Skinny Fat to Lean: Cuts, Maintenance and Going Out

Nikkiey: Hey everyone, welcome to our WarriorBabe interview with our veteran WarriorBabe, Jen. Jen has been a WarriorBabe for a year and almost six months. You joined me in 2019 and you started at 129 pounds. You were 27% body fat.

Jen: Yeah.

Nikkiey: And 29 at the time, right? You were 29 when you joined us.

Jen: Yes.

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

Jen: Yeah.

Nikkiey: In a year and six months. Dude, you have completely changed your body composition. You are no longer the skinny fat Jen.

Jen: No, not at all.

Nikkiey: Your transformation has been insanely incredible. So everyone, Jen is here today to share some pointers so that you can adopt some of her strategies for your own journey moving forward. So welcome, Jen. I'm excited to have you here, babe.

Jen: Thanks, I'm excited.

Nikkiey: Cool. All right, so let's get a little bit of the background on you. I did share how old you are, but what's your occupation? What do you do? How long have you been in fitness? Let's take it from there.

Jen: 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 was always kind of the 'I'm just going to go run and work out' type. Through college I would just do it every now and then. Then in PA school, one of my roommates convinced me to do a weightlifting program with her, and that introduced me to it. Once I got out of school and moved to Houston, I started working out every single day, doing Orangetheory, doing kickboxing, and basically just becoming more active.

Nikkiey: Cool, babe. How do you feel being in the fitness and nutrition world has changed your life?

Jen: They definitely say it's a lifestyle change and not just a fad diet, and I feel like it was always a fad diet until I joined WarriorBabe. The year and a half has completely transformed my way of thinking. I'm not doing this to lose weight or gain muscle. I mean, I am, but at the same time my mindset has shifted. I enjoy changing my body, I enjoy working towards it, I enjoy learning about my body and how food affects my body. So WarriorBabe has transformed my way of thinking for sure.

Nikkiey: That's awesome, babe. Well, let's start from the beginning of your WarriorBabe journey. What were you doing before you found WarriorBabe? What diets, what other programs, and what struggles were you trying to solve at that time?

Jen: I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know what it was called or how to get there. So I looked into nutritionists, like, I don't know how to get here but this is what I want, and they were zero help. A friend of mine suggested this other girl who was doing similar things, and she introduced me to a coach who had done some bodybuilding. He put me on a very strict diet. I 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 understanding of what I wanted and how to attain it in some ways. That helped my Google searching a lot, just to figure out what I wanted. And then you popped up on Instagram and kept saying the exact same thing that I wanted, and I was like, yeah, that's it. This is what I want. I don't want to lose a ton of weight, I just want to get the fat off my body.

So I was on Instagram and I immediately signed up for Revolution. I started my WarriorBabe journey in Revolution, and I was on basically every single Q&A, just listening to every single question, because nine times out of ten those babes had more questions than I knew I wanted to know. Then after a month or two I joined the Blueprint and spent weeks and weeks trying to learn, watching all the videos and absorbing as much information as I could. At that point I was like, I want to do this well and I need to learn from Nikkiey, and that's when I joined VIP in May.

Nikkiey: Nice, babe. You've just gone up the ladder, like, I need more and more.

Jen: Exactly. Yep.

Nikkiey: That's awesome. I shared a little bit about your results in the opening of this interview, but let's hear it from you. What results have you achieved, and how did those results improve your life?

Jen: We started out in a cutting phase. I was at 129 and got down to about 116, and that was a struggle. It was basically jumping straight in: here are all your macros, here's what you need to eat, here's your water. Then learning how each of the foods I ate affected my body, and also learning how to curb cravings in social settings. I think that was one of the biggest things I learned the first round. Counting macros is very different from most people's normal lifestyle, so it was hard for my friends to understand why I was doing this, because I was skinny fat and they didn't understand my goals. They were always pressuring me, like, why are you doing this? And in social settings I'd just want to go and gorge my face with Mexican food. That took a lot of self-control and a lot of learning, because I failed a lot.

It was towards the end that you were like, you need to kick it into gear. What did you say? I think you said your actions aren't in alignment with your goals.

Nikkiey: Yes, yes.

Jen: So that kicked me into gear and I was like, okay, let's just focus and finish this out. Then hormonally I was kind of out of whack. I lost my period for a few months. So by the end of that cut I was like, my body needs to be in a maintenance phase. We were also low on calories, and it was hard because my body had never done that before. Going into the maintenance phase was hard and I hated it, because you gain weight back. And because I lost my period, we were trying to get me to gain more fat and get my period back to normal, which it did. I ended up going back up to 125, so I felt like I had lost all the work I had done. But you kept saying, just trust the process, trust me, I promise.

The whole first cut was like, I just want to get through this cut and be done. Then after going through that, the maintenance phase and a little bit of building, I think it finally shifted: this is not just a one and done. It's actually going to be a lifestyle. It's going to take time to build the body that I want. So going into the second cut, I was in a much better mindset. Socially, I had finally 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 they don't actually take it, so it's fine.

Nikkiey: You became the queen of handling social situations. It's amazing to see where you were with your friends, hearing about the weekends and whatever you were telling me, and why results weren't happening. That's when I was like, you've got to kick it into gear, girl. And then that switch, you were like, okay, I'm in control of this. I can do it. How can I do it? And then you just did it. You did a whole 180 in social situations. Now you are just in control.

Jen: I know. I think it was more just thinking, okay, here are my goals. Eating this food is going to taste great, but what is it going to do? It's going to make me feel guilty. It's going to make me feel bloated. It's going to make me hate myself and do a lot of self-explosion in my mind. Whereas I could have a bite or two, be satisfied, and then just move on and eat the food that I cooked, which tastes just as good.

So this cut was a lot better. I didn't hit the exact number that I wanted, but I learned that I can withstand social situations. My body is also different from everyone else's, so my goal number may look different on me than it's going to look on somebody else. I accepted that and just hit it hard, and I finally got down to my ideal body. Now we're starting to go back up to maintenance, and it's been cool, because I've learned so much about my body. The first time around, if I had gained two pounds in a week I would have freaked out. This week I started off at 112, and I think I weighed in at 114.8, but I know it's a lot of water weight. I know it's hormonal because I'm going to start my period next week, and I know I didn't get the best sleep last night. So I'm not worried about it. I know it's going to come off. I know that I've stuck to my diet this weekend.

Nikkiey: Everything you're saying is so amazing. The women listening to this are going to be like, oh my gosh. It's going to be such an impactful interview for sure. I can just feel it already. I want to pull out what you just said and have you explain a little bit more. You said this is not one and done, I'm not just going to get to my ideal shape. That's what people think. But you're the perfect example of somebody who has completely changed your body composition, and you've gone through the different phases. What can you say to somebody who thinks it's one and done?

Jen: I think the biggest thing is you have to focus on each goal. Otherwise you're like, oh my gosh, it's going to take me four years to get the body that I want, I'm done, I'm just going to eat what I want. Whereas if you think, okay, I have this goal in mind, it's probably going to take me anywhere from three to six months, then you just pick it up. Let's just make it to the end. My cut ended around the end of August, September. So I was like, let's just make it to then. And throughout that time, each day you're like, okay, I'm closer, I'm almost done, I'm almost done. And then after that, you were like, okay, let's reevaluate. Let's go back into a maintenance phase, let's go into a building phase. 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 did the time go?

Nikkiey: Yeah, girl, seriously. You've accomplished in a year and a half what normally takes people four or five years, because they're yo-yoing. They're like, okay, I'm done, now I can eat. And then they're back to where they were when they first started. You didn't have those moments. Well, you had them a hundred percent, but you snapped back right away. Whereas people usually go two, three weeks, and before they know it it's two months and they're like, what am I doing with my life?

Jen: Yeah, exactly.

Nikkiey: You literally cut down what normally takes people four or five years. You've done it in a year and a half. It's incredible. So what do you think the impact of becoming a WarriorBabe has been?

Jen: I mean, it's life-changing, honestly. Not only from learning about your body, learning how food affects your body, how to manipulate your body and in some ways be in control of that, but the community we have is insane. Not only the VIP Facebook page, but the Blueprint and Revolution. I'm part of all three, so I get to see all the encouragement through those. The women that get on there showing ourselves and showing our bodies, that is literally the most vulnerable thing we can do as women. We are so insecure, we are so hard on ourselves, and by being brave and courageous enough to post that... There have even been a few VIPs who said, hey, I've been off the bandwagon for a few weeks, I really need some encouragement. And then you see everyone pouring in, like, you look awesome, don't worry about this. You get so far into 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 want to listen to the lies, but I'm not going to today.

Nikkiey: You're giving me chills. Spot on. I love that you mentioned the vulnerability, and being courageous enough, confident enough, to share, 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 eating more food in order to get to where you've gotten?

Jen: That's hard. The first time around was really, really hard. I definitely had a lot of, why am I doing this? I feel so fat. I'm just losing all the work I did. Through that process, 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. That was really helpful, because the first cut we went through was the first time it happened. My body hadn't really gone through this, and we needed to train it to do what we needed it to do. Through the maintenance phase and the second cut, I feel like my body finally caught up, so this round I feel so much better.

Each week my carbs have been increasing. In the first few weeks I definitely noticed a lot of bloating, just because your body's not used to those carbs, so it's going to react a little. But I feel like, one, my body's adjusted, so it's taking in the carbs and it's not just gaining weight. And I've also learned so much about my body that when I notice I need to stop, I let you know. A week or two ago I was like, hey, I'm gaining, I feel it, I know my body's just not adjusting, can we slow down a little bit? And that was really helpful for sure.

Nikkiey: What's really cool about the VIPs and our relationship is, one, you trust me and you just do it, and you believe. That's really important. Even though your mind starts saying whoa, you're like, I'm just going to do it anyway, and you do it, and that's freaking amazing. On top of that, it's a 50-50 effort as a team, you and me. Okay, Jen's saying this, let's work together, let's figure it out, pull back if we need to.

Jen: Yeah, communication.

Nikkiey: To any coach in the VIP, communication is so important. Communication in the Blueprint, so important. Utilizing the Q&A is so important.

Jen: So important. Because even if you're not in the VIP and you're doing it yourself, the longer you do it, the more you learn about your body and the more you recognize, okay, I need to stop, or this week I feel good. Last week I felt good and we made a change that we needed to make. But even if you're not in VIP, you can still utilize those Q&As. You can utilize the Facebook group to say, hey, this is what's going on with my body, does anyone have any advice? Those who have been doing it longer will say, okay, here's what I suggest. And usually you and some of the other coaches are reading through the feeds and giving your input as well.

Nikkiey: Yeah, 100%. And you said people who have been doing it for longer get into a groove. You start understanding your body, you start recognizing what's going on, and at that point it's kind of smooth sailing. You know the cues. So what advice would you give someone who is just getting started?

Jen: Take it day by day, and take a breath, because it is a lot to take in. I've talked a lot about not doing a one and done, a quick fix you hope works fast. Go into it with the mindset of, okay, this is going to be a lifestyle change. It's not going to be a new fad thing that I do. Then watch the videos, do as much as you can to absorb the information, and accept your failures, because you will fail and it's okay. That's why it's a journey and not a fad. You're going to have ups and downs the whole time.

Nikkiey: For sure. I was listening to something interesting the other day about how we're all habit loops. It's truly a lifestyle, and you can't accomplish something in 30 days or two months. The reason people yo-yo is that their habit grooves from years prior are so deep and ingrained that they always resort back to those habits, even though they were doing something new for 60 or 90 days. Those habits are so strong. We're constant habit loops, and we have to keep reiterating these new habits. The habits we created for ourselves got us to where we are, so we have to make brand new habits that change the whole course of the journey you're on. You're going to face situations here and there where you're like, okay, whatever, I'm going to have a couple of pieces. But you've created a new habit that is more ingrained and more powerful than your old habits, and that's the lifestyle. That's how you get to wanting to work out, wanting to hit your macros, wanting to eat well. And now you've even incorporated some intuitive days, so you start learning more and hone in even more on a lifestyle. We've got to replace the habits that don't serve us with habits that serve our goals.

Jen: Absolutely. And those habits are so hard to break and to form. I think once you commit to the first cut, or the first phase you're going through, which usually takes three to six months, that's when the habits start forming. You're like, okay, I want to go work out, I want to do this, I want to eat right, because I feel like crap when I don't.

Nikkiey: Yes, 100%. All right, I think you mentioned this in the beginning, but where did you first hear about WarriorBabe, and what piqued your interest the most about it?

Jen: I saw an ad on Instagram. So praise for those, because sometimes you go down a rabbit hole and sometimes you change your life. I explained a little before that I knew what I wanted but I didn't know the verbiage to get there. I watched a video, then went down the rabbit hole and watched a lot more videos, and everything you said was just yes. I'm not trying to lose weight, I just want to get more toned. I want to have control of my body and be able to manipulate it in certain ways. I want to have muscle and look a lot leaner. You said all of those things, and at the same time, being able to eat what I want. That was the biggest thing. The first time around, the trainer I was with literally had me eating just broccoli, rice and chicken. No flavor, no nothing. And I love to cook. Every single week I make new recipes. This week I tried salmon burgers, I made a beef stew, and I made some mini pumpkin muffins that were so good. So I love having that freedom with food, and that piqued my interest a lot.

Nikkiey: I'm happy you brought that up, because I know you love to cook. So many women struggle with this. I know you don't have a family yet, you're working towards it, but how do you incorporate the meals you make into your macros?

Jen: MyFitnessPal is my best friend. I'm a 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-tos. Basically I create recipes inside MyFitnessPal and go through and manipulate them to get the macros I need. The beef stew I made was basically ground beef with a ton of veggies and potatoes, and I made homemade dumplings to go inside it. I would go into MyFitnessPal and type in extra lean ground beef and how much, say a pound, and then I think I did 12 ounces of potatoes, and however much broccoli, green beans, onions, carrots and so on. Then say I needed less protein. Instead of a pound of ground beef, I would adjust it to half a pound or three-quarters of a pound. I keep going back and forth: okay, I need 20 or 30 grams of protein for this meal, so I'll keep manipulating the ground beef until I get that. Same with the potatoes. If I have too many carbs for that meal, I'll cut the amount of potatoes and keep manipulating it until I hit that macro. I usually make it four servings because I'll eat it throughout the week. So I throw it all in a pot, weigh it, and divide it by four, and that gives me how much each serving is. Each serving is now the exact macros I need.

Nikkiey: Incredible.

Jen: It's kind of detailed, but once you get the hang of it... You always mention making sure we plan ahead, because if you don't plan ahead, most of the time it's not going to be a successful day. So I plan my week the previous week. I'll pick two or three days where I have the same breakfast, lunch and snacks, then switch it up. It takes me 10 minutes to plan my whole week, it's super easy, and I get to play around with it. Sometimes I'll include treats. One time I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for snacks and they were delicious.

Nikkiey: It's so good.

Jen: And they're healthy. There are different options you can use, like chocolate chips made with stevia instead of regular sugar. You just learn and find ways to work around it that still taste so good.

Nikkiey: Yeah, 100%. Maybe I'll have to grab the ingredients from you and post a screenshot or put it beneath the video so that women can use them.

Jen: Oh yeah, I have tons. I have lots of recipes.

Nikkiey: That's going to help so many women, because so many ask, well, how do I cook for my family? They think they have to make separate meals when they don't. You just have to plan. All WarriorBabes are going to have that tattooed.

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

Nikkiey: Exactly. And break it down just like Jen did, guys. Break it down in MyFitnessPal the way she just explained, and it's done. And it's awesome that you're planning weeks now. We started off with just planning ahead your days, and now it's at the point where it takes only 10 minutes and you're planning an entire week. That's incredible. That gives a lot of inspiration to people who are just getting started too. It does get easier. You've just got to keep putting in the work, right?

Jen: Exactly.

Nikkiey: So describe what being a WarriorBabe means to you.

Jen: It means the world. I feel so privileged to be a part of the community. Having been with it for a year and a half now, there are some WarriorBabes who started at the same time as me, and I get to see their journeys, but also encourage the new people in their journeys, and be encouraged myself, because life's hard. Sometimes it has nothing to do with fitness or food, and we just help with life problems. It's really cool. I have never been part of a community that's so uplifting, so encouraging in your goals and your struggles, and constantly wanting you to do your best.

Nikkiey: That's amazing. What area do you feel you get the most value from?

Jen: I would say community. I don't participate as much as everyone else, but I still read everything. Seeing other people's wins... each week on our call we go over each other's wins, and it's really cool to celebrate everyone. Now that I've gotten a good grasp of food and nutrition, the community part is what I get the most out of. But it's still a learning process. Each time I join in on calls I still learn something new. The other day you all talked about a pelvic tilt, and now every time I do anything, all I do is tuck in my pelvis.

Nikkiey: Beautiful, I love that. How likely are you to recommend WarriorBabe?

Jen: Oh, a thousand percent. It's so easy to sell something you believe in, that you've done, that you know works and that you know takes time. Anyone who's even a little interested in my lifestyle, I'm like, let me tell you, and I just go off.

Nikkiey: That's awesome, babe. Why should someone listening right now take action?

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

Nikkiey: Mic drop. That's awesome, babe. That's so true. You could keep making excuses, or, like you said, you could go down the rabbit hole of all the ads on Facebook and Instagram, and it can change your life.

Jen: Yeah, so true.

Nikkiey: So let's close out with your favorite. Because you love to cook, I know you've got a favorite snack or macro combo.

Jen: Right now my favorite snack that I've been making is banana chocolate chip pancakes. But I'm also obsessed with my pre- and post-workouts. I have a banana bread English muffin, which, if you haven't tried them, find them. They're so good. And you introduced me to peanut butter chocolate Cheerios, and I'm obsessed. I could eat the whole box and make myself sick, but they're so freaking good.

Nikkiey: They are amazing. And you get more carbs, so you can just keep adding them.

Jen: Exactly. Four cups.

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

Jen: I have a love-hate relationship with leg day. I love it because I still love cardio and I love getting my heart rate up and doing HIIT-style stuff, and the leg workout I have now is killing me with cardio. But your legs are some of the strongest muscles, so working them just makes you feel strong and powerful.

Nikkiey: Hulk mode.

Jen: Yes, exactly.

Nikkiey: Awesome. Jen, thank you so much for your time on this interview today. For those of you who want to learn more about the programs WarriorBabe offers and how to get started, you can go to warriorbabe.com, and like Jen said, become a part of this community of women who are getting toned and becoming a stronger, more confident version of themselves. So sign up and take action. Thank you, I appreciate your time. This interview is going to help so many women from so many different points that you've shared.

Jen: Thanks for having me.

Nikkiey: All right, bye everyone.

Jen: Bye.