What Is Biofeedback? Signs Your Fat Loss Plan Is Off

Nikkiey: You can be eating all of the right macros, you can be following your training to a T, and you can still feel like you're falling apart. Why? Because your internal state, your stress, your recovery, your sleep, your digestion, your energy, it's out of sync at this point if you feel like you're falling apart.

Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to episode number 295.

Today I want to talk about what I think is a misunderstood tool in your fitness journey, in your fat loss journey, one that's kind of overlooked or not really spoken to, or, like I said, completely misunderstood. And that is your body's biofeedback.

So I want to just get into it. We're taught to trust the data. We're taught to trust the scale. We're taught to trust the step count, the calorie burn, the macro tracker, all these external numbers, which are great. They serve a purpose. But your body is always talking to you. It's sending you signals all day long through your energy, through your mood, through your digestion, your sleep, your hunger, your strength, the way you feel when you're working out.

These signals are not random. They're not noise. They're information. And what I feel the problem is, is that most women have been taught to ignore them. We override the fatigue by downing more caffeine. Or we push harder and harder. There are so many women that chase that feeling of being sore. These people celebrate being really, really sore, like soreness is a badge of honor. Or we call cravings a lack of willpower: I don't have the willpower, because I just end up having popcorn and snacks at the end of the night. And then we chase seeing that scale drop, even if we feel like crap.

I want this episode to change that. I want this episode to teach you how to interact with and interpret your body's signals, almost like how I would or a seasoned coach would be able to. And that's why I think this is misunderstood, because we are the ones that are the professionals in the space. We understand these things, and we were educated and taught these things. But I'm hoping at the end of this you have more education in your belt to be able to interpret what's going on: how to spot your body when it's in alignment, and how to spot your body when it's screaming for help.

Maybe you're stuck in a plateau. Maybe you're feeling run down. Or maybe you're trying to figure out why the results haven't been more for you, or why they completely stalled. If that's you, this episode is for you. Because understanding your biofeedback is what separates short-term effort from long-term mastery. If you can understand this, interpret it, listen to your body and know the feeling of when it's in alignment or out of alignment, you're going to be able to take this for the long haul, and not just keep pushing and pushing harder, which will only cause you to burn out. Okay?

So let me start at the top. Biofeedback: what is it? It is your body's internal report card. Think about it like that. It's not a lab test. It's not a fitness app. It's the way your body is communicating how well it's coping with what you're doing to it. Every workout, every meal, every hour of sleep, your body is responding to those things. And that response can either be, y'all, I'm thriving, or I'm barely holding on.

I feel like biofeedback is the missing piece. In WarriorBabe, we have our babes, maybe unconsciously, maybe consciously, track this. We ask this every single week in the weekly forms that we send to our babes. We gather all of this information from them. So if you're a babe listening to this, this is what we're doing. This is biofeedback.

But I think this is a missing piece for so many women, because you can be eating all of the right macros, you can be following your training to a T, and you can still feel like you're falling apart. Why? Because your internal state, your stress, your recovery, your sleep, your digestion, your energy, it's out of sync at this point, if you feel like you're falling apart even though you're doing everything right.

When you learn how to interpret your biofeedback, you stop guessing. You stop relying on surface-level results. You start to understand what your body truly needs and how you can adjust before things go completely left or completely sideways.

So biofeedback, in my opinion, empowers you to train way smarter, to eat with purpose, to know why you're eating, to understand what your body needs to fully recover, and then, most importantly, to create a sustainable approach that actually works for you. Because you could be in a program that's telling you to work out five days a week, yet you could be missing your body screaming at you, because you feel like you have to show up and go crush those workouts and push even harder and harder and harder. So you're ignoring the signals your body is giving you. And it's not going to feel sustainable, because at some point you're going to crash and burn.

That's what I feel makes coaching inside of WarriorBabe different. We don't just chase fat loss. We don't just chase these end goals or watching the scale go down. We chase optimization. Biofeedback, to us, is like the compass in your journey. We listen to it. We honor it. We read what you're saying. We read how you're responding. Our coaches take those forms I mentioned very, very seriously.

So let me just add a pin here. If you are a babe that short-circuits those forms, where you give one-word answers or you don't fully elaborate on certain things you're feeling or experiencing, that's doing you and your coach a disservice. The team. It's doing your unit a disservice. Open up. Share what you're feeling. Share what you're experiencing. Don't just give one-word short answers. Okay?

So what I want to dive into with you is what I like to call the big six: the biofeedback markers you've got to pay attention to. That's what we track inside of WarriorBabe. It gives you a real-time pulse on your recovery and your hormones and your metabolism, all of the things.

The first one is energy. Energy is one of the fastest ways your body tells you if you are under-fueled, overstressed, or under-recovered. Let me ask you a question. Do you wake up groggy even after a full night's sleep? Are you dragging in the afternoon? Are you relying on caffeine just to get through the day? Because that's not normal. That's not just, I'm getting older, I'm aging. I've told you in a previous episode that it's something I'm experiencing right now. That's my body telling me, yo, I'm screaming at you to listen. That's a signal.

When your energy is low, your metabolism is likely down-regulated. It could be a sign you're not eating enough, you're not sleeping well, or your body is just stuck in fight-or-flight mode. High energy, on the other hand, means you are fueling properly, your nervous system is regulated, and your hormones are likely supporting your lifestyle. So that's the bucket of energy. If this biofeedback marker is off, I just want you to note that in your mind.

And with energy, you can tell the difference between the two. Right now, I am living in a season where my energy is low. My biofeedback marker is off in that category. I've experienced high energy in seasons before, and I know what the difference feels like. So if that's you, just note in your head that energy is off for you.

The second thing is sleep. Sleep is foundational. It's where your body recovers, where it rebuilds, where it detoxes, where it balances hormones like cortisol, melatonin, growth hormone and insulin, the key hormones in your body. Whether you're having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, or waking up feeling good and refreshed, that's biofeedback.

Trouble sleeping might mean that your cortisol rhythm is inverted. It could be that you're flat in the morning and spiking in the evening, broadly speaking. Some of you may not even know what that means, but we have a cortisol curve. We want it to naturally spike in the morning, then decline as the day goes on, and then be low before you go to bed so you can fall asleep. If it's inverted, that's biofeedback. You're stressed out, or your nervous system can't downshift into rest mode. It might be related to late-night screen time, overtraining, under-eating, or just living a very, very stressful life. Or if your nervous system, like mine, has always been in fight-or-flight mode, then that needs a lot of retraining. That is the season I'm in right now.

So what you can do is track your sleep, prioritize your sleep, respect your sleep. It's one of the most honest mirrors of your internal health. It's underrated in the fitness space, but it can do wonders for you if you can work on it and fix it.

Another one of the big six is hunger. Your hunger cues tell you so much about your metabolism. Are you hungry in the morning? That's a good thing. It usually means your blood sugar is balanced and your metabolism is firing. Are you never hungry? Or are you only hungry at night? That could mean you're running on stress hormones all day long, or that you're not eating enough consistently throughout the day.

And let's be real here. Cravings are not just mental. They're often biological, especially when it comes to sugar and salt cravings. These can reflect blood sugar crashes. They can reflect magnesium deficiencies, or your body just begging you for quick energy. So your hunger cues tell you so much about how well your metabolism is working.

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply.

All right, let's get back to the show. If you know what a hunger cue feels like, that's great. If you don't know what a hunger cue feels like, then that's something where you'd say, hey, I need to mark this bucket of biofeedback as being off.

The fourth thing is digestion. I know this is a big one for a lot of you. Bloating, constipation, gas, heartburn, irregular bowel movements: all of these are signals. If you're bloated every day, especially after certain meals, then your gut is inflamed. Your body is struggling to digest or absorb certain nutrients. This can affect everything from your results and fat loss to the way your mood alters after you eat something. If your digestion is off, your whole system is off.

And yet so many women normalize these symptoms. They're like, oh, I'm just bloated. They normalize it because they don't actually know what it means. This is me helping you understand that, hey, that's not normal. Something is off, and it needs to be looked at. Your gut is like your second brain. It's also where many of your hormones are produced or regulated. So I need you to learn how to listen to it. Know that these things are not normal. They're all signals: the bloating, the gas, the constipation, the irregular bowel movements. That's biofeedback. Your body is trying to tell you something, so listen to it. If you're like, that's me, then mark that bucket. Okay.

The fifth one is your mood. Mood is a major reflection of internal balance. Are you snappy? Are you sad? Are you weepy? Are you anxious? Are you numb? These aren't just emotional states, even though sometimes they may feel that way. They're also biochemical clues. It could be that you're experiencing blood sugar instability. It could be low serotonin. It could be poor sleep or chronic stress. They all show up in your mood.

If your emotions are riding a roller coaster every single day, don't just tough it out. Hear me loud and clear when I say that. I want you to tune into it. Start tracking your mood alongside your sleep, your food and your stress levels, because this can help you find patterns you'd otherwise miss, especially across all of the other buckets I just went through.

So the fifth one is mood. The fourth one is digestion. The third one is hunger. The second one is sleep. And the first one is your energy. There's a way to track these things, and I'm giving you the ways to track them as I go through each of the buckets. When any of those things are off, it needs to be looked at deeper. You could have all six of these being off. I don't want you to feel overwhelmed. Just choose the one that means the most to you to look at and to fix. Okay?

The last one is your performance and your recovery. This one's huge for anybody who's a WarriorBabe or working out or doing their own programs. Are your lifts progressing? Do you feel like you're progressing when you're working out? Or are you stuck at the same weights week after week, maybe even month after month?

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply.

All right, let's get back to the show. Are you bouncing back from your workouts? Or are you sore for three or four days? Are you excited to go train? I should say excited, because motivation is another emotion that ebbs and flows. Or does going drain you? Do you feel like the gym is a dreaded space?

If your recovery is poor, your sleep and nutrition likely need work. If your performance is plateauing, it's a signal that your program or your food intake isn't aligned with the goals you're working towards. For example, if you're an endurance runner training for a marathon and your performance is plateauing, it may well mean your food intake is stalling you, and you need to increase your calories to give you more energy so you can have good performance on your runs. These are signals, my friends. Signals. If any of these are off, it's a signal that needs to be addressed. Okay?

So why do these markers even matter? They matter because you all pay attention to the scale as the way to tell whether you're progressing or not. Of all of those six things, recovery and performance, mood, digestion, hunger, sleep and energy, I guarantee you're listening to this thinking, yeah, one of the six, two of the six, three, four, five, or all six of the buckets, my body is showing me signals in this. But y'all focus on whether the scale is moving.

Here's the thing. The scale is reactive. Biofeedback, all six of these markers I just named, is predictive. The number on the scale can change based on water, based on hormones, based on sodium, based on inflammation, based on bowel movements, based on sugar, you name it. It's unstable. It doesn't always tell you the truth. But biofeedback tells you if the process is working. And that's what really matters.

You can lose 10 pounds and feel like absolute garbage. Or you could lose zero pounds, gain strength, lose inches, and feel like a whole new person. That's why at WarriorBabe, depending on your relationship with the scale, we don't coach people based on the scale. I will have you burn it, go out in the backyard, bury it, have a funeral, say your goodbyes: you've served me for so long, but not anymore. Whatever it may be. We coach you based on the quality of your life. When your biofeedback is thriving, your results are going to follow, and they'll last for the long term. Okay?

So let me paint you a quick picture. You're eating clean. You're training five days a week. You're doing all of the right things. But you're exhausted all day. You're craving sugar nonstop. You're snapping at your partner or your kids. You're waking up at 2 a.m. wired. You're sore for days. You're constipated. You're bloated after every meal. You're gaining weight even when you're eating less. Then you start thinking it's you, that you're broken.

But this has nothing to do with discipline. This has everything to do with dysregulation. Your nervous system is shot. Your hormones are tanked. Your metabolism is conserving energy because you're not thriving. You're in survival mode. That's what poor biofeedback looks like. And it means it's time to stop pushing and to start healing and restoring, and working on the buckets that are out of place for you, the ones where you know your body is giving you signals after hearing me go through those six things. You're like, yep, that's me. Yep, that's me. Yep, that's me. Now it's about going back into those buckets, picking one of them, and doing the tactical things I'm about to give you.

Number one: you have to bring awareness. Wow, shocking. Nikkiey, you've talked about awareness in every single episode up until this point. You need a coach. You need a notebook. You need to rate yourself one to five on each of the big six markers I just went through, either daily or weekly, whatever feels really good for you. Just start writing random notes: woke up groggy. I'm craving sugar at 3 p.m. I'm feeling anxious in the evening. This becomes your dashboard. Awareness. Just awareness of these six buckets and where you are, one to five, in each of them.

Then I want you to start spotting the trends. Do your energy crashes align with low-calorie days, when you're not eating enough? Is your digestion worse when you eat dairy? Do your mood swings happen when you skip protein throughout the day? These patterns, these trends, will start to give you more clarity.

And then you can do step three, which is make micro adjustments. Biofeedback shows you what to tweak. You can add 20 grams of carbs around your training and see if your energy improves. You can cut late-night screen time to improve your sleep. You can pull back from five to four training days to see how your recovery improves. You can increase your water and your fiber if your digestion is off. This is how you fine-tune everything.

So I literally gave you the six biofeedback buckets. Go back and just choose one of them. Rate yourself one to five. Start taking notes on that one area you want to pay attention to. Then start asking yourself questions. Did I eat enough today? Is that why my energy feels off? Dang, I feel weird after I eat sugar, because now I'm bloated. My digestion is off. That's the signal: cut back on the sugar. This gives you more clarity, okay? And then make these micro adjustments to help you fine-tune these signals and get them back into alignment.

You want to be in alignment with your body. You want to know how to interpret this biofeedback to get you into alignment. It's not, let me just ignore this. Bring awareness to it so you can start healing it. That way you can bring the strategy of playing the long game, which is going to give you sustainable progress moving forward. Okay?

So I'm going to leave you with this. You have a very powerful and very intelligent body. We all do. It's not broken. It's not fragile. It's just waiting for you to listen to it. And I'm saying all this because I'm basically taking my own advice in this season. Tracking your biofeedback turns you from someone who reacts into someone who leads. You have the ability right now to become the CEO of your body. And that's where real transformation begins. There's no more guessing. There's no more forcing. There's no more burnout. There's just clarity. There's alignment. And there are results that actually last. Okay?

So I hope this episode spoke to you. If it did, I ask that you take a screenshot and tag me at Nikkiey Stott or at The WarriorBabe Show, and just let me know what bucket you're working on. Or post it to your story. That way I can share it and also chat with you in the DMs. Okay? You deserve to feel amazing, not just to look good. You deserve to feel like your absolute ultimate best.

So until next time, trust your body. Bring awareness to these situations and to these buckets. And never settle for anything less than being in full alignment with yourself. All right? Love you guys. I'll see you in the next episode. Peace out.

Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference in helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.