Protein Mistakes Women Over 40 Make and How to Fix Them

Nikkiey: Protein doesn't make you bulky. You know what makes you bulky? Eating excessive calories, or your hormones being a little bit wacky, or pushing a lot of heavy weight when you're eating a lot of food. Protein, though, is not the reason why you get bulky.

Hey, you guys. What's up? 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'm your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome, my friends, to a new episode, episode number 257.

Before I even dive in to today's topic, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single one of you who has listened to these episodes, who has shared these episodes with a family member, a co-worker, a friend, to all of you who have been a part of this The WarriorBabe Show journey. We just hit a milestone of 900,000 downloads since this podcast's birth, which was back in January of 2023. So just a little over two years, and we're at 900,000 downloads.

Our next stop, my friends, is that one million mark. I feel like it's going to happen sooner rather than later, maybe in the next month or two. I just want to say so much gratitude to you guys. I get on this and hit play because of you, because I know it's going to help our community. It's going to help the WarriorBabes, and it's going to help any of you that may not be a part of our community yet. Either way, I just want to help you in any fashion to be the best you on your fitness journey and have the right advice, knowledge and understanding on how to go about getting the results that you want and keep them in a sustainable fashion. I just love you guys so much and wanted to shout you all out. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To one million we go. Let's go.

Okay, so for today's topic, we're going to keep it a little bit lighter. I know the recent solo episodes I've been recording have been deep. They've been getting into emotional aspects or identity and sharing my own personal journey with you in the darkness retreat. So we're going to bring it up to more of a surface level, a super tactical conversation packed with things that you can start applying immediately.

This topic is going to apply to everyone in some fashion, but it may be more for those who are just starting out on their journey and trying to understand the protein aspect in their day to day. It could also be for somebody who's more tenured or more advanced and just needs a refresher on why protein is so important and how to put it into your day to day.

The topic is basically the biggest protein mistakes that I see women making every single day and how to fix them, so that you can actually build that toned body, that strong body that you want, without feeling confused, frustrated or stuck.

This was inspired because I just got back from a trip to Cancun, Mexico. When you're at the resorts, I'm in the pool all the time, chatting it up with people. I say this respectfully, but my body is its own marketing channel, right? The work that I put in gets noticed by couples and women and families. I love and respect that so much, that somebody even wants to come up and ask questions on how they can be fit, or respectfully say, wow, I'm so inspired by your body. I love that because it leads to a conversation about how I can help them.

One of the days I was talking to this woman, and she's going through menopause, perimenopause, right now. One of the things we were talking about is just how important nutrition is. I talked to so many people, and the conversation of nutrition came up so many times because, as I've said before, people don't put as much emphasis on it. They do cardio and weight training and go work out, and the last thing they typically focus on is nutrition, when it should be the flip. It should be nutrition, then strength training, and then cardio.

So today's topic is going to be all about that: the biggest protein mistakes that I see, inspired by that conversation, and how to fix them, how to turn it around. That conversation was like, oh, protein is just so hard to get in. Or, I eat protein, which is actually the first mistake that I'm going to talk about. But it doesn't have to feel overwhelming or frustrating. If I say you have to eat 150 grams a day, or your body weight or your goal weight, that can be very overwhelming to somebody who's maybe unaware of, one, how much they're even eating, or two, who's maybe only getting 60 grams of protein a day. Then they're like, I have to eat 150? That can be overwhelming at first. So I just want to break that down with you guys. That's exactly what I did with this woman in the pool, and I even did it with somebody else when we were riding a bus to a location.

The first mistake that I see is thinking you're eating enough protein when you're really not. Most women think that they're eating enough. I'll hear women say, oh, I had chicken today. I had eggs for breakfast today. Or, I had a protein shake today. That's great. But have you ever actually tracked it out? If you do, you'll notice that it's barely enough to support fat loss. It's barely enough to support muscle maintenance. It's barely enough to support your energy throughout the day, and most importantly, in workouts.

Because here's the reality. If you look at it tracked out, one egg is six grams of protein. So if you said you had eggs for breakfast, let's say two, you had 12 grams of protein at breakfast. Not to mention you also had 10 grams of fat, because each yolk is five grams of fat. But we're focusing on protein.

If you said, oh, I had chicken today, a tiny piece of chicken, my friends, is maybe 20 grams of protein. Then there's that healthy yogurt you buy from Wawa or a convenience store, or maybe it's at lunch at your workplace. You see the little containers of yogurt and you're like, I'm going to have yogurt today. That's probably maybe 10, 12, 15 grams of protein, and the majority of the yogurt is sugar. Unless you're getting the protein-packed Oikos or something like that, Fage or Siggi's. But the mass-produced ones in those places are maybe 10 grams of protein and a lot of sugar. You need more than that.

Okay. So just saying I had eggs for breakfast, or I had a protein shake today, or I had chicken today, that's where a lot of women get confused, because you're like, oh, I eat protein and I'm eating enough protein, but you're really not. I just want you all to be honest, because look, at the beginning of your journey, when you're trying to figure all of this out, it's okay to not know. It's okay to not have it all right. It's okay to be like, dude, I have no idea what I'm doing. Right? It's okay. That's what we're here for, to teach you and help you. We're here to give you the insight, the reality of, hey, one egg is only six grams. Chicken's only 20 grams. We're not getting enough protein in, because you need more than that if you're really trying to reshape your body, build muscle and actually feel stronger.

Because real talk, you guys, if you're aiming for body recomposition, or changing your body composition, however you want to say it, or fat loss with strength training, you probably need, broadly speaking, depending on specific factors like lifestyle, weight and where you're at right now, somewhere in the range of 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of your body weight or your goal body weight. Okay?

So broadly speaking, I just say one gram per pound of body weight. If you're 250 pounds, I'm not going to be like, yo, go eat 250 grams of protein a day. That's where we're talking about your goal weight. But broadly speaking, one gram of protein per pound of body weight every day. And not just on good days, not just when you feel like it. Every day.

So that's mistake number one that I see, and how to fix it. Thinking you're eating enough protein when you're really not, and then aiming for that one gram per pound of body weight per day of protein. And I know, as I said earlier, that can be overwhelming, because it's like, I need to eat 150 grams of protein? How do I get that much in a day? We'll talk about that in a second, so stay with me.

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The second mistake that I see, and this one drives me up a wall, is believing the myth that protein is going to make you bulky. I just want to bust that myth. I know I've busted it many times in previous episodes, but maybe you missed those episodes, so I'm going to repeat it here and bust it again. Protein doesn't make you bulky. You know what makes you bulky? Eating excessive calories, or your hormones being a little bit wacky, or pushing a lot of heavy weight when you're eating a lot of food. Protein, though, is not the reason why you get bulky.

Protein is literally the building block that your body needs to preserve lean muscle, to recover faster, to boost your metabolism, and to actually give you that, quote unquote, toned look, or decreased body fat that shows your muscles more, which is what most women say they want. They want to be toned. Well, in order to get toned, you have to eat enough protein, because your body needs to preserve the lean muscle, hold on to it so you don't lose it, and decrease the body fat around it. You know what does that? Protein. Eating the right amounts of macronutrients and strength training. But protein plays a big role in it.

So if you're afraid of protein because you think you're going to accidentally look like a bodybuilder overnight, please hear me out. Building muscle takes time. It takes consistency, and it takes serious, serious, serious intention. Eating more protein is the thing that will help you burn more fat, feel more energized, maintain your results long term, preserve lean muscle and get you the results that you want. It's not going to bulk you up. It's going to shape your body in the way that you've been working for and wanting when you say that you want to be toned.

Okay, so that's the second mistake that I see: believing the myth that protein is going to bulk you up and make you instantly look like a bodybuilder if you eat too much.

The third thing, and this is where I'm going to pull in breaking it out across a day, is eating most of your protein at one meal. What I mean by that is 10 grams at breakfast, 12 grams at lunch, and then trying to slam 50 to 80 grams at dinner and wondering why you feel like crap afterwards. I have seen this time and time and time again. I used to joke that it's going to be the next documentary on Netflix. Not really, but it should be, because it's an epidemic in the fitness space that women hoard their macros until later in the day. Especially those of you who don't track ahead of time and plan your meals the day before or the morning of. You'll track as you go, and then you'll macro hoard, because life happens and the day gets busy, and all of a sudden you're trying to slam your macros in. For example, your protein at dinner.

Protein timing matters. Okay? Your body can only absorb and utilize a certain amount efficiently at once, so you want to space it out over your meals instead. When I was breaking it down for these women in Mexico, on the bus and in the pool, I was like, this is my go-to. This is typically how I break it down. I eat either 140 or 150 grams of protein a day, and I break that down across five to six meals in a day.

When I say five to six meals, they're small meals. You can do it across four meals. I'd say four is the lowest you would want to go, but you can do anywhere from four to six. Some of you can do it in three, but I would recommend that you fit in a fourth meal. Think about breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a snack in between. So you're spreading it out. 140 or 150 grams divided by five to six meals is about 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, and then pre-workout and post-workout. That's how I usually break it down.

This will help keep you on point with your protein throughout the day and make sure you hit that number, but it also keeps you satiated and full, so you're not going for candy because you have all of these cravings. It will keep you energized. It will support muscle protein synthesis all day long. And as I just said, you'll notice that your cravings, your blood sugar dips and your energy get way more stable. You won't have dips in blood sugar. You won't have more cravings at the end of the night. Your energy is going to be consistent throughout the day, and that's because you're giving your body enough protein.

It doesn't have to be perfect, my friends. You could do 40 grams in one meal. But you want to spread your protein out across the day, not 10 grams, 12 grams, and then 80 or whatever it takes to get to the mark you need to be at by the end of the day. So you definitely want to spread it out.

So that's the third mistake: not spreading your protein out throughout the day. And a little tactical tip on how to break it down: if you have a goal of 140, 150, 160, whatever your number is, just divide that by how many meals you will eat in the day.

The last mistake that I'll point out is not having go-to protein options ready. The women who consistently hit their protein goals are not just magically motivated or stoked to eat protein all the time. You know what I'm saying? They have go-to strategies ready. As I said, they're planning their days the night before or the morning of, and they already have it packed and ready to go.

I shared on my Instagram when I was packing for the Mexico trip that protein is always hard when you're traveling. Always. When I go out to restaurants, I always have to ask for extra protein, because the protein they put with the meal when you just order it is typically two or three grams. I'm sorry, two or three ounces typically. So I always have to ask for more, because I'm not going to hit my protein with that.

So when I was packing for Mexico, and I've always done this, I put my protein powder in Ziploc bags and labeled it protein so it could get through TSA. I was a little nervous this time, and I said on my Instagram that I was wondering if TSA was going to stop me. They didn't, and they won't. And even if they do, you're in the clear. It may just take another five minutes for them to swab it or check it. I heard the First Form brand actually gets you stopped and they have to test it. But ProMix is what I use, and it went through perfectly fine.

So I always have a clean protein powder with me that I can trust. That way I can mix it with water after my workouts, mix it into dry oatmeal, mix it into smoothies, whatever. When you're meal prepping, always cook extra protein so that you can just grab and go.

Another one of my go-tos: dude, there's always Greek yogurt in my refrigerator, because that's my go-to snack option. In the morning, and especially when I'm at restaurants, one of the hacks I used when I was traveling in Mexico is that instead of asking for an omelet, I'll ask for an egg white omelet. Or when I ordered salmon and lox, I also asked for egg whites on the side. So I'm getting in extra grams of protein just by asking for those simple things. Those are my go-to protein hacks. And along with the protein powder in my bag, I had protein bars with me.

So these are some serious, amazing hacks, and I hope some of them lit up some light bulbs: asking for extra protein on the side, going for egg whites instead of the normal omelet, asking for egg whites on the side, asking for more protein, or bringing your protein with you when you travel. Having Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in your refrigerator at all times is another great option. Those are all great hacks to take away and implement, because the easier you make it, the more likely you are to stay consistent, especially when life gets busy.

One of the craziest things I heard over and over and over again when we got onto the nutrition topic was, I'm just too busy. And I go, listen, I'm going to challenge that thought with you right now, because I've heard this so many times before and I don't want it to get in the way of your success. Instead of saying you're busy, just say that you're not making it a priority, because that's really what's happening. And the women are like, oh man, you're so right. It allows them to think differently, have a different perspective and take ownership of where they are so that they can make some changes.

Okay, so those are the mistakes that I see often, and I was inspired to share them with you because of the conversations I had in Mexico. Not having go-to protein hacks: write those down and make mental notes of the protein hacks I just gave you, because that's a mistake that I see. Not spreading your protein out throughout the day and trying to macro hoard it at the end of the day is not going to help you be successful. Make sure you spread your protein out across four to six meals, whatever fits best with your schedule. Believing the myth that protein makes you bulky: that's not going to happen. What makes you bulky is your hormones being out of whack, or eating more food than you should. Know that protein is a big factor in helping you burn fat, look more toned and have the physique that you want.

And the last one was thinking that you're eating enough when you're really not. When I ask, are you eating enough protein, and you say back to me, oh, I had chicken today, or I had eggs for breakfast, or I had a protein shake, that's great. But let's actually get down to the data. Track it out for me and show me how much protein that really is. It's a small amount. It's barely enough to support the goals that you want. So let me just remind you of that.

All right. So know, with this topic we just talked about, that in order to get the results you want, you have to fix your protein game. Okay? Because it's sabotaging your results. But know that it doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be intentional. The sooner you get your protein dialed in, the sooner you start seeing the changes that you're actually working for and that you actually want.

So if you've been wondering why your body isn't changing the way you want it to with all the work and effort you're putting in, or why you're always tired, or why you're always hungry, or why you have all these cravings during the day and you're just feeling stuck, dial in your protein, build that foundation and watch what happens when your body finally gets what it wants.

All right, my friends. I hope this podcast episode helped you. If it did, please send it to a girlfriend, a friend, somebody who needs to hear it, because too many women are still making these mistakes and they don't have to. I just ask that you share this, and I'll see you guys in the next episode. Peace out. Love you all.

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