How Much Protein Do Women Over 40 Really Need?

Nikkiey: I think this one surprises people the most. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning the more protein that you have in the day nutritionally, the longer it's going to keep you full, longer than carbs or fat do. As you age, the muscle building signal is being lowered. Your body is having a less efficient time converting the protein into muscle tissue. So as you age, you need more than someone that's younger than you in the protein category.

What's going on, everyone? Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show with your host, Nikkiey Stott. On these episodes, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. Today's episode is on a topic that you have heard me talk about many, many times. Stay with me, though, because you can never get enough of this topic, in my opinion.

Maybe today, when I dive into protein and all the things about protein and why it's so important, some new things will come out of this episode that leave you learning something new, either about how to implement it, how to get more of it, or how to make sure you're staying consistent with it throughout the day. We're going to dive into various topics today. We're going to talk about incomplete and complete proteins again. We're going to talk about pre and post workout. We're going to talk about making sure you know how much you're getting. We're going to talk about all of this stuff, okay?

I want to go deeper than a generic protein conversation. We're talking about all of those things I just said, what your body uses it for, why it matters as you're getting older, all of those things. Again, just stay with me. If you are new, this is going to be extremely valuable to you. If you are somebody that has been listening to this podcast over and over again, you've heard me talk about protein many times. But the more I've learned in my coaching career, the more I repeat things over and over again, because there may be just this one line or this one part in this episode today that makes the light bulb go off when it didn't the last time you heard me talk about protein, okay?

By the end of this, I hope you're going to understand protein at a level that is genuinely going to change what you do with your food moving forward. So let's start with the most important part of the protein conversation, which is the protein foundation, because I never want to assume that everyone is starting from the same place.

Like I said, some of you are beginners. Some of you are more advanced. For those of you who are just getting started, you need to know that protein is one of the three macronutrients, alongside carbohydrates and fats. But protein is very unique. While carbs and fats are primarily energy sources, protein is a structural macronutrient. It is your body's primary building material. I know a lot of you don't get enough protein.

This should be a light bulb right there: I don't get enough protein. That's probably why I'm not building my hair and my skin and my nails the way I want to, why my skin is breaking out, or why my muscles aren't growing, right? It is a building material. Your body uses protein every single day for building and repairing muscle tissue, producing every enzyme and hormone inside your body, building and maintaining your immune system, supporting your hair, skin and nails, transporting oxygen through your blood, and keeping your metabolism running efficiently.

And I think this one surprises people the most. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning the more protein you have in the day nutritionally, the longer it's going to keep you full, longer than carbs or fat do for your body. If you are somebody that just eats snacks and fats during the day, you're going to find yourself hungry at the end of the day, because you didn't give your body the most satiating macronutrient, which is protein.

Protein is made up of smaller building blocks called amino acids. I've said this before: think about amino acids like individual Lego pieces. Your body breaks down the protein that you eat into these amino acids and then uses them to build and repair whatever it needs. Muscle, hormones, enzymes, tissue, all of it. You're going to hear people say, yeah, take BCAAs.

Personally, I think the most important focus you can have is making sure you're getting enough protein in your day instead of wasting money on a supplement, because food is going to give you exactly what that supplement is giving you. And you're probably spending more money on a supplement than you are on a pack of chicken. Just some food for thought.

Now, there are 20 amino acids total. Nine of them are called essential amino acids, meaning your body cannot make them on its own. You have to get them from food. Whether you are consistently getting all nine of them is one of the most important nutritional questions you can ask about your diet today. That's where complete and incomplete proteins come in, and we'll get there in a few minutes.

But first, I want to talk about why protein is especially critical for the women listening to this, because I know a lot of you are women who are 35, 40, 45, 50, or in your 60s. And I just want to really lean in here.

As we age, something called sarcopenia begins to occur. Sarcopenia is the natural age-related loss of muscle mass, and it can start as early as our mid-30s, you guys. After 40, the rate of muscle loss accelerates if we are not actively doing something to counteract it. And here's why that matters beyond the way you physically look.

Just a reminder for those of you that have been listening for episodes on episodes: muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns significantly more calories at rest than fat tissue does. So as you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down. Your body then needs less energy to function, so fat storage becomes easier for your body at that point. Suddenly you are eating the same way you always have, but your body is responding completely differently.

This is not all in your head. This is just how the body works. And protein is one of the most powerful tools you have to fight back against this. There's also something called anabolic resistance that increases as we age. It means your body becomes less efficient at converting the protein you eat into muscle tissue. The muscle building signal gets blunted over time.

Which means that as you age, you actually need more protein than younger women to get the same muscle building response. Not less. A lot of you think, I need to eat less, I need to eat less, because it's going to help me lose more weight. I know this all sounds very counterintuitive to what you've learned, but just trust me here, please. We've helped over 21,000 women inside of WarriorBabe, and on the other side, they now have more muscle.

Their metabolism is revving. They're losing the weight. They're getting more toned. They came in believing these things. They thought they had to eat less and eat less, but that wasn't getting them anywhere in terms of results. With these things happening as you age, this is why you need more. The muscle building signal is being lowered. Your body is having a less efficient time converting the protein you eat into muscle tissue.

So as you age, you need more than someone that's younger than you in the protein category. This is why the "I think I eat enough protein" claim needs to be examined honestly. For someone over the age of 35, enough is higher than most people think. Most women are significantly under-eating protein. And the consequences of that, muscle loss, muscle breakdown, low energy, and reduced strength, are very real over time.

Some of you may already be experiencing that. If you could look at just one thing in your day, ask: am I eating enough protein? And I'm going to challenge that thought, because I hear it all the time. I would ask, do you actually know how much you are eating? A lot of women, when they actually break it down for me, and I ask, what does that look like to you? What does that mean to you? They break it down and they're still only eating 80 grams of protein.

I'll have some eggs for breakfast. I'll have some chicken for lunch. And then I'll have something for dinner. That is nowhere near enough. I'm going to make it make sense in a second. So just think about that. A lot of people in the space I've talked to have said, oh, that's just the bodybuilding world. Protein is just for bodybuilders. It's not just for bodybuilders. It is for every woman who wants to maintain strength, support her metabolism, and feel good in her body, at every age, especially as you get older.

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Okay, so let me go back to what I pinned earlier, which was complete and incomplete proteins. I just want to bring this up again here. I've talked about this before, but back to those nine essential amino acids, because this is where the quality conversation gets really important. Quality, not quantity. Quantity is the amount of protein you eat in a day. Quality is the sources you're getting it from, and whether they're good or not.

A complete protein is a protein source that contains all nine essential amino acids in adequate amounts. When you eat a complete protein, you are giving your body the full set of building blocks it needs to do its job. Complete proteins are primarily animal-based: chicken, turkey, beef, pork, eggs, fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, seafood, whey protein, white fish, haddock, tilapia, cod.

An incomplete protein is a protein source that is missing one or more of those essential amino acids. It's still healthy. It's still valuable. But it's not giving your body the complete picture on its own.

In my personal opinion, and I've said this before, America needs to make more protein options. Because I get it, you guys. I don't want to eat that kind of stuff. It's boring, I have to eat it repetitively, and there aren't a lot of options to choose from like there are with carbs and fats. If I could do something about it, I totally would. But until America decides to make more protein sources, this is what we've got, guys. All right?

So incomplete proteins are primarily plant-based. Think nuts, nut butters, beans, lentils, oats, rice, vegetables. But here's what I need you to understand, and this is where a lot of women get stuck without realizing it: you can be eating plenty of grams of protein and still not be getting a complete amino acid profile if most of your protein is coming from incomplete sources. Peanut butter, almonds, oatmeal, chickpeas.

Oh, this has protein in it. That's good. It has 7 grams. It has 10 grams. But your body is not getting the full signal it needs to build and repair muscle efficiently. This is why two women can eat the same number of protein grams in a day and get very different results. The quality and the completeness of the protein source matter big time. They're complete game changers.

If you eat primarily plant-based, you can absolutely still get complete proteins through complementary proteins. The way I explain this is that you can combine two incomplete protein sources that together cover all nine essential amino acids. The classic example is rice and beans. Incomplete on their own, but complete together.

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So for most women who are focused on body composition goals and toning, the most efficient strategy is anchoring your meals around complete protein sources first, so everything else can build around that. I just wanted to add that little piece. I've talked about it before; there's a whole episode on incomplete proteins where I dive into it for about 30 minutes. So if you're interested, go find that. But I wanted to plug it into this episode since we're talking about all things protein.

Now, I want to get a little more specific, because "eat more protein" is not a number, and numbers are what actually change behaviors, right? We talked about quality. Now, on to quantity. The research on protein for active women targeting a body composition change consistently points to a broader range of 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.

For women who are 35, over 40, getting older, I highly recommend that you lean more toward the higher end of that range because of everything we've already talked about in this episode. It's beneficial given what we know about the anabolic resistance we just learned about a couple of minutes ago.

So if you weigh 150 pounds, and this is just an example, you guys. If you want to learn exactly what your numbers should be, you can go check out our Macro Method, which has you take an assessment and gives you your protein numbers inside the course, plus so much more. Or you can get a VIP coach and work one-on-one with them to help you through all of this. WarriorBabe.com. Check it out.

So if you weigh 150 pounds, you're looking at roughly 105 to 150 grams of protein per day. If you weigh 175 pounds, you're looking at around 120-ish grams to 175 grams. I'm not going to do quick math. If you are somebody that is 250 pounds, I'm not going to tell you to eat anywhere from 200 to 250 grams of protein. I'm going to ask, what is the realistic goal weight you want to get to? Typically it's, let's start at 200 first.

Okay, cool. Then we'll go to the high-to-middle end of the spectrum for what that protein looks like in a day. I know for a lot of women, that number sounds so high, more than what they're currently eating. And that gap between what you're eating and what your body actually needs is one of the most common reasons women are not seeing the results they're working for.

So I want to make it realistic, show what it looks like in a real day, and not let it overwhelm you into thinking it's this high number that seems so unattainable. 150 grams of protein looks like this in a real day. If you have three whole eggs at the beginning of the day, that is roughly 18 grams of protein. You could even have just one egg and mainly egg whites, and that's going to help you get more protein, putting you into the 20-gram range. Then let's say for lunch, you have six ounces of chicken breast. That's not a lot, you guys. That's roughly 45 to 50 grams of protein right there.

Then maybe for a mid-afternoon snack, you have Greek yogurt. That's around 20 grams of protein. Then let's say after a workout, you have a whey protein shake. That's about 25 grams of protein. And then for dinner, let's say you have salmon or some other protein source. Six ounces of salmon is roughly 40 grams of protein. When you break it down like that, it is completely achievable, but it requires intention.

And it requires knowing what your number is. Not just broadly saying, eat more protein. Not just broadly saying, I eat a lot of protein already, I think I eat a lot of protein, I get enough protein in a day. No, no, no. If I ask you how much, do you know your number for what you're getting in a day? If you say no, I don't believe anything in the statement you just made. Okay? It requires you to have intention. It requires you to strategize. It requires you to take this seriously.

Okay. So again, all things protein. I want to dive into protein timing, because I think it's something that's thrown around a lot in the fitness space, and it's kind of a gray area for a lot of people. Before we dive into it, if you haven't heard me talk about this before, I want to introduce you to it, and if you have, I'm going to reintroduce you to a concept called muscle protein synthesis.

This is the process by which your body builds new muscle tissue. Every time you eat protein, you trigger a muscle protein synthesis response, meaning your body uses the amino acids from that protein to repair and build muscle. Here's the critical thing to understand about muscle protein synthesis: it has a ceiling per meal. There's been research showing that a single meal triggers maximum muscle protein synthesis at roughly 30 to 50 grams of protein for most women.

So eating 80 grams of protein in one sitting does not produce a proportionally bigger response than eating 40 grams of protein. Your body can only use so much at once for building and repairing muscle. The rest gets used for other functions. I'm going to talk about this in a second, because that's a myth I also have to debunk. It doesn't get stored as fat. It just gets used for other functions. But for those of you who want to build muscle and be more toned, essentially you're wasting the protein that isn't going to get used for muscle protein synthesis.

This is why spreading your protein evenly across three to four meals throughout the day is so much more effective than loading it all into one or two meals. I know I'm talking to the babes and the women listening to this who macro hoard at the end of the day and have to get their protein in. Think about it this way. If your goal is 150 grams of protein per day, there's option A, which is what a lot of you are doing right now.

There's 10 grams at breakfast. There's 15 grams at lunch. And then there's a mass flood of protein at dinner, 100 grams plus. One big protein response at the end of the day, meaning minimal muscle protein synthesis for the rest of the day. For most of the day, there's been minimal muscle protein synthesis being triggered. Option B is 40 grams at breakfast, 40 grams at lunch.

And you can make it smaller, 30 grams, and have a snack. But you get my point. 30 or 40 grams at dinner, 30 grams from a snack. That's four separate muscle protein synthesis events spread throughout the day. Same total protein, dramatically different results, because in option B, your body is getting consistent signals all day to build and repair muscle. And this matters so much for women as we age.

Remember the anabolic resistance? It means the muscle protein synthesis response is also getting blunted, somewhat muted. Maximizing the number of times per day that you trigger it is one of the most powerful strategies available to you as you get older. So the practical takeaway here, especially as you're getting older, is that every meal needs a meaningful, complete protein source. Not a sprinkle of protein.

Not, I had almonds or peanut butter so I got my protein in, I added more protein to it. No, a real complete source. So 30 to 50 grams at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and ideally a protein-rich snack. You could even have a fifth meal in there if you're somebody that's hungry, hungry, hungry. Or just break it down like that. That is the rhythm your body needs. If you're going to audit one thing about your nutrition after this episode, audit your protein distribution.

I am willing to bet that most of you are backloading your protein heavily at dinner. Hopefully you now understand why this is costing you results. Another question I get is about timing around workouts. What about timing around your workouts, Nikkiey? You've probably heard about the anabolic window, right? The idea that you need to consume protein within 30 minutes of finishing a workout or the gains disappear. That concept has been heavily amplified by the supplement industry, because it conveniently made protein shakes feel urgent and necessary.

The more current, up-to-date research tells a more complete story. The post-workout anabolic window is real. It's very true. That is factual. But it is wider than 30 minutes. The elevated muscle protein synthesis response after a workout can persist for up to 24 to 48 hours.

What matters most is not whether you drank a protein shake within 30 minutes of your last rep. It matters whether you are consistently eating adequate protein across the entire day. Okay? So what I'm saying is that the muscle protein synthesis response after a workout lasts upwards of a day to two days. It doesn't matter if you consume something within 30 minutes. You just need to make sure you get adequate sources across your entire day.

That said, having protein around your workout is extremely beneficial. A protein-containing meal at least an hour to an hour and a half before training helps make sure your body is getting those amino acids and they're circulating internally during your workout. And a protein-containing meal within about an hour to an hour and a half after training supports recovery and maximizes the muscle protein synthesis response your workout triggered.

I want to highlight that because there are a lot of women, and I have also been the coach who said, that you should get something within 30 to 45 minutes. However, like I say, I'm not a good coach unless I keep studying, keep up with the news, and challenge the things I believe are true and the things I don't believe are true. I would say that getting closer to that one-hour mark is important, and just be the person who gets in the habit of carrying a protein shake with you when you're going to work out.

For example, what I do is put it in my gym bag, and after my workout, when I'm driving home, I'm sipping on my protein on my way home. Even if you know you're going home immediately afterward, I would still make sure, because you get in the house and things can be distracting. I would just recommend that you have your protein ready to go. I always recommend, regardless, that you have your meals packed the day before and already know what you're going to eat the next day.

For most women, just eating regular protein-containing meals throughout the day, those windows are naturally covered, okay? So you don't need to stress. The anabolic window is real, but it's wider than you think. Just focus on the totals and distribution of your protein. That's where your results live. That's what matters most.

Okay, before we start closing out this episode, I want to talk about myths that need to die. I need to close a loop. You guys know me, I'm a loop closer, because some of these are genuinely holding women back and they need to just, poof, be gone.

I've heard the myth that if you eat too much protein, your body will store the extra as body fat. First and foremost, yes, any macronutrient consumed in significant excess of your total caloric needs can contribute to fat storage. You're eating in a surplus at that point. But protein is actually the hardest macronutrient for your body to convert to fat.

I've talked about this before: protein has a thermic effect as you digest it, meaning the energy your body uses to digest and process it. The thermic effect of protein is significantly higher than that of carbs and fats. Your body burns roughly 20 to 30 percent of protein's calories just by processing and digesting it.

So for the vast majority of women eating in a reasonable caloric range, high protein is not going to cause fat gain. It supports fat loss by preserving muscle and keeping you fuller. Myth number two is that high protein is going to damage your kidneys. For healthy women with no pre-existing kidney conditions, the research does not support this at all.

This concern originated from studies on individuals who already had compromised kidney function, in which high protein can be problematic. But for healthy kidneys, processing a higher protein intake is well within normal function. There are decades and decades of research on athletes eating high-protein diets that have not demonstrated kidney damage in healthy populations, okay?

I just want to make that distinction. In healthy individuals, there's no evidence that supports that. If you have a known kidney condition, I would recommend that you work with your doctor or a nutritionist on this. But for everyone else, high protein is not a kidney risk.

There's another one: that you can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal. Your body can absolutely absorb and use more than 30 grams of protein from a single meal. What the research has shown is that muscle protein synthesis, like we talked about, maxes out around 30 to 50 grams per meal. Protein above that threshold is still being absorbed and used for other functions. Just a reminder that the 30 to 50 range is about optimizing your muscle building signal. It's not about your body's absorption limits, okay?

You can consume 80 grams of protein in one meal if you want to. Not in a day, in one meal. But just remember that about half of that is going to go toward your goal of building muscle. Any excess after that is going to be used for other functions in the body.

So those are the main myths I want to debunk. Eating too much protein is not going to make you store fat. High protein will not damage your kidneys if you are a healthy individual. And you can absorb more than 30 grams of protein per meal, but only upwards of 30 to 50 grams is going to help optimize the muscle building aspect.

We covered a lot about protein today, more than I have in any other episode, I think. So a couple of reminders as we close out. Anchor every meal around a complete protein source, whether that's chicken, beef, eggs, fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or whey protein. Build that meal first. Spread it out. Aim for 30 to 50 grams at each meal across breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack or two.

Don't let your protein live only at dinnertime. Don't backload it. Don't macro hoard protein at the end of the day. And don't stress about the exact workout window for your protein intake. Carbs are a little different, but consistent daily protein distribution matters far more than hitting a 30-minute post-workout deadline.

And ignore the myths. High protein is not going to hurt your kidneys, not going to make you gain fat, or do any of the other things you may have heard. It is one of the most powerful tools you can have for your body composition, your metabolism, and your overall long-term health. All right? I'm sure some of you are going to go audit your protein intake this week, and I highly recommend that you do. But look at it honestly. Log honestly, and look at it honestly.

See where you can use that data to tell you how to distribute or get more protein into your day for the following week. And if you want to be inside a community of women who are doing all of this work together, asking these same questions, sharing what's working, and going through the Macro Method, which is one of our $27 products that teaches you about macros and gives you an assessment so we can make it as personal as possible, then come join us inside the WarriorBabe free community.

It's completely free, and it's full of women in your exact season of life. I'm biased, but I feel like it's one of the most supportive spaces on the internet, where the conversations being had feel real and practical. So go check it out. It's in the show notes. And I will see you guys in the next episode.

Hey, really quick, before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference in helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.