The Biggest Protein Mistakes Women Make (and How to Fix Them)

00:00Protein 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 Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe.

00:31And 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, Nikkie Stott, and welcome, my friends, to a new episode, episode number 257. And 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 guys who has listened to these episodes,

01:08who has shared in these episodes with a family member, a co-worker, a friend, to all of you guys who have been a part of this The WarriorBabe Show journey. We just hit a milestone of 900,000 downloads since this podcast birth, which was back in January of 2023. So just a little over two years, and we're at 900,000 downloads. So our next stop, my friends, is that one million mark.

01:42And I feel like it's going to happen sooner rather than later. It's going to happen maybe in the next month, two months. And I just want to say, like, just a huge, so much gratitude to you guys. Like, 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 Warrior Babes, it's going to help any of you guys that may not be a part of our community yet. And either way, I just want to help you guys in any fashion to be the best to you on your fitness journey and have the right advice and knowledge and understanding on how to go about getting the results that you want

02:14and keep it in a sustainable fashion. So I just love you guys so much and just wanted to shout you all out. I just thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. To one million we go. Let's go. Okay, so for today's topic, though, we're going to keep it a little bit more. I know in the recent episodes I've been recording, the solo ones, they've been deep. They've been, like, you know, like getting into emotional aspects or identity and sharing my own personal journey with you guys in the darkness retreat.

02:45And so we're going to just bring it up a little bit to some surface level, like super tactical conversations and packed with things that you can start applying today immediately. And so this topic, it's going to apply for everyone in some fashion, but it's going to be more maybe to those that are just starting out on their journey and trying to understand the protein aspect in their day to day. And maybe this could also be for it. It could be for anybody. It could be for somebody even that's more tenured or more advanced

03:15and just need a refresher on being reminded of why protein is so important and how to put it into your day to day. So the topic is basically the biggest, like, protein mistakes that I see when making every single day and how to fix them so that you can actually build that tone body, that strong body that you want without feeling confused, frustrated, or stuck. And this was inspired because I just got back from a trip in Mexico, in Cancun. And, you know, when you're at the resorts, you're, I'm in the pool all the time.

03:48I'm chatting and up with people. I say this respectfully, like my body is its own, like, marketing channel, right? Like, the work that I put in gets noticed by couples and women and families. And I love that so much and respect that so much that somebody even wants to come up and ask, like, questions on how they can be fit or, you know, respectfully say, wow, I'm so inspired by your body. I love that because it starts to lend to conversation of how I can help them. So this was inspired because in one of the days I was talking to this woman

04:21and she's going through metapause, pre-metapause right now. And one of the things we were hopping on is just how important nutrition is. And I felt like I talked to so many people, but I felt like the conversation of nutrition was brought up so many times because, as I've said before, it doesn't get as much, not it doesn't get as much attention, but it doesn't feel like it's as much as it is, like, important. Like, people don't put as much emphasis on it. Like, they do cardio and weight training and going and working out.

04:52And then, like, the last thing is typically the nutrition to focus on for people where it should be the flip. It should be nutrition. It should be strength training. And then it should be cardio. So today's topic is going to be all about that. Like, the biggest protein mistakes that I see, what was inspired by that conversation and how to fix them, how to turn it around, right? And how you can start not looking at it as proteins. I felt like that conversation was like, oh, like, protein is just so hard to get in. Or I eat protein, which is actually the first mistake that I'm going to talk to.

05:22Um, but it doesn't feel overwhelming. It doesn't feel frustrating. And protein doesn't have to, if I say, like, oh, you have to eat 150 grams or your body weight or your goal weight a day, that can be very overwhelming to somebody that's maybe unaware on, one, how much they're even eating. Or two, maybe only getting, like, 60 grams of protein a day. And then they're going to be 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 on a riding a bus to a location.

05:55But anyway, 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. Like, I'm going to hear women say like, oh, I had chicken today. I had eggs for breakfast today. Or I had a protein shake today. And that's great. But when you actually track it out, have you ever done that one? Have you actually tracked it out? And if you do, you'll notice that it's barely enough to support fat loss. It's barely enough to support muscle maintenance.

06:27It's barely enough to support your energy, especially throughout the day. But most importantly, even 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 plural, you had 12 grams of protein at breakfast. Not to mention you also had 10 grams of fat because the yolk is five grams of fat. But we're focusing on protein. If you said you had chicken.

06:58Oh, I had chicken today. A tiny piece of chicken, my friends, that's maybe 20 grams of protein. That like healthy yogurt, right? You buy from like Wawa or like a convenience store. Maybe it's in like, you know, the lunch at your workplace or whatever. You see a yogurt, like the little containers of it. And you're like, I'm going to have yogurt today. That's probably maybe like 10, 12, 15 grams of protein. And majority of all the yogurt is the sugar.

07:31Unless you're getting like the protein packed okios or something like that, fage or sigis. But the ones that are just like mass produced and in those places is maybe 10 grams of protein and a lot of sugar. You need more than that. Okay. So just saying like 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. Especially like I just want you all to be honest because look, at the beginning of your

08:04journey, 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 lay down on the arm and be like, dude, I have no idea what I'm doing. Right? It's okay. Like, well, that's what we're here to teach you or how to help you. We're here to like to help give you the insight, the reality of like, hey, yep. One egg is only six grams. Chicken's only 20 grams. Like we're not getting enough protein in because you need more than that. If you're really trying to like reshape your body, build muscle and actually feel stronger. Right?

08:35Because real talk, you guys, if you're aiming for like the body composition, recomposition or changing your body composition or however you want to say it or fat loss with strength training, you probably need around broadly speaking, I would say like depending on risk, like pretending on specific factors, lifestyle, weight, where you're at currently right now, whatever. It could range from like 0.8 to one gram per pound of your body weight or your goal body weight.

09:05Okay? So broadly speaking, I just say one gram per pound of your body weight. If you're 250 pounds, I'm not going to be like, yo, go eat 250 grams or 50 grams of protein a day. That's what we're talking about your goal weight. But broadly speaking, one gram per pound of your body weight and protein every day. And not just on good days, not just when you feel like it every day. So that's the mistake number one that I seen how to fix it. Thinking you're eating enough protein when you're really not.

09:36And then aiming for that one gram per pound body weight per day of protein. The second thing, and I'm going to, and I know, as I said earlier, like 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? And we'll talk about that in a second. So stay with me. Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show.

10:10The second mistake that I see is, and this one drives me up a wall, is believing that this, like this myth that protein is going to make, make you bulky. So I just want to bust that myth. I know I busted it many times in previous episodes, but maybe you missed that episode. So I'm going to repeat it and drop it here again and bust it. 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

10:45heavy 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 like, quote unquote, toned or have decreased body fat and show your muscles more, which is what most women say they want.

11:16They 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 that 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.

11:52So 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. OK, so that's the second mistake that I see is believing that this myth that protein is going to bulk you up and instantly look like a bodybuilder if you eat too much.

12:22The third thing, and this is where I'm going to pull in, breaking it out in a day. But the third thing is, is eating most of your protein at one meal. So what I mean by that is like 10 grams at breakfast, 12 grams at lunch, and then like trying to slam 50 to 80 grams at dinner and wondering like why you feel like crap afterwards. I have seen this time and time and time again. I used to joke about it that it's going to be the next documentary on Netflix.

12:54Not really, but it should because it's an epidemic in the fitness space that women hoard their macros until later in the day, especially for those of you that don't track ahead of time and plan yourself, plan your meals the day before the morning of your day. You will track as you go and then you will 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 in at dinner.

13:24Protein timing matters. OK, your body can only absorb and utilize like a certain amount efficiently at once. So you want to instead space it out over your meals. Like I always recommend when I was breaking it down for these women in Mexico when we were on the bus and we were in the pool, I was like, this is my go to. OK, so you have you eat 140 because this is what typically how I break it down is. I either 140 or 150 grams of protein a day. You break that down across five to six meals in a day.

13:54And when I say five to six meals, they're small meals and they're that's you can do it across four meals. You can do it across. I say four is like the lowest you would want to go, but you can do it from four to six. Some of you guys can do it in three, but I would recommend that you would fit in a fourth meal. And some of you guys can do that. Think about breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack in between. So spreading it out. OK, so 140 grams, 150 grams divided by five to six meals. You're breaking it down. That's like 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner and then like a pre-workout

14:32post-workout is how I usually break it down. This will help keep you on point with your protein throughout the day and making sure you hit that number, but also satiated full, 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, like you'll notice that your cravings, your blood sugar, the dips, the things like that, like and your energy get way more stable. So you won't have dips and blood sugar.

15:03You 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. So not only to hit timing or focus on that, it doesn't have to be perfect, my friends either. You could do 40 grams in one meal, but you want to spread out your protein across the day, not 10 grams, 12 grams, and then 80 or whatever to get to the mark that you need to be at by the end of the day. Okay. So you want to definitely spread it out.

15:34So that's the third mistake is not spreading your protein out throughout the day. And then a little bit of tip of in terms of like tactical way to break it down. If you have like a goal of 140, 150, whatever it is, 160, whatever your number is, just divide that by how many meals you will consume in the day. Last mistake that I will point out is not having go-to protein things ready for you. Like the women who consistently hit their protein goals, they're not just magically like motivated or stoked to eat protein all the time.

16:06You know what I'm saying? Like they have go-to strategies ready. Like, as I said, they're planning their days and night before or the morning of, and they already have it packed and ready to go. For me, I shared on my Instagram when I was packing for the Mexico trip that I knew that protein was, it's always hard when you're traveling. Always. When I go out to restaurants, I always have to ask for extra protein because the protein that they put on the, with the meal to begin with flat, just ordering it is like two, three grams typically.

16:37I'm sorry, two, three ounces typically. So I always have to ask for more because they're just not going to hit my protein. I'm not going to hit my protein with that. So when I was packing for Mexico and I've done, always done this, I put my protein powder in Ziploc bags and just label it protein so it can get through the TSA. I was a little nervous this time, but on my Instagram that I was wondering if the TSA was going to stop me. They didn't and they won't. And even if they do, you know, you're in the clear. It may just take up another five minutes for them to swab it or check it.

17:07I heard a first form brand actually makes you get stopped and they will have to like test it. But my pro mix is what I use and it went through perfectly fine. So I always have like a clean protein powder with me that I can trust. And that way I can mix it with water after my workouts, mix it into dry oatmeal, mix it into smoothies, whatever. When you're making meal prepping, always cook extra protein so that you can just grab and go. Another one of my go-tos is, dude, there's always Greek yogurt in my refrigerator because

17:37that's my go-to snack option. In the morning and especially when I'm at restaurants, especially one of the hacks that I did when I was just traveling in Mexico is instead of asking for an omelet, I'll ask for an egg white omelet. Omelet or when I ordered salmon and lox, I also asked for egg whites on the side. So I'm like getting in more extra grams of protein by just asking for those simple, like those are my go-to protein hacks. And then always like along with the protein powder that I had in my bag, I had protein bars

18:11with me, right? So these are some serious, amazing hacks that I hope that some of them lit up some light bulbs, like asking for extra protein on the side or going for the egg whites instead of like the normal omelet or asking for egg whites on the side or asking for more protein or bringing your protein with you when you travel. Having Greek yogurt or cottage cheese is another great option in your refrigerator all time. So those are all great hacks to take away and to implement because the easier that you

18:41make it, the more likely you are to stay consistent, especially when life gets easy or gets busy. One of the craziest things I heard multiple times 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. But instead of saying you're busy, just say that you're not making it a priority because

19:16it's really what's happening. And the women are like, oh man, you're so right, right? And it starts to allow them to think differently and have a different perspective and take ownership for where they are so that they can make some changes. Okay, so those are the mistakes that I see. Often I was inspired to share with you guys because the conversations I had in Mexico, not having go-to protein hacks, write those down, make mental notes of those 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

19:50of the day is not going to help you be successful. Make sure you spread out your protein from four to six meals, whatever fits best with your schedule. Believing that the myth that protein makes you bulky, that's not going to happen. What makes you bulky is the hormones being out of whack, you eating more food than you should. Know that protein is a big factor in helping you to burn fat, to look more toned, to have the physique that you want. And then the last myth was thinking that you're eating enough when you're really not eating enough.

20:22Like when I say, 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. Like that's great, but let's actually get down to the data and you track it out for me and show me like how much protein that actually 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 episode that I just, in this topic we just talked about, in order to get

20:52the results that 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. And the sooner that you get your protein dialed in, the sooner that your results start seeing the changes that you're, that you're actually working for and that you actually want. Okay. So if you've been wondering why your body isn't changing the way you want it to be, with all the work and the effort that you're putting in or why you're always tired or why you're always hungry, or I have all these cravings at the day and you're, and you're just feeling stuck dial in your protein, build that foundation and watch what happens when your body finally

21:29get what gets what it wants. All right, my friends. I hope this podcast episode helped you. If it did help you, please send it to a girlfriend. Please send it to a friend, somebody that needs to hear it because too many women are still making these mistakes and they don't have to. Okay. I just ask that you share this and I'll see you guys in the next episode. Peace out. Love you all. Real quick. If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep

22:03spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.