Postpartum Weight Loss After Two Sets of Twins at 39

Nikkiey: What's up, everybody? Welcome to our WarriorBabe interview with our WarriorBabe, Marie. Marie has been a WarriorBabe for 10 months, starting back in May of 2020, the hot moment of COVID. And guys, I am so unbelievably excited for Marie to be here to share her story with you. In the time Marie has been a WarriorBabe, she's lost, up to this point, 85 pounds. She started around 315, 314.

Marie: Yeah.

Nikkiey: And 85 pounds lost. Guys, I'm going to have Marie elaborate more on her story because it's so amazing coming from her. But she is a busy, busy, busy, like a whole new emphasis of busy, mom of two sets of twins. Four years and younger.

Marie: Mm-hmm. My boys are four, my girls are two. It's fun.

Nikkiey: So if you have been living with the good old 'I don't have enough time' excuse, let Marie be a new standard for you all. Seriously. Marie is going to drop some insane value and insight today, as she has done such an incredible job mentally and physically so far. She's still got a lot of room to go and she's totally aware of that.

Marie: Oh, yeah.

Nikkiey: But up to this point, she's made incredible progress. So she's going to share a lot of value with you guys. Everybody, let's welcome Marie. I am so excited to have you.

Marie: Thanks, Nikkiey. I'm super excited to do this because, like I said to you, I was shocked that you asked me. I was like, I'm not ready. And you pointed out that I have made a significant amount of progress. So yeah, let's do it. Let's talk about it.

Nikkiey: All right. Cool, babe. Let's give everybody a little background on you: how old you are, your occupation. And when you guys hear the occupation, you'll be like, she's got two sets of twins and she does it. You're really going to re-question your...

Marie: Yeah. So I am 39. I'll be the big 4-0 in July, so that's a big milestone. Like you mentioned, I have two sets of twins. The boys are four and the girls are two. And that has been complete chaos, but beautiful chaos, as they say. I am also a full-time psychiatrist. I am the medical director for my department, for my company. So I see patients, and I'm the head of the emergency department for psychiatry and also consultation liaison psychiatry. So it's pretty busy.

Nikkiey: Yeah, very, very busy. So give us a rundown on how long you've been in the fitness world.

Marie: It's varied. Let's put it that way. I grew up playing three sports: tennis, basketball, softball. During that time I would lift, I went to practice, things like that. But I was never what I would call a gym rat. I just really enjoyed playing sports. Post-college, you have med school, you have residency, you have life, all that stuff. And honestly, my health just went down, because I unfortunately had other priorities at the time, and I did not make that a priority for myself. And then I had the twins and everything. During that time, I didn't really focus on any sort of exercising. I just wanted the quick fix. If I clean up my diet or something like that, the weight will come off or I'll be able to manage it. So I've tried probably almost everything under the sun.

It really wasn't until May of last year. One of my husband's good friends that he works with, she is buff. You should see her muscles. We're good friends on Facebook, and she actually follows you. That's how I stumbled across WarriorBabe. I'm like, who's this Nikkiey Stott girl? She looks awesome. And then I discovered the WarriorBabe community, and that's kind of what happened. I got back into fitness. I remember I really enjoyed lifting when I was doing it for sports. I'm not a big runner. I don't like it. But surprisingly, I'm starting to enjoy jogging a little bit more now. And I've really started to identify myself not as somebody who is just an athlete who plays sports, but as somebody who is into fitness now. I got away from it for a really long time. But I'm back. I love it.

Nikkiey: So to that point of yours, when May 2020 hit, what were you doing before you found WarriorBabe? You touched on having tried everything under the sun. What were some of the things you were doing?

Marie: Oh, yeah. Largely for the last 15 years of my life, I have dabbled on and off, primarily with low-carb diets. Atkins, keto, Ideal Protein, name it, that's what I did. The reason I did those is because food wasn't really limited. You just have to stay away from a certain food. If you can stay away from that, you can eat as much as you want of everything else. That's going to be a theme for me; you will notice it throughout this interview, the quantity of food. So that's why I always gravitated to those things. And I did lose weight temporarily, but the moment you shove a carb in your mouth, all of it comes back. It was just a roller coaster for me. I couldn't stop. I would fall off the wagon, and then a few months later I would try again.

I also did Weight Watchers for a hot couple of months, because I was like, oh, that's something different. And I did lose weight. But I felt so fluffy. I lost the weight, but it wasn't fat; a lot of it was muscle. I was just very flabby and not toned, and I really did not enjoy that. So after that, I went back to all these higher-protein, low-carb diets. And I found myself up to 316 pounds after having both sets of twins and nursing. I was eating like 4,000 calories a day just to produce enough milk for these kids. So I wasn't losing baby weight, plus I was still gaining weight to nurse these babies. And I nursed both sets of twins for a year each. So that's how I found myself where I was. And I just couldn't take it anymore.

Nikkiey: What was that trigger point? What made you go, all right, I've got to do something?

Marie: I saw a picture of myself. When I look back now at my beginning photos... nobody ever wants to take those beginning photos, because you're like, oh, that's not what I want to look like. And everyone says you just have to do it, because when you compare the progress, you're going to be amazed. And that is true. But I saw a photo of myself that somebody took, and I didn't even recognize that person. I had no idea what I actually looked like. I don't have a full-length mirror in my house for a reason. So I would just be looking at myself from here up all the time. And then I saw this photo, and I was like, something has to change. Because being a doctor, I know that I am on this road to a life of eventually developing type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure and all that stuff. And I thought to myself, is my only chance going to be bariatric surgery? Is that going to be my only chance? And it turns out, no. WarriorBabe was the answer for me.

Nikkiey: Share your mug really quick. Share your coffee mug.

Marie: Oh, my nanny got this for me for Christmas. It says, let's see, 'Wake up and be awesome.' As you can tell, coffee is life with the life that I lead. This coffee mug is quite large, but every day I wake up and I try to be awesome. That's what it comes down to.

Nikkiey: Yes, I love it, babe. Let's talk about your results. Dive a little bit more into what you've achieved and how you've achieved it. Because it has not been easy, and you have, what, two, four, six, eight little feet running around your home on a daily basis.

Marie: Well, 12 if you include our one-year-old puppy, because we're just gluttons for punishment for some reason.

Nikkiey: That's right. You got him in the middle of your...

Marie: Oh, yeah. A couple of months after I joined WarriorBabe, we're like, oh, getting a puppy, why not? But let me tell you something, he's loving the extra cardio you gave me recently.

Nikkiey: Awesome.

Marie: Oh, gosh. The journey hasn't been easy. In the beginning, just like everything else I did, you're gung-ho. You're motivated. You're like, I got this. So I joined just the WarriorBabe community, and I only did the first two weeks in the community, in terms of getting the starter emails. Those were really motivating for me. I didn't start exercising. I was like, I'll start the exercises a little bit later, after these emails. Because honestly, I was a little scared of it. I'm going to be honest. Am I going to be able to do these things? And I was tracking macros. Literally just two weeks in, they opened up slots for VIP. And one of the things you had mentioned in your emails was to get an accountability partner. So I found one. And she was like, oh, I think I'm going to go for VIP. And I was like, am I ready for that? Are they going to take me? These thoughts were running through my head. And I was like, let me check this out, let me see what it's like. Because, Marie, what you've been doing in your life and trying to do on your own obviously has not been working. I kind of needed a good kick in the ass. So I thought, let me see what VIP is about.

I had my first call with Raven, and then I met with you. And I was like, oh, okay, there's a lot of support here. Maybe this is what I need. Because I'd never had that, other than going to Weight Watchers meetings, but that's a whole other story. I never had that other support. So I started with VIP. And I will never forget those first workouts you gave me. They were all bodyweight workouts, and I literally wanted to die. I really did. I had my neighbor's daughter, who's like six years younger than me but in much better shape than me, do them with me. And she was like, oh my God, I don't think I'm going to make this. We really wanted to die. But I needed that extra support there to say, come on, Marie, let's go and do this. And I did. As sweaty as I was, as disgusting as I was afterwards, and as much as I felt like I wasn't going to be able to get up and walk, I still just did it. Because at the end of the day, I knew, oh crap, on Sunday I'm going to have to meet with Nikkiey and the other women in my group, and they're going to be like, how was your week?

So I just did that and stuck with the macros. In the beginning, it was really easy for me. I think the first really big bump in the road for mindset came in July, when I was like, hey, Nikkiey, remember those cheat meals everyone's talking about? When do I get one? And you were like, sure, I'll give you one, why not? And I was shocked that you gave me one. I was like, oh, okay, let's see how this goes. I was scared, because I have this habit of binging and then not getting back on track, and I didn't want that to happen again. And you said to me, well, let's deal with this now rather than later. I was like, okay, let's try it. So I remember doing that first meal, and it was glorious. It was wonderful. I remember exactly what I had: Japanese hibachi with some sushi, and it was phenomenal. It was a Saturday night, and we had our group call on Sunday. The next day I got up and went right back on my macros. What I think really helped me is planning all that stuff, making sure I'm logging my food so I don't have to think about it. Because the more I think about food, the more I want to start to cheat or start to slip. It just becomes too much of a focus in my forefront, and that's not what I need. I put a little bit of thinking into it, but then I need to go through the motions and just do. Because once I get thinking, forget it. It's all over.

Nikkiey: Yeah. So many women struggle with that cheat meal, and then the next day it turns into two meals. You woke up and you were like, uh-uh. You had your meal. Now it's back to the game.

Marie: Right. So that was a huge win for me, because that was in the middle of July. Just the fact that I was back there, I showed up to the call and the program, and I was right back on track. I'm like, holy crap, I've never done this before. Because this normally would turn into a cheat week. So that was huge. And I've still had bumps in the road since then.

Nikkiey: Well, yeah. So you've lost 85 pounds.

Marie: Yep.

Nikkiey: But we can talk a little bit about this. Of the 85 pounds, 80 pounds was in the first eight months.

Marie: Yep.

Nikkiey: In these last two months, you got COVID, and your whole family was sick. This is where people go, nope, I'm out, and go back to old habits and everything. Touch on that, because you had the bumps, but you're back at it.

Marie: Well, you always say progress is not linear, and you are absolutely correct. It goes up and down and up and down like this. But the idea is that the average continues in a straight line. That's the point. So what I had to do is work a lot on my mindset in terms of the scale, and what that scale means. For me, I don't feel like I'm your average WarriorBabe, because a lot of these women don't have nearly as much weight to lose, and a lot of them are focused on building muscle and things like that. So the scale does mean more in my journey because of that. But I can't get too focused on it. So for a long time, I just stepped on on Saturdays for my check-in, and that was it, and whatever happened had happened.

What I've been working on lately, over the past month or so, is: well, Marie, what does that number mean? Does it mean that you're a crappy mom because of that number? No. Does it mean that you're a good doctor or a bad doctor because of it? No. So why does it have so much meaning to you? So what I've started to do is, I actually weigh myself every day now, because I don't want to be afraid of the scale. And I use that number to say to myself, oh, hey, that's how this food affected me last night. For instance, this past Sunday in our call I said, oh, well, Nikkiey, sometimes I turn post-check-in cheat meals into half cheat days.

Nikkiey: The honesty came out.

Marie: Yes, the honesty came out. I think when you've been on this journey for so long, stuff like that does happen. But what I started to do was use the scale to say, Marie, that's how that behavior affected you. You ended up gaining four and a half pounds. Granted, it's water weight, but you ended up gaining four and a half pounds the day after you turned your cheat meal into two cheat meals after your check-in. Typically I would beat myself up about that, but I'm trying to look at it objectively and say, okay, this is information I can use. The next time I face my cheat meal on Saturday night, I can say, hey, Marie, what happened last week? You didn't lose as much weight this week because you had the second cheat meal on the same day. Is that something you want to do?

You're going to have slips and things like that. You're going to have periods of time when you have these great surges, you're doing great, and then you fall again. And that's okay. The idea is that you keep going and you learn from it. That's where I'm at with the mindset, really changing that. Because mindset change happens when you start to see yourself differently and identify yourself differently. I'm starting to see myself as a WarriorBabe. I look at you and I'm like, oh, look at Nikkiey, she's amazing. And I'm starting to see myself as, oh, I'm like that too.

Nikkiey: That's so amazing. And mentally and physically, you're going to get to that goal. I cannot wait. This is Marie 1.0. Wait till we get to Marie 2.0, when we lose the next big poundage and build more on the muscle you've got underneath from all your athletic years. That's going to be Marie 2.0.

Marie: And then we'll do Marie 3.0. I don't even know what comes after that. But I'm just focusing on this year. When I started, I said, Nikkiey, I'm going to be realistic. I will dedicate two years of my life to you. So that's the journey we're on right now.

Nikkiey: That's amazing, babe. I love it. And you're giving it your all. I can't wait to see what the end of those two years looks like.

Marie: Me too.

Nikkiey: So I want to touch on time. How do you find the time? We're going to edit in the pictures of the boys jumping, and you all outside in the snow, bundled up, doing cables.

Marie: I love the cables, by the way. But anyway, time. One thing I have learned, being a mom of two sets of twins and having my life, is you have to be flexible. If you can't roll with the punches, you're not going to survive. That's what it comes down to. And my career has helped me with that too, because that's how my career is. In the emergency department, you never know what's rolling in. You never know what you're going to see or what you're going to get. And that's how I feel like I live my life. I have an idea. I have a plan. But I can't get bogged down in those minor details.

So one, meal prepping has really helped me. I do a lot of meal prepping on Sunday, and then usually on Wednesday evenings I'll add some more stuff in. That's been a huge help for me. I just put it in big containers and throw it in the refrigerator, and then take it out the next day. I work from home, so I don't have to put it in little packages.

When it comes to my workouts, two days a week I work in the evenings. So I have my nanny come a couple of hours early on those two days so I can get my workouts in. I work out from home, so instead of a gym membership, I'm using that money to pay someone else to be with my kids so I can work out. I do workouts four days a week. On the other days, I have to say, my husband is so incredibly supportive. That's really what it comes down to. I have such good help around me. He knows that this is what I want to do and this is my goal, so he's going to make it happen. So oftentimes it'll be after work, and he's home with the kids. But I pretty much incorporate the kids into my workouts.

Nikkiey: Well, the boys come and try to impress you.

Marie: Yeah, that's what they do. Andrew's favorite exercise of all time is burpees. This is from when I started, in the beginning, when I was doing one of the HIIT sessions. He's like, Mommy, let's do burpees. I'm like, no, I don't want to. Why do you want to do this? But I have small dumbbells for them. They lie down next to me and do the workouts I'm doing too. And they do crawl on me. Does it make for the perfect workout? No, it absolutely doesn't. But I make it work for me. And clearly, if you can get past the whole perfection thing, you're still going to do well and get the results you want, because it's working for me. Working out from home is what I need to do, and I just put it in there.

For my cardio, I alternate walking and running. I do one minute of running, two minutes of walking, and I bring the dog. That's what I do. So I incorporate my family into working out.

Nikkiey: It serves you selfishly, but you're having them pick up on your habits. You're helping them.

Marie: Oh, absolutely. Around Christmas time, my boys decided to draw a picture of our family in front of a Christmas tree. They're little stick figures; it's cute. And they decided they wanted everyone in the family to have an accessory or something like that. I think they gave my husband a cell phone, because my husband always has a cell phone. For me, they put a cup of coffee in one of my hands, and in the other hand they drew a dumbbell. And I stopped, and I'm like, wait, that's how they see me. Oh my God. And I loved that, because that's how I want to see myself. And I want them to see that, because I want to instill those habits in them. So they're right there along with me.

Or I use my kids' swing set to work out. I have my cables and everything that I hook up out there. Sometimes they're outside playing as I'm working out. They'll go down the slides, they'll do their thing. One of my kids loves playing soccer, so in between, I'll kick a goal with him. That's just how we do it. I incorporate it in there, and that's how the time happens.

Nikkiey: That's so amazing. Like I said at the beginning, if you guys question whether you have enough time, take those strategies Marie just shared with you and put them into place. That's incredible. You're such a role model, even for the people around you, our group, the WarriorBabes, the women who are going to be listening to this. So incredible, babe.

Okay. Now, coming from what you were doing previously, you shared about the quantity of food, right? You were cutting out macro groups. So how did you deal with the psychology side of eating more to lose weight?

Marie: I still am. With what I had done previously, the low carb and stuff like that, I didn't pay attention to how much I was eating. And I probably was eating a hell of a lot more than I should have been, because I would just cut out large groups. For me, the whole playing with my mind was, wait, I eat carbs? I get to eat carbs? How are these carbs going to affect me? I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to blow up. My belly is going to be even bigger than it already is. So that was the big thing for me. I have always been a volume eater. That's something I'm still struggling with, and I've developed some tricks to manage it.

But the whole psychology of 'you can eat carbs and it is okay,' I literally just had to say, I'm not going to think about it. I'm going to put my trust in you, Nikkiey, and we will see what happens. Like I told you, I would give you two years of my life. I might question things every once in a while, but I will believe you and we'll see what happens. It's like when you gave me that diet break. I had way more carbs and fat, and I'm like, Nikkiey, don't do this to me. I've come so far. I'm going to gain weight. Nope, I lost. Totally lost. I was like, what? So I told you, I will never question you again. I'm just going to do what you tell me to do, because what I've been doing for 39 years has not worked. So why would I know any better? That's really what it comes down to.

Nikkiey: Amen. Amen.

Marie: The gospel according to Nikkiey. That's what it comes down to.

Nikkiey: And all the coaches too, because after Marie joined, we definitely increased our coaching department. There are 10 more coaches now.

Marie: Wow.

Nikkiey: So it's the whole WarriorBabe Bible, the gospel that we preach. More food gets you more results. If you're eating more food and you lose weight, and then you plateau, that's totally, 150,000 percent normal. And to break through that: more food.

Marie: Well, one of the great things is that we have these groups and we meet every Sunday. The women in our group are so supportive. Like I mentioned, I don't feel like the average woman who joins WarriorBabe, but they just embraced me with open arms. Like, girl, yeah, you've got a lot of fluff on you, but it's okay. It's all right. And they have been such a source of strength and support and inspiration for me. The fact that we meet every Sunday with you and the rest of them, that's what keeps me going. That's what keeps me coming back.

Nikkiey: It's great. Our group is so supportive. It's a whole community, from the VIP to the Blueprint. There's so much support. It's incredible. Marie is a VIP, so we have that added one-on-one and the added group interaction weekly, which is so nice. It sets the tone for the week.

Marie: It does. Yeah, for sure.

Nikkiey: Marie, there are tons of women listening to this. What's some advice you could give somebody who's in your shoes, or was in your shoes, and is just starting their fitness journey?

Marie: I think what makes my journey a little unique, or a little different from other women's, is that other women come in going, oh, I can't eat that much food, where I'm like, yes, give me all the food you can, because I am a volume eater. And like I mentioned, I struggle with binging. Oh, look at this little cookie. I have not in the past been able to have one or two cookies like a normal person. I have to eat the entire box, or half of it. That's always been a struggle for me, which is why I went to keto and low-carb diets, because I could eat as much as I wanted of everything else. But it's not sustainable. This is the first thing that has been sustainable for me.

So there were a few things I had to do. My first thing was, I like to eat at night. At least that's what it was like for me when I first started. So in the beginning, I would hold off on eating in the morning, because I was only doing five meals a day. I just don't have time to eat six times a day. So I would hold off on eating a little bit, and then I would eat regularly after that. That way I still had time for my late-night snack, and it was actually a late-night snack. That was big for me. I didn't feel hungry before going to bed or anything like that. So that was one thing that really helped me.

Something I've realized recently is that when I'm in a cut, because your calories are lower, if I eat six times a day I don't feel satisfied at the end, because I'm used to going into a food coma after I eat. So I typically do five meals a day, and I make sure I'm eating regularly. I'm literally eating every three, three and a half hours. Eating regularly gets me into a habit, number one. Number two, I'm not obsessing over it all the time, because like I said, if I think about the food too much, forget it, it's all over. And I'm not super hungry later on in the day. By having five meals instead of six, I feel more satisfied at the end of my meal, rather than being like, oh, that's all I can have. I remember taking a picture of my tiny little pile of rice and sending it to Cheryl, who was eating like a billion grams of carbs a day. I'm like, Cheryl, look at this tiny little pile of rice I get. And she's like, there's a few bites there.

But the biggest thing I've learned is what foods I can incorporate that are going to give me a larger volume, so that I feel like I'm eating more. So instead of just eating my organic brown rice, I mix a crap ton of riced cauliflower in with my brown rice. I'm still getting my complex carbs, I'm getting my veggies, which is really good, and my plate looks super full. I'm eating a heck of a lot more when you do something like that. Or spaghetti squash. Pasta is the one thing I still have to tackle when it comes to portion control. So I do spaghetti squash, and I can eat a ton of it. And no, it's not the same as eating noodles, let's be honest. But when you put your pasta sauce on top and your meat and whatever you want to put on there, it tricks my mind enough to be like, okay, you're eating a ton of food, so you're going to be satisfied, and this is a good thing. And I'm still eating clean.

I used to joke, and this was more of a defense mechanism, that portion control is for communists. So that tells you where my mindset was. And I'm like, haha, that's funny, Marie, but now let's be realistic, because portion control is really important. So that is something I'm working on. Rather than saying to myself, I can't stop eating this, I'm saying, yes, I can. And I'm trying to incorporate more things into my macros. Like last night, I had a rice cake with some peanut butter, some mini chocolate chips on top and some strawberries, in addition to some turkey, I think. So I got my turkey with the protein in there, but then I got that too. For me, it's more about mindful eating and slowing down, and actually enjoying what I'm eating and trying to taste it, rather than just inhaling everything.

So eating regularly, spacing these things out, making sure I'm satisfied at the end of each meal, that I'm eating a good volume and it's fitting into my macros because of my food choices, and that I'm incorporating little treats in there, that's what's really been helpful for me. And when my kids are done eating, all those leftover scraps, instead of mindlessly going in my mouth, go right in the dog dish.

Nikkiey: That's important. There you go. Beautiful. Those are some great starter tips for people. Portion control is so important. And your mind saying, yes, I can, that's huge. It's a huge part of growing the mindset to work with you, not against you, along your journey. Big, valuable tips, babe. Thank you.

So describe what being a WarriorBabe is. What does that mean to you?

Marie: The first word that comes to mind is strong. And not just physically strong; obviously that goes without saying. But strong in your mind, having a strong sense of self. I hear from a lot of women whose friends and family... they're not as fortunate as I am, because mine are incredibly supportive. But I hear that people will say things to them like, why do you want to look like that? Or why can't you have fun and just eat this like the rest of us? It takes a lot of strength not to give in to that. Peer pressure is a real thing. That's legit. So I think you have to have a strong sense of self, knowing who you are and where you want to be in life, and then also being able to say no to those people and stand up to them. And then obviously kicking ass in the gym or at home with your workouts and things like that. That's obviously part of being a WarriorBabe.

Nikkiey: Hell yeah. I love it. When you first saw WarriorBabe, what made you pull the trigger?

Marie: I remember this. I was in my boys' room putting them to sleep. They're in their little toddler beds, and because there are two of them, I'm kind of between them, with my phone, as I'm waiting for them to fall asleep. I'm just looking on Facebook. Like I mentioned, my husband's friend is a physical specimen. So I clicked on her page, and then you came up, and I was like, oh, she looks good. Let me see what this is all about. What made me pull the trigger is that this sounded like something different from what I had done. And the fact that it's individualized, where everything else was just, hey, everybody do the exact same thing. How is that going to help anybody? It might work for a little bit, but you're going to plateau at some point, because everyone's body is different. So it's definitely individualized.

I liked the idea that this seemed like it could be sustainable, because that has always been my biggest issue. After a few months, it's like, well, what's going to keep you going? You can't avoid an entire food group forever. I guess some people can. I can't. I've clearly failed many times over. So I knew that wasn't the right road for me. So this seemed legit. And then also having the support behind it. I think that's one of the biggest things, hands down: having the entire community, having you as my coach, having all the support on Facebook and within the calls and everything. And our group is tight-knit. We message each other. I feel closer to some of these women than I do to other people I see on a regular basis. We have a common goal, and everyone is just so supportive. Those were the biggest things that made me pull the trigger.

And I said, you know what, Marie, you clearly have no idea what you're doing. You can either go down the road of being incredibly unhealthy and dying young. You could get bariatric surgery, but that's not going to solve your binge eating problem. It's just a temporary fix. Or you can really try to do something. And I never realized how much my mindset would change in this. This is not just a diet and exercise program. This is so much more. I feel like I'm in freaking therapy every week, which is a good thing. Everyone needs therapy.

Nikkiey: I know. That's what we joke about. We don't prescribe just macros and workouts. We're helping these women first break belief systems, and believe that what they've been doing is obviously not going to get them to where they need to be. So it's a total rewiring of every mental aspect that comes into dieting and diet culture, and really getting you to point B.

Marie: Absolutely. And you would think as a psychiatrist, I would know the psychology behind eating and be like, come on, Marie, let's go. You would think that. But now I'm like, well, now I've got to believe the stuff I tell my clients and my patients. I actually have to apply it. And clearly I wasn't ready until now. Previously, my biggest thing was social situations. Before kids, when I sort of had a life, going out in social situations was really hard for me. And now I happened to be at a point in my life, mainly because of my family and my children, where I said, something has to change, because I need to be there for them later on. I want to be able to run around and keep up with them. I'm running next to my boys as they're riding their bikes now, and I couldn't do that a year ago. No freaking way. And it makes me happy to be able to do that.

Nikkiey: That's so amazing, Marie. I love it. Your whole presence inside our community is amazing, and your progress is just so inspirational.

Marie: Thanks. Well, I couldn't have done it without you. We're a good team.

Nikkiey: Oh, absolutely. The entire team couldn't have done it without you guys. So to close off this interview, which has been so freaking amazing: you guys can take tons and tons of value from what Marie shared, the insight she shared, definitely the time management for those of you who say you're busy and all that jazz. Marie has a very busy life, and she's achieving her goals every single day, and there's nothing that's going to stop her until she gets where she wants to be. And I think it's super incredible that you had options, like you say, like just going down the unhealthy route, but you were like, the realistic thing is managing myself, figuring out my habits and making them better. And when you open up awareness to what you need to fix, you're more likely to fix it rather than hide it. And that's uncomfortable as fuck. We've had a lot of uncomfortable moments, but that's what's gotten you to grow and to be where you are right now.

Marie: Completely. I tell you this all the time: I will never forget the first time you told people how much I weighed. It was because I broke through the barrier from the 300s into the 200s. And I'm like, holy shit, she just told everyone how much I weighed. Oh my God. And then I stopped. I'm like, well, why do you care so much? No one even flinched. It's all my worry and my baggage that I'm carrying with it, and nobody else in this community even cared. They were so excited for me. This group and this whole program have forced me to be vulnerable, which I did not like. I hate it, but it's what I need. I sit here and just say, yeah, this is me, this is who I am, and this is what I'm dealing with. And people accept you for it. That's the beauty of it, because then you can be open and honest about things. And that's when change really happens.

Nikkiey: Yeah. Powerful, babe. All right, to close down this interview: what is your favorite snack and/or macro combo? It can be a snack or a meal.

Marie: Oh, my favorites. This changes for me all the time. My new kick is what I mentioned I had last night: a rice cake with some peanut butter, of course no sugar added, little mini chocolate chips and strawberries. That's the snacky part. And then I buy the Applegate turkey and ham, because those are Whole30 compliant. That's something I focus on, whole foods and Whole30. So I eat some turkey with that. That's my new snacky thing that I'm really into right now.

Nikkiey: Touch of salt, touch of sweet.

Marie: Exactly.

Nikkiey: I love it. And what's your favorite muscle group to work out?

Marie: Well, my favorite exercise of all time is the hip thrust, hands down. I love hip thrusts. Give them to me, because I want a big old butt, like a big old muscular badonk. Give it to me. But I don't love working out glutes all the time. I just love hip thrusts. My favorite body part to work out is my back. I actually love doing rows with the cables and everything. Back's my favorite.

Nikkiey: Insert photo of Marie outside. I'm going to put it in at least five spots throughout this video. Five, six inches of snow, if not more, doing rows.

Marie: Listen, you just have to make life work. Do you think my house is as clean as I would like it to be? No. With four little kids, it's not going to happen. Something has to give. So you roll with the punches. Yeah, it's snowing; I'll put some snow pants on. That's just what you do. I could work out, or I could sit here and run after the kids and make sure my house is spotless so it can be destroyed five seconds later. I'm going to work out. I'm going to work out, and I'm going to teach them to put their toys away. It'll happen one day.

Nikkiey: I love it. Awesome, Marie. Thank you so, so much for being here, sharing insight, sharing value. It's really appreciated.

Marie: Thanks for having me. It was awesome. It was fun.

Nikkiey: For those of you who watched this interview and want to learn more about WarriorBabe and the programs we offer, you can check out warriorbabe.com. Like Marie says, the support is so freaking amazing. Be a part of thousands of women who are getting toned and becoming stronger, more confident versions of themselves. So definitely check out warriorbabe.com. And Marie, thank you, babe. Again, I appreciate you.

Marie: Oh, I appreciate all you guys. And guys, really check it out. You will not regret it, because I definitely don't.

Nikkiey: Thank you. And stay tuned for Marie 2.0.

Marie: In a year. Give me another year.

Nikkiey: Yeah, let's do it. Cool. See you, everyone.