Pursuit of Wellness - You’re Probably Not Eating Enough Protein—Here’s Why It Matters

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. What is up guys? Welcome back to the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. Today we are doing a very special episode all about protein. I feel like protein has really become a more well-known, important macro when it comes to health, fitness, longevity, kind of everything. And it's really nice to see people, especially women, putting an emphasis on protein. It's definitely a very important part of my personal diet. I feel like it keeps me satiated.

Starting point is 00:00:38 It helps with muscle growth. If you want to be active, fit, capable, lean and have good muscle, you need to be consuming a decent amount of protein, like I think they say a gram per pound of lean body mass. And that's something I've kind of followed since the beginning of my fitness journey. Greg from the beginning taught me the importance of protein and it's something that I've carried throughout and I think it's honestly a huge part of my journey.

Starting point is 00:01:05 Another piece of the protein journey that I think is really important is creatine. I spoke about this recently, but I got a little bit lazy with my creatine. I usually add it in my hydroflask every day and I recently reincorporated it and the difference it makes is astronomical. It helps with brain and cognitive function. It helps with muscle hydration. I just feel so much better taking creatine every day. And I think a lot of women are afraid of creatine because of certain myths around it. And it has been such a big piece of my journey. The Bloom creatine is what I use every single day. It maximizes protein synthesis, supports muscle growth and muscle recovery, boosts energy,

Starting point is 00:01:45 improves strength and performance. It's also the most science-backed supplement on the market. Creatine has so much science behind it, so highly recommend incorporating that as well. Protein is so important. It helps build muscle and aid recovery. It boosts metabolism and fat loss, and it keeps you full and energized. We have had so many experts come on the show and discuss the importance of protein. I think we're at

Starting point is 00:02:09 the point where there's enough science to see protein is a crucial part of any journey. So we are going to hop into this episode and talk about the importance of protein, how you can better incorporate it into your day, the effects it can have, more science, certain foods you should be focusing on and more. We're also going to touch on a solo episode of my own personal protein habits. So without further ado, let's hop into this protein episode. I hope you all enjoy. I know you are a big advocate for protein first. Can you explain what you mean by that? When you look at what happens as we age,

Starting point is 00:02:45 we get this thing called anabolic resistance where we're having trouble making muscle from the protein resistance training. Those are our two stimuluses really for making muscles as we age. And so the challenge that happens I see as we age is we're starting to eat less. Like we do less, and I always say the less you do the less you can do then we're eating less, our nutrients go down and for so many women and I think this is women in particular, like women in particular have been trying to get smaller their whole life. Yeah. Eat less, get smaller. I mean I used to do nutrition consulting for South Beach models. And they were so afraid of putting on muscle because they had to just be skinny, skinny

Starting point is 00:03:32 and toned. And I'm like, what is toned? Toned is the funniest word to me. They would literally like, you know, it was like the cocaine diet. They would literally eat very little. Wow. But this is, I feel like a pretty endemic situation is that we've always thought that we need to just eat less. And what I find with people is I start to talk about how much

Starting point is 00:03:49 protein you need as you age, which I put it at somewhere in the 0.7 to one gram per pound of target body weight. What I find is that someone will eat and I'll go, oh, I'm too full. And I go, well, you had a salad and I just watched this the other day. I went out to dinner. Some people, I go, this happens every single time. I'm like, is this the other day. I went out to dinner with some people. I go, this happens every single time. I'm like, is this the universe? Like to say, keep going. This my girlfriend sits down.

Starting point is 00:04:11 She has a Caesar salad, croutons, cheese dressing. Now it's better than maybe a salad with, you know, glazed nuts and dried fruit and a raspberry vinaigrette but either which way to me I look at that as a sundae you have five calories of lettuce you have a whole bunch of garbage right you know has that then has three scallops I'm like why don't we just not eat the salad and have six scallops right but that you know then I'm full I can't eat any more the three scallops were the entree that was it oh me, that would be an appetizer. It was an appetizer. That's the point. She had the appetizer for the entree. I'm like, okay,

Starting point is 00:04:52 if you sit down, so if you eat your protein first, a couple of things happen. There's some great study that showed that people who eat protein first actually make better food choices overall. And protein, of course, we know is more satiating, it's got a better thermic effect. It also is more satisfying. So and it's got great blood sugar control. I know there's all this stuff all over about what you need to eat for blood sugar control. And like, well, lift weights, eat protein, your blood sugar will go up. That's okay, just don't go up 100. I know there's a concept and I've mentioned this before on the podcast. If you have more muscle, you essentially burn more calories, just existing. But I don't know how to explain the science behind it. Can you explain that for us?

Starting point is 00:05:38 Yeah, because muscle protein turnover is costly. Okay. Doesn't take much for fat to hang out. So for someone who's losing weight right now, because a lot of the girls who listen to my show have a lot of weight loss questions, the more muscle they put on, the easier it will be for them to lose weight. Yeah. I love weight loss. I have worked in weight loss since, since, you know, my late teens, I've been fascinated, obsessed with weight loss and I really really really wish we could reframe it to fat loss. Yes. Unless you're working with someone who is morbidly obese and then they will lose some fat-free mass too. You're you

Starting point is 00:06:16 basically have two components in your body you have fat mass and you have fat free mass. Now within fat mass we have subcutaneous that's you know the stuff you'll see on your hips and thighs and then you have that visceral adipose tissue. Why I love a deck size, it's going to tell you what you have. You might not like the fat on your thighs, but that is not the problem that the fat around your organs are, and we want to see that. And your fat-free mass is basically skeletal, it's everything else, right? And so some of that fat-free mass supports fat. So if you have a lot of weight to lose,

Starting point is 00:06:47 you're gonna lose some fat-free mass too. But if you have 10 to 20 pounds of weight to lose, even 30, or you're a skinny fat, which is what my husband was when we discovered when he took the Dexa, you may have no muscle, like you may wanna be putting on muscle while you're losing fat. And a lot of times that's where people are. If you want to get to a point where you don't have metabolic adaptation,

Starting point is 00:07:12 like you heard with the biggest losers, where all of a sudden they go through this extreme weight loss and their calorie, the basal metabolic rate is 500 calories less a day than it should be based on their metabolism. rate is 500 calories less a day than it should be based on their metabolism, muscle is key. Because when you do a real basal metabolic rate test, which you can do through a breath test, the DEXA is going to predict it, but a breath test will do even better. Like the DEXA predicted me, I think at 1600, 1500, 1600, and the breath was like 1750. Okay. You know, it's just, so it's going to be based

Starting point is 00:07:48 on your muscle mass. That dictates everything because that muscle's very metabolically active. It's turning over all the times, breaking down, building up, breaking down, building up. Ideally, you are building up more than you're breaking down. At the very least, you want to keep it static, but you definitely don't want to be breaking down more than you're building up more than you're breaking down. At the very least you wanna keep it static, but you definitely don't wanna be breaking down

Starting point is 00:08:07 more than you're building up. So I've worked in weight loss since my 20s and I got very interested early on because of a client who came to me and if she ate over 1200 calories a day, she'd gained weight. She had lived on, like you went into her pantry and opened it up.

Starting point is 00:08:25 You won't remember these things because you were probably in the womb, but they, she had things like butter, buds, snack wells, like all these fat-free, all this garbage ultra-processed diet food. Right. And so, uh, and I was like, this is such a head scratcher. Cause I didn't understand at the time that you don't lose weight to get healthy. You have to get metabolically healthy to lose weight. And that if you've gotten to yourself to this point

Starting point is 00:08:49 where you're so insulin resistant, that you've got to go and start to do the things that start to heal your metabolism so that your body can burn fat and hold on to our built muscle. And that's where she was. How do you heal your metabolism? You know, when you really look at what heals your metabolism the most, because the person I'm working with right now who literally has more

Starting point is 00:09:09 fat than person to lose. And so what we started with, we're really looking at three things. How is your sleep? If one poor night of sleep and you're more insulin resistant. So sleep has got to be dialed in. How do we start working with your nutrition to help make sure that you've got good satiety, good blood sugar balance and optimized nutrients because quite often we're low in things like vitamin D that's going to contribute to insulin resistance and then the exercise that we can do to improve that insulin sensitivity. So really a lot of what we're trying to do is start to improve that insulin sensitivity as quickly as possible.

Starting point is 00:09:45 I always think of my husband, he's a bodybuilder and he's, you know, six pack jacked. But people don't realize he's not just lifting weights in the gym. He's getting 25,000 steps a day usually because he takes every meeting while walking. Wow. I know he paces around the pool. He's constantly moving and he eats a lot of food. So anyway, he's just a good you want that energy flux. So yeah, I think the easy way to do it. And it's, it's interesting, this person I'm working with right now is, is a super disciplined person. He just has to have a process. So I said, All right. He was getting 2500 steps in a day, the average person gets 2500 to

Starting point is 00:10:23 4000 steps a day. I know, I know. That's why let's let's fix let's major in the majors first. Yeah. So much like like before we worry about seed oils before we start focusing on red light. Yes. Maybe we need to get our steps in. Yes. I don't know. Call me crazy. Maybe we need to eat enough protein. Maybe we need to make sure we're hydrated enough. Let's major in the majors that are the biggest things that will like someone just DM me. Are B12 shots going to help me with weight loss? I'm like, not really. Could we major in the majors? I know the foundation is crucial. Right. Like where I started five years ago, now I have the sauna, the cold plunge, the red light,

Starting point is 00:11:06 because I've done all the other stuff. Yes. But I think the most important thing is to start with the steps, start with the weight, start with the foundation and you can add from there. Yes. And if anything, that's less overwhelming. Well, you know, it's so cool. This Brian Johnson guy who is spent $2 million a year hacking his health and, the majority of things that make the biggest difference are the things that

Starting point is 00:11:27 don't really cost anything. Diet, exercise, sleep. I'm like, amen. I'm someone who has transformed my life through a dedicated wellness journey. I've lost over 90 pounds and reclaimed my mental and physical health. I am always seeking tools that provide deeper insights into the body. Health is like everything to me and I think it should be to everyone as well and the best investment you can make and that is why I love Function. You guys have heard me talk about Function so many times. The co-founder Mark Hyman has been on the show I think two or three times at this point. Function is an all-in-one health platform that starts with over 100 advanced lab tests

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Starting point is 00:13:27 married I needed shapewear that felt good and made me look good and that's where I found Honeylove. Honeylove is an independent female founded brand all Honeylove products are intelligently designed by women who actually wear them including founder Betsy who is highly involved in the development of each product which she absolutely love as a fellow female founder. They recently launched their Crossflex bra designed to support you all day in and out of your workout routine. Wear it during your workday and your workout. Honeylove bras are supportive and wire free thanks to bonding technology that lifts without underwire. You deserve a bra that's lightweight, comfortable without sacrificing support. A great bra is the foundation of any outfit. I personally wear them under my t-shirts, long sleeves, tank tops. Start every outfit with Honeylove

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Starting point is 00:14:52 Why is muscle crucial for blood sugar balancing? I mean, muscle is, this is the way that Gabrielle explains it, is it's your suitcase, right? Your muscle is where when you eat carbohydrates, you might need some of them immediately but a lot of them are going to get stored in either your liver or your muscle tissue and If you have a nice muscle suitcase on you you can stuff a lot of carbs into your muscle suitcase and save them for later and not have Those carbohydrates which turn into glucose hanging around in your bloodstream causing high glucose levels, high postprandial, post meal blood glucose levels. That is where we come into an issue because again, even if you are of a healthy body weight, if you're

Starting point is 00:15:33 having blood sugar spikes because of lack of muscle mass, inflammation, metabolic abnormalities, you can have blood sugar spikes to your point. And when you have blood glucose spikes that are abnormal, that are higher than a normal spike, and thus the resulting crash that happens afterwards, reactive hypoglycemia, this creates an immense environment of inflammation and stress within the body. It's hard on your kidneys. It's hard on your adrenals because when you come back down, the body has to now mobilize stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol in order to liberate glycogen from the liver. So it creates this very stress, this added stressful environment on the body when we're already in a state of stress essentially.

Starting point is 00:16:16 Like we got enough of that. We're trying to actually utilize the proper blood sugar balanced meals and snacks at, for some people, a frequent timing in order to keep that cortisol low, in order to keep everything very stable. Because once you create stability in the body, you can start creating stability in the mind. And this is why I think that our weight loss journeys, muscle building journeys, fitness journeys, all these things were essentially our way into the soul journey. Once I learned about body composition and fat loss and calorie restriction, eating in a deficit in order to lose body fat,

Starting point is 00:16:52 I learned that if you're not eating higher protein than you even need at baseline while you are in a deficit, this is so important, you have to eat more protein than you think you do if you're strategically eating a little bit less to lose body fat. Because if you are not, you will not be able to preserve your lean body mass, which is so much harder to put back on than it is to lose.

Starting point is 00:17:18 Your body will catabolize that lean body mass, that muscle tissue, when it's in a stressed state and you're under-fueling it, if you're not keeping your protein levels high and you're not dosing your protein throughout the day to a point where it stimulates muscle protein synthesis and preserves it. It's a biological mechanism. You need at least 30 grams per dose to stimulate MPS. I took that information and was like, duh, my mom was starving herself to lose weight and doing all these crazy diets. So every time she would lose the weight, she'd gain it back quicker and she'd have a harder

Starting point is 00:17:47 time losing it again because she was ending up in a worse place muscle mass wise every single time until she was like almost no muscle tissue. And so I was like, that's not going to be me. I'm going to get it this time. I'm going to like leverage science. I'm going to use the Western world. I'm going like leverage science. I'm gonna use the Western world I'm gonna give myself that balance of like how can I combine the Western and what we know in data with also body compassion and spirituality and herbs and

Starting point is 00:18:13 Polyphenols and the gut microbiome and all the things like and create this perfect like plants and protein Diversity diet that will serve not just my muscle tissue But also my actual body and inflammation levels and all these things. So I do think there's a case to be made that we're living in a world where there's inflammation and thus our GLP-1 levels are a little bit lower. There are cases where if people really hunker down and do the right things, right? We have literature to show that eating a high protein high fiber meal boosts your endogenous levels of GLP-1. We have literature to show that eating a high protein, high fiber meal boosts your endogenous levels of GLP-1.

Starting point is 00:18:45 We have literature to show that cinnamon, fenugreek, ginseng are herbs that increase and stimulate your own release of GLP-1, your own release of ozempic. And there we can use those herbs as tools. I have a formula of glucose bitters that I talk about all the time that I use in my muscle building insulin resistance journey. You take it before meals. It has herbs that help to boost your GLP-1 and also help to regulate your blood sugar and your cravings. This is where we get to like play in the gray area with herbs and holistic remedies to support our bodies. So you can use herbal tools. Green tea, dark chocolate, you know, all of these therapeutic foods, polyphenol rich foods, pigment rich

Starting point is 00:19:25 berries, all of these foods increase our own levels of ozepamic. And it's pretty cool to know that these foods work and can potentiate a fat loss muscle building journey when we eat them because of GLP-1. So obviously, if you're giving a human GLP-1 in greater doses, it's going to help them even more. I want to ask you about protein specifically for anyone listening, who maybe is like, how do I make sure I'm getting enough protein? What should a protein rich meal look like?

Starting point is 00:19:53 How many grams of protein? Is there a certain type of protein you lean towards? Yeah, so I try to go for protein sources that are like simple to prep and easy to grab first and foremost. And I think that this is where we can get very caught up in like the ideals, right? This like idealistic world of like rotate your proteins and eat the wild's venison and the this and that and all this stuff. Yes, in a perfect world, would that be the most nutrient dense, beautiful, varied diet? And is that what I wish I could do all the time? Sure.

Starting point is 00:20:25 And yeah, like once a month, twice a month, my husband and I will prep like liver meatballs, right? And we'll like get this really cool, nutrient rich source of protein and then rotate that in our diets. So I will often meal prep a bunch of boiled eggs, five hard boiled eggs will give you 30 grams of protein, just about which is the dose that you need and I will eat five eggs

Starting point is 00:20:47 Period people I used to do that too before they broke me out. I'm sorry about that. You know, it's it's a it's an interesting inflammatory I know we'll chat. Yeah. Yeah You're like you're fucked up. No, it's it's I used to slam eggs Oh, in fact, you're not fucked up. Like fact, that is what I want you to stop thinking. Thank you, babe. I appreciate that. But yeah, so I'll prep the eggs. I'll prep the chicken breast.

Starting point is 00:21:12 You want like four or five ounces of chicken breast or ground beef or steak. And you can weigh it out at first. That's again what I had to do. I would get my scale out and I would weigh five ounces. Because then you learn what it should look like. Exactly. It's just training yourself how to build a plate. And my thing is like plants, protein, carb.

Starting point is 00:21:27 And if I can make my carb a plant, even better. If I can make my carb chickpeas, like break open a can of chickpeas and maybe like roast them in a pan with like some red peppers and jalapenos and whatever and have that be my carb, fabulous. If it's white rice, great. If it's potato, Japanese sweet potato even, oh my God, amazing. And then, yeah, I do, I try to go for some kind of a plant with every meal. So, and if that means like grabbing a handful of blueberries, even though it doesn't make sense on my plate with

Starting point is 00:21:55 my meal, but it makes sense for what my brain knows. Let me get a little plants in here. Let me like nightcap the meal with something. I'll do that. But it'll usually be like greens or sauteed, you know, something bok choy broccoli, raw greens with like a really simple dressing. It's just breaking it back down to basics. I think one of the greatest things that I got out of the time that I worked with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is the way that she gives pep talks. It's really the relationship. And she had said to me, you know, listen, beating yourself up and telling yourself you're a piece of shit and you need to do better and blah, blah, blah, and having something

Starting point is 00:22:30 to fight against served you up until this point. You made your company, you did all these things, you're successful. It's not working anymore. You need to realize that what took you to here, what took you to this level is not going to be the thing that takes you to the next level. You need a new plan, you need a new strategy. And sometimes that's the hardest part is pivoting into softness, self-compassion, curiosity, and mothering in a way that is discipline without shame. Mothering in a way that is, hey, I see you,

Starting point is 00:23:03 I see that like you had a really long hard day. You had a few things that came up that like triggered a wound. You feel really weird about this friendship dynamic right now and work is stressful and you're overtired. And so right now you just want to eat a box of cookies. I feel it. I'm with you. I'm gonna like sit there with you and feel that.

Starting point is 00:23:21 And then saying, what if we try to eat some protein first? What if we just do that gentle nudge? Let's just try that. And if you still want the box of cookies after you eat a nice protein rich snack or meal, we can do that. But I just want you to try. And that's the way that a mother would speak to a child, a mother that I never had would. I mean, I had a beautiful, wonderful mother, but she didn't mother in that way, right? She was very unkind to herself and thus did not know how to hold that space for me, right? So I had to learn how to hold that space for my younger self. And I had to learn how to talk to myself in a way where like, it was motherly love, which involves tough love sometimes.

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Starting point is 00:26:37 You've heard me say it before. I'll say it again. High protein is so important. It helps me feel full and satiated. Muscle is so important. It helps me feel full and satiated. Muscle is so important. I eat a ton of protein throughout the day. I like to load up my breakfast, especially because I want to start the day with a feeling full,

Starting point is 00:26:59 feeling satiated, and a large amount of protein because getting enough protein in is really challenging. I feel like 80% of people are actually not getting enough protein in because when you actually look at it on a plate, my breakfast is a pile of meat and some fruit basically. What I've been doing lately is I'll have bacon or sausage, which is kind of like my higher fat protein, and then I'll pair it with a leaner cut. So maybe like a skirt steak or ground beef, 90%, and I'll mix it all together for this

Starting point is 00:27:34 kind of like meat mash. I know that sounds so disgusting. I'm not mashing the meat. That made it sound really, really gross. It's basically just a plate of meat and then I'll do strawberries. Today I did a banana for a little bit of carbs. So I'm really hitting all my macros there. And I would estimate that my breakfast is probably 30 grams of protein, maybe more. And then I just keep kind of repeating that throughout the day. My meals, my snacks, everything is centered around the protein. So for lunch, maybe I'll do ground beef and avocado or a salad with extra protein. If you order your lunch, let's say you order salads, get double protein every time. Highly recommend it. Dinner is also centered around the protein, whether it's a ribeye, a salmon, lamb chops, like you

Starting point is 00:28:25 can really switch it up. Ooh, slow cooker, really great way of making delicious meat that like falls off the bone, so freaking good. And then put your veggies and potato kind of around that, if that makes sense. In terms of snack, high protein again, I love chomps, meat sticks, fantastic way of getting protein in. And there's no additives or any weird ingredients in there. They are a sponsor of the show. We have a code. I'll put it in the description box. I love raw bars, R-A-W-R bars. They are a small family business that I order from. My doctor, Emily Morrow, recommended them to me. I believe they have 20 grams of protein in them.

Starting point is 00:29:05 I had one on the way to record because I knew I would get hungry. I am like a giant baby, guys, when it comes to eating. I'm like clockwork. Like I wake up hungry. I have to eat by eight at least. I work out fasted and I eat right after. Now, I do want to comment on that window of time that you need to eat your protein. I recorded an episode with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and I asked her about this time window. It really isn't as important as we think as long as we're getting in enough protein throughout the day. It really is about the whole day. And what they recommend is a gram of protein per pound of body weight. So let's say I weigh around 150 pounds,

Starting point is 00:29:46 like I need to be getting 150 grams of protein in per day. So it is kind of a mission and you need to be very conscious of it, but it really is life-changing. Like just by upping your protein, I feel like what you'll find is that you end up eating less crap throughout the day because you're not having those crazy cravings

Starting point is 00:30:04 and you just feel full. And also increasing that lean muscle in your body is so important, especially if you're weightlifting. Just by having, and it's hard to explain this concept, but simply by increasing your muscle mass, your body requires more calories to exist every day. So you're actually kind of burning fat when you increase muscle. Having muscle is so important, especially as we age, it protects our bones, it helps with longevity.

Starting point is 00:30:32 Dr. Gabriel Lyon went into so many different studies with me about Alzheimer's and various different diseases that muscle is really, really like an important piece of the puzzle for health and people don't talk about it enough. So muscle is big. I also put incorporating a lot of fats. This isn't hard for me. I love fats. I'm definitely like a savory type of gal. I love using ghee and tallow and avocado and various types of like healthy fats on my food. But I think for us women,

Starting point is 00:31:06 it's really important that we're getting enough fats. Like if you're someone who is maybe eating like really lean proteins and lots of carbs, just remember that fats are really important for hormone health and overall energy and also feeling full and satiated and brain health. Fats are important for absolutely everything. So I think that's really crucial if you're a female, just to make sure you're getting enough fats in every

Starting point is 00:31:30 day. I think when I first got into fitness, I thought that I had to eat like very regimented in a certain like tilapia, chicken and broccoli and rice. Like everything was very like dry. And now I've realized you can really have so much fun with healthy food and there's so many great options out there. So you just need to educate yourself and keep things fun. Thank you for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for

Starting point is 00:32:14 my newsletter to receive my favourites at marielawellen.com, it will be linked in the show notes. This podcast is a Pursuit Network production, brought to you by Michaela Phillips, Joel Contartese, Davielle Waldner, Jen Lauren, and Mackenzie Maisel. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Pursuit of Wellness podcast. Love you, Power Girls and Power Boys. I will see you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Starting point is 00:32:49 As always, talk to your doctor or health team.

Pursuit of Wellness - You’re Probably Not Eating Enough Protein—Here’s Why It Matters

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