time, the guys only had to go through the teenage years. Something's wrong there. I think there's a balance system that's been broken, but we'll work on that.

Nikkiey: The wit you have is hilarious. So funny.

Tina: Thank you.

Nikkiey: Were you nervous about anything? So back to the women and the ladies. Is that what was so important to you, because we were talking about menopause, we were talking about transitions, we were talking about dealing with women's bodies? Or was it more than that?

Tina: A lot of the ladies whose testimonies I was listening to or reading were going into their 60s. A couple were even going into their 70s. Women struggling in their 40s. And I was like, okay, these are my people. The 20-year-olds can teach us the stuff, but if they can help my people get fit, those are the people I want to talk to. I don't want a 20-year-old's standard for a 40-, 50-, 60-year-old person. It's kind of hard to match up with that. It's like taking somebody who can barely walk to the door and putting them next to somebody who's going, "Come on, let's go for that jog." You can't keep up. It's a different level you have to meet. There are differences as you age. And seeing those testimonies, I was like, it sounds like they understand the older set. They understand those changes. They understand those drifts that happen when our bodies change. And I wanted that understanding. That was important to me.

Nikkiey: So me being 34 years old didn't make you wonder, does she know anything about menopause?

Tina: No, the young ones know all the stuff. They know the stuff. They just have to learn how to teach to any age group. And what I saw in those testimonies is that you guys had that figured out.

Nikkiey: Yes. Amazing. So let's talk about your successes since joining WarriorBabe. Where are you now on your journey?

Tina: Oh, you know, I've been told not to lose any more weight by a plastic surgeon, who told me I have way too much skin hanging on my body. I'm excited about that. It doesn't mean I've given up. I'm just going to try to tighten up everything I can for the next year and a half before I consider whether I want to do that next step.

Nikkiey: How does that make you feel?

Tina: I'm so geeked. I have a hard time sitting still. I've already got plans made all over the place. My husband and I are going to Colorado, and we're not taking the park path this time. We're getting into the wilderness this time.

Nikkiey: That just gave me the chills. I'm going to cry for you. That is incredible.

Tina: And I was like, "Are you sure you're ready?" He goes, "Honey, I've been waiting for you to be ready." Oh, I am so there.

Nikkiey: My heart. That's got to make you feel so thrilled and so ecstatic. From where you were to where you are now, how does it feel to be able to go and do that?

Tina: Freeing. I feel like I've been unshackled. Suddenly, the whole world is available to me. I can do anything. I can go anywhere. Because my body is not going to stop me any longer. I know how to fight it now.

Nikkiey: Tina. Oh, man. That's incredible. That just warms my heart, to know where you were, and then you signed up for WarriorBabe, and then you did the work, and where you are now, and what you're able to go and do. And what you're going to do, not even just what you're able to do.

Tina: One of my things is I'm going to start learning to rock climb. Because I figure if I'm out in the wilderness and I have to jump on a cliff or something to outrun a critter, I don't know that I can get back off that cliff.

Nikkiey: Oh, man. That's hilarious. So these are some pretty incredible achievements that you've had. Is there anything more that you're really proud of?

Tina: Oh. Well, my husband and I will be married 35 years. I'm proud of the fact that we've been able to do so well all these years. I'm proud of my three children. I'm proud of the accomplishments I've made raising them. And now being able to show them once again the real resiliency of that change. Because they've seen me struggle all these years, raising them and everything. They knew I had these struggles, and they helped accommodate me. And I look back on that and I think, man, I cheated them in some ways. I could have had them out in nature. I could have had them out on the paths with us. And I dropped that ball. So what we're doing is we're including them in several of the hikes that we have planned out. They're all taking their turns to spend time with Mom and Dad in the wilderness, and they want to learn a few things. I was not prepared to be emotional. So it's a proud moment that I've come around and I'm still teaching them.

Nikkiey: What's so cool is the resiliency, what you just said there. You didn't have the tools or the resources back when you were overweight and feeling uncomfortable in those situations and circumstances. But you did something about it. You put your mind to change and were willing to change. And the resilience of following through on this program. Not everybody follows through on the program. You dove in and said, "I'm going to do this," and now you're here. And you still have the time to make those memories happen.

Tina: Yeah. And if it didn't happen then, it's going to happen now. I saved a pair of my 2X pants. Every so often, when I get frustrated, I try them on and go, remember when? I can do so much more now. I can minister to more people now. I can go more places now. It's just so cool. I'm so excited about my new journey. I really am.

Nikkiey: That's incredible. You mentioned that you love seeing your biceps in the mirror. How does it feel that your body's changing in ways beyond just losing weight?

Tina: Yes. I get flirted with a lot more.

Nikkiey: No way.

Tina: I've been asked out by several people. Two of them are married. And I told them shame on them, and if I see their wife, I'm going to tell on them. Don't talk to me again. So that keeps them at bay. You know, you're in the library, you get the same faces over and over again. So you put them in their place, and now the wife comes in and gets the books. So there's that. But no, I can go clothes shopping. I can try on clothes on that side of the store.

Nikkiey: Ooh.

Tina: There are so many more fashion options when you're a certain size, and they don't hold back. You're not getting stripes and polka dots anymore. You can wear all the good stuff.

Nikkiey: I like that.

Tina: I like the way I look good in my clothes. There's that confidence that comes with it, and it adds to that personality change. You glow outwards. And there's just so much more to that. I remember being that person. I remember that heavy me, and how there was always this level of depression, and this "I can't. I won't. Someday, maybe." And that's all gone. I don't have that as an option anymore. There are no more can'ts, won'ts and somedays. I will, I can, and I'm doing.

Nikkiey: Yes.

Tina: It's just come full circle. The whole world, everything has changed for me. The stairs are easier. Driving's easier. You don't have the steering wheel issue. It's a real thing. When you were pregnant, you might have had that temporarily, but when you're heavy, it's there all the time. Walking through the deep snow, I can do that now. That's a workout, man, I tell you. When you're fit, it's a workout. Go for it. You have to lift a leg every two feet. Boom. You're getting your workout.

Nikkiey: Yeah. So you're now at 140 pounds. How long have you been with WarriorBabe? You started around 175, right? Because you lost 50 pounds before.

Tina: About March 6th of last year. Because my time is almost up with you. And that's good. You've given me so many tools. I know that I can go out into this world and continue to own it. To me, it's very important to know that when I was done with this program, I could go out into this world and own it. And you have done that for me.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. We did it together. WarriorBabe and you and Caitlin, we all did it together.

Tina: Yes. Absolutely.

Nikkiey: What would you tell somebody right now who is 59, 60 years old? A lot of women at that age feel like this is just the way of life now. What you were experiencing before, being overweight or having arthritis or being in pain, is just something they have to learn to accept. And they become like a stranger in their body. What would you tell somebody about how it doesn't have to be that way, and how it could impact their life?

Tina: In short, I'll tell them to go into the can cupboard, pull out two of those large kidney bean cans, and just start curling, man. That's all you've got to do. That's all you've got to do is start. Just start. Start walking. Small walks. Walk around the house. If you walk around it maybe 20 times a day, walk around it 40 times a day, until you're ready to go outside and go for a longer walk. It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you're moving. It is not impossible for you to make the changes today. All you have to do is allow yourself to get mobile. That's the most important first step.

After that, you add the weights. You're already carrying more weight than you wanted to in the first place. Own it. Lift the legs a little higher. Make it your weight until you can afford that first set of 5-pound barbells or 10-pound barbells. Or dumbbells, I should say. And you just keep lifting them. Feel around. You don't know the routines. You don't know the stature. They're small, light weights. Feel around. See what muscle groups are working. Look on YouTube if you have to, to see some form.

But I tell you what. When you get some ideas, they're great. But when you get on a team with somebody like WarriorBabe, you've got an all-encompassing system. You've got somebody helping you with the weights, telling you what muscle groups you're going to work, telling you what this protein, this carbohydrate and this fat does for your body, and that they're all important. And stop letting people tell you to cut something out. You can eat more and lose weight. You can still eat the chocolate cake. You've just got to make room for it. It's all possible. One step at a time. And the first one is getting off the couch and just moving more. It's possible. And I would be glad to help anybody do that.

Nikkiey: Let's go, Tina. That's awesome. Your story is pretty cool, how you went to your husband and said, "I'm just going to do this. Don't ask me. I'm just going to do it." What would you say to somebody who is afraid to invest in themselves, and maybe they have to go talk to their husband? What advice would you give them about prioritizing their health and their future?

Tina: Well, you are the most important thing on this planet. You, as an individual person, when you look in the mirror, you are the most important person on this planet. When you're on a plane and the masks drop, what is the rule? You put the mask on yourself so you can help the next person. Because what good are you if you try to put the mask on somebody else, don't make it, and you both pass out? You are the most important person, that person in the mirror. That person is the one you have to be accountable to.

So I'd go to my husband and tell him, "How important am I to you? Because I think I'm important enough to own my health, to own my strength, so that I can be here for you longer, with you longer, and make it great again." And my husband is so proud of where I am. We're honeymooning again. We're dating. He's hugging me randomly around the house. It's a beautiful thing. We're almost 35 years in marriage. In April, it'll be 35 years, and it's going strong. There was just a lull in my life. But I'm telling you, any of you can reinvent this. And you do feel younger. You might still look old in the mirror, but you feel younger. You can do more, as if you were younger. You've got the whole world at your fingertips. You just need to step up and make that first goal. It's not a scary journey. You just have to own it.

Nikkiey: So good. It is so good. So amazing, Tina. You should be so proud of all the hard work that you put in and the accomplishments that you've had. And to everyone listening, hearing where she's come from: Tina's story is proof that transformation isn't just about losing weight. It's about gaining strength. It's about gaining confidence. It's about a new way of living. She's put in the work. She's learned how to feel her body. She's learned how to move through life with more energy and more freedom than ever before. And she's able to go on these hikes now with her family and do things that she wasn't able to do before.

If anybody's listening and you're stuck and you're wondering if you can do this, the answer is yes, 100%. You just heard it from Tina's story. So take that first step today. Get off the couch. Start moving. And then also check out WarriorBabe. Go to warriorbabe.com. We'd love to help you, just like we've helped Tina and all the other WarriorBabes you've listened to. But Tina, thank you so much for sharing your story. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for bringing your energy and your light to this conversation. And just keep crushing it. You've gained so much knowledge to keep continuing on with your journey.

Tina: Well, thank you. I'm so glad that you took the time to interview me. This has been amazing.

Nikkiey: Thank you.

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