Why a Fitness Instructor Over 50 Wasn't Seeing Results

Nikkiey: Hey everyone, welcome to our first WarriorBabe interview with our veteran WarriorBabe, DeeDee. DeeDee has been a WarriorBabe for what now? Almost a year and a half? Almost two years?

DeeDee: Almost. It'll be two years in October.

Nikkiey: In October, yeah. And she's a part of both the Blueprint and the VIP program, and she has literally made a 180 turnaround from where she started to where she is today. Along her journey she's had amazing accomplishments, both mentally and physically, one of them being conquering her first bodybuilding competition. And today she is here to share some pointers for you, babe, so that you can adopt some of her tips into your own journey moving forward. So welcome, DeeDee. I'm so excited to be chatting with you right now.

DeeDee: Well, first of all, welcome, ladies, to your new journey. It definitely is a journey, that's for sure.

Nikkiey: Yeah. So tell us about your story and how you got to where you are right now.

DeeDee: All right. Well, I was 51 when I started with you. I'm going to be 53 in August. I've always loved fitness. I've always walked, I've always done classes, and then I got certified to be a fitness instructor. Long story short, I own my own boot camp business, so I teach classes. Fitness is my life. I'm a physical therapist assistant, so I like helping people towards their goals and with their journeys. But I needed some help myself, especially in the nutrition department. I could work out all day long, but I learned after joining this group that I wasn't eating right, because I wasn't seeing the results. I was working out all the time, but you couldn't tell that I was working out all the time. That was my biggest concern. I'm like, I work out all the time, why can't I see any results? So you really brought it to my attention that I needed to really work on my eating. And that was a struggle.

Nikkiey: For sure, for sure. I'm going to ask you some questions about that in a minute. But awesome. Like I said, you've made such a huge turnaround, a 180, from when you first joined WarriorBabe to where you are today. And talking about today and the time that we're all in, how are you handling this quarantine with your goals in mind?

DeeDee: Well, I'm not working, and I had a really hard time with that. I'm furloughed. I've got a job to go back to, I hope, but I had a hard time with that mentally. As far as the working out goes, I'm pretty disciplined with that. When I started with you I was doing home workouts anyway, and I loved doing home workouts. But then when I started my prep for the competition I joined a gym, and what do you know, I loved the gym. And then I had to go back to home workouts again, which is a struggle. It's weird. The phone rings, you answer it. Well, you're not supposed to answer it. You're supposed to pretend that you're at the gym, but you forget. So it's different now that I've been at the gym, because at the gym it's your time. You're there for you. So it's been a struggle, but I'm getting it done. I'm home, so there's absolutely no excuse. I have absolutely no excuse not to do them. And I just remember: I can't stop now. I can't.

Nikkiey: I love that. Say we were quarantined two years ago, before you started WarriorBabe. Do you think you would have the same mentality?

DeeDee: I don't think so. Especially as far as eating goes. I would do the workouts, but then I would go eat pizza and do whatever I did. I'm staying real. I'm so proud of myself, I'm really staying pretty good with the macros. I've had some days, and I've told you, the chocolate.

Nikkiey: You get in your head.

DeeDee: Yeah, you get in your head, and it's like, I'm all by myself, no one's gonna see me eating this chocolate, no one's gonna see me eat this bag of chips. But I'm gonna know it.

Nikkiey: Exactly.

DeeDee: I'm not gonna see the results that I'm wanting to see if I keep doing that crap. So I did it, it's done, and now I'm back. More goals. We've got more stuff to work on.

Nikkiey: That's such a great pointer, and it's so great that you said that. It's going to help so many of these babes know that it's you versus you. Just because you're home, you've got to catch yourself before you really go down into the spiral of five days of eating bad. And another thing you said, which I loved, is that just because you're at home doesn't mean you run to the phone or answer those text messages. Remember, that's your time. Put that phone on silent so you're not disturbed, and make sure you're doing what you need to do in order to hit your goals. So right now, during this time, how do you find the accountability to stay on track?

DeeDee: It's me. I'm pretty self-disciplined, because I know that even if I didn't have another goal, another competition, this is my lifestyle. This is my life. And the accountability is people watching. People are watching you. But I want to be healthy. My 50s have been really good so far, and I want to continue that. I had an emergency surgery two years ago, and if I hadn't been in the health that I was in, I wouldn't have had the quicker recovery that I had. I have to tell people that. You've got to take care of yourself, in case, God forbid, something happens and you get sick. At least you have something to work with.

Nikkiey: Absolutely.

DeeDee: Have a strong body. You're going into it with a different mindset. It's not about being skinny mini. It's about being strong and healthy, and that's where I want to be. I don't want to be skinny mini. I want to be strong.

Nikkiey: Strong. Yeah, absolutely. So along that line of being strong, now that you've been a veteran WarriorBabe for a year and a half, almost two years, how did you, and how do you, deal with the psychological side of eating more food in order to get that strong look that you want?

DeeDee: Well, I'm just starting to get there. I went from... but I was still eating pretty good, actually, for my comp.

Nikkiey: Oh my God. DeeDee, people ask about comps and I'm like, everybody's different. You are just a variable that is completely different. It was so weird. You were eating two cheat meals the week before your show. Weeks before your show, we had to reverse you into your show.

DeeDee: Yeah, my body just totally responded so quickly to what we were doing. It was crazy.

Nikkiey: It did.

DeeDee: But I was 100,000% in. I did everything you told me to do. And once we got my macros down... At the beginning I wasn't measuring correctly. I wasn't doing grams, I wasn't doing ounces. Once we got that down, that made a huge difference, and going forward it's made such a huge difference. As far as me eating more now, yeah, it's different. And I'm trying not to do the bad carbs, because I'm like, well, she wants me to increase my carbs, so I can throw some chips in with my burger or something. It's one of those things. No, you've got to eat the right carbs still. So it's different. And I have to admit, because I was so small, I'm nervous. But I trust the process. I hear that in my brain constantly.

Nikkiey: Yes, that's very valid as well. Before WarriorBabe, what were your eating habits like?

DeeDee: I never had a weight problem, and obviously we can tell with the comp training that I have a pretty high metabolism, so I could get away with it.

Nikkiey: At your age. I know, it's crazy. It's incredible.

DeeDee: Yeah. But I was a pizza girl. I like my beer. I still do, but I put it in with my macros, and sometimes I just kind of let it go. Pizza, pasta. I am a carb girl, but the bad carb girl. I would do pretty good during the week, but on the weekends I would just lose it completely. So there wasn't anything happening, and I'm like, I don't understand, I eat good. But I wasn't eating enough either. That's my biggest thing. I would have probably two shakes a day and then dinner. I totally was not feeding my muscles. If anything I learned through this, it's that you've got to eat.

Nikkiey: Yes. Say it louder. I say those words all the time.

DeeDee: I was eating more in my bikini competition than some women are eating now, and I was so small. I've never been that small ever in my life, but it was so nice to see the tone. That was really cool. And I was eating quite a bit of food.

Nikkiey: You were eating a hell of a lot of food, and you were dropping weight every time we had that cheat meal. I looked at your check-ins and I'm like, Jesus Christ, you dropped another pound. Oh my God, how low are we going to get? Be careful now. Okay, I need to get you more food.

DeeDee: It was an awesome journey. I really loved it. I thought it was great.

Nikkiey: So incredible.

DeeDee: I love how you can transform your body just by eating differently.

Nikkiey: Eating more.

DeeDee: Eating more, yeah. More of the right types of foods.

Nikkiey: Right, to get those results. You were loving the carbs, the bad carbs, not essentially the right things your body needed to fuel the process of getting toned and showing that definition.

DeeDee: Yep.

Nikkiey: One of the things I see inside the WarriorBabe Revolution is that women really struggle with planning ahead. When I see this, I think back to one of our first conversations in the Blueprint Q&A calls, where we were able to talk to each other, and still are. You came on the call, and... why don't you share that? What are some pointers you can give those women from that story?

DeeDee: How many times did I get my hand slapped?

Nikkiey: How many times, virtually, was I yelling at you: you are not going to see the results if you don't do it right.

DeeDee: And I'm like...

Nikkiey: You were planning as you went, right?

DeeDee: Yeah. That day I would start planning, and you just can't do it. The other night on the call, I was planning my next day. You've got to plan the next day. But I have to admit that now I pretty much eat the same foods all the time, so I know what I'm having for the day. If I don't get to it the night before, I'll get on it that morning, but it's huge. What works for me is simplicity. I eat the same stuff, so I don't have to plan. I don't spend all day Sunday planning my food. Some people do that, and I think that's great if that's what they need, but I just eat the same. That's just me. I need easy peasy, and it works for me. I eat the foods that I like, I go to the store, I get what I need, and I know what I'm going to have for the week. I love it. But that was huge for me. You could not drill it into my head enough at the beginning. I was like, I don't know what's wrong.

Nikkiey: That was what was wrong. You weren't planning ahead. I'll never forget that call. You came back to the Q&A a couple of days later and you were like, Nikkiey, I feel so empowered. I did it.

DeeDee: I remember saying that. I'm like, oh my God, this is crazy. It really does make sense. What do you know. And that has been the biggest thing for me now. Every time you ask what was your win this week, I'm like, because I did my macros right. I'm right on it. I'm pretty good. Now I'm trying to stay within the fiber. When I was doing the comp I was trying to get all zeros, I was so anal about it all, but now I give or take a few. It's not bad. I feel really good, and that is huge to me.

Nikkiey: It's huge. That was a huge light bulb in your head, a huge game changer moving forward for your entire journey, just the planning ahead.

DeeDee: Yes. And now I tell everybody I am a macro lifer. That's how I'm going to live my life for the rest of my life, because I finally found what works. And simplicity. If you get too crazy, it's too overwhelming.

Nikkiey: Absolutely, totally agree. And you weren't doing macros before WarriorBabe, were you?

DeeDee: I didn't even know what it was.

Nikkiey: Crazy. Okay, so if we were to go back to your starting point, with what you've already learned, or let's say somebody who's just starting off, what advice would you give someone who is just starting?

DeeDee: Oh God, patience, I guess. You really have to have patience, and you have to learn consistency. I did it. I would do really good, and then I didn't. I remember last summer you were saying, you'd better get on the ball before we start this competition training. I remember saying, I will, I promise I will. But I slacked. I was having a great summer. The beers were really good. The hot dogs on the grill were really good. But every week I'd be like, my pictures aren't changing, I don't look any different. And you're like, because you're not doing it right. So this summer is going to be different. I'm going to have my beer and I'm going to have a hot dog, but I've got to plan it better.

Nikkiey: Exactly. But you can now see in your journey, you had food, you were eating way more than you were eating before you started. And now that you've done it right, now that you've trained your body, you have way more freaking food and it's maintaining your shape.

DeeDee: It's crazy. I'm 104 pounds now and I'm eating 275 grams of carbs.

Nikkiey: Most women would be like, what? Dude. And DeeDee, we could go higher if we weren't stuck in this quarantine right now.

DeeDee: I know. But I feel great. My body feels good. I'm looking forward to going a little heavier on the weights, maybe, but I'm not stuck on that, you know what I mean? I feel a good pump, and I do what is right for my body.

Nikkiey: Yes, you've got to listen to your body too. That's huge.

DeeDee: You've got to, absolutely.

Nikkiey: And looking back from last summer to where you are now, that's a year. That's what a lot of people don't understand, especially when it comes to building muscle and changing your body composition. People are so stuck on results yesterday, in two weeks: oh my God, why am I not seeing anything? And your one takeaway for those women is patience.

DeeDee: Oh, you've got to be patient. I have so many girlfriends who struggle all the time. They want it now, and I tell them, look at what I've gone through. You've got to work at it.

Nikkiey: You had the ups and the downs. It's finally been a year and a half, and this summer you're like, this is it, this is the summer where I'm going to be able to fit everything in. A year and a half of going up, down, up, down.

DeeDee: Exactly.

Nikkiey: And so many women, if they go up and then go down, they stay down. They think it's a lost cause from there on out.

DeeDee: And another thing I learned, I knew it, but I feel better about it now: bad day, tomorrow is a new day. Get back on it. Don't let that bad day turn into two bad days, and then 15 bad days, and then you're gone.

Nikkiey: Yes, and then you're starting from scratch all over again. You had a shitty day yesterday, get over it.

DeeDee: Yeah, it was a bad day. You can't be so negative either, because then you get lost in the negativity, and the negativity creates the emotion to want to just eat more.

Nikkiey: Right.

DeeDee: And I've been there. We're human, for God's sake, and especially going through all this crap right now. Yesterday was a bad day for me. I was really low, but it was a rest day. I was able to go out for my walk and I felt much better. You have those days, especially as a woman.

Nikkiey: Absolutely. We can talk about hormones in a whole other one.

DeeDee: It's crazy. But you can't use that as an excuse all the time either, and I hear it all the time: oh, I'm over 50. I'm like, so am I. Hello.

Nikkiey: Yes, say it louder. Seriously. So let's use last summer as an example, where you were enjoying your summer, having a good time, and you knew you had to start up again. This is where a lot of women come in. They're enjoying themselves, they're not really paying attention to their eating habits, and then they join something and they have to make those changes to get on board with the goals they want. What do you think would be a good pointer for that transition? What did you have to do to get yourself together?

DeeDee: Well, I think having that competition in the back of my brain helped, but not everybody does competitions. So I think you have to think about your life and your lifestyle. Are you worth it? That's what I'm going through right now. I'm not training for a competition right now. I could be fluffing off, but I'm going to be 53. I think my thing is that we're getting older. It doesn't matter if somebody's starting out in their 30s or in their 60s, you want to be strong and healthy at any age. It's hard for me because I am looking towards another competition, but not right now. So I think you have to think of your life as a competition, maybe. Some people think of their grandchildren: I want to be strong and healthy for my grandchildren, I want to be there for this and for that. You've got to think of it that way. But you've got to think of it as you. This is you. This is all you've got. The body we've got is all you've got. Some people treat their vehicles better than they treat their bodies. They get their oil changed, they put their miles on. You've got to move, you've got to feed it, you've got to have the right fuel.

Nikkiey: These are some golden nuggets you're providing these babes, seriously.

DeeDee: Well, I hope so. I learned it. I thought I knew everything because I'm in the fitness world. But you can't out-work a bad diet. You can work out all day long, but if you're not putting the right gas in that car, you're not going to get anywhere.

Nikkiey: Absolutely. That was the biggest takeaway for you: you have to eat food. Like you said before, it's the biggest thing you've learned on this journey.

DeeDee: Oh my God, it's the biggest, hugest thing I've learned. And it was so nice to actually have people say, my God, I would love your arms. That's all I ever wanted was nice arms.

Nikkiey: Look at those guns. Show them.

DeeDee: Well, you know. They're pretty little, but they're mine and they're good.

Nikkiey: Exactly, they're yours. You worked for them.

DeeDee: You could see them better when I was 94 pounds, because there was nothing there. But no, it's good.

Nikkiey: You look incredible.

DeeDee: Oh, thank you. I feel good. I appreciate the guidance and help from you and Kayla and all the girls. Everybody's so supportive. It's a great place to be. And I think that helps too, knowing that you don't want to let them down. I don't want to let you down. You put a lot of work and energy into helping us with all this stuff. And we're paying for it. I'm investing in myself. It's a good chunk of change, so why am I going to fluff off and waste that money?

Nikkiey: It's energy. It's your energy going into something. You'd better give it your all if you're paying for it.

DeeDee: Exactly.

Nikkiey: People need to hear that louder as well. So, talking about the programs you've been a part of, the Blueprint and the VIP, what was your favorite aspect of the Blueprint program when you were a part of it?

DeeDee: Well, I think just getting my feet wet. Doing the sheets, doing the macros and figuring all that out. I still need to learn more about that. Listening to the videos. It's all those little nuggets: oh, that's interesting. And then going over to the VIP, it's more involved, but we don't have to think. That's the biggest reason. I'm like, just tell me what to do and I will do it. Again, I'm so simple. Keep it simple. It just works for me. Silly, stupid simple.

Nikkiey: Absolutely. I hear you loud and clear.

DeeDee: I would rather just pay somebody to tell me what to do. But eventually I want to learn how to do this stuff. I've got to learn: what do I eat during the build? What do I eat during maintenance? What are we doing? I was learning that in the Blueprint, but I don't like doing that part. So this is so much easier. It's been a good transition.

Nikkiey: Yes. I think everybody should have the Blueprint to refer back to. You get to keep it forever, so if you want to put your noggin back on and get back to learning, that's always there as well.

DeeDee: Yeah, that's a good point, actually. The science of it is just interesting. That's why on some of the calls I'm like, so why are we doing this again? It's interesting how you can look at a picture and say, hmm, we need to...

Nikkiey: Yeah, you learn that.

DeeDee: But anyway, it's been awesome.

Nikkiey: So to close off our interview, amazing information. Your journey has been a 180. Talking to the DeeDee I'm talking to now is mind-blowing. You've made such a transformation, both mentally and physically, a huge turnaround. And now you're carrying it out. It's not just something you got into for a couple of weeks or a couple of months. It's turned into even more of your lifestyle than it already was before.

DeeDee: Oh, for sure.

Nikkiey: So, closing it off, what does being a WarriorBabe mean to you?

DeeDee: I just get goosebumps. You know me, I'm so emotional, I'll probably start crying. I think it's being around like-minded, strong women who all have the same goal in mind. We want to get stronger and we want to get healthy. We all have that, but getting there is hard. You have to work for it, and no one's going to do the work for you. You can tell us everything to do, but you've got to work for it. Being a WarriorBabe is empowering. You're part of a family, and you don't want to let that family down. You don't want to let everybody down, and they're watching you. Even the WarriorBabes, we're all watching each other. We're feeding off each other. It's like, oh my God, look at so-and-so's biceps, I want those. I think we feed off each other, and it's good energy.

Nikkiey: A strong-knit community.

DeeDee: Absolutely. Being around strong women, that's just my life. I love it. I love helping them get there, and I like being a part of it.

Nikkiey: Amazing. You are great, and thank you for your time here.

DeeDee: Oh my God, you're welcome.

Nikkiey: And for those of you who want to learn more about WarriorBabe, if you're not a WarriorBabe already or you want to learn more about the programs that are offered, you can go to warriorbabe.com and become a part, like DeeDee is saying, of thousands of women who are working to build a strong body and feel more confident and strong within themselves. So check that out, you guys. And thank you, DeeDee, for your time again. I appreciate it.

DeeDee: You're welcome.