I Thought I Ate Healthy—Then I Took a Closer Look At My Diet

The unexpected results that surprised even this health editor.

As a writer/editor focused on health, fitness and nutrition content, I’ve worked on many stories about macronutrients throughout my career. So theoretically, I’d known for a very long time that protein is super important.

And yet, I ate very little of it. In fact, you might say that I quietly avoided the macro…with the exception of the occasional sushi lunch or burger for dinner.

I remember training for my first marathon, back when I was 22 years old. After an exhausting 20-mile long run in Central Park, I craved lox like you would not believe…like, deep in my soul. As I hyena-ed that post-run, pure-gold protein from a bagel shop on the Upper East Side, I thought to myself, Wow, our bodies are so cool. Mine must’ve really wanted protein after that big effort.

Ya think?!

Still, it took two decades for me to give my body what it already knew it needed: plenty of protein, every single day. In my experience, it can take a lot of hard work and time for our hard-wired habits, beliefs, and brain chemistry to change.

Also: It’s more difficult to practice than it is to preach…just ask any health editor. Sometimes, you need to hear things a dozen different ways, from a dozen different sources, before—seemingly out of nowhere—it suddenly clicks (#ApplyToLife).

The spring of 2022 was my ah-ha moment

Coming out of the pandemic, I was (gloriously!) back to working out at my YMCA, recovered from my broken sacrum/skiing accident, and really enjoying picking up heavier weights and experimenting with barbells. I felt strong and fit, but also frustrated that my body composition didn’t really reflect all of my consistent hard work.

The summer of ‘22, at peak protein epiphany. :)

My friend (who is also a trainer and nutrition coach), Lauren Kanski, gently—over and over—told me to focus on prioritizing protein in my diet. Finally, I decided to just go for it. My plan: prioritize protein, see how I felt, literally lose nothing if I didn’t feel better, and best case scenario? Changing my diet would positively impact me at the gym and everyday life.

Here’s the short version of my ~protein journey~...

1. I spent one week getting clear on how much protein I currently consumed every day. (You can use a free app for this, or even ChatGPT.) My average? 40–50g. For context, that’s less than half of what many experts recommend for an active woman.

2. The next week, I got serious about examining nutrition labels and even weighing foods like chicken breasts to dial in how to up my protein consumption. At this point, the biggest shift I observed was that I felt “less snacky” each day.

3. From there, I made a goal to eat 100g a day. There were many cans of (oh dear lord) tuna fish and sardines at lunch during that chapter. (My former teammates at WH even began dropping off their tinned fish press gifts, lol.) Around this time, I noticed the whispers of abs definition in the mirror for the first time in my life, my flex was popping, but best of all…I simply felt more awesome. I had higher energy, sounder sleep, and quicker recovery from workouts.

4. Next, I upped my protein consumption to 125g a day because my research had found that 1g of protein per pound of ideal body weight is the gold standard for a woman of my age and activity level. (I’m 46 right now.)

5. The rest of my protein journey? It’s this post, plus all of the protein content we did at WH. It was such a game-changer in my life that I’m eternally on a mission to share the power of this macronutrient with as many people as possible.

This is breakfast al desko at my old office, and, yes, it’s big. I would never have eaten like this before my protein journey began. For the record, eating a high-protein morning meal means you won’t feel like snacking for hours…and by then? It’s lunch time.

I hope to help spark your own ah-ha moment. The remainder of this protein guide is for Gold Star subscribers…and I worked really hard on it, because I care! :) I unpack the most cutting edge studies and science for why this macro matters so much, all of the awesome things it can (and can’t) do in our bodies, plus I answer the most common questions about protein that my followers DM me on IG. I also give you some quick tips for sneaking in more protein every day. Let’s get into it…