How Much Protein Do Women Over 45 Need for Fat Loss?

Nikkiey: Real quick, if you want to learn more about macronutrients and understand the methodology of how they can help you achieve your body composition goals of changing the way your body looks, I put together a free 15-minute training where I dive into macronutrients and how you can control your body for the rest of your life with them. That link is in the description below. Click on it after listening to the show today. Protein is the macronutrient god.

What is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 78, where we're going to dive into the role of protein in muscle development and fat loss for women over 45 years old.

But before I dive into this topic today, and I'm dating this podcast, for those of you who are avid listeners to this show, my number one fans who are like, I cannot wait for Monday, Wednesday and Friday to come, I'm sorry about last week's non-episode week. Man, it hurts to have to step back from the podcast for a week to prioritize some other things that need my focus. So I just wanted to take a moment to say I love you, I appreciate you guys, and you are my number one fans no matter what.

I know that you understand that sometimes that happens, but we're back. We're back, baby. We're back, okay? And I'm excited to be back. Sometimes taking a little bit of a break like that is good, because it brings my energy back to the pod and it brings some good ideas to share with you guys here. That being today: the role of protein in muscle development and fat loss for women over 45 years old. My babes, where are you at? You guys excited for this podcast today? Good, so am I.

So let's get right into it. You guys know that's how I rock with this podcast. That's actually what the majority of my reviews say, that you guys love how I get to the point. So let's get to the point.

Protein, you guys. Protein, protein, protein. Protein is the macronutrient god. And you know what? So many people struggle to hit protein. So many women struggle to hit protein. If you've listened to all the episodes of this podcast, I've mentioned multiple times that I struggled too at the beginning of my journey.

I had to Google what foods had protein in them, to learn what foods I needed to eat to get more protein in. This was way back before I knew anything about nutrition or fitness or anything in regards to that. Once I learned what protein was and where the protein was in foods, I realized I was not eating any foods that had protein. I was not eating enough protein. I was an all fats and carbs girl, and sugar.

You guys know I love my sugar. And I know that a lot of you guys are the same freaking way. Why do I know that? Because I've helped thousands and thousands, 15,000 women inside of WarriorBabe, and I've heard this hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Women say that they're not eating enough protein. We have our women track for the first week, which is a big first step in onboarding a new client when they get to VIP.

That first week, we're just focusing on what that human does eat. We have women track their food just to get an understanding, to make them aware of how much they are or are not eating. And I'll tell you guys, when we look at those logs, it's like 50 grams of protein per day. I'm going to talk in a second about what a recommended protein intake is for you guys, so hang tight. But 15 grams of protein is fucking atrocious, and 50 grams of protein is terrible too.

You definitely need to be eating more than that. I'm going to share a little bit more on that in a bit. But I know that this is going to help you, because I've been in your shoes. And I'll tell you, if you just focus on eating more protein when you're starting your journey, and let fats and carbs kind of find their way into the mix, you are going to feel drastically different. No doubt. No joke. And you may even start seeing some results just by eating more protein.

Now, the importance, you guys. It plays a critical, crucial role in muscle development and fat loss. It is an essential component of a fitness regime, an absolutely necessary ingredient for women over 45 years old. I can't stress enough how important protein is, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. One of the biggest reasons protein is so important for women as they age is that as they get older, their bodies undergo hormonal changes and experience a natural decline in muscle mass and in their metabolic rate.

So what I'm going to help you understand today is that when you understand the importance of protein intake and implement strategies to optimize its consumption on a regular, daily basis, you can effectively support muscle growth and enhance fat loss. Period. End of story. Just by eating more protein. It is a crucial, crucial, crucial macronutrient that plays an immense role when it comes to muscle development, growing muscle, building muscle, all of the things, and fat loss.

Because women's hormones change so much as they age, and muscle mass declines and so does the metabolic rate, it's so important that you get this protein in to help support those two things that change as you age.

Hey, guys. I love so much that you're listening to this podcast. If you ever want the video version of this, which usually has more effects and all that good stuff for those of you who are visual learners, check it out.

And as I just mentioned, the body becomes less efficient at utilizing dietary protein, which makes it that much more important to have adequate intake on a daily basis and get more protein into your diet.

By doing that, you will preserve existing muscle mass. You will hold on to the muscle mass you've built throughout the years. You will continue to build more muscle. You will prevent muscle breakdown, and all of the things muscle related. If you're not getting enough protein, you're not going to be able to build that much muscle, and you're going to lose even more muscle mass. If you're eating enough protein, you're going to support all these things I'm talking about. Okay.

So for muscle development specifically: first of all, weight training. I am such an advocate for strength training, if you guys don't already know that. I preach strength training. It is so important for the longevity of women, especially women at this age and older. It is not necessary for you women to keep focusing on bootcamp classes and Orangetheory and cycle and all of these things when they're not also combined with strength training.

What I mean by that is, sure, those things are encouraged, especially for your heart, because the heart is a muscle and it needs to be worked to get stronger and stronger. However, those things should not be overpowering your strength training workouts on a weekly basis. If I were to look at how much you're working out in a week and what you're doing, I should not see all these cardio things at like a 75% rate and only 25% strength training.

That should just not be happening, especially if you're 45 years old. I know that's going to hit home, and it's probably going to set off some light bulbs in your head, but you need to focus on more strength training. For the reasons I just mentioned: as you age, you decline in muscle mass. Estrogen drops. You get weaker. Your bones get weaker. All of these things. I've talked in previous podcasts about how so many things can evolve from that type of state in your body. And when you weight train and combine that with a sufficient amount of protein on a daily basis...

Again, I'm going to talk about a recommended protein intake in a second. But this is the key to stimulating muscle growth for those of you in this phase of life: 45 plus, pre-menopause, during menopause, post-menopause, with all these hormonal changes going on. Weight training plus a sufficient amount of protein is the absolute key to stimulating and building muscle. So, like I mentioned, you want to weight train.

You have to weight train. You have to put your body under that type of resistance in order to break down muscle fibers. Then the protein will help build them back up and help them turn into stronger muscles. Let's think of it like this, using post-workout as an example. You should have a source of protein following your workout. You should have a protein source following your workout.

I've mentioned this in previous podcasts: a really good post-workout is just a protein shake. Mine is almond milk, frozen strawberries and bananas, and protein powder. The reason you want this post-workout is that it immediately puts those amino acids into action to repair and rebuild. Because when you're in the gym, you're breaking down the muscle. Okay? You're not building in the gym. You're breaking it down. Afterwards, post-workout, the things you feed your body in the next 24 to 48 hours are what repair and build those muscles.

They repair and rebuild the fibers you've broken down inside the gym. And this leads to more muscle, size, strength and all of the things. So I would highly recommend that when you're weight training, you make sure you are giving your body the protein it needs on a regular basis. I'm going to talk about that in a second. But you need to give your body what it needs in order to stimulate that process. If you think that not eating protein is going to make that happen, you are entirely wrong.

Okay? It's not just working out, which is what a lot of people think. Guys, I will forever and always say that nutrition is king and exercise is queen. So please wrap your heads around the fact that you need to pay attention to your nutrition, backed by doing the right workouts, by doing strength training. You cannot get away with just going into the gym and then eating whatever the fuck you want afterwards. Point blank. Okay? So please make it a priority to get more protein into your diet.

Now, fat loss. Protein plays a significant role in fat loss for women over 45 because protein requires more energy for digestion and absorption compared to carbohydrates and fat. This process is known as the thermic effect of food, and it results in increased calorie expenditure and a boost to your metabolism. That right there, my friends, should be the reason you eat more protein.

Okay? Because everybody wants increased caloric expenditure. Everybody wants to boost their metabolism. Everybody wants something that burns fat just by eating it. There you go, my friends. Protein will do that. Okay? And not to forget to mention this, you guys: when you have a high protein diet, or when you're focusing on eating more protein, that protein helps you manage cravings and hunger.

If you eat enough protein throughout the day for what your required intake is, mark my words, you will have fewer cravings. For example, somebody who doesn't eat throughout the day, and then all of a sudden at the end of the night, just finishing dinner, is like, oh my god, I want some chocolate cake right now. Finishing dinner, you're now revving your metabolism. If you had some protein in there, you're revving it even more. And because you didn't eat all day, now you have all these cravings. Guess what? If you had protein more consistently throughout the day and you were eating the recommended intake for what you need, you would not have those cravings.

Okay? That is how it helps with fat loss, and that is how it helps with muscle development. Those are the two biggest roles protein plays, especially for you women ages 45 plus, 40 plus. Okay? Shit, that even happens in our 30s. But I want you to understand that with all these hormonal changes, you've got to focus on weight training and you've got to eat enough protein to support the things going on internally in your body. You can't see the things going on inside, but just trust right now that I know what the heck I'm talking about, and please take this and go put it into action.

The protein intake I would recommend for any human being is approximately one gram of protein per pound of body weight every single day. So, for example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you would eat 150 grams of protein per day. And you're probably like, Nikkiey, that sounds like a lot. Well, yeah, it's definitely a lot more than the 50 you're probably at right now. But guess what? For all the reasons I just said, if you start eating what your body needs and wants, you're going to feel so much better.

Okay? So how would you get that protein in? That's probably the next question you'd be asking. Distribute. So, 150. Let's say you eat five meals a day. That's 30 grams of protein per sitting. You distribute that protein intake evenly throughout the day. Now, hear me out. Does it need to be exactly 30 in every single meal? No. But you get my point, right? You distribute it throughout the day. And 30 grams of protein is like three to four ounces of chicken. It's not that much.

Okay? It's a scoop or two of protein powder. It's not that much. It's 120 grams of egg whites. That's not that much. Okay? So I hope that paints a picture that's doable and entirely possible. So, my friends, if there's anything you take away from this podcast right now, what is it? Eat my protein, Nikkiey. Yes. Let's go.

First, if you have no idea how much protein you're eating right now, your best friend is going to be MyFitnessPal. Download it. Your best friend is going to be tracking and seeing where you're at for an entire week. Just go about your normal habits. Don't try to be like, I'm going to try to eat more protein. That isn't being real with yourself. Just go about your normal habits. Then by the end of the week, you'll be like, damn, I'm only eating 50 grams of protein a day. I'm only getting 70 grams of protein a day. And then I would challenge you: don't go all the way up to whatever your body weight is. Just take it up a notch. Go to 100. Try to hit that for a week.

This is exactly what we do in the VIP program for our clients, by the way. So if you need help in this arena and you don't want to do this by yourself, check out the VIP program in the links below. Anyway, that is what you need to do. You'll just gradually increase until you get to your body weight. Ta-da. Okay, my friends. I hope that helped you today. I hope this podcast was eye-opening, insightful and knowledgeable, with some action items you can take away and start applying. Go do it. That's all I ask.

Peace out. See you in the next podcast.

Hey, guys. Real quick: if you're interested in taking your body to the next level, losing body fat, building more muscle and feeling more confident, do it alongside one of our 30-plus professional coaches. Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all of the guesswork you may have, and all you need to do is the work she tells you to do to get to those goals of yours. To learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now.

Thank you.