The Role of Protein in Muscle Development & Fat Loss for Women 45+

00:00Real quick, if you want to learn more about macronutrients and understand that methodology on 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.

00:30What is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. And 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, Nikkie Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 78, where we're going to dive into talking about the role of protein in muscle development and fat loss for women over 45 years old.

01:06But before I dive into this topic today, now, this is probably, you know, I'm dating this podcast, but for those of you guys who are avid listeners to this show that are my number one fans that are like, I cannot wait for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to come, I'm sorry about last week's non-episode week. You guys, 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, and I appreciate you guys, and you guys are my number one fans no matter what.

01:41And I know that you're understanding that sometimes that happens, but we're back. We're back, baby. We're back, okay? And I'm excited to be back. Sometimes, you know, taking a little bit of break like that is good because it brings my energy back to the pod, and it brings some good ideas to be able 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.

02:12So let's just get down and right into it. You guys know that's how I rock with this podcast, which is actually one of the majority of reviews that I have that say that you guys just love how I get to the point. So let's get to the point. So 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. And if you've listened to this podcast and all the episodes, there's been multiple times that I've mentioned that me too at the beginning of my journey.

02:48I had to Google what foods had protein in them to learn what protein, what foods I needed to eat to get more protein in. You know, this is way back before I knew anything about nutrition or fitness or anything in regards to that. And I wasn't eating. And once I learned what protein was and where the protein was in foods, I was not eating any foods that had protein. I was not eating enough protein. I probably, I was all fats and carbs girl and sugar.

03:20You 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 Warrior Babe. And I know I've heard this hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of times. Women say that they're not eating enough protein. Or we have our women track for the first week, which is a big, you know, first initial step in an onboarding for a new client when they get to VIP.

03:54That first week, we're just focusing on what that human does eat. And I'll tell you guys, when we look at those logs, because we have women track their food to just get an understanding, to have them be aware of how much they are or are not eating. Once we see those logs, it's like 50 grams of protein per day. And I'm going to talk about in a second, a little bit, what a recommended protein intake is for you guys. So hang tight. But 15 grams, 50 grams of protein, 15 grams of protein is fucking horatious. But 50 grams of protein is terrible too.

04:26You definitely need to be eating more than that. I'm going to share a little bit more on that in a little bit. But, so I know that this is going to help you. And I've been in your shoes. And I'll tell you, man, if you just focus on eating more protein and, you know, just fats and carbs kind of find their way into the mix when you're starting your journey, you are going to feel drastically different. No doubt. No joke. And you may even start seeing some results by just eating more protein. Now, the importance, you guys, it plays a critical, crucial role in muscle development and fat loss.

05:03It is the essential component of a fitness regime, fitness as absolutely necessary needed ingredient for women over 45 years old. I can't stress to you guys enough how important protein is. And that's what I'm going to talk about today. One of the biggest reasons why protein is so important for women as they age and as they get older is because as they do age and as they get older, their bodies undergo hormonal changes and experience a natural decline in muscle mass and in their metabolic rate.

05:42So what I'm going to help you guys understand today is when you when you do understand the importance of protein intake and implement the strategies to optimize for 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 and all of the things and fat loss.

06:17But because women's hormonal changes 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 do change as you age. Hey, guys. Love so much that you guys are listening to this podcast. If you ever want to have 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, making it so that much more important to have adequate intake on a daily basis to get more protein into your diet.

07:02And by doing that, you will preserve existing muscle mass. You will hold on to your muscle mass that you've built throughout the years. You will continue to build more muscle. You will prevent muscle breakdown and just the gorge of all the things muscle related. If you're not getting enough protein, you're not going to be able to build that much muscle. You're going to lose muscle mass even more. If you're eating enough protein, you're going to support all these things that I'm talking about. Okay. So for muscle development, particularly and specifically, first of all, weight training.

07:37I am such an advocate for strength training, if you guys don't already know that. I preach anything strength training techniques. It is so important for the longevity of women, for especially women at this age and older. It is not necessary for you women to continue to keep focusing on bootcamp classes and orange theory and cycle and all of these things when they're not also combined with strength training.

08:09What I mean by that is, sure, those things are encouraged, especially for your heart muscle, because 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. Like if I was 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 and add like a 75% rate and only 25% strength training.

08:44Like that should just not be happening, especially if you're 45 years old. And I know that's going to hit home. It's probably going to let some light bulbs off in your head, but you need to focus on more strength training. For the reasons of what I just mentioned, as you age, you decline in muscle mass. Estrogen drops. You get weaker. Your bones get weaker. All of these things. And I've talked about this in previous podcasts that so many things can evolve from that type of state in your body. And when you weight train and you combine that with a sufficient amount of protein on a daily basis.

09:19And 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 who are in this phase of life. 45 plus pre-menopause, during menopause, post-menopause, you know, all these hormonal changes are going on. Weight training plus a sufficient amount of protein is the absolute key to stimulating and building muscle. And so, like I mentioned, like you want to weight train.

09:51You have to weight train. You have to put your body under that type of resistance in order for it to break down muscle fibers. And then this protein will help it to build them back up and help them to turn into stronger muscles. And so, what protein does, like I just talked, is like post... Let's think of it like this. And a post-workout is an example. You should have a source of protein following your workout. You should have a protein source following your workout.

10:21And I've mentioned this in previous podcasts, a really good post-workout. It's just like a protein shake. Mine is almond milk, frozen strawberries and bananas, and the protein powder. So, the reason why you want this post-workout is that those amino acids, it immediately puts them into action to repair and to rebuild those. 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 and the things that you feed your body in those next 24 to 48 hours, those are what repair and those are what build those muscles.

10:56They repair and they rebuild the fibers that you've broken down now inside the gym. And this leads to more muscle and size and strength and all of the things. And so, I would highly recommend that, you know, when you are doing, regardless, when you're weight training, you have to be making sure that you are giving your body the protein that it needs on a regular basis. I'm going to talk about that in a second. But you are giving your body what it needs in order to be able to stimulate that process to happen. If you think that not eating protein is going to stimulate that to happen, you are entirely wrong.

11:32Okay? It's not just working out, which a lot of people think that's the way. 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 by 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.

12:04Now, fat loss and how protein plays a significant role in fat loss for women over 45 is because protein requires more energy for digestion and absorption compared to carbohydrates and fat. So, it's this process known as a thermic effect of food, which results in an increased calorie expenditure and a boost to your metabolism. That right there, my friends, should be the reason that you eat more protein.

12:38Okay? Because everybody wants to have an increased caloric expenditure. Everybody wants to boost metabolism. Everybody wants to, you know, have something that burns fat by me just eating it. There you go, my friends. Protein will do that. Okay? So, and not to forget to mention this, you guys, is that when you have a high protein diet or when you're focusing on eating more protein, that protein helps you to maintain cravings and hunger.

13:10So, like, if you eat enough protein throughout the day for what your required intake is needed of, mark my words, you will have less cravings. So, for example, like somebody that doesn't eat throughout the day and then all of a sudden you're like, oh my god, I want some chocolate cake right now at the end of the night. Like, just finishing dinner. Finishing dinner, you're now revving your metabolism. If you had some protein in there, you're even revving even more. And afterwards, because you didn't eat all day, now you have all these cravings. Guess what? If you just had protein more consistently throughout the day and you're eating the recommended intake on what you need, you will not have those cravings.

13:46Okay? Now, that is how it helps with fat loss. That is how it helps with muscle development. Those are the two biggest roles of what protein does for those two things, especially for you women that are ages 45 plus, 40 plus. Okay? Even, shit, that even happens in our 30s. But I want you guys to understand with all these hormonal changes, you got to focus on weight training and you got to eat enough protein to support the things that are going on internally inside of your body. You guys 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 and put it into action.

14:23The recommended protein intake that I would recommend for any human being is to eat approximately one gram of protein per pound of body weight every single day. So, for example, if you ate 150 pounds, you would eat 150 grams of protein per day and you're probably like, Nikki, that sounds like a lot. Well, yeah, it's definitely a lot more than the 50 that you're probably at right now. But guess what? All the things that I just said, if you start eating what your body needs and wants, you're going to feel so much better.

14:58Okay? So, how would you get that protein in there is probably the next question that you guys would be asking. Distribute. So, 150. Let's say that you do five meals a day. That's 30 grams of protein in a sitting for your meals. So, you distribute that protein intake evenly throughout the day. Now, just hear me out. Does it need to be 30 exactly in every single meal? No. But you get my point, right? You distribute that throughout the day. And 30 grams of protein is like three to four ounces of chicken. It's not that much.

15:30Okay? 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 that paints a picture that's, one, doable and entirely possible. So, my friends, please, if there's anything from this podcast that you take away right now, what is it? Eat my protein, Nikki! Yes! Let's go! So, the way you would pay attention to, first, if you have no idea how much protein you're eating right now,

16:05your best friend's going to be downloading MyFitnessPal. Your best friend's going to be tracking and seeing where you're at for an entire week. And by the end of the week, just go about your normal habits. Don't try and be like, I'm going to try and eat more protein. Just go. That ain't being real to 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 in a day. I'm only getting 70 grams of protein in a day. And then I would just challenge you, don't go all the way up to 100, whatever your body weight is. Just take it up a little notch. Go to 100. Try and hit that for a week.

16:36This 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 have to do this by yourself, check out the VIP program in the links below. Anyway, that is what you need to do. So, you will just gradually increase until you get to your body weight. Ta-da! Okay, my friends. So, I hope that helped you today. I hope this podcast was eye-opening, insightful, knowledgeable, some action items that you can take away and start applying. Go do it. That's all I ask.

17:07Peace out. See you in the next podcast. Hey, guys. Real quick. If you're interested in taking your body to the next level, lose body fat, build more muscle, feel more confident, do it alongside one of our 30-plus professional coaches. Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all of the guesswork that you may have, and all you need to do is just do the work that she tells you to do to get to those goals of yours. Now, to learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now.

17:38Thank you.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.