What stands out most to me here is the emphasis on sustainability over extremes and the reminder that one slip doesn't undo anything. That all-or-nothing voice is so real, and reframing consistency as something you return to rather than something you perfect is genuinely freeing!
the all-or-nothing voice is the thing i fought the hardest, and the day i stopped trying to be perfect and just kept coming back was the day everything actually started working. so happy this landed with you. thank you for reading ❤️
Sometimes though people can be eating and training “right” but still feeling resistance. I believe it’s only when we start listening - and I mean really listening -to our bodies through somatic practices like meditation that we are able to reconnect with the bodies basic need for feeling safe and heard, then and only then when your nervous system state is truly addressed does the body let go of the idea it has to constantly remain in fight or flight mode. The inflammation then drops revealing the body you were always fighting for but really needed to surrender to. ☝🏼🙏🏽
I really appreciated how you brought up people saying "listen to your body" when you really can't after going through diet culture for so long. This detail made me feel so seen.
as i went through this myself, i get an instant icky feeling when someone tries to convince me that i just need to listen to my body. if i listened to my body i'd live on ice cream and fries.
Hi, thank you very much for this article. If you're still open to questions - how do you factor in like... the happiness a lot of us get from a cookie or a quatre quart? All your advice makes so much sense and I'm eager to actually start weighing the protein I eat in a day and building meals around it - I have slowly been rebalancing meals toward protein and veggies over the past few months and really see a difference in how much more energy I have. But I still want my goûter, to make cake, or do have a chocolate digestive when I have a long day at the office! Do you just not eat those anymore? Or once a week as opposed to once a day? I honestly don't think I could let go of these snacks because they make me so happy lol.
I absolutely eat all of those, and to be honest, I have a sweet tooth 😄 But after years of working on my nutrition habits, I'm able to have a cookie and feel happy and satisfied without the need to eat another one. I think it's not about the fact that you eat those foods once a week or every day, but more about how you feel about it and the amount you eat. You can stay in a caloric deficit (if you want to lose weight) and still have foods you love. It just depends on how you organize your meals throughout the day. I like to think of it this way: 85% nourishing foods and 15% whatever I'm craving, most days. Once or twice a week, I eat out and pick whatever I love without bothering to track or count macros.
yes! i really like macrofactor. instead of locking you into a fixed number, it learns from your actual data. you log your food and weigh in regularly, and it adjusts your calorie and macro targets each week based on what's really happening with your weight. so if your metabolism shifts or your progress stalls, the targets recalibrate on their own. hope it helps 💜
Thank you so much for this! So thorough and actionable 🙌 one thing I’m struggling with, as I’ve been consciously (finally) trying to eat the right amount of protein for my body, is being constantly full. I now eat way more than I actually want to.. I’m barely hungry in the morning, but I force myself to eat a big breakfast with at least 30 grams of protein and always have some fibre and good fat with it. With that meal I’m full all day (great to curb cravings!) and by dinner I still feel like I’m forcing more food into my body than I actually want, just to try hit those targets. And even then I don’t think I’m actually hitting my protein goals. I also try to be done eating for the day by 5-6pm.
For reference I’m 5’2”, 125 lbs, and I lift heavy weights 3-4x/week. Just looking for advice on how to not be so full all the time!
- try to spread it across several meals. i'll use my own meals as an example: i eat 5 meals a day, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. most of my protein goes into breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but having small snacks helps me spread it out a little.
- increase your protein intake slowly, so your body has time to adjust. you won't hit your target at the beginning, and that's fine, as long as you get there eventually and then keep it up in the long term.
- if you're not vegan and you eat dairy, swap some of your animal protein (meat, chicken, fish) for whey. one scoop usually has around 25g of pure protein and it's easier to digest. here's an example: if you were going to have chicken, rice, and veggies at lunch, replace the chicken with whey. take it around 1h before lunch, then eat just the rice and veggies. also, go for the isolate version, it has very little lactose so it's gentler on digestion.
This is amazing because it actually feels doable and sustainable. Any chance you could do a future post with examples of what you eat in a day to meet your protein?
hi elizabeth, i'm glad it resonated with you. i've been thinking about doing a "what i eat in a day," i just need to find the time to photograph a few days of meals. but i'll definitely plan that 😊
I loved this article!! I just turned 47 and have been so confused about what to do for my body!! Perimenopause has sure added an element of fun too! I never had belly fat but now I do. I have been trying to change my body composition this summer! I am going to try what you write about. I didn’t realize how oil has so many calories. The part that resonated the most was not obsessing and to enjoy a special meal. I am so sick of food restrictions and all the fads. Everything you wrote is helpful and I plan to reread many times. Thank you!
thank you, anna. i’m really happy to know that my article helped you in some way. and yes, oils are high in fat, and most of the time, we forget about that 😬
Hi! Thank you for the great article, i‘ll save it! But I‘m currently breastfeeding my second and seven month old child - and planning to keep breastfeeding for at least another year. Does everything still apply the same? I‘m constantly moving running after my kids, constantly breastfeeding, definately not over-eating (though not hitting protein targets due to time limits when it comes to cooking) and loosing nothing sadly. Is that just the way it is while breastfeeding? I‘m almost always hungry and assumed this was because i was burning so many calories from nursing while being in a calorie deficit. But then why am I not losing any weight? Sorry for the rant x
hi, thank you for reading. the advice in this article is intended for women with no health conditions who are not pregnant or breastfeeding. please do not make any changes to your nutrition without consulting your doctor first ❤️
do you have any advice for someone who's an endurance athlete ? I primarily run but try to lift or pilates 2-3 times a week and have in the past done enough lifting to have a great muscle base. mostly maintaing rn. I'm never sure how much to prioritize protein on days i'm running since carbs are so important to endurance and how that factors in overall to body recomp.
If you're doing a lot of endurance training, you probably need more carbs. I'm not an athlete, but I love running, and on the days when I run long distances (for me it's around 15/18 km), I increase my carb intake slightly. Protein and fats stay the same tho (P: ~2g/kg, F: ~1.2g/kg).
I am studying this for after I am done breastgeeding my unborn child haha!!! Thanks for putting it together, knowledge is power, I cannot wait to apply it!
haha i love that you're already prepping for future you. that's exactly the right energy. tuck it away, enjoy this season, and it'll all be here waiting when you're ready to put it into practice. congratulations, by the way!
What stands out most to me here is the emphasis on sustainability over extremes and the reminder that one slip doesn't undo anything. That all-or-nothing voice is so real, and reframing consistency as something you return to rather than something you perfect is genuinely freeing!
the all-or-nothing voice is the thing i fought the hardest, and the day i stopped trying to be perfect and just kept coming back was the day everything actually started working. so happy this landed with you. thank you for reading ❤️
Came here to say this same thing. This article has given me new motivation to get back in the game, sustainably and realistically <3
Thank you so much 🥹
Loved this piece, nutrition is key, its medicine.
Sometimes though people can be eating and training “right” but still feeling resistance. I believe it’s only when we start listening - and I mean really listening -to our bodies through somatic practices like meditation that we are able to reconnect with the bodies basic need for feeling safe and heard, then and only then when your nervous system state is truly addressed does the body let go of the idea it has to constantly remain in fight or flight mode. The inflammation then drops revealing the body you were always fighting for but really needed to surrender to. ☝🏼🙏🏽
thank you 💜
I really appreciated how you brought up people saying "listen to your body" when you really can't after going through diet culture for so long. This detail made me feel so seen.
as i went through this myself, i get an instant icky feeling when someone tries to convince me that i just need to listen to my body. if i listened to my body i'd live on ice cream and fries.
100% agree, thank you!
Hi, thank you very much for this article. If you're still open to questions - how do you factor in like... the happiness a lot of us get from a cookie or a quatre quart? All your advice makes so much sense and I'm eager to actually start weighing the protein I eat in a day and building meals around it - I have slowly been rebalancing meals toward protein and veggies over the past few months and really see a difference in how much more energy I have. But I still want my goûter, to make cake, or do have a chocolate digestive when I have a long day at the office! Do you just not eat those anymore? Or once a week as opposed to once a day? I honestly don't think I could let go of these snacks because they make me so happy lol.
I absolutely eat all of those, and to be honest, I have a sweet tooth 😄 But after years of working on my nutrition habits, I'm able to have a cookie and feel happy and satisfied without the need to eat another one. I think it's not about the fact that you eat those foods once a week or every day, but more about how you feel about it and the amount you eat. You can stay in a caloric deficit (if you want to lose weight) and still have foods you love. It just depends on how you organize your meals throughout the day. I like to think of it this way: 85% nourishing foods and 15% whatever I'm craving, most days. Once or twice a week, I eat out and pick whatever I love without bothering to track or count macros.
I'd love to know if you recommend any app to help with the process!
yes! i really like macrofactor. instead of locking you into a fixed number, it learns from your actual data. you log your food and weigh in regularly, and it adjusts your calorie and macro targets each week based on what's really happening with your weight. so if your metabolism shifts or your progress stalls, the targets recalibrate on their own. hope it helps 💜
Thank you so much for this! So thorough and actionable 🙌 one thing I’m struggling with, as I’ve been consciously (finally) trying to eat the right amount of protein for my body, is being constantly full. I now eat way more than I actually want to.. I’m barely hungry in the morning, but I force myself to eat a big breakfast with at least 30 grams of protein and always have some fibre and good fat with it. With that meal I’m full all day (great to curb cravings!) and by dinner I still feel like I’m forcing more food into my body than I actually want, just to try hit those targets. And even then I don’t think I’m actually hitting my protein goals. I also try to be done eating for the day by 5-6pm.
For reference I’m 5’2”, 125 lbs, and I lift heavy weights 3-4x/week. Just looking for advice on how to not be so full all the time!
hi molly!
i see 3 options here:
- try to spread it across several meals. i'll use my own meals as an example: i eat 5 meals a day, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. most of my protein goes into breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but having small snacks helps me spread it out a little.
- increase your protein intake slowly, so your body has time to adjust. you won't hit your target at the beginning, and that's fine, as long as you get there eventually and then keep it up in the long term.
- if you're not vegan and you eat dairy, swap some of your animal protein (meat, chicken, fish) for whey. one scoop usually has around 25g of pure protein and it's easier to digest. here's an example: if you were going to have chicken, rice, and veggies at lunch, replace the chicken with whey. take it around 1h before lunch, then eat just the rice and veggies. also, go for the isolate version, it has very little lactose so it's gentler on digestion.
hope it helps!
This is amazing because it actually feels doable and sustainable. Any chance you could do a future post with examples of what you eat in a day to meet your protein?
hi elizabeth, i'm glad it resonated with you. i've been thinking about doing a "what i eat in a day," i just need to find the time to photograph a few days of meals. but i'll definitely plan that 😊
Thanking you in protein 🫡
you're welcome 😊
I loved this article!! I just turned 47 and have been so confused about what to do for my body!! Perimenopause has sure added an element of fun too! I never had belly fat but now I do. I have been trying to change my body composition this summer! I am going to try what you write about. I didn’t realize how oil has so many calories. The part that resonated the most was not obsessing and to enjoy a special meal. I am so sick of food restrictions and all the fads. Everything you wrote is helpful and I plan to reread many times. Thank you!
thank you, anna. i’m really happy to know that my article helped you in some way. and yes, oils are high in fat, and most of the time, we forget about that 😬
Hi! Thank you for the great article, i‘ll save it! But I‘m currently breastfeeding my second and seven month old child - and planning to keep breastfeeding for at least another year. Does everything still apply the same? I‘m constantly moving running after my kids, constantly breastfeeding, definately not over-eating (though not hitting protein targets due to time limits when it comes to cooking) and loosing nothing sadly. Is that just the way it is while breastfeeding? I‘m almost always hungry and assumed this was because i was burning so many calories from nursing while being in a calorie deficit. But then why am I not losing any weight? Sorry for the rant x
hi, thank you for reading. the advice in this article is intended for women with no health conditions who are not pregnant or breastfeeding. please do not make any changes to your nutrition without consulting your doctor first ❤️
This is an amazing article, thank you!!!
Thank you for reading, and I'm happy it helped 💖
do you have any advice for someone who's an endurance athlete ? I primarily run but try to lift or pilates 2-3 times a week and have in the past done enough lifting to have a great muscle base. mostly maintaing rn. I'm never sure how much to prioritize protein on days i'm running since carbs are so important to endurance and how that factors in overall to body recomp.
If you're doing a lot of endurance training, you probably need more carbs. I'm not an athlete, but I love running, and on the days when I run long distances (for me it's around 15/18 km), I increase my carb intake slightly. Protein and fats stay the same tho (P: ~2g/kg, F: ~1.2g/kg).
Neeeeeeever delete this omg 😲
Beautifully comprehensive- thank you!!
thank you for reading 💖
Such a good article! Very informative 🤍 Thank you for sharing 🙏
thank you so much, i'm glad you found it helpful 💖
I am studying this for after I am done breastgeeding my unborn child haha!!! Thanks for putting it together, knowledge is power, I cannot wait to apply it!
haha i love that you're already prepping for future you. that's exactly the right energy. tuck it away, enjoy this season, and it'll all be here waiting when you're ready to put it into practice. congratulations, by the way!