Cristy Nickel was 26 years old when she went to her first boxing class. She didn't go because of any allure or glamour of the sport. She went because, as she described it: “I was fat and looking for a fun way to workout.”
A boxing coach happened to be watching through the window and was impressed enough to enter the YMCA gym to recruit her. When asked how long she had been a professional boxer, Nickel answered. “Forty-four minutes,” she said.
After some training, Nickel became a federally-licensed professional boxer, weighing in at 154 pounds — just as a way to make some cash to pay for her next meal.
Fast forward a decade or so later, and Nickel now holds an impressive resume: she's attained the title of No. 2 female boxer globally, has authored her own fitness book and has been featured in two documentaries with another on the way.
In addition, the Boise resident has recently turned her focus onto promoting her own nutrition weight loss brand: "Code Red."
“I created Code Red to help people lose weight without shakes, pills, diet foods or exercise,” Nickel said.
And on April 12, Nickel's personal transformation documentary, “Cristy ‘Code Red,’” lands on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Born and raised on a ranch in northern Idaho, Nickel recalls her upbringing as “tough.” She had to earn everything herself, and her first job — taking care of the chickens, pigs, horses, cows and dogs on the ranch — was at the age of 10. She said she was also introduced to fitness and wellbeing at a young age through her demanding work on the farm.
She was 17 when she saw her first bodybuilding competition and was mesmerized by the sport and the possibilities of the human body.
“I fell in love with those women," said Nickel. "I loved their muscles — and I wanted muscles. I thought, I’m going to do that someday. So I did.”
Nickel competed in her first bodybuilding competition in college, which she described as traumatizing from lack of training, but this only ignited her to become better.
But then, Nickel switched gears and moved from Idaho to Memphis, Tennessee, setting her sights on becoming a registered nurse. She put herself through nursing school while waiting tables and bartending at night, eventually trying out boxing as a “fun” way to lose weight.
She was then fatefully recruited by that coach at the YMCA. To prove her strength and worthiness to be trained, he asked her to box his nephew. She did. She was worthy.
BECOMING A CHAMPION
Nickel won her first seven fights, not only empowering her but also setting her up to become a fan favorite in the ring — it didn't hurt that she had incredible outfits and bright red hair that spiked on top of her head.
She fought under the name “Red” which represented her trademark hair style, and never once got knocked out.
“I just kept pushing forward, kept showing up," said Nickel. "I spotted 15 pro fights over the course of almost eight years, all over the world, to world title fights … five knockouts because I was a showman — and I knew how to sell tickets,” she said.
The most pivotal moment in her boxing career was in 2005 in Beijing. At that time, the International Boxing Association was bringing American boxers over to promote the upcoming Olympics. Nickel was the first female ever to be allowed to fight in China, because the country doesn't allow women to fight pro, she said.
Fighting for the vacant IBA Women’s Light Middleweight Title was the toughest match of her career, she said. She described the match as brutal since other countries don’t protect their fighters as they do in the United States, making the boxing term “if it bleeds it leads” more real than ever.
The event sold out, with 30 million people tuning in to watch. Over 30,000 attended in person to watch Nickel and Miriam Brakache fight for the title of best female boxer in the world.
“I remember just my nose was dangling off the side of my face," Nickel said. "I had sucked in over two quarts of blood in my stomach. I was nauseous and I didn't know where I ended up putting her. She ended up slipping into a coma after that fight; we were both beat to hell.”
The two fought the entire fight, placing the decision on the judges who based it on point rankings.
Brakache secured the final victory, placing Nickel into the ranking of No. 2 female boxer in the world.
MOVING INTO THE FITNESS, NUTRITION GAME
After retiring from her boxing career, Nickel moved back to Idaho and settled in downtown Boise in 2009.
“I'm an Idaho girl. I'm powered by potatoes," she said. "I love this state. I love everything about Idaho."
When she turned 33, Nickels said she started noticing some changes in her body that motivated her to turn her focus to nutrition.
“I started getting fat," she said. "I’m a world class lead athlete. Why am I getting fat? This doesn't make any sense because I was taught in college you just need to eat less and move more. Well, I'm riding my road bike all over the world at 300 miles a week.
"Nobody talked to me about the fact that I was mainlining M&M's from Costco with a Ziploc bag; I didn't know about diet,” Nickel said.
She switched to a high-fat, low-carb diet and lost a lot of weight. She then tried it on her mother — and then others — quickly realizing she was onto something through her own diet choices.
In 2010, she took on her full-time position as a weight loss coach and released “Code Red." The brand name comes from her two careers: “code” is for her time in nursing school, and “red” refers to her fighting name.
Her brand has 10 programs, each tailored to specific weight-loss goals, including for people experiencing grief, emergency response providers, those looking to drop a quick 10 pounds, and more. Everyone who participates in the program earns the title of “Code Red Rebel.”
The program focuses on diet and healthy eating, as opposed to mandatory workouts. Nickel understands that there are moments in life that are uncontrollable and often people turn to emotional eating for support. Her nutrition brand is targeted at turning that around.
“I focus on 100% eating, exercise has nothing to do with weight loss," she said. "The biggest lie in weight loss is that you have to exercise to lose weight; it’s 100% not true."
Next up: the release of her brand new documentary “Cristy 'Code Red'” which follows her on her six-month transformation from the lowest point in her fitness journey to how she bounced back. It is the first female documentary produced by the media company Generation Iron Media.
“It’s the ultimate comeback and underdog story because society told me ‘you can’t do this, you’re washed up, injured, too old,’" said Nickel. "My coach looked at me and said we could do it in one year, but I told him we’ve got six months.”
DOWNTIME, AND WHAT'S NEXT
Nickel starts each day at 4 a.m. and is always on the go, either working out at The Grove Fitness Club & Spa at the Grove Hotel, running laps downtown before the sun rises or managing her own brand. So how does she relax?
Nickel's idea of daily downtime is watching cow hoof trimming videos, where someone tends to the comfort of cows by trimming their hooves, often against the backdrop of a barn or pasture.
“It brings me back to my roots of milking cows at four in the morning when I was a kid," said Nickel, "you know — in weather 30-below zero."
Her favorite comfort foods, although rarely ever eaten, are pizza and popcorn.
Nickel also owns a cabin at Tamarack which she uses to escape from the busy city of Boise to record a podcast, or mountain bike with her beloved dog Hazel.
When asked what she wants next, Nickel responded with: “I’m single, looking for an alpha male.”
“Cristy 'Code Red'” debuts on Friday, April 12. Find out more about her nutrition brand at coderedlifestyle.com.
