Lauren Danielle Drain is a WBFF Pro, Author, Registered nurse, trainer, model, and business owner. She wrote the New York Times Best Seller Banished: Surviving My Years In The Westboro Baptist Church.
Lauren Drain
(WBFF Pro, Author, Registered nurse, trainer, model, and business owner)
| Full Name: Lauren Danielle Drain | ||
| Weight | Height | Age |
| 125-135lbs (56.7-61.2kg) | 5’6″ (167.5cm) | 36 years |
| Date of Birth | Era | Nationality |
| December 31, 1985 | 2020 | American |
Early Life
Lauren Drain was born in Tampa, Fl. She grew up near Bradenton, Fl until age five before relocating with her father to Olathe, Kansas. Her father Steve, at the time, enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Kansas.
He became a fervent convert of Westboro Baptist Church while working on a documentary, Critical of The Church. His family eventually became members of Westboro, including Lauren, who was eventually excommunicated for nonconformance.
Consequently, her family including her father, mother, sisters, and brother all cut ties with her.
She also gave a brief background about her experience on her website and her story is also on YouTube.
“I was indoctrinated into the cult as a child but was later banished due to nonconformance. Sent to a motel room with nothing more than a suitcase, I was forbidden from all forms of communication with my siblings and family members. We have not spoken since. I’ve had to rebuild my entire life while looking through the hourglass at the family and friends I once had.”
“Since then, I’ve spoken at universities, conferences, and many other events to help educate the public about the power of hate and brainwashing. I’ve started a charity to help others escape the cult, wrote a book, posed for NOH8 and much, much more.”
Her father and mother were eventually kicked out of the church.
Lauren graduated from Topeka West High School In Topeka, Kansas, and also earned a Wiseman scholarship to attend Washburn University.
She graduated from Washburn University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. This gave her the credentials and experience to work as a Cardiac Registered Nurse, which she did for nine years
“I have a passion for health, wellness, and quality of life. I’ve used every opportunity to help promote those values to my patients and clients. The more I study health and wellness, the more I believe that it starts with changing lifestyle habits, such as regular nutrition and exercise.”
“After 8 years in professional healthcare, I have never seen a natural athlete stuck in a terrible health crisis. There’s a reason for that: fit, active lifestyles reduce the risk of disease and promote overall wellness.”
Her years working as a nurse were not wasted as she was able to make an impact and do what she was called to do for a season in her life. However, long hours in her field eventually took a toll on her overall health.
Thankfully, she was able to take her experience and apply it to her own life.
“After several years of constant work, I realized my life was spiraling out of control. I was overworked, overstressed, overweight, sleep deprived, fatigued, and extremely unhappy before I finally decided to take control of my life and get my priorities straight. I wanted to be a healthy, fit, strong, confident woman, actively preventing disease instead of treating everything with pills and medication.”
“I wanted to change my life for the better, and I wanted to help others before they lost control of their health, too.
I’ve spent countless nights at a patient’s bedside to calm her anxieties over dying alone. I’ve massaged my patient’s backs when meds no longer alleviated chronic illness. I’ve comforted families struggling with loss. I’ve helped rehab people who lost limbs. I’ve made my patients laugh when they felt scared or embarrassed about their conditions. I cared then, I care now. Overall health and quality of life is everything. Aesthetics are just a bonus.”
Career and Competition
Lauren first started training to transform her physique back in 2014 after signing up for a WBFF (World Bikini Fitness and Fashion) show.
She noticed that she wasn’t in great shape and didn’t feel good about herself. So she found a coach trained for 14 weeks before competing in her first Bikini competition.
“I trained my ass off – literally“
She went from 135+ lbs down to 122 lbs of which she explained cutting through all of her excess fat.
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Unfortunately, though, her lack of overall experience and working 13+ hours a day showed in her first contest and the result was a 9th place finish out of 30+ competitors.
Never quit attitude
And while this would be discouraging for anyone, it didn’t stop her from wanting to earn a Pro Card. In fact, she was fired up and determined to make it happen.
Pro Card
This is evident by the fact she traveled six hours to Canada a week later after a full work shift to compete again. She ended up placing 3rd in the Bikini and 5th in the Fitness division. Lauren wouldn’t earn her Pro Card at this show but she focused on building muscle in all of the right places and after 12 months, won her fifth show, the Rhode Island Show in 2014, and earned her Pro Card.
Lauren did what very few could endure but she had a dream and a goal.
“After placing 9th in my first show ever, I ranked 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, and 1st, respectively, in the Bikini Class. I competed in the Fitness division simultaneously for two of my shows and placed 5th and 6th, respectively. During training, I would work from 7pm-8am, sleep from 9am-3 or 4pm, go to gym until 6pm, shower/change, and head back to work 3-4 days a week.”
Drain is not afraid to admit how difficult and challenging it was for her to transform her body but she’s proud to have overcome physical and mental obstacles like insecurities, trial and error, and not being genetically blessed, to get to where she is now.
“I’ve met so many great people through the hustle and always made an effort to get my name out there; I worked with everyone I could to generate fun content. I’ve tried and failed time and time again but I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m not perfect, I’m not trying to be… I just want to be the best version of myself that I can.”
All of the hard work and putting herself out there really paid off and the result was something she would have never imagined could happen.
“During my journey, I made my private Instagram account public and started posting photos that documented my struggles and successes, thinking a few extra fans may help me land a photoshoot or help my chances of winning a show. I never imagined my account would become so popular. With all that said, I just want to thank you all for your love and support – I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Read also: Top 20 Female Fitness Models List For 2020
Lauren Drain Training Regime
There’s not much regarding her workouts but she did post a glute session on YouTube of which we included below.
Lauren usually trains her legs two to three times per week which is a lot but hey, it works for her.
As for her training routine in general, Lauren will hit the gym 4-5 times per week and her sessions last an hour to an hour and a half.
Glute workout
- Bodyweight squats
- Barbell stop and go back squats 4-5 sets (lighter or heavy weight)
- Barbell Bulgarian split squats 3-4 sets x 15 reps each leg
- Single-leg hip thruster 4-5 sets to failure
- Standing abductor exercise using a weight plate 3-4 sets x 15-20 reps or until failure
- Cable abductor exercise 3-4 sets x 15-20 reps each leg
- Machine abduction 3-4 sets to failure
- Single-leg alternating leg press 3-4 sets x 15 reps each leg
- Single-leg pushdown using pull-up assist machine 3-3 sets x 15-20 reps
For cardio, Lauren will do 30 minutes of low-intensity cardio 4-5 times per week. She says this keeps her metabolism up.
If she needs to get really shredded quickly, she will do sprints and high-intensity interval training for about 15 minutes.
Diet and Nutrition
Lauren has tried many different diets and she’s also helped her clients to get results regardless of their nutrition preferences or needs.
She also believes that consistency is the most important variable in reaching goals.
“I think it is possible to be successful with any type of restriction“
Lauren calls her own diet the 80/20 diet. For the most part (80 percent) Lauren eats healthy foods which means lean proteins, healthy carbs, and good fats. But for the other 20 percent of her diet, she will eat Mexican food, ice cream, and other things).
This helps her to stay on track but not feel too restrictive to where she cannot maintain her eating regime.
As for macros, she eats 40% protein with almost all meals, and 30% carbs with 3-4 out of 5 meals. She usually won’t have carbs with her last meal but it depends on her needs so sometimes she will eat carbs with her last meal.
About 30 percent of her macros come from healthy fats such as nuts, avocado, etc.
“I’ve learned that you can be very flexible with your diet. You don’t want to feel restricted like you completely messed up the whole week just because of a day, a craving, or an outing, a social event.”
Lauren also considers her metabolism and is big on eating smaller meals throughout the day of which she’s also had a lot of success using this eating plan with her clients.
She says that eating more frequently changes the stomach size, helps you to feel full longer, gives you energy throughout the day, and prevents muscle breakdown.
Lauren is also against yo-yo dieting. When she would prepare for a show or wanted to get leaner, she would slowly reduce her carb intake to shred up. So she may take an ounce or two of carbs from her meals rather than cutting them all out at once.
Related: Cutting Diet Plan To Shred Fat Fast
Personal Life
Lauren Drain married her current husband David Kagan in 2013 and they have a daughter, Aria Skye, who was born on December 28, 2019.
She also identifies as a Christian.
Lauren has a YouTube channel with 29k subscribers where she vlogs her life.
Additional Information
Lauren Drain has a very inspirational life story. She escaped a cult, found a passion in health and wellness, made a great career for herself, and has helped so many others improve their lives.
She was able to turn something bad into something good and her experience has shaped who she is today.
“In short, it doesn’t matter where you are in life or how bad it seems right now, I’m living proof that if you just put one foot in front of the other – you’re moving forward. You’re making progress, however small it may be.”
