WarriorBabe Interview – Jenn

SUMMARY

Jennifer hated the restrictive diet given to her by her last coach and had to force herself to eat. After finding Nikkiey through Instagram, she jumped straight into a cutting phase and went from 129 lbs down to around 116. Though it wasn’t easy, she had everything she needed to commit and is tackling — and crushing — one goal at a time.

TRANSCRIPT

– Hey, everyone. Welcome to our Warrior Babe Interview with our veteran Warrior Babe, Jen. Jen has been a Warrior Babe for a year and almost six months?

– I think so.

– You joined in May, 2019. And you started at 129 pounds. You were 27% body fat. Being 5 2. And 29 at the time, right? You were 29 when you joined us?

– Yes.

– And then you dropped down to 116 ish, 20% body fat. And then that was in six months. And then we did a reverse and a build for like three to four months. And you started your second cut for about five to six months and then you got as low as 111 pounds.

– 11. Yeah.

– Woo. In a year and six months, dude. You have completely changed your body composition. Like you are no longer the skinny fat Jen.

– No, not at all. Thank goodness.

– Yeah, your transformation has been insanely incredible. So everyone, Jen is here today to share some pointers for you babes, so that you can adopt some of her strategies for your own journey moving forward. So welcome Jen and we are excited to have you here babe.

– Thanks. I’m excited.

– Cool. All right. So let’s get a little bit of a background on you. I did share how old you are but like what’s your occupation? What do you do? How long have you been in fitness? Yeah, let’s take it from there.

– So, yeah. So I’m Jennifer. I am 31. I live in Houston, Texas and I work as a surgical physician assistant. So I’m in surgery most days, which is awesome. I guess I really started getting in, like I was always kind of the, I’m just gonna go running kind of work out. Like I never actually lifted weights and through college would just kind of do it every now and then. And then in PA school, one of my roommates actually commits me to do this program like weightlifting program with her. And so that kind of like introduced me to it. And then once I got out of school and moved to Houston I started more working out every single day, doing like orange theory, doing kickboxing and just basically just becoming more active.

– Cool, babe. How do you feel like being in the fitness nutrition world? How do you feel like it’s changed your life?

– They definitely say it’s a lifestyle change and not just like a fad diet. And I feel like it was always a fad diet until I joined Warrior Babe. I feel like the year and a half has like completely just transformed my way of thinking of just like, okay, I’m not doing this to lose weight or like gain muscle. I mean, I am. But at the same like my mindset has just shifted of like I enjoy changing my body. I enjoy like working towards, I enjoy learning about my body and how food affects my body. And so Warrior Babe has transformed my way of thinking for sure.

– That’s awesome, babe. Let’s start from the beginning of your Warrior Babe journey. So what were you doing before you found Warrior Babe? Like what diets were the programs and like what struggles were you trying to solve at that time?

– So I knew what I wanted but I didn’t know what it was called, how to figure out how to get there. And so I kind of like looked into nutritionist to be like, I don’t know how to get here, but this is what I want. And they were zero help. And a friend of mine had suggested this other girl who seemed to be like wanting similar or like was doing similar things. And she introduced me to a coach who had done some body building. And he kind of, basically he put me on a very strict diet. I’ve ate the same thing every single day for however long. It was very bland and I hated it and I just forced myself to eat it. But I feel like that was the first kind of understanding of like what I wanted and like how to attain it in some ways. And so that helped my Google searching a lot more just to be able to figure out kind of what I wanted. And then you popped up on Instagram and kept saying the exact same thing that I wanted. And I was like, yes. That’s it. Like, this is what I want. I don’t wanna like, lose a ton of weight. I just want to get the fat off my body. And so, yeah, saw you on Instagram and I like immediately signed up for Revolution and kind of like journey of Warrior Babe. I started out in Revolution and just like, basically every single Q and A, I was on just listening to every single question, because nine times out of 10 those babes have more questions than I had thought I knew, like wanted to know. And then after like a month or two, I joined The Blueprint and then just spent like weeks and weeks just like trying to learn like watch all the videos and just absorb as much information as I could. And then at that point I was like, I want to do this well and like, need to learn from Nikkiey. And so that’s when I joined VIP in May.

– Nice, babe. You were just going up the, you were like, I need more, I need more, I need more.

– I know. Exactly. Yeah.

– That’s awesome. So I know I shared a little bit about your results with the opening of this interview but I wanna, you know, let’s hear it from you. What results have you achieved and how did those results improve your life?

– Yeah. So we started out in a cutting phase and I was at 129 and got down to like 116 and that was a struggle. So it’s basically like jumping straight in of here’s all your macros, here’s what you need to eat. Here’s your water. And then just learning that, like how each of the foods that I ate affected my body and also learning how to curb like cravings and social settings. And I think that was one of the biggest things that I learned the first round. Is that I obviously, doing this is very different from normal people, like people’s normal lifestyle, counting macros is. And so like my friends, it was hard for them to understand like why I was doing this because I was the skinny fat and they didn’t understand my goals. And so like them always pressuring and being like, why are you doing this? And then I was like obviously in social settings just wanna go and like gorge my face with Mexican food. Like that took a lot of self-control and it took a lot of learning cause I felt a lot. And it was towards the end where you kind of were like you need to kick it in gear. Like your goals are not like, what you’re doing is not, what did you say? I think you said like your…

– Your action are in alignment with the goals you want to accomplish.

– Yes. So that kind of like kicked me into gear and I was like, okay, let’s just focus and finish this out. And then I, hormonally, I was kind of out of whack. Like I lost my period for a few months. And so by the end of that cut, I was like my body needs to like be in a maintenance phase and we’re also low in calories. And it was just, it was hard because my body had never done that before. And so going into the maintenance phase, it was hard and I hated it because you like gain weight back. And you also, because I lost my period we were trying to get me to gain more fat and kind of get that period back to normalizing, which it did. And I ended up going back up to 125. So I felt like all the work that I had done, I lost. But you continue to just like trust the process. Like trust me, I promise. And like, and I think at that point it had been the whole first cut was like, I just wanna get to this cut and be done. And then after going through that and then going through the maintenance phase and a little bit of the building, I think it finally shifted of like this is not just a one and done like it’s actually gonna be a lifestyle. Like it’s just gonna take a really, not a really long time, but it’s gonna take time to build the body that I want. And so going into the cut, the second cut, I was in a much better mindset socially. I had finally like learned how to take trips. I took all my food on all my trips. All my protein was loaded up in the airport and got checked a few times, but you win. It’s fine. They don’t actually take it.

– You became the queen of learning social situations. It’s amazing to see where you were with your friends, hearing, you know, the weekends and wherever you were telling me and why results weren’t happening. That’s when I was like you got to kick it into gear girl. And that switched. You just were like, okay. You know, like I’m in control of this. Like I can do it, how can I do it? And then you just, you did a whole 180 from social situations to now. Like you are just fully in control.

– I know. And it’s been like, I think it was more of just thinking like, okay, here’s my goals. Eating this food is gonna taste great but what is it gonna do? It’s gonna make me feel guilty. It’s gonna make me feel bloated. It’s gonna make me like hate myself and do a lot of like self explosion in my mind. Whereas I could have a bite or two, be satisfied and then just move on. And like eat my food that I cooked that tastes just as good. So this cut was a lot better. And I finally, I didn’t hit the exact number that I wanted but I learned that like, I can withstand social situations. My body is also like different from everyone. So like my goal number may have looked different on me than it’s gonna look on somebody else. And so I accepted that and just hit it hard. And I finally, like, I got down to like my ideal body. And then now we’re starting to go back up to maintenance. And it’s been cool because now I’ve learned so much about my body that like the first time around if I would have gained two pounds in a week I would’ve freaked out. And this week, like I started off the week at 112. Now I’m up to like, well, I think I weighed in at 114.8 this morning. But I know it’s a lot of water weight. I know it’s hormonal, ’cause I’m going to start my period next week. And I know like I didn’t get the best sleep last night. So like, I’m not worried about it. I know it’s gonna come off. I know that I’ve stuck to my diet this week and so. Yeah

– Everything you’re saying, this is so amazing. The women that are gonna be listening to this are just gonna be like, Oh my gosh. Like, they’re just, it’s gonna be such an impactful interview for sure. From what you’re saying already, I can just feel it. You know, you said that you, I’m gonna pull out what you just said. Having to explain a little bit more, you were like, you know, it’s not one and done, right. The first cut is not one and done. I’m not gonna get to my ideal shape. You know, that’s just what people think. But like, you are a perfect example of somebody who, you’ve completely changed your body composition to this day, but you’re the perfect individual who has gone through the different phases. So like what, how, what can you say to somebody who, you know, is like, thinks it’s one and done? Like what can you say to that person?

– I think the biggest thing is like, you have to just focus on each goal because otherwise you’re like Oh my gosh, it’s gonna take me four years to get the body that I want. I’m done. I’m just gonna eat what I want. Whereas if you think, okay, I have this goal in mind, it’s probably gonna take me anywhere from three to six months. And then you just pick it up, okay, let’s just make it to the end of like my cut into the end of August, September area. So I was like, let’s just make it to then and then throughout that time, you’re like each day like, okay, I’m six months closer. I’m almost done. I’m almost done. And then you just kind of, and then after that you are like, okay, let’s reevaluate. Let’s go back into a maintenance phase. Let’s go into a building phase and you just set smaller goals throughout the year. And the next thing you know, it’s a year and a half and you’re like, Holy crap. Where’d the time go.

– Yeah, girl. Seriously, you’ve accomplished in a year and a half what takes normally people four years, five years because they go on the yo-yo. They’re yo-yoing, you know, they’re like, okay, I’m done now I can eat. And then they’re like, but now I’m back to where I was when I first started. And like, not that you didn’t have those moments. You’ve overcame those moments.

– For sure.

– You totally had them a hundred percent but it’s like you snapped back right away. Whereas like, people usually go on this two, three week and before they know it’s two months and they’re like, what am I doing with my life? You literally cut down what normally takes people again, like four or five years, you’ve done it in a year and a half. It’s incredible. It’s incredible. So what do you think the impact of becoming a Warrior Babe has been?

– I mean, it’s life-changing honestly. So not only from just learning about your body, learning how food affects your body, learning to just build muscle and like how to manipulate your body. And in some ways, like be in control of that. Like the community that we have is insane. Like we not only on just the VIP Facebook page but the Blueprint and the Revolution like I’m part of all three. And so I get to see all the, like encouragement through those. Like the women that get on here, showing ourselves and showing our bodies is literally the most vulnerable thing that we can do as women. And like, we are so insecure and we are so hard on ourselves that by being brave and being courageous enough to post that and be like, Hey today. Like there’s been a few VIP’s even, that’s been like, Hey, I’ve been off the bandwagon for a few weeks. Like, I really need some encouragement. And then you just see like everyone just pouring in and be like, you look awesome. Don’t worry about this. And it’s one of those, like, you get so far in your head that when you finally see the compliments and encouragement, you’re like, okay, I got this, it’s fine. It sucks. And I like wanna listen to the lies but I’m not going to today.

– You’re giving me chills. You’re giving me chills. Spot on. I love that you mentioned the vulnerability and then being courageous enough, being confident enough, to share, you know, Hey, I failed, Hey, I messed up. And then women just picking everybody right up. It is incredible. Now let’s pull back into your journey. How do you deal with the psychological side of things of eating more food in order to get to where you’ve gotten to?

– That’s hard. The first time around was really really hard. I definitely had a lot of like, why am I doing this? Like, I feel so fat. Like I just am losing all the work that I just did. And I think through that process, I think the community helped a ton. And you helped a ton of you were just like, trust it. I need you to get your period back and I need you to do this and then we’ll change your body. And I think it was really helpful because the first cut that we went through it was the first time it happened and my body hadn’t really gone through this and we needed to train it to do what we needed it to do. And so through the maintenance phase and kind of through the second cut phase I feel like my body finally caught up so that this round I feel so much better. Yes, you’re like each time in each week my carbs have been increasing. And like the first few weeks, I definitely noticed a lot of bloating and just like your body’s not used to those carbs. And so it’s gonna react a little bit, but I feel like one, my body’s adjusted. So it’s not, it’s taking in the carbs and it’s not like just gaining weight. But I also feel like I’ve learned so much about my body. That like, when I noticed that I need to stop like I let you know. And like, there was, I mean like a week or two ago, I was like, Hey, I’m gaining. Like, I feel it. I know, like my body’s just not adjusting. Can we just slow down a little bit? And that was really helpful.

– For sure. I think what’s really cool about like the VIP’s and about our relationship is like one, you trust me and you just do it. And you believe in me, right. That’s one really important thing. You just, even though you, kind of like your mind starts saying, whoa, whoa whoa it’s like, I’m gonna just gonna do it anyway. And you just do it. And that’s freaking amazing. But then on top of that, it’s a 50 50 effort as our team. Like you and me it’s like, okay, well, you know, Jen saying this, you know, let’s work together. Let’s figure it out, pull back if we need to. Stop with the reverse a little bit and communication that’s the key, to any coach. To any coach in the VIP communication is so important. Communication in The Blueprint, so important. Utilizing the Q and A’s so important.

– So important. Yeah. ‘Cause even if you’re not in the VIP like doing it yourself, like as you learn that, the longer you do it, the more you learn about your body and the more you recognize, like, okay, I need to stop. Or like this week I feel good. And so, or like last week I felt good and we made a change that we needed to make. But even if you’re not in VIP, I feel like it’s still, like you can utilize those Q and A’s, you can utilize the Facebook group to be like, Hey, this is what’s going on in my body. Does anyone have any advice? And those who have been doing it longer, are like, okay. Here’s what I suggest. And then usually you and some of the other coaches are also reading through the feeds and kind of giving your input as well.

– Yeah. A hundred percent. And that you said like, you know, people that have been doing it for longer it’s true, you get into a groove, right. You start understanding your body, you start recognizes what’s going on. So what would you say, ’cause at that point it’s like, it’s kind of smooth sailing. Like you’re able to know the cues, you recognize your body. What advice would you give someone who is just getting started?

– Take it day by day and take a breath. Because it is a lot to take in. And so I think obviously I’ve talked a lot about don’t just do a one, like one and done, like fixed and hope that it’s quick. Go into it with the mindset of like, okay, this is gonna be a lifestyle change. It’s not gonna be just something a new fad thing that I do. And then also just taking it, watching the videos, doing as much as you can to just absorb the information and like accept your failures because you will fail. And it’s okay. And that’s why it’s a journey and not just a fad. Because you’re gonna have ups and downs the whole time.

– For sure. I was listening to something interesting the other day, how we’re just all habit loops, right? And in order to, ’cause it is truly a lifestyle I was listening to something like you can’t accomplish something in 30 days or two months, because the reason why people go yo-yo is like their habit grooves from years prior are so deep and ingrained that they always resort back to those habits. Even though they were just doing something for 60 days or 90 days, those habits are so strong. So it’s like we’re constant habit loops. We have to keep reiterating these habits that we’ve created for ourselves and got us to where we are. We have to make brand new habits that change the whole course of the lifestyle, the journey that you’re on. Because if not, I mean, you know, and you’re gonna face them here and there. You’re gonna come back to, in social situations okay, whatever, I’m gonna have a couple of pieces but you’ve created a new habit that like is more ingrained and more powerful than what your old habits are. And that’s how change your lifestyle. That’s how you go on to, you know, wanting to work out, wanting to hit your macros, wanting to eat good. And then you can even now transition. I mean, you’ve incorporated some intuitive days. So like then you would start learning more things that even hone in more on a lifestyle. But you’ve got it, we’re such a habit loops that we’ve got to reiterate these habits that don’t serve us to habits that do service for our goals.

– Absolutely. Yeah. And those habits are so hard to break and to form. And I think like once you just commit to the first cut or the first phase, essentially that you’re going through, usually after that phase, ’cause it takes three to six months, I feel like that’s when the habits start forming and you’re like, okay, I wanna go work out. I wanna like, do this. I wanna eat right because I feel like crap when I don’t.

– Yes. A hundred percent. Spot on. All right. So where, I think you mentioned this at the beginning, where did you first hear about Warrior Babe? And like what peaked your interest the most about it?

– So I saw an ad on Instagram. So praise for those, because sometimes you get into a rabbit hole and sometimes you change your life, so.

– That was great. That’s awesome.

– But yeah. So I kinda explained a little bit before, like, I didn’t know what, I knew what I wanted but I didn’t know the verbiage used to like, get that. And so, I like watched a video and then I went down the rabbit hole and watched a lot more videos. And, I mean, everything you said was just, yes. Like I am not trying to like lose weight but I just wanna get more toned. I wanna have kind of control of my body and be able to manipulate it in certain ways. And I want to have muscle and just look a lot leaner. And you just said all of those things. And at the same time being able to, being able to eat what I want. And that was the biggest thing. So the first time around he, the trainer that I was with, literally had me eating just like broccoli, rice and chicken. No flavor, no nothing. And I love to cook. And so like literally every single week I make new recipes. Like this week I tried salmon burgers and I made like a beef stew and I made some like mini pumpkin muffins that were so good. So I love being able to have just like the freedom and that, of food, which piqued my interest a lot.

– Yeah. So that’s actually, I’m happy that you brought that up because I do know that you love to cook. And so many women struggle with, like, I know you don’t have a family yet, you’re working towards it, but you know, how do you incorporate the meals that you make into your macros?

– MyFitnessPal is my best friend. And so I will look at, I’m huge Pinterest person. So I get a ton of recipes from Pinterest and I have a few cookbooks that I love and that are go-to’s. And so basically I just create recipes inside MyFitnessPal and go through and just kind of manipulate to get the macros that I need. So like the beef stew that I made, it was basically ground beef with a ton of veggies and like potatoes. And then I made like these homemade dumplings to go inside of it. And so I would just go into MyFitnessPal and I would just type in like extra lean ground beef and how much and do like a pound. And then I would do, I think I did like 12 ounces of potatoes and then however much broccoli and green beans and onions and carrots and stuff. But say I needed less protein, so then instead of a pound of ground beef, I would just adjust it to like half a pound or three fourths pound. And so I would just keep going back and forth to be like, okay, I need 20 grams or 30 grams of protein for this meal. So I’m just gonna keep manipulating that ground beef until I get that. And then same with the, like the potatoes, if I have too many carbs for that meal I’ll just cut the amount of potatoes and then keeping manipulating it till I get that macro. And I’ll usually do it to where it makes four servings cause I’ll eat it throughout the week. And so then I basically just throw it all in a pot weigh it and divide it by four. And that kind of gives me how much for each serving. And so that each serving is now the exact macros that I need.

– Incredible.

– So, it’s kind of detailed, but honestly like once you get the hang of it, like, I mean my it’s, you always mention like, make sure that we plan ahead because if you don’t plan ahead, it’s not gonna be a successful day most of the time. And so like, I will plan my week, the previous week. And so I’ll just pick like two or three days that I’ll have like the same breakfast, lunch and snacks that switch up my dinners. And so it takes me 10 minutes to plan like my whole week and it’s super easy. And I get to play around with it. And sometimes I’ll include cheat things of like, I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for snacks one time and they were delicious.

– Sounds so good you’re making me drool.

– It’s so good. And they’re healthy. Like there’s different options that you can do like different kinds of chocolate chips that’s made with stevia instead of regular sugar. And so you just learn and find ways to work around it. That still tastes so good.

– Yeah. A hundred percent. Maybe I’ll have to grab like the ingredients from you and either post it in like a screenshot here or we’ll put it beneath the video or something like that so that women can have pancakes like that.

– Oh yeah. I have tons. I have lots and lots of recipes.

– Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s gonna help so many women because there’s so many women who struggle with like, well, how do I cook for my family and then me. They think they have to make separate meals when they don’t you just have to pull in. Literally be like, all your babies are gonna have tattoos if they pull in. Like, plan ahead.

– And even like my meals that I’m making, like the beef stew, my boyfriend and I ate it for dinner last night like it’s hearty and it’s delicious. And I even made like a spaghetti squash casserole one time for like a friend dinner and like everyone loved it. So, yeah. You don’t have to change your meals. Just make something good for everyone.

– Exactly. And break it down, just like Jen did, guys. Like break it down with MyFitnessPal, put it in the way she just explained it and it’s done. And it’s awesome how you said now you plan ahead by weeks now. Like we started off as just plan ahead your days. Now it’s the point where it’s only 10 minutes, you’re planning an entire week. That’s incredible. That gives a lot of inspiration to a lot of people who are just getting started to, it does get easier. You just got to keep putting it in the work.

– Right. Exactly. Yeah.

– So describe what being a Warrior Babe means to you. Like what does being a Warrior Babe mean to you?

– It means the world. Like, I feel so privileged to one, just be a part of the community and having been with it for a year and a half now. Like there’s some Warrior Babes that have also, like we started at the same time. And so it’s really cool to be able to see their journeys, but also just encourage the new people and encourage them in their journeys and be encouraged myself. Because life’s hard. And sometimes even if it has nothing to do with fitness or food or anything, sometimes we just help with these life problems. And it’s just really cool. Like I have never been a part of a community that’s so uplifting. And that’s so encouraging in your goals and your struggles and just constantly wanting you to do your best.

– That’s amazing. That’s awesome.

– Yeah.

– What area do you feel you get the most value?

– I would say community. I don’t participate as much as everyone else but I still read them all. And I think just like seeing other people’s wins. Each week on our call, we always go over each other’s wins and it’s really cool to be able to celebrate everyone in those wins. And I feel like now that I’ve gotten kind of a good grasp of food and nutrition that’s kind of what the community part is like what I get most out of it now. But I mean, it’s still a learning process and I feel like each time I join in on calls you still learn something new. Like the other day y’all talk about a pelvic tilt and every time I do anything now all I do is tuck in my pelvis.

– Beautiful. I love that. How likely are you to recommend Warrior Babe?

– Oh, a thousand percent. Like it’s so easy to sell something that you believe in and that you’ve done and that you know works and that you know takes time. But, and you want anyone that is even piqued interest in my lifestyle, I’m like, let me tell you and I just go off on this whole thing.

– That’s awesome, babe. Why should someone listening right now take action?

– You can continue to make excuses for yourself every day. So why not just stop making excuses and just take action to change your life?

– Mic drop. That’s awesome, babe. That’s so true. You can have excuses right now, just like you said you could go down the rabbit hole of all the ads that are on Facebook and Instagram and it can change you.

– Yeah. So true.

– That’s awesome. So let’s close out with your favorite, ’cause you love to cook so I know you’ve got tons of them, your favorite snack slash macro combo.

– I think right now my favorite snack that I’ve been making is banana chocolate chip pancakes. But I also am obsessed with my pre and post workouts. I have a banana bread English muffin, which if you haven’t tried find them, they’re so good. And then the, you introduced me to peanut butter chocolate Cheerios, and I’m obsessed.

– They’re a bomb.

– Like I could eat the whole box and make myself sick but they’re so freaking good.

– They are amazing. And you get more carbs so you can just keep adding it.

– Yeah. Exactly.

– I love it. All right. What’s your favorite muscle group to work out?

– I have a love hate relationship with leg day. I love it. And I like, cause it, I still love cardio and I just love getting my heart rate up and doing kind of like hit style stuff. And I feel like legs are really good about, or at least the workout I have now is killing me with cardio but it’s also just feels really, like your legs are one of the strongest muscles. And so just like working them just makes you feel strong and powered and you’re like, Whoa!

– Hope mode.

– Yes, exactly.

– Awesome, Jen. Well, thank you babe so much for your time on this interview today. And for those of you who want to learn more about the programs that Warrior Babe offers and how to get started you can go to www.warriorbabe.com. And like Jen said, you know, become a part of this community of women who are getting toned and becoming a stronger more confident version of themselves. So,

– Sign up.

– Yes, sign up right now. Take action. Thank you. I appreciate your time. It’s been, you know this interview is gonna help so many women from so many different points that you’ve shared. So, thank you. I appreciate it.

– Yeah. Thanks for having me.

– Yeah. All right. Bye everyone.

– Bye.