Early Menopause Weight Gain: How Bryn Lost 25 Pounds

Nikkiey: You mentioned you went into menopause a little bit early. What did that feel like, watching your body change after menopause?

Bryn: It just got harder. The weight came on a lot faster, and I wasn't sleeping as well.

Nikkiey: What are some of the big wins that you're really proud of?

Bryn: Well, I lost over 25 pounds and gained a lot of muscle. I just feel good. I feel confident.

Nikkiey: So did you think it was possible to gain muscle and have these types of results at your age?

Bryn: No, I would never have guessed that I could do this.

Nikkiey: What's going on, everybody? I have another WarriorBabe here with us, WarriorBabe Bryn. Before finding WarriorBabe, she was stuck in the same cycle that I think every woman has been stuck in: dieting, losing weight, gaining it back, never finding anything that she could actually stick to. And then menopause changed her body and she needed a different approach. We'll get into the whole journey of Bryn in this interview today. But now she's feeling leaner, she's feeling stronger, she's eating more than ever, which is my favorite testimony, and she's finally enjoying both the gym and the foods that she eats. So today she's here with us and she's going to share her story. Bryn, welcome.

Bryn: Hello. Thanks for having me.

Nikkiey: So let's go back to where you were before you found WarriorBabe. Can you take us back to that? What were you struggling with the most prior to finding us?

Bryn: I've always been pretty active, trying different stuff. I never really enjoyed the gym or lifting. So I walked, I did half marathons. I never really felt fit. I was doing those things and had fairly good endurance. I'd hit the treadmill. But I just never really felt fit and didn't look fit. And then I'd do diets, and I had no idea what food to eat. So I just went up and down. I'd do a diet for a while, then I'd get off it and slowly go back up. It takes time. But I just ended up in this cycle, up and down, up and down. I was really just looking for something that could help me, especially since I hit menopause fairly early. I had no idea what I was even supposed to be eating. It seemed like everything out there was very general, geared to younger people, and not to where I was at in my life.

Nikkiey: You mentioned that you weren't much of a gym person, which is interesting. What was your relationship with it? Were you just doing running and a lot of cardio and things like that? What did that look like before?

Bryn: I grew up doing gymnastics and I loved being active. But to me, the gym was just boring. I didn't really know what to do. I didn't see the benefits of it. And it was intimidating, too, just going to the gym and not really knowing. Pre-COVID, I tried for a while where I'd go in and had a trainer helping me. So I did start learning how to do some exercises and how to do them right. But I just never really found much joy or interest. It was always a chore. And it's easy to put off chores.

Nikkiey: Yeah, absolutely. If something feels boring, you're not motivated to do it, you're not going to take a liking to it, and you're not going to actually do it. You also mentioned that your weight constantly yo-yoed. You would lose the weight and gain the weight from the diets you were trying, depending on whatever program you were following at the time. What was that like? You mentioned that you were active, but you weren't getting the results that you wanted to see. How did that make you feel internally?

Bryn: Well, it's frustrating, and just a lack of confidence. Not feeling good in your skin, and it's hard to find clothes. It's just tough. And I had four kids, so from about 28 through my 30s I either had little kids or was pregnant, and trying to find time for yourself is hard.

Nikkiey: And you have a bunch around.

Bryn: Around, yes.

Nikkiey: So you were basically trying to do your best is what I'm hearing. You were trying to stay active. You were putting the work in. You were looking for information, but you weren't finding information that was going to give you what you wanted. And then you would try programs, and it just felt like more of the same. So it felt mundane, and you weren't excited to do it because you weren't reaping the rewards you thought you would. And put kids into the picture, and you're putting them first.

Bryn: Oh, yeah. Trying to find the time felt like a lot.

Nikkiey: OK, so you mentioned you went into menopause a little bit early. What did that feel like, watching your body change after menopause?

Bryn: It just got harder. The weight came on a lot faster. I wasn't sleeping as well. I didn't have hot flashes and some of the really hard things that people do have. But I wasn't getting enough sleep, I was waking up all the time, and you have the mood swings but you don't really know why, because I used to associate them with a monthly thing and now that's not really happening anymore. So I just didn't know. There was so little information and advice out there at that time to help you understand. And you'd go and ask questions to the doctor and you'd get, oh, it's just menopause. Well, that's not a very good answer to me.

Nikkiey: I literally just recorded an episode an hour ago about the five conversations you should have with your doctor and the tests you should do. You're literally describing the reason why I hit record on that episode, because doctors are like, oh, yeah, it's just a part of you getting older. But even what you just said is like, well, why am I having these symptoms, when I could connect them and correlate them back to my period? But my period isn't happening anymore, so why are these things happening? You enter this world of, OK, things are changing, but I don't know why, and I have these questions, but they're not getting answered. And it's very confusing.

Bryn: Yeah.

Nikkiey: You're part of WarriorBabe now. But before I get into how you found us, you mentioned that you were searching for a way to eat without dieting. Why was that important to you?

Bryn: Because to me, dieting was what I would always do to lose weight. And I wanted to find a way to eat and just be consistent instead of going up and down in my weight. I wanted to not diet. I wanted to find a healthy eating pattern, what I should be eating. Honestly, before WarriorBabe, I had never even heard of macros. To me, it was just, I shouldn't eat bread, I can't eat bread, I'm going to give up bread, because that's what's making me fat. I honestly had no idea how all of the different nutrients worked with the body. And I've tried the one where you have your points and you eat them. But gosh, I could eat all my points with a candy bar. I just felt like there's got to be a better way. That was kind of my search: there's got to be a better way to do this, where I can eat the things I want to eat and be consistent. It's exhausting always going up and down in your weight and having to think, OK, what now, what should I try? OK, well, maybe I'll train for a half marathon, maybe that'll help. It's like I had to either increase my exercise or stop eating to get to where I wanted to be. And I just felt there had to be something else out there.

Nikkiey: And dot, dot, dot, enter WarriorBabe. So how did you hear about us? How did you find us? What came across your path?

Bryn: I found you on the internet. I was really searching for different programs that related to people who are in menopause and that combined the exercise. During COVID, I tried a program that worked pretty well, but I wasn't getting the nutrition. So I wanted something that encompassed all of it. And I do very well when I have accountability, but you can't always find a friend and be consistent with your accountability. So I was really looking for something that encompassed everything: nutrition, fitness, overall health.

Nikkiey: I love that. How long have you been with us?

Bryn: I think this next August will be two years. So I think I'm coming up on two years.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. Going back to the beginning of you joining WarriorBabe, did you have any fears about joining the program?

Bryn: No, I was more excited just to find something that would work for me. And right from the beginning, even with the blood test that was done, there was something pointed out with my thyroid, which I later took to my doctor. And even then they were like, eh, it's not really that big a deal. And I'm like, but is it? It went from this number, and then we had it tested again later and it went up. And I'm like, that seems like a small number, but it increased a lot. To me, it feels like there's something there.

Nikkiey: Kudos to you for advocating for yourself there. Kudos to you for saying, something ain't normal. If this number is this and now this number is this, something's different. So was there any aha moment that you experienced when you first joined?

Bryn: Trying to figure out the macros and just realizing that I can eat carbs. And in the beginning of my journey, I'm not a big fan of cooking, so there were a lot more processed foods that I was eating. And she's like, all right, your fiber is really low and your salt is really high. So I started seeing all the nutrients and realizing that all of those things play a part. Oh, wait, I really need to eat more fiber and I need to reduce my salt. That helped me start eating cleaner. I guess that was my biggest aha moment: that eating cleaner, more natural whole foods is way healthier.

Nikkiey: I love that. And it sounds like your coach is Hannah, right? Is it Hannah B?

Bryn: Yes.

Nikkiey: Oh, my girl. I love her. I coached her mom. Does she ever tell you that?

Bryn: Yeah. I think she got on meetings or something at one point.

Nikkiey: Oh, so cool. So Hannah's played a huge role in your journey. What does having that accountability and encouragement look like? What has that meant to you?

Bryn: She's really good at picking out the thing that I need to be working on and going, well, what about this? I'm not very good with feelings and thinking about why I eat a certain food. I'm not big into that emotional thing. I know why I eat the food. So every week it's, what's your focus? Oh, God, that was my focus this week. But she's really helped me refine what I'm looking for and guide me in a nice way, with little nudges. She didn't come right out and say, you've got to quit eating all that processed food. She was more like, well, you need to find something that has this or that, and gave suggestions. She's just a wealth of knowledge. It's been great to have her help guide me and pull out those little things where I'm like, OK, I guess I have to deal with that.

Nikkiey: I love that. I think that's such an important part of anybody's journey, having that person in your corner who's able to give you that type of encouragement and support. And of course, this isn't your profession, so bringing that awareness to the way that you're eating is extremely helpful. It was an eye-opener for you: oh, fiber and sodium, I never really learned to eat that way. That's really cool. And I love that you mentioned that you can eat carbs now. So I'm curious, are you eating bread now?

Bryn: Oh, yeah. I love leg days, in fact, because I have higher carbs on leg days. I think I'm up to over 2,000 calories, and carbs that are around 240 on non-leg days. So it's nice. On leg days, my afternoon sandwich gets two pieces of bread versus one on the non-leg days. In fact, it was actually hard for a while to add the carbs as we were increasing them. Like, oh my gosh, what carbs can I eat now? I need to come up with some other carbs to eat.

Nikkiey: You mentioned that you didn't know what macros were before you found us. So what was your journey like starting out, learning how to incorporate and track them?

Bryn: Well, the program helped a lot, for sure. But at the beginning, it was trying to figure out what to eat. And like I said, I don't like cooking, so I like to keep it simple, and food prep has been fantastic for coming up with ideas. I usually get into eating the same thing for a while, and then I'll switch it up and eat something else. I think in the beginning, just keeping it simple and eating the same stuff for a while was what I needed to do to figure out the macros.

Nikkiey: I hear you. I'm not a cook myself, so I keep the things I eat daily to maybe five ingredients or less. That's just me. But until you've gotten that level of confidence in yourself with tracking, which may take two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, before you start changing up what you're eating, or alternating your lunches or your dinners, having the same breakfast and snacks throughout the day is definitely what's recommended at the beginning of someone's journey. So I love that you said that.

Bryn: And then you broaden it. Once you've got your one set plan, if you have other ones, you're like, oh, I can combine these two together because I don't have time for that. As you go along, it gets easier. I still like to keep it simple, though.

Nikkiey: Yes, I hear you. OK, so let's talk about some of the changes that you've experienced since joining. What have you noticed? What are some of the big wins that you're really proud of?

Bryn: Well, I lost over 25 pounds and gained a lot of muscle, which people are really noticing recently. I don't know why all of a sudden, but people are really noticing, which is kind of fun. I just feel good. I feel confident. I haven't worn a size six since I was in high school. People are like, you're petite. And I'm like, did you know that? Well, no, I didn't. I always felt kind of fluffy. So it feels really good. For a while I lost probably about 15, and then I just sort of got stuck for a while. That was kind of like, OK, I've plateaued. And I honestly don't know what changed in there. But Hannah just kept saying, trust the process, just keep trusting the process. And then all of a sudden, boom, it went down, and I lost another 10 and started getting all these muscles.

Nikkiey: That's what I want to highlight right there, what you just said. There will be the 15 pounds or the 10 pounds or the five pounds that you lose. In your case, you lost the 15. Then you didn't change anything. You kept doing essentially the same thing, maybe with some tweaks here and there, and you just had to allow time for your body to create its own changes. In the personal training world, we call it a whoosh. You experienced a whoosh, where you broke through by not changing anything. Your body just needed time. What I'm trying to say is, if people experience that and they don't have a coach in their corner, they'll go and try to change five things. And then you have five variables, and you don't know which one actually caused a change, and you didn't need to change them. Sometimes you just need to let time pass, and your body will create the change for you. So I love that. And I love that you mentioned you're a size six now. So you went from a size eight or ten to a size six by eating more. You were eating more food. Can we talk about that? You're eating over 2,000 calories. You said 240 carbs on a low day. Was that something you expected, to lose weight that way? Talk about that.

Bryn: Not at all. Not at all. It's funny, because my fiancé works out too, and he's like, you're up to what carbs now? I enjoy eating. I always knew that was part of the problem, but I just didn't know what to eat. I think it's been nice gaining the muscle and being able to continue. I think I'm still heading up a little bit. I feel like we haven't quite hit maintenance. My maintenance was maybe 1,700 calories the last time. And we've been trying to do a little bulk, but my body just keeps eating up these carbs, and the bulk isn't happening yet. So it's like, well, are we really doing a bulk or kind of?

Nikkiey: I guess you're pushing your maintenance threshold right there. You're pushing the level of what your body can consume. And that's because of the muscle that you're building, too. You're increasing your resting metabolic rate by adding more muscle to your frame. That's how you can eat more food. Isn't that cool?

Bryn: It is. It's awesome. It's pretty wild.

Nikkiey: You're a girl after my own heart. You mentioned that sugar used to have a hold on you, but now you can take it or leave it. How freeing is that to feel?

Bryn: Oh, it's just crazy, because I loved sugar. I was 100 percent addicted to sugar. And now when I have something, after a bite it's like, yeah, I'm good. I don't really need any more than that. Before, if something was really good, I'd eat a piece of cake, and maybe I'd eat the whole thing. Now I'm like, OK, I can just have a couple bites and be good. It's almost too much. The sugar is kind of crazy now when I have it. It's a little bit too much for me, and I don't need any more than that. So it's nice not to have that. I have the control. It no longer has control over me, which for sure it did before.

Nikkiey: Isn't that pretty cool, hormonally and also psychologically, the way the chemicals in our body and our brain change as you start to eat more of the right types of foods? You don't really find that stuff to be the go-to, or the addiction, the want and desire to have it, because you're giving your body what it needs. So when you do have it, it's like, OK, cool, a couple bites, I'm good, don't need more. Really cool. And I also wanted to say that on one of the all-hands meetings we do for the company, your transformation was shared. It's truly incredible how much your body has changed and how drastically it's changed. I mean, you've got some muscles, girl.

Bryn: Yeah, it's kind of a little embarrassing sometimes now, because it just feels weird. I'm 58 this week, and people are like, are you getting ready for a show? And I'm like, no, I'm just doing my thing.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. When's your birthday?

Bryn: Sunday.

Nikkiey: Oh, happy early birthday. So did you think it was possible to gain muscle and have these types of results at your age?

Bryn: No, I would never have guessed that I could do this. So it's very exciting. One of my goals was always to stay fit and be able to do stuff with my kids. My four kids are all adults now, and I still want to be able to go and do physical things. And now I'm going to be a grandma. So I'm excited about being able to stay healthy and do stuff with the grandkids, and not be that grandma they're pushing around in a wheelchair.

Nikkiey: Yeah, girl. That's amazing. And congrats on being a grandma, too. I love that you're thinking proactively and long term about your health. I think about the caretaker burden when you get older, people having to push you around. You don't have to do that. You want to take care of yourself now so your family doesn't have to feel that, and you get to keep up with them. You get to do activities, run around with them, pick up the grandkids. That's how every woman should be approaching her later years, thinking from that lens. So I hope women feel encouraged by listening to you say that. One of the last questions as we come to the end of our interview: if you had never found WarriorBabe, where do you think you would be today?

Bryn: Probably in that same cycle of trying to find the next diet that might work, and the next exercise program. And I have to say, I do like the gym now. I actually really enjoy the gym. I can tell when my six weeks or whatever is coming up, because it's like, yeah, you need to switch it up, I'm not as excited. Hannah's figured out that I need to switch it up about every six weeks. So she has made the gym fun and made me feel confident going there, too, because I go to a gym that's a bunch of muscle-head guys. So it was scary at first. And now I'm like, yeah, it's fine. They don't bother me.

Nikkiey: Love that. Talk about the confidence you've gained, too. So for anybody watching this who has maybe been in your shoes, just tired of dieting, tired of starting over, tired of losing and gaining the same weight, what would you want them to know?

Bryn: It actually is not that hard, if you really trust the process. And a lot of it is the food. Maybe you don't get to exercise, but I think the food part has been the biggest thing for me, because I've found a lot of things that I can eat and really enjoy. And now I'm eating more all the time. It's scary in the beginning, first trying to figure out the macros and stuff like that. But keeping it simple and really trusting the process and doing it, it'll change your life.

Nikkiey: I love that. It's not that hard, and it'll change your life. Bryn, thank you. Your story reminds everyone listening that real transformation doesn't come from another diet. It comes from building the habits that you've built along the way, habits you're actually able to sustain. You've stopped chasing the next diet or the next quick fix, and you learned how to properly fuel your body. You learned and understand macros, and you learned that you can have carbohydrates. But most importantly, I feel like what enabled you to do that is not only having the coach in your corner telling you things and encouraging you, but also learning the education behind everything. I think that's really important, because it's going to carry you through your journey moving forward. And hopefully everyone's encouraged, too, that you were proactive about it. You were seeking answers. You didn't give up on yourself. And you didn't accept the narrative of, oh, well, I'm getting older, my doctor's just telling me this. You were like, no, I'm going to keep going, I'm going to keep figuring it out. And here you are. You figured it out, and you've got the tools and the resources now. So if anybody listening right now finds themselves in Bryn's story, I would encourage you to check out WarriorBabe at warriorbabe.com. Check it out and apply. Work with one of our coaches, and they'll get you on the same path that Bryn has been on. But most importantly, you've got to be willing to do the work. Bryn is a prime example. She's done the work. So you've got to do the work, right? Bryn, thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing your story. I appreciate you. Keep up the great work.

Bryn: Thank you. Thanks for having me.