Tried Every Diet After 50? How Melissa Finally Lost Fat

Melissa: I was lugging myself around and just having no energy and hurting. I would get muscle spasms in my back. I knew there had to be an answer. I prayed for it. Look, you're an answer to prayer. I want you to know that. When I got into your modules, Nikkiey, I started realizing this is way more than just a fitness program. This whole mindset thing, it's good for my business.

Nikkiey: Hey, so today I've got Melissa with us. She is a WarriorBabe, and at the start of her journey, she thought that she was staying active. She was walking, she was playing golf, she was following different diet plans, but she didn't realize how stuck she truly was. After years of frustration, WarriorBabe has changed everything for her. Now she's stronger, she's more confident, she's thriving like never before. She's going to be 54, right, Melissa? 54 years young?

Melissa: I think so, yeah. That's right.

Nikkiey: I love that. All right, cool. Today we're going to dive into her story, and you're going to hear all about it. Melissa, can you share where you're from? We just said how old you are, 54 years young. But where are you in the States?

Melissa: I'm in Louisiana.

Nikkiey: Before joining WarriorBabe, what was your internal dialogue like? What thoughts were running through your mind when it came to your body, your health and your fitness level? What was going on in your brain before you joined us?

Melissa: Well, the strange thing is I didn't really realize how bad I was until I saw a picture of myself. You just walk through life, and you think you're eating pretty healthy. You're getting some walking and steps in, probably more than the average person. Not really knowing what to do in the gym, so not doing a whole lot there. But as far as day to day, not feeling like you're doing a terrible job. And then looking at a picture of yourself and going, oh my gosh, I look like the Pillsbury Dough girl.

Nikkiey: Oh yeah.

Melissa: And feeling hopeless at that point, because you really don't know what to do different. You're doing what you're doing, but you don't know how to change it.

Nikkiey: Were there any emotions or struggles that you didn't fully acknowledge at that time? What was really going on beneath the surface in terms of how you were feeling when you looked at yourself? You joke around about the Pillsbury Dough girl, which I think is hilarious. But beneath that, what were your feelings like?

Melissa: It felt like that wasn't really me. Like I was looking at a picture of someone else. Because in my body, in my mind, I'm this person that can achieve and can do well, and I pride myself in doing things the best that I can. And looking at that person in the photo, I was like, oh my, that can't be me. That's not me. So really some disbelief, honestly, in that moment. And also some recognition that, wait a minute, there's got to be a better way to do this, because I'm not doing it, and I thought I was.

Nikkiey: Yes. You mentioned that you were doing different programs and trying different things. Was this the same period of time when you noticed that? Or had you noticed this and tried to get on the bandwagon of trying different things and then it wasn't working?

Melissa: There was about a three-year period where I did try V Shred. Probably three years before that, we had something here called Metabolic Weight Loss, and I can't even remember what else. Oh, keto. I tried keto. I got in the books, studied them, learned a lot about the keto diet. Because I had learned so much, I felt like I could do it and I could do it right, and that it would help me. But that really wasn't the case. Even though I did it, it didn't really work. I thought V Shred was a really good program. When I first saw you, Nikkiey, I said, she's the female V Shred. When I saw your videos, I was like, she's the female V Shred.

Nikkiey: I'm better than the female. I'm better than V Shred, though. I've got to put that out there.

Melissa: You are. Sure. They know food, they know macros, but it didn't transition into this whole mindset thing. And the way that your workouts are set out in Trainerize, where you just show up at the gym and your workout is in your pocket and you go, they didn't have that part figured out. You've got it all, everything connected so it flows, and not just the part where you have it in your pocket and can show up at the gym and do the workout. You're the next level. I got you. You're the next level.

Nikkiey: Oh, thank you.

Melissa: But looping back to the question, I had gotten into a car accident right after I did V Shred, and due to an injury in my right shoulder and some other things I had to go through, I had stopped working out. I had just gotten to where I was walking on the golf course at least three days a week. I was walking nine holes, sometimes more. I was getting my walking in. That's the part that blows my mind. Wouldn't walking be enough? Right. But I wasn't eating right. And if you don't get the food right... I was taking bits and pieces of what I had learned from V Shred and what I had learned from keto and Metabolic Weight Loss and other things, and putting all these together. But it wasn't the right combination to get me where I needed to be. So, going back to question number one, I felt helpless. It's like, okay, what do I do? I'm doing all these things I think I should be doing, and none of them are all terribly bad, but look at the picture. A picture's worth a thousand words.

Nikkiey: Yep. We'll definitely have the pictures of your transformation here. Before we dive into what you said about not eating well even though you were doing all this walking, I want to ask this, because I think a lot of women are going to resonate with it. A lot of women feel this way, and maybe someone listening will have the same realization that you had. You mentioned feeling miserable without realizing it. Can you talk more about that realization when you finally came to the awareness of, damn, I feel miserable?

Melissa: It took me a while. I guess I didn't realize how bad I felt until I'd been in this program for 10 months, eating well and eating the right combinations of foods. I think back, and food was actually making me feel sick. I would eat and I would not have energy. If you wake up in the morning and you don't have energy and you can't get through a day of work, you have no desire to go work out because you just don't have energy. Food was not my friend. I didn't have it right. So that's a little bit of a different answer. I did feel helpless, but I didn't realize how helpless I felt in the food area of my life. And when I saw the picture of myself, how bad I looked, then yeah, it's, what do I do to fix it? I'm trying. It's not like I'm not trying.

Nikkiey: How was your confidence when you felt this way?

Melissa: Oh my gosh, terrible. It's hard when you're tired all the time, when you can't achieve the things that you want to achieve. And it could be something as simple as waking up and getting the things you need to do done for work. I had a lot of, I think, inflammation in my body from pain. But now that I look back, I realize a lot of that was probably from fat I had stored in my body causing inflammation, and the wrong foods. The food affects everything in our body if we're not feeding it correctly. And if we're packing on fat, we're carrying that around like a sack of horse feed. It's hard if you're just trying to go through the simple get-up-and-go-to-work movements of the day and you're carrying around a bag of horse feed all day long. I was lugging myself around and having no energy and just hurting. I would get muscle spasms in my back. Some of it was from the car accident, but I think some of it was just from the fact that I was so out of shape. It's like a vicious cycle of feeling helpless in what you're trying to do in life. Just get up and go to work and do what you've got to do, and forget the gym. I wasn't even in the gym, and I wouldn't show up in the gym if I didn't know what to do, and I didn't. So there's that.

Nikkiey: Okay. And you joined WarriorBabe back in May of 2024, right? Is that what I saw?

Melissa: March. March of 2024.

Nikkiey: So around that time you were 52, 53.

Melissa: And I'm fixing to be 54 this year.

Nikkiey: Let's go. So what was the timeframe for all of this? Was it in your fifties? When was your car accident?

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Melissa: In 2020. So that would have been... I never really thought about it. Yeah, it was at the end of 2020.

Nikkiey: I'm trying to pull it together in terms of how old you were when you were going through all of this, and tie it to the fact that you recognized there had to be an answer. You were searching for change. Even at 51 years old, you recognized, hey, I don't have to be this way. I don't want to accept that I have to be this way. I don't want to accept that I have to feel this way. Are you through menopause? Are you premenopausal?

Melissa: I'm post... no, I don't know the correct term for it. I'm not done with it yet.

Nikkiey: So you're perimenopausal. You're going through it.

Melissa: I'm going through it.

Nikkiey: Okay. And then there's that.

Melissa: Yeah, there's that.

Nikkiey: But it's cool that you didn't accept that this is just the way it is now. I love that mindset. That's a true WarriorBabe through and through. So let's talk about that. How did you find WarriorBabe? What initially drew you to the program?

Melissa: Your video. I think the first one I watched, I can't remember if it was YouTube or Facebook. But I had already had a very tiny bit of success. Like I said, I did V Shred in 2019, which was right before my car accident, and I might have tried to keep going with it had I not had the car accident. But that stopped me, and I had to go into some rest and some recovery. The little bit of success I had with V Shred gave me the taste that, hey, I could do something better. But what shocked me was how quickly I lost it all. It was gone in that period of time from 2020 to 2024. I lost every bit of it. The only thing I didn't lose was the thought that I could do it, that there was something better and that I could do it. But visually speaking, in my body, it was like a sponge, how fast I put all my weight back on. Anyway, you just hit all the markers in what you talked about that resonated with me, on reasons why what you were talking about would work. I listened to you talk, and everything you said made sense. I took all the knowledge I had gotten from everything I had learned, and I said, you know what, she puts all the pieces together. I have this puzzle over here, that puzzle over there, this puzzle over here. I knew all the correct information from all those things, but I had nothing to tie it into one thing. And what I first heard you say was, hey, I'm going to take all those pieces and put them together and make them work. Then when I got to your testimonies, I watched one, and then two, and then three, and then four. And then I was like, I'm just going to watch all of them. Well, about a hundred testimonies later, I was like, I don't know if I can watch them all.

Nikkiey: So what about the stories convinced you to take the leap? If you watched a hundred of them, there had to be something repeating over and over again.

Melissa: Just every last one of them. It did impress me that you had girls straight out of college, young girls, maybe some out of high school, but you had women all the way up to their eighties. I saw samples from every age group. I would send one over to my daughter... I don't know if you can send those testimonies. I probably tried. If I saw one in my sister's age group, I would send her one. If I saw one in my sister-in-law's age group, I would send her one. I'm like, look, you've got to watch this. I even sent one to my mother-in-law, who's in her eighties. I'm like, you've got to see this. These are women of all ages having success here. This is not just for some small sample group. It's helping all women. And is this an American thing, that we've become so confused in our education on how to take care of ourselves? Because my mother comes from a long generation of women who don't think women should have muscles. They don't think women should work out. How did we get so messed up?

Nikkiey: The narratives that have trickled down for decades, from generation to generation. That's part of why WarriorBabe has been built: to break those narratives, to break the mindset that you ladies have carried throughout the generations. That's why I love what you're saying. You said before we were recording that it's a whole movement, which is super cool to hear. You're not the first person to say that, and it's reassuring that we're doing our mission and our purpose here in the fitness space. We want to rewrite all of these things, and we're on that path. Circling back, though: when you took the leap, it was women-focused, you watched the hundred testimonials. Did you have any fears or doubts about trusting another program after you tried V Shred and the Metabolic Weight Loss you mentioned? Did you have any fears about joining WarriorBabe?

Melissa: Absolutely. That's why I watched a hundred testimonials. I was trying to cancel out every doubt. I'm going to find something in here to cancel every doubt I have. I know I will. I'm just going to keep going.

Nikkiey: What were the doubts?

Melissa: Well, financial is the first one. You don't know what it's going to cost. Am I going to be able to afford this? And then my son's voice would be in my head. How does he say it? Can you afford to do it? Can you not afford to do it? I don't know if that makes sense to you, but to me, it really started to resonate. Can I not afford to do this?

Nikkiey: How did that resonate with you? I'm thinking something, but maybe it's different from how you think about it, and someone listening might think about it the same way you do.

Melissa: Where am I going to be if I don't do this? Because look where I am now. Where am I going to be if I don't do this, versus where would I be if I did? And obviously my picture was telling me I was not going to be in much of a better place. I wasn't having any success on my own. My other doubts were, could I do it? Could I commit to it? I knew if anybody had the answer, you did, but could I make myself commit to it? And would I be accountable to myself to do it? If I had any doubts, those were them. Are you really ready to do this? And at my first meeting, she kept asking, are you ready? And I'm like, that's what I'm thinking. Am I ready?

Nikkiey: Was this with Coach Shelly?

Melissa: Well, the first meeting, I think, was with... I had her name written down. Santana, my first call.

Nikkiey: Oh yeah. Customer service, before Shelly.

Melissa: Right. Santana asked, are you ready? And that's what's going on in my head. I'm like, you took the words out of my mouth. Am I ready? But I was ready. I was really ready. So my point of readiness and the first video of yours I saw met at just the right time, because I was ready and I felt helpless. I really did.

Nikkiey: I'm so glad you made the decision and took the leap. As you talked to Santana and then your coach, what were your thoughts as you started the actual journey and got the programming?

Melissa: It was a process. It was a process for me to trust a coach, because, I don't know what it is or if all women are like this, but I just had so many years of 'I can do it myself' in my brain that it's hard to make the transition to trusting a coach. Even though I made up my mind when I said I'm ready, I'm going to trust the coach, there still were leaps of faith along the way, and having to trust the process. That continued to build my faith in her, especially as she would come back and show me my improvements with measurements and things over time, when I didn't think I needed all that. I'm like, why are we... I know why we're doing it, but I don't know why we're doing it. Why do we have to do this again? And then all of a sudden she would show me something and I'd be like, oh, it's working. It is working. But that took time, learning to trust the coach and trust the process. I'm 10 months into this, and I would say even up until maybe eight months in, I was still struggling with some of that. But just trust, and focusing on one day at a time. I'm going to win this day. One of those stacked on top of the other, on top of the other. And it just keeps driving it home. You can't turn your back on the results. The results are real.

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.

Nikkiey: Let's talk about those results now. Since joining the program, where are you now in your journey?

Melissa: I'm 10 months into this. Do you want me to just spit out a few of the numbers?

Nikkiey: Yeah, of course. Where are you now?

Melissa: Well, I know lean body mass is a big term, but I was down 1.54 in that. In weight, I'm down 15.6 pounds. My fat mass was down 4.46. My waist was down 3.8 inches, my hips are down 1.84 inches, my chest is down 1.61 inches. Those are just a few of the numbers I went and grabbed. I think my waist is the most exciting one, 3.8 inches. But my strength... I can just tell by how I feel. I can't even remember the last time I wanted to take a nap. Are you kidding me? That's all I used to want to do was take naps.

Nikkiey: Wow. So your energy is so good.

Melissa: My energy is so much better. I might have had two or three Sundays over the last 10 months where I was like, I'm going to take a nap. But it was Sunday, and that's my rest day, so I'm okay with it. But the normal day-to-day energy levels... you don't realize it when you're going through it. Looking back, I'm like, when was the last time I wanted to take a nap?

Nikkiey: Let's go, Melissa.

Melissa: This is tax season for me, which is my most dreaded time of the year. Previously, in the last three or four years, if I was sitting here working on bookwork, I would have just eaten whatever. What do you call it, brain food? But it would make me feel sick or tired. I really have a hard time explaining that. There have got to be other women out there who have struggled with this, because food was just not my friend. I was eating the wrong stuff. But now I'll go grab some nutrient-dense foods that fit in my macros, that I eat every day. I'm like, you know what? Just win the day. Just go eat what you've made from your own meal plan for today, and let's see how it makes you feel, instead of sitting around feeling sick. And do you know, I feel fine. I have my energy. I'm not happy about having to do taxes, but I'm getting them done.

Nikkiey: God bless you for that. But let me peel back the onion on that statement about food making you feel sick. You mentioned you were 15 pounds heavier at that time, and I saw that you wrote that you were eating around 2,500 calories, but you were all over the place. What types of things were you choosing? There are definitely women out there who feel the same way. They're just eating to eat, and they're choosing things that will satisfy them and get them through the day. What were your food choices at that time?

Melissa: From day to day, I wasn't doing terrible. I would eat vegetables. I'm not a terrible eater, I drink a lot of water, and I had a good variety of healthy foods. I don't dislike a lot of things, so I would eat my veggies and my meats and all that. But my biggest downfall was when I'd have to be like, okay, I have to go work at the desk today, so I'm going to go get a piece of gas station pizza, which is my favorite. I might drink a Dr Pepper and eat a Snickers with it. Well, of course I'm going to be sick. It was the biggest sugar crash in the world.

Nikkiey: Yeah. How did that make you feel after having that?

Melissa: Sure. When you're 22 and you do that, it doesn't make you feel so sick. But when you're 53 or 54 and you do that, now you've got this huge sugar crash, and I've learned my cortisol levels were probably off the wall.

Nikkiey: Heck yeah. Did you know what cortisol was before joining WarriorBabe? Were you aware of cortisol?

Melissa: No, I did not. And I love that part of WarriorBabe. I haven't done as much with that as I intend to. Those are my next goals.

Nikkiey: That's what I love, though. You recognize, even though you mentioned earlier that you were eight months in and still struggling, that this is a journey. This is a lifestyle. This isn't something that needs to be done in 30, 60 or 90 days. A lot of women have ingrained habits that have been part of their life for 50 years. You can't expect to get rid of those habits in six months or eight months. You've got to give yourself grace. It may take a year. And that's why a lot of women join WarriorBabe again for a second year or a third year, because they recognize that they still need the support. They still need the accountability. They have other areas they're trying to navigate and understand. So for you, the first year is like, cool, you've had amazing successes so far, and you're still nailing down a bit of the consistency aspect. Then year two is, okay, what does all this other stuff mean? More accountability, more support.

Melissa: Yeah, y'all have got accountability nailed down. Even when I don't think I need it, it's there. And I do need it. Man, rewiring the brain is a journey.

Nikkiey: It is a journey.

Melissa: It is. And the same things that worked when you were 24 are not going to work when you're 54.

Nikkiey: They don't.

Melissa: And as a human, you tend to reflect back to those old things and think they'll work, but they don't.

Nikkiey: Amen. And women can't be following the same thing everybody else is following. A lot of women follow PDFs, or they look at other people's macros and think, oh, I can try those macros. But they're not fit for you. Or they're from a 25-year-old, or they're whatever you did back at 25, like you're saying. It's not going to be sustainable here at 50. It's a different protocol for women, especially those going through menopause. It's drastically different. So, talking about all these achievements, what do you feel are your top achievements, maybe outside of the numbers we already talked about? Which ones really stick out?

Melissa: The thing that's swirling in my mind right now is trusting my coach, and being involved in a community of other people and networking with them. The Lifestyle Challenge really encouraged us to get out there and post what was going on in our own journey on the VIP Facebook page. And I didn't realize what a hermit I was. I wasn't on there doing anything. When I started getting on there, I started noticing other women's journeys and their struggles and their achievements. And then as I was posting mine, they would all chime in and give me advice. I just didn't realize what that meant to me until I started doing it. When was the Lifestyle Challenge? That ended in November. So that was March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. That was eight or nine months into my journey, and I'm just getting involved on the Facebook page. It really takes time to get into everything that we need to support each other and to support ourselves. So for me, my biggest achievement... the health and the fitness are a byproduct of the fact that I now have this relationship with the community and my coach that supports me going into the future. Whereas, like you said, somebody dependent on a PDF or a written game plan has no relationship. This is something I feel is going to propel me into the future, and I have something to stand on, not just a plan that'll be here today and gone tomorrow. It's so much more than just a weight loss plan. This community across the nation... and I think you've gotten outside of the United States, haven't you?

Nikkiey: A few. We're predominantly here, but in the world, a few.

Melissa: It's incredible. It's so needed. And I would say that is my biggest achievement, because we've kind of come into this world of thinking we can hold a phone or a computer and have companionship, but we need each other. We need our coaches. We need these babes around the world with the same journey. We don't realize it, but they're going through the same journey we're going through. They're learning the same stuff. They're in the same helpless bubble of isolation. And this is a community that's pulling people together to sincerely help each other. It just blows my mind when I get on there with a question. I'm talking about the Facebook page again, but that's not the only thing. I meet with Shelly once a month and see her face to face. She's learning me, I'm learning her, but she's also helping me with the intricacies of my journey. She knows me down to a T. My shoulder was hurting last week, how can we change this workout? And she's right there with me changing it. Or I've got to travel this weekend, how can you help me change my workout? And she's right there with me. You just can't get that. You can't get that, number one, if you don't reach out and try it.

Nikkiey: Heck yeah. There's so much to unpack in that statement, Melissa. One of the biggest things I took away was the heartfelt comment you made about the community, how it supported you along the way and impacted your journey in such a positive way. You're surrounded by people who are like-minded, uplifting and encouraging you to keep going and keep at it, because there's so much potential you still have along the rest of your journey. And with working with a coach, you said that at the beginning you were learning to trust her more and lean into her. You have a relationship. She knows you. She understands your body. I think that's what's so incredible about having a coach, and why so many women are able to stay with us. Once your coach knows you, knows your metabolism, knows your body, understands what works and what doesn't, or understands you have a shoulder injury, they know how to program things moving forward so it's personal and something you're going to be able to stick to. Rather than looking at a program and thinking, oh, I can't do this because I have this limitation, my coach forgot about it. There are a lot of programs out there that don't take into account the personal aspect, which is truly the foundation of working with someone who's going to get you and help propel you forward. So I love hearing how heartfelt that is, in terms of the coach and also the community. Looking back at your transformation, you mentioned it doesn't seem real. Can you describe what it's like to look at your progress photos now?

Melissa: Well, the photo is the most real thing.

Nikkiey: Amen. The numbers are cool, but what is it like to look at your progress photos?

Melissa: I have to look at the photo from time to time just to go, hey, look, this is real. In my head, I'm still working on the wiring. It's not an overnight thing. My neurotransmitters are still there. They're still working. It's taking a minute.

Nikkiey: I love that answer. That's hilarious. Okay, but if you had to put a feeling to it, what does it feel like to look at that now?

Melissa: I do have a little more confidence than what I had. I do feel like I can... I don't know where that statement is going, because still, when people approach me or ask me, I'm going to share something with them. But I do feel more confident in... I don't know where that's going.

Nikkiey: That's okay. That's okay.

Melissa: I guess it really doesn't seem real right now. That was one of the things I told Shelly. I said, going into the new year, I don't even know how to ask this or how you're going to help me with it, but I want this to start to feel more real. It's kind of a weird thing, really. Maybe it's almost surreal, because you work at it so hard for so long and don't get it right. And then when you finally feel like you're getting it right, there's a little bit of surreal to it.

Nikkiey: Let me ask it this way. If you never made a change, where do you think you'd be today, and how does that make you feel?

Melissa: Oh gosh, I'd be right where I was, or worse.

Nikkiey: You've come so far. You're 10 months in. And think about it like this: with the progress you've made in 10 months, a lot of women go 10 years, 15 years, 20 years trying to get anywhere near similar progress. That's pretty cool.

Melissa: In my heart, I feel like I want to take other people with me. If I only make this journey by myself and only make myself better, I don't feel like I've done everything I want to do until I pull some people with me.

Nikkiey: You know what this video is going to do right now? It's going to pull people.

Melissa: It just breaks my heart to see other women struggling. There are so many things out there, and you don't know what to trust. I've heard my sister say, I've watched this and that and that and this, and I'm so confused and I don't know what to do. How many women do that? It just breaks my heart for them. If I could tell people one thing: you can trust this program, and you can trust the girl who started it and who's at the helm of the ship. Her heart is in it for your heart. You can trust it.

Nikkiey: You're going to make me cry.

Melissa: You couldn't get this far without having your heart in it. This has her heart in it.

Nikkiey: Thank you. I appreciate that. And what's super cool is I feel the same way. I'm one person, but there are 75 other coaches who get to pour into you guys. You're one WarriorBabe, but this one WarriorBabe conversation is going to reach so many people who don't know WarriorBabe yet. You could impact one life, five lives, 10 lives, just by them hearing your words. God always says that when you put two people together, you're going to create the biggest impact. So I think it's super cool that we're coming together and having this conversation right now, and you're able to share your successes in this program. With that being said, about wanting other people to hear more about this: you wrote something super cool in your application, and you mentioned it earlier with the money aspect. If someone's scared to invest in themselves, what advice would you give them about making their health a priority?

Melissa: Can you afford not to do it? My sister-in-law came up to me over the holidays, and her knee or ankle was swollen. Her body had this whole allergic reaction to whey protein, because the Optavia program is based on whey products. And if you eat whey products for two months and you're allergic to it, it's not a good thing. I don't think she was eating five or 600 calories a day. When I told her I was eating 1,800 calories a day, she was like, what are you doing? And I showed her my before and after photos from the Lifestyle Challenge. I said, look at this. I've got to show you this because I don't want you to be in all the misery you're in right now. It breaks my heart to see you going through that. I don't really know the answer, because in her situation, she's got children still at home and car notes to pay and all that stuff. So in her mind, she can't see herself making herself a priority that way yet. But what I told her was, when you get to the point where you've got all the kids lined out in their vehicles and all that, when it's time and when you're ready, you're going to do this.

Nikkiey: I love that.

Melissa: I hope that planted a seed for her. And that's just her, but she's not the only woman in my life I would love to reach. My sister, my own daughters. My daughter got out of college as a competitive dancer. She later told me, and I didn't realize it, that when you have worked out and competed and committed yourself to this lifestyle so rigorously for the four or five years you're in college, plus high school before that... she said, mom, I think I have PTSD about going to the gym, because she's been so conditioned and driven. Almost like being in the army or something. Her mind is tired of all of that. And they're not eating correctly. I can remember walking away from high school, where I had lifted weights and I was so sore, and I was like, you know what? I don't ever want to be sore again. I don't care if I never get in a gym. Well, that led to a lot of years of not working out. But if you're not doing it right, then of course you're not going to like it. And I will say this. I told my coach at our monthly meeting yesterday, I all of a sudden realized this out of the blue the other day: I haven't been sore in months. At first I was really sore when we got started. About two sets of workouts into it, we had our meeting, and I said, we've got to do something different because I can't walk. I was so sore. But we adjusted my diet, she gave me some pointers on things I needed to do to help with soreness, and she adjusted my workout. And I kid you not, I'm in the gym, I'm pushing as much weight as I can, and I'm winded at the end of the set. I'm going in there working, and I'm not sore.

Nikkiey: It's because you're fueling your body with the nutrition it needs.

Melissa: I'm fueling my body with the right food. And I'm only in the gym three days a week right now, and the other two days I get to go walk on the golf course if the weather permits. And I'm not sore. So I would love my daughter to know that there is a way to do this right, where she's not afraid to go back in the gym. I understand that feeling.

Nikkiey: Yeah. That's the thing with your sister, with your daughters, with anybody: when the time is right, change happens of one's own accord. But I love when you said, how can we not afford it? We afford what we want to. That's what you wrote in your application. The key is believing that we need it, and that belief will come to them when they're ready. So I think that's super.

Melissa: And two more things. You've got to know you need it. And I had to know that what I was choosing was going to work. That's why those testimonies are so important. I needed faith in the process, which I didn't realize that's what I was doing, but that is what I was doing. I needed faith that it was going to work, because in order for me to make myself a priority, I had to know that what I was going to do was going to work.

Nikkiey: You said there were two things.

Melissa: One is that faith in the process. And that process for me, at the time, included the only two things I knew were correct: correct eating and correct working out. Those two things had to work in order for the process to work. What I didn't know was all the other stuff WarriorBabe led me to, which was the coaching, getting my mindset correct, the community. I didn't know all that. But what I did know going into it was that I needed to get my food right and my workouts right, and that was going to make this work. I didn't know all the other stuff.

Nikkiey: I love that. Let me pick your brain on that. With the cost of our program, you're coming in thinking you just need nutrition and workouts. You hear the cost of our program, but your mental framework is nutrition and workouts.

Melissa: Yes.

Nikkiey: And you come from V Shred or Metabolic Weight Loss, things that are a little less expensive.

Melissa: Yes.

Nikkiey: So your framework is just nutrition and workouts, and maybe you didn't know the catalyst it could be in terms of mindset and the coaching and everything like that. What made you say yes?

Melissa: Well, I told you earlier that my son had been trying to tell me I needed a coach. He meant for my business, but I'm going to say this. When I got into your modules, Nikkiey, talking about atomic habits... I could go on and on through my notes, and I'm only in module two, lesson eight. I'm not done. Do you know how far it goes?

Nikkiey: You've got a bit to go.

Melissa: Oh my gosh. I should be going through this thing the second time, because I'm starting my second year in March. But that's my goal. I'm going to get busy. So he said I needed a coach, and he's been telling me this for about three years. And when I got into your modules, Nikkiey, I started realizing this is way more than just a fitness program. This whole mindset thing, it's good for my business.

Nikkiey: It's a transformation, Melissa. It's a whole transformation.

Melissa: It's a whole transformation. Talking about habits and creating massive change. Oh gosh, I could go through here, just some things in my notes. One of my favorite things: be addicted to long-term gratification, because everybody wants instant results. Lord, on and on, all the notes I've got. Mental endurance. I'm like, yeah. But my favorite thing, from the last module I was in, module two, lesson seven: you said there's no finish line. Wow. If you stop, you're going to start going backwards, so enjoy every step of your process. Being healthy and fit is a gift. No finish line. My next module is three ways to apply consistency. I was really desperate at the moment I met you on Facebook, and I took the leap of faith after watching a hundred testimonials.

Nikkiey: I'm so glad you did, Melissa. Truly, having you here today and hearing your story is so inspiring. And it's going to resonate with so many women who feel stuck in their own journeys. Like you just said, you were desperate. You were miserable at the beginning. You were in a place where you needed to change, and you knew change was possible. You said earlier that you prayed and it got answered by WarriorBabe showing up on Facebook. And then you started absorbing it. You were like, I need to be ready for what God is about to present to me so I can hold it. So you dove into the testimonials, did your research, and then dove in and said yes. And now you're able to share your experience, proving that it's not just about fitness. It's about the confidence, the belief, the strength and, as you mentioned, the community that's lifting you up. So thank you for sharing your story. As we close out, is there one thing you want someone to know that I didn't ask you about today?

Melissa: I want every woman to know that she's worth it. The dollar investment is a monetary amount, but it's not the only thing we're talking about here. Every woman out there is worth investing in herself, and it's going to affect every single other area of her life, not just how good she looks in the pictures she takes.

Nikkiey: Love that. That's so powerful.

Melissa: And she won't regret it.

Nikkiey: Facts. If you're watching or listening to this, you've been inspired by Melissa's story, and you're wondering, hey, can I do it? The answer is yes, a hundred percent. You've just got to be willing to put in the work, as Melissa has and all the other WarriorBabes have.

Melissa: Yes.

Nikkiey: So amazing, Melissa. Anyone who's listening to this and wants to learn more about WarriorBabe, check out the links in the description below or warriorbabe.com. Melissa, thank you so much for your time today and for sharing your story. It's been awesome to get to know you and hang out with you, and it's very inspiring.

Melissa: Thank you, Nikkiey.

Nikkiey: Real quick: if this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it, and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps the show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so much for your support.