What Is a Diet Break and When Do Women Over 40 Need One?

Nikkiey: What's up, WarriorBabe? Hey, everybody. My hair's a mess. There we go. Nikkiey here, and welcome to our WarriorBabe Wednesday live Q&A time together. I am super excited to be hanging out with you guys right now and to come live and do this Q&A. So as you guys are joining in, comment and say, hey, what's up. Send me the wave emoji. Let me know who's here and tuning in.

And as you guys know the whole drill, the more comments you leave underneath this video right now, it pushes the video to the top of the Facebook group so that anybody who's new or has never chimed into a live Q&A before can see that we're live and knows how to chime in by clicking on it, all that kind of jazz. So as you're joining in, comment, let me know who's here and say what's up so I can see the names, and plus help out the community by pushing it to the top of the Facebook group.

So I'm stoked to be here. If you're tuning in at a later day or time after this live is complete, remember to do the hashtag replay and keep all of your questions that pertain to this live Q&A in the comment thread beneath this, so that Kate can come in and answer any questions that were left after the Q&A was live.

What's up? Hey, Dana. I know there's more babes on here. Come on, everybody, say what's up so I can see who's here. What's up, Dawn? We'll get started in just a few seconds. If you have a question, you can start firing it in the comment area below, and then I can kick off the Q&A in a few minutes, because there's a nice little lag between Zoom and Facebook. I say this all the time. So start commenting your questions now and I'll have questions to go to and answer to kick off the Q&A.

What's up, Valerie? Smash the like button for me, because that will help the visibility in our community. There's only seven of you watching right now. So smash that like button if you're tuning in. That will not only bring it to the top of the Facebook group, but also help viewers chime in and see that we're live right now. Thank you. We're jumping up now in viewers. Good. Just keep smashing it.

What's up, Sandra? Hello, everybody. "Yeah, I made it. I missed it last week." Nice. Keisha, welcome. I'm glad you're here and you're able to make it. If you have a question that pertains to the Q&A, you can start commenting beneath this video.

Heather, hello. "Sorry, doing my workout while listening." No worries, it's all good, as long as y'all have shown up. I love that. But look, we're jumping up in visibility by you guys smashing the like button and commenting, so more people are going to tune in and see it. I don't know why the algorithm is that way, but it is. The more you engage on this, the more it helps our community see it, and the more the community will chime in. So I appreciate you all. What's up, Kimberly? Hello.

If you have any questions that pertain to this Q&A, start firing them off and I'll start answering. Before we dive in, I want to give a huge welcome to all of our new WarriorBabes who have joined us this week. I can't talk today. Our community just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it's so amazing, because we're all on this journey together. We're all part of a community of thousands of women who are getting toned and becoming stronger, more confident versions of themselves. WarriorBabe is where strong is the new sexy.

And what's so freaking cool about it, too, is that soon we're all going to be repping the swag, which is so exciting. I've heard of people going up to others inside the gym because they recognize the workouts, and they're like, "Are you a WarriorBabe?" And it turns out they are a WarriorBabe. That's happened to a select few, but can you imagine if we're all rocking the swag? Especially if you're in Texas, because a majority of our babes are in Texas. You look around the gym and see another WarriorBabe in the swag. How fucking cool is that? I cannot wait for that to happen.

What's up, everybody. I see you joining in now. Y'all rock. Thank you so much for smashing that like button and bringing in more people. So yeah, I'm stoked. For those of you who are new, if you missed the swag launch, if you go to announcements, the launch is still in there. You can still get swag orders in. We are running low in some areas, but you can check out the swag and get your orders in if you didn't get any in this past weekend when we went live with the swag launch.

Again, if you're new, make sure you're reviewing the WarriorBabe Blast Off emails I'm sending you on a daily basis for the first 14 days inside this program. They are seriously going to help you so much to get your mindset in alignment with what you want to accomplish here. If you can get your thinking in alignment with your goals, your thinking, then your feelings, then your energy, then your body, all of those in alignment, you will be unstoppable with what you want to accomplish for yourself.

But you've got to understand that it's possible for you, and you have to believe that it's possible for you. When you get that all in alignment, you are unstoppable. You can accomplish what you want to accomplish. And I'm going to help you get that mindset set up in the first 14 days. In the Blast Off email sequence I'm sending you one task per day. It's going to help you set yourself up for long-term success. You're going to really establish your goals. Why are these your goals? Why do you want to accomplish them? And then getting super crystal clear on that and making the committed decision.

Guys, I listened to this thing today, and if you weren't able to watch my Instagram, I shared it on my story, but I'll share it with you because it seriously resonated with me. I hope I can explain it the same way this man explained it. He said a committed man doesn't believe in failure. When a man is committed, he sees nothing as a failure. So if you can be committed and understand you're going to encounter failures, but understand that the hundred times you fall down and mess up, there are a hundred lessons to learn.

And if you can commit yourself that way towards what you want and get your mindset in alignment, once you commit yourself to what you want, you already start organizing your mindset towards that goal. And the more you organize your mindset towards that goal, the next thing is you think and then you feel in that same direction towards what you want to accomplish. Then your energy goes in that same direction, and your body goes in that same direction.

So understand that if your mindset is in alignment with what you want to accomplish, your body will follow. But you have to get your mindset on the same board as what you want to do. And be impeccable with your word. Watch everything you say, because if you're saying, "I can't do this," or "I'm fat," or "I'm ugly," or "I don't like the way my body looks," guess what? You're off of that alignment. You're off of the thinking and the feeling. And if you're off the thinking and the feeling, everything else is going to be super hard to get in alignment.

You have to be in alignment with your thinking, with your feeling, with your energy, and then with your body. And when you are, you will be unstoppable with what you want to achieve. But understand, it's not the program that's wrong. It's not the program that's not working. You have to accept that this is your responsibility. You are the creator of what you want.

If this is making sense, keep smashing that like button. I want more of our babes to be able to hear this right now, because I am going on one. You have to keep your thoughts positive on the goals you want to accomplish. When you keep your thoughts like that and you feel yourself staying positive, remaining positive, committed to your decision, okay with failing because it's a lesson learned, then your energy and your body will come more in harmony with what you want to accomplish.

Trust me, you guys. I know it because I lived it. I know it because I have been through it. When I first started my journey, don't worry about the how. Don't worry about, "How am I going to do it? How am I going to track my macros? How am I going to work out?" Yes, you have to figure that stuff out. But as long as you know what you want and you commit yourself to what you want, it's literally as simple as that. And then making sure you keep a check on your thoughts, your feelings, your energy and your body, and making sure they are organized and going in the same direction as what you want to accomplish.

Let's go. The button is getting smashed hardcore right now. "Get your mind right." Yes, Dawn. Valerie, a hundred percent, speaking truth. Yes, babes. It's all in you. You are the creator. It's up to you.

If you are somebody who has negative thoughts, you're breaking that alignment. If you're somebody who doesn't feel like you can accomplish it, you're breaking that alignment. If you're somebody whose energy is low one day, hey, listen, we're all imperfect humans. Don't expect every day to be fucking sunshine and rainbows. That's not going to happen. But you will learn more about yourself when you have a low day and when you have a positive day. If you can learn about yourself in the negative and learn about yourself in the positive and then see which one better serves you, obviously it's positive, but you have to learn about yourself. That's when you'll more likely stay in the positive, and you'll see more positive things come to you.

This is turning into a rally call right now. I think that's just the way it's going to go, because I'm not getting any questions, so I'm just going to keep going. The more positive you put out, the more positive you're going to get back. The more negative you put out, the more negative you're going to get back. The more negative shit is going to happen, and you're going to find yourself in the cookie jar because you're thinking these negative thoughts. You're thinking, "I can't do this. Well then I'm just going to go stick my hand in the jar," or whatever. Fuck-it day.

Instead of beating yourself up, instead of judging yourself, instead of blaming yourself, take full responsibility for that action and then learn, so the next time you're in that situation, you know how to overcome it. It's all a fucking learning experience, this whole journey. This is going way beyond the tactics of diet and exercise. Yes, those are extremely important. That is your how. But you've got to get yourself in alignment with what you want to accomplish, because if you're going along your journey without knowing what you want, without having a vision of what you want, it's not going to be clear to you what you can create.

So you have to know what you want and you have to keep it simple-minded. If you're overthinking everything, the overthinker is going to be the one having a hard time getting everything in alignment. Keep it silly, stupid, simple with your thought processes. Just focus on what you want, get everything in alignment, and I guarantee you will get what you want. But you have to stay in that alignment. And the faster you get into alignment, the faster you're going to see more things come to you, more results.

Guys, I'm telling you, the results even come down to the way you're thinking. If you're stressed, you're causing that thinking process. You're causing other chemicals in your body to release specific stuff. You've got to keep your thoughts in alignment with your goals and know that it's possible.

So that concludes that rant. I've got a question coming through. If you have more questions, let's fire off this Q&A. But I really hope that hit home for you, because it truly does start within you. It's not a program. It's not another fad diet. It's not another quick fix. It starts within you.

Nikita, what's up, babe? I know, girl, you would love what I just talked about. I just spit a lot of truth and you would appreciate it. If you just tuned in, I would definitely recommend going back to it, because you always fire me up with "this girl speaks truth."

Rana: "If I'm in a build, will it hurt my progress to do cheat meals instead of refeeds?" No, not at all.

Ann Marie: "Hi Nikkiey, I asked last week about low stamina and hunger. I added the recommended 30 grams around my workouts and my workouts are way better, but I'm still super hungry during the day. Do you have any further suggestions? On my workout days I'm at 195 carbs, 125 protein, and on rest days I drop down to..." Okay, so right there, Ann Marie, just keep your carbs the same exact number across all days and see if that helps.

The lower rest days are something I typically recommend, the minus 25, because I'm not hands-on with you guys. In the Revolution I can't be as hands-on as I totally want to be. That's why I recommend the 25 off. But ideally, if you are somebody who experiences fatigue, hunger, not sleeping well, carbs should just stay the same across the board on all days. It's super unique and different for everybody. As you know, nobody has the same exact macronutrients, and it's hard for me to be more hands-on in this community, but I want you to know that if you are experiencing that kind of stuff, keep your carbs at the same exact level every day.

What's up, Joanna?

Keisha: "Generally speaking, how long should you stay in a cut phase before moving to a build? I know results vary." A hundred percent, results do vary. "But I just want to make sure I don't stay in a cut, a calorie deficit, for too long."

So Keisha, what I would recommend for you, babe, and again it's totally different for everybody, but let's say you still have a lot more fat to lose, or you still want to tone up a little bit more, and you know you have some body fat areas to bring down. If you're in a cut and you're in a deficit, you don't want to drop your calories too low. So go to the rally call where I talk about doing a diet break. It's one of the past rally calls from a couple of weeks ago.

This is typically what I implement when I'm more hands-on with an individual and I know they have more room to go. It brings your calories up by a significant amount. You drop your cardio in half. This takes off a lot of the stress your body may be experiencing and allows possible weight to drop even more, just by you eating more food. I've seen it be so successful with so many women across the board, but it's a strategy I typically do hands-on.

So I know that doesn't fully answer your question, but it can help you. Use the calculator, go up to maintenance, cut your cardio in half, and see how your body does with that. Then the next move, if your body doesn't move, is to find the halfway point between your diet break macros and the macros you were at the week before. Find the halfway mark, and then follow that with the same exact cardio.

I hope you're catching this, everybody, because this is literally a goldmine piece of information. Now, I don't recommend everyone do it and start using it like candy, because it's not meant like that. If you are somebody like you, Keisha, who's been in a deficit for too long but still has more fat to lose, this is something I would implement for you. And if you do start losing after coming up, then your body needed that. Your body needed that food, it needed that break. And then I would just ride that out for about two weeks and then find that halfway mark.

Yes, Ashley is in the Blueprint. A lot of women in the Blueprint have experienced a diet break. I just had someone lose almost two pounds, and it was literally night and day. I can't wait to get on the Blueprint Q&A and talk with her, because it's literally night and day from her going up in food. Which is probably blowing your fucking mind: she increased people's macros and they lost? Yes, it's totally normal. More food is key. At the end of the day, you want to have as much food as possible. But there's a strategy to it, and I do this in the Blueprint with a lot of the women because I'm more hands-on inside that community.

So hopefully that made sense, Keisha. And to answer your question in full detail, it's different for everybody, but you don't want to be in a deficit for a year. You don't want to be in a deficit for eight months, unless you're doing these little diet breaks here and there. It really varies. So pay attention to how you're feeling, your energy, your cues. Are you getting more irritable, or way more tired? Are you more exhausted, or not recovering? Those are signals that your body needs more food and maybe to come up to maintenance or a higher intake for a couple of weeks.

"Awesome, thank you, that's super helpful." Good, I'm happy to hear that. That was literally golden nuggets, you guys. It's a strategy I use to help so many women who I know still need to lose more, but we can't drop their macros anymore. It would just be silly, stupid, ridiculous, and they'd be at the 1,200-calorie mark. So that's a strategy that is widely used and works so nicely.

Ann Marie also asks: "Should we modify diet and exercise during the week we are menstruating? I've heard so much conflicting information." No, you don't need to modify your diet. You don't need to modify your exercise. I can say this right now because I literally just got my period this morning, and thank you to everybody who gave me love on Instagram. This one is brutal. TMI, I am soaking tampons, but y'all didn't need to know that. You know I'm all open.

So no, you don't modify your diet. You want to be as consistent as possible with your diet. Once you start modifying it because you're menstruating and because of your cycle, you're screwing with your metabolism at that point. I'm glad you all found that funny.

And you don't want to mess with exercise either. I just made a post about this on my Instagram. Understand that the week before your period and the week of your period, your energy levels are going to be lower. But just show up to your workouts. You don't have to push yourself, but always do your best and do as much as you possibly can with your weights and stuff like that. You don't need to go ham, and you're not going to be able to go ham. So understand that and know your energy levels are going to drop. Then the week after, you're going to rise up and be able to push harder. You're going to have higher PRs.

It's all due to the fluctuation of our hormones. The week of our period, all hormones are low, so you naturally won't have much energy. As you go through the other weeks of your cycle, different hormones rise and lower, so you're going to have different types of energy. I talk about this in the Blueprint as well. Hopefully this helps you understand that it's not you. It's not you. It's the hormones we deal with. So no, you do not need to change or modify anything diet- or exercise-wise. Listen to me on that. Don't listen to all the other conflicting information.

Sean: "Hi Nikkiey, for building I'm resting one and a half minutes between sets. I'm 50. Is that good, or should I rest two minutes to avoid stressing my body? You're the best, girl." Oh, thank you, Sean. No, I think a minute and a half is a pretty significant amount of time to rest between sets, especially at your age. It really comes down to this: after you do your set, how's your breathing? Can you get your breathing back under control before you go into the next set? If your breathing comes under control really easily, go into the next set even sooner than the minute and a half. If it's not under control and you're still huffing and puffing, take a second, maybe a little longer, and then go into the next set. But a minute and a half is sufficient time.

Jackie: "I've been doing the strength workouts for three months. I want to build lean muscle. I'm definitely stronger, but I'm not sure if I should switch to build or not. I'm not losing any more fat." Well, it depends. That doesn't really give me much context, to be honest. If you want to build lean muscle, you won't be losing body fat at the same time. You need that body fat in order to build the lean muscle. So I think you should get a little more clear on what your goals are. If it's to decrease body fat, then you would do the Burn programming. If it's to build lean muscle, you've got to eat more food to do that, and you're going to put on some body fat in order to build the muscle you want. So there are two ways you can go with that one.

Ashley: "Girl, day three of mine is intense." You know what, it's super interesting, because it seems like a lot of us are on the same cycle, all in sync with the full moon, if you didn't know that, which is pretty dope. It must be the full moon this round, because yeah, mine's fucking intense. Beth: "The one thing to look forward to with aging." Yeah, for sure. I cannot wait until I don't get this thing on a monthly basis.

Carla: "I just started the strength training. I'm doing four days. Do I need to follow the order of the exercises on the training page, or can I pick and choose which sets to complete?" You're in the Blueprint, so yes, you're fine to do the sets out of order if you want, but any supersets stay together. Don't mix up the supersets. Keep the supersets together. Other sets you can move around, but the supersets always stay together.

Cheryl, what's up, babe? Ann Marie: "Thank you, I love how amazingly supportive you are." You're welcome. Absolutely. Nikita, thank you, babe.

Kimberly: "A couple of weeks ago in a Q&A session, you challenged us to increase our lifting weight. Not only was I able to increase my lifting weight, I was also able to increase my reps. My mindset was totally holding me back. Not anymore. Although I do think Kate is trying to kill us this week. Thank you so much for the push. I'm feeling great."

Yes. Yo, you guys, we had our team meeting yesterday and I brought up all of your comments to Kate. Obviously she sees them, but she didn't say much in the team meeting, so I brought it up and I was like, "Kate, you are destroying this group this month." She is killing you guys. These workouts are fucking intense, which is great, especially that triceps and chest one. She definitely deserves that devil emoji a hundred percent.

But I love that you said that, Kimberly, because yes, I shared with you a couple of weeks ago that I was lifting with Madeline. You know she's on the team. You've probably seen her on my Instagram; we did live workouts together. When you're lifting with somebody else, you really get out of your own way. You just start putting more weight on. I don't know how to explain it. I guess it's the atmosphere of being with somebody else. I did so much more weight than I thought I could possibly do, and it was absolutely wild.

So I challenged all of you to go into your workouts, because we're the only ones holding ourselves back in those workouts. We go through the motions and we don't even realize it. So again, I challenge you to accept it. Lift heavier tomorrow. Go heavier. Obviously keep the right form, but you'll find that by lifting and focusing on form, you can actually go heavier. I love it. Kimberly, thanks, babe, for sharing that.

Sean: "It's awesome not having monthly ones once the hot flashes go away." Awesome. "Mindset matters." Yes.

And another: "My hubby started joining me in my workouts this week and he keeps saying he's a warrior dude. Poor guy is sore as hell. Kate, he's loving your workouts. Now to get him on macros." I love that, warrior dude. Maybe something down the road, for sure. That's awesome. Now to get him on the macros.

Seriously, if y'all want to get your hubbies on macros, the calculations are definitely way different, but you can pretty much just add about a thousand calories on top of what you're eating and then do the same 30/30/40 split.

Nikita: "How are you so happy while on your cycle? I would have been passed out by now." For real, girl, I had such a rough morning. It was unreal. I got up, did my morning routine like I always do, and then bam, I'm making breakfast and I'm like, oh shit, and it just came on. As soon as that happened, I ate really quick and laid back down for about an hour and a half. I was so slow today. I did some work, then I went for a walk, and now I'm here. But I'm going to crash hard. I've got this community call with you guys, I've got the Blueprint in half an hour, and then I've got the VIP at nine o'clock. So I had to show up. I still had to show up, and you guys get me on that vibe anyway, naturally. So thank you.

Ann Marie: "Could your period get wonky in the beginning of training due to the change in exercise and diet?" Yes, absolutely. If you introduce anything new with nutrition and training, of course it can throw your cycle off a little bit. It's just really important that you still get it monthly. And if you didn't know, your period can naturally change every six months or eight months; everybody's completely different on that as well. So yeah, that's totally normal. It totally happens. It's just really important that you do get it on a monthly basis. You're welcome.

Valerie, thanks for always showing up. Of course. I fucking love you guys.

Carla: "When you say 30/30/40, what macros are those?" It's 40 carbs, 30 protein, 30 fats.

Nikita, you're awesome. Thanks, babe.

Valerie: "VIP, very curious about it. Just worried I will fill it out and be shocked by the price." So VIP is way, way more hands-on. You're working directly with a coach. You're going as far and as deep as establishing proper form, so that alone can share a lot of value. We cross all barriers with you inside the VIP. You're learning about form. You're setting up appointments with your coach. You have meetings on a weekly basis: your own coach meets with you and her babes, and then you have one with me and the entire community, all coaches, all babes, on a weekly basis. And with our new system that we just implemented, anybody new coming in has Voxer support, so you're able to voice message your coach.

When people talk about price, it's the value that you get. It's what's going to get you on the right track towards your goals. If you can do it faster, you should throw the price out the door, because it's the value coming through from the programs we have in place that's going to help you get to your goals with more support and more hands-on help. We do your macros, we do your workouts, we do your adjustments, we do your check-ins, all that kind of stuff. VIP is way, way more hands-on, and you have time with an actual coach who is working with you. If you put a price on personal trainers, I heard somebody paid $250 for a session with a personal trainer, and I was like, oh my God, that's fucking insane. So just think about that.

Denise: "VIP is totally worth the cost. Invest in yourself now or pay for doctors and medications later." Mic drop. Denise, my little silent VIP, absolutely fucking crushes it. You've probably listened to her interview; we did an interview together, and she just absolutely crushes it.

Valerie: "Sorry about the typo, I meant fill out." Gotcha. You're welcome, Valerie. But yeah, we have spots open, and I highly recommend it. I can drop the link here for you: warriorbabe.com/vip. Let me make sure that's right. Yep, that's the application. We currently have a couple more spots. I opened up 10 last week, five people came in, and there are five spots left. So if what I just said resonates with you, take the time to fill it out and take the time to chat with my team. You'll be able to talk to somebody and make sure it's the right thing for you. And if not, stay in the Revolution or come into the Blueprint program.

All right, you guys, I'm going to go gear up for my Blueprint call that's next. I absolutely love you guys. I love showing up for you, hanging out with you, being here with you. I hope that little rant at the beginning of this Q&A really resonated with you. If you missed it, go back to the beginning and listen from about five minutes in to wherever I stopped ranting, maybe 10 or 15 minutes. It really will help you. Oh, I just saw myself picking at my face. This zit from my period is ridiculous. It's massive.

But anyway, I love you all. Remember: get more organized and more in alignment with your thoughts, your feelings, your energy and your body. When all of those are in alignment and going in the same direction as what you want, you can accomplish what you want. You are the creator. You do this. Go after it on a daily basis, stay in alignment, and go in one direction towards the goals you want to accomplish. I love you all, and I'll see you for our rally call on Sunday. Bye, everybody.