Dieter Nicole Ryan

Exercise and Community with Keto Dieter Nicole Ryan

Today in our Meet and Greet interview we have Nicole Ryan, a full-time fashion lifestyle and keto blogger living in the gorgeous state of Arizona. Nicole’s true fitness journey began in 2019 when she discovered her favorite obsession, Burn Bootcamp. She’s a busy mom of two and you can usually catch her heading to sports practices, scheduling photo shoots and meetups, creating content or sharing the latest fashion trends and keto finds on her social media accounts. She swears her energy is fueled by her keto lifestyle and of course, bulletproof coffee.

Dennis Postema: Tell me how you got here—what was your motivation to get started on this journey?

Nicole Ryan: I heard some people talking about living a keto lifestyle and I started asking questions. I asked about the benefits of keto and asked why in the world anyone would ever want to stop eating bread and pasta. Repeatedly, the answer I got was that the benefits were more energy, less bloating, and weight loss. What appealed to me was the idea of feeling good.

I wanted more energy. No more midday crash. That was really the biggest driving force. And of course, if you can shed just a few extra pounds, I think anybody’s on board with that, right?

I think that once my body started to kick into ketosis, it’s like I just had this natural energy that leveled out. I no longer needed to have that energy drink where I’d get the jitters. I was ready to go. That’s one of the things that I love the most about making that transition is just being able to have some steady energy consistently throughout my entire day. Dennis: What do you think about people saying that keto is a fad diet?

Nicole: Some of my closest friends have actually told me that keto isn’t a forever thing. That it’s not something I can do for the rest of my life. But I just think, well, why not? I mean, it’s not a fad diet, it’s certainly a lifestyle. If you look at it as a fad diet, you’re never going to be successful with it because everything that you’ve dropped, everything that you’ve worked so hard to achieve, is just going to come back and you will gain a significant amount of weight.

It’s crazy to wrap your brain around eating a diet that’s high in fat, low in carbs and has moderate protein. But when you think about traditional eating, especially when you work out, they really push carbohydrates. Yet when I transitioned to keto, I could do such intense workouts like Burn Bootcamp and HIIT. It’s certainly different living a keto lifestyle, and you have to make sure you are meeting your macros, but you’re still able to enjoy all the things aside from carbs. But you make substitutions, which is super easy to do.

In a nutshell, I’m able to still eat all the things that I was eating before. There are so many options available for you that are easy to make, that are just a few clean ingredients. So there’s no reason to look at it as a fad. It’s a lifestyle. I travel frequently and my family isn’t keto, but if you’re committed, you can make it happen. We’re on the road and there’s literally nothing around. I only see a McDonald’s, so I get two double cheeseburgers without the bun and a side salad too. I mean, you make it work.

Dennis: Can you tell us a little bit about Burn Bootcamp?

Nicole: I had a couple of friends who went to Burn Bootcamp when I was about four months postpartum after having my second boy. When you have kids, you put on a few extra pounds. And it’s usually harder to lose the weight the more kids you have, unless you’re really lucky genetically. My friends encouraged me to go to Burn Bootcamp with them, since there was a two-week trial, but I just

didn’t feel ready. I think I felt intimidated because all my friends were in great shape and I was on the struggle bus over here, doing some at-home workouts, but not really pushing myself because there was nobody watching or holding me accountable.

I finally went to the bootcamp and by the end of the first session, I totally understood the appeal. My husband says we’re like a fitness cult because there is just such a strong sense of community. And the thing that I love the most is they do offer some coed classes, but it’s mostly women.

Before COVID, when you’d go to the gym to do Burn Bootcamp, they offered a floating floor, which has less impact on your knees, which is totally a seller for me. At the start of every workout, you’d walk around the room and give every single person in the room a high five before you even start moving. The days that we have partner workouts, you introduce yourself. They offer free childcare for your kids if you have them. Everyone knows you. The trainers know you by first name. Their energy is through the roof. They’re so empowering. They’re uplifting. They offer one-on-one training and focus meetings so you can discuss anything that you may be struggling with, whether it’s nutrition or form or anything like that. You have such a great support system. Their mantra is empowering women, lifting them up spiritually, and physically. Helping them mentally overcome those hurdles and celebrate milestones.

But it’s the sense of community and all the people that you’re around that is so contagious that you don’t want to miss a camp. It makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger, and

they’re big on mindset. You train your mind, your body will follow.

Dennis: Can you explain a little bit about how focusing on mindset helps?

Nicole: The best part about Burn Bootcamp is you have someone holding you accountable. The trainers will walk around and they’re pushing you the entire way, reminding you that you can do this—that you can do anything for thirty seconds. When you have someone coming over and pushing you past where you’d normally push yourself and holding you accountable and lifting you up, it gives you this positive mindset.

These bootcamps were the first time in my life that I ever actually bought into the idea that if you train your mind, your body will follow. It’s totally mental.

Dennis: What are some of the tips that you give people who are thinking about starting keto?

Nicole: I think the most important thing is to do your research first and make sure that this is something you’re going to commit to, because first of all, the keto flu is a real thing. I mean, you’re completely changing what you’re putting into your body, so if you don’t do your research, you don’t transition yourself into this type of lifestyle, you’re going to get sick.

Second, on top of doing research, you need to stock your pantry. Get those things that would normally entice you out of your pantry, at least for the first three weeks. This will be really critical in your success long-term, because if you see those Oreos, you’re going to eat them. So all of those things that you typically would love to eat that are sugary, the things that you can’t have, clear them out. Out of sight, out of mind.

Third, prep your food. It’s easier to just grab some hard-boiled eggs, some cheese, some veggies, pepperoni, some lunch meats and stuff like that, when you have it prepped in front of you.

Dennis: How do you empty your cupboards when your family doesn’t do keto? How do you manage blended meal planning? Nicole: I have a snack drawer designated within our pantry and we have a snack drawer for the kids. As far as meals, I still make the same things, but I’ll just substitute out pasta or bread. For pizza night, sometimes we’ll have traditional pizza, or I love a crustless pizza casserole. It’s so easy and even my husband’s like, “This is phenomenal.” Cauliflower’s your best friend when you’re on a keto diet. You could have cauliflower with about everything. Any time we’re having rice or pasta, I’ll just sub it out.

For breads, there are so many different low-carb wraps that you can have that can fit into your macros for the day. Maybe 3 grams of carbs for the wrap or those cheese wraps that are amazing too. There are so many different things available that you can just sub out. Even when we have tacos, it’s the cheese wraps that you can make into a taco bowl.

Anything that we make, even on the fly, it’s easy to make those substitutions.

Dennis: What’s your guilty pleasure?

chocolate. I’ve been energy. So it’s really just able to still incorporate maintaining and staying some chocolate into my consistent with what I’m diet through Atkins and doing. That’s what I want SlimFast, since they make to do for the long haul. I some keto bombs and just want to be healthy stuff like that. I make them and be able to keep up myself too. They’re so easy with my kids. to put together. And you have to reward back in time and give yourself occasionally, yourself advice about because otherwise you’re fitness, what advice just going to cave at some would you give twentypoint, if you don’t dabble year-old you? in a little bit. There are also a lot of different types of Nicole: I wish I felt like keto diets, like those that this then. In college, are super strict, and they I wasted a lot of time won’t even have any kind lying on the couch and of butter if it’s not from a vegging out. So I’d want grass-fed cow, yet then to make sure that twentythere’s dirty, lazy keto. I year-old me understood mean, there’s so many how important fitness in different versions. What’s general is. How fitness important is finding what brings mental clarity fits you and your lifestyle and is such a release of and what’s going to drive endorphins. results. consistent. I really like happier, have better Dennis: If you could go I also would have taught Dennis: Do you have any myself about how to immediate or short-term read food labels and the goals or long-term fitness importance of proper goals? nutrition. Just being more Nicole: I think just staying in your food. where I’m at right now To find out more from a physical standpoint. about Nicole, visit Mentally as well, you Nicoleryanblog.com. notice a difference if you You can also find her on stop working out. Your Facebook and Instagram mind is clearer [when where she shares recipes, working out]. You’re fitness tips and more! in the know about what’s

Nicole’s favorite keto meal:

Anything casserole related is honestly my favorite meal because it’s easy to just throw together. Crustless pizza casserole is a game changer. It is so good. That’s definitely one of my favorites. We also recently bought an Instant Pot and we’re obsessed with making pork carnitas, shredded chicken ... anything along those lines, I’m all about it.