Whole Food, Intermittent Fasting and Protein Shakes

I was a child of the super-skinny obsessed 90s and early 2000s and somewhere in a highly reliable source that was a teen magazine I read that 1,200 calories per day was all a woman needed. The very short version: I wrecked my metabolism under-eating and over training all of my adult life. I’m getting my health back eating whole food, intermittent fasting and using protein shakes to hit my goals.

I really had the opportunity to harness my heightened metabolic rate of my early 20s and use it as a springboard. I could have and should have stoked my metabolic fire with nutritionally dense food and higher protein intake. But instead I followed the diet culture path, which led to my metabolic demise.

Where I went wrong.

I played competitive sports all throughout adolescence and high school and played basketball in college. When I was not playing basketball, I trained 4-5 days per week at the gym for 2-4 hours per day. I should have treated myself like the athlete that I was. But instead… armed with the terrible advice of teen magazines, an incredibly lean body mass, a dietary approach that consisted of living off of the salad bar and the cereal towers at my college campus,(low-fat, duh!) zero concept of protein needs whatsoever, combined with the super-skinny obsessed mindset of the 2000s, I proceeded to drive my metabolism into the ground.

My disordered eating continued for 15+ years and I eventually brought my metabolism, and my body to a screeching halt. One can only undereat, over train and live in a constant state of heightened stress for so long before the body protests. I will give my body credit, it endured my poor health habits for quite a while before the ship started to take on water. Additionally, my body, (and heart and mind) had experienced significant medical trauma, preterm labor and our son’s death. The problem was more that my chaotic eating pattern but my mental and physical healthy desperately needed adequate nutrition. And the virus that shall not be named was really the straw that broke the camel’s back. You can read about our health journey here and mine specifically here.

I went to my doctor and amongst other things, he recommended therapy which was a good call. Both the doctor and the therapist recommended nutrition strategies. I appreciated the whole body approach to healing.

I am trying to share what I have learned because I have talked to

I’m going to put this caveat here because I do on anything health related. I’m a Jesus girl. I can give you steps that I have taken to regain my health but ultimately my peace and peace of mind comes from Him.

Additionally, I am not a doctor. Don’t claim to be, and this is not medical advice. I will link to some doctor’s commentaries, websites like the Cleveland Clinic, doctors and so on. However, you are your own person with your own brain. Do your own research, talk to your doctor and decide what steps to take. And last order of business, this post might have a affiliate links. If you click on them I might make a small commission at no additional cost to you.

6 Steps for getting my health back:

I’m about half way to my weight loss goal, and though it has been slower than I had anticipated, I’m happy to play the slow and steady game. Here are 5 things that have helped me immensely.

#1: I started eating enough.

There is good news. Metabolic rate can be increased, energy levels can be restored, muscle built and fat lost, and sanity regained…or at least some of it. I will be honest, I am still working on the fat loss part of this equation. I am about half-way to my goal. But by implementing what I am about to share, I have seen vast improvements. My sleep is better, I can sleep a full 8 hours. No midnight anxiety attacks or night sweats. I can make it through my day without a nap. This is big. I was so fatigued by my under-eating that I would often need to take a nap by 10 am. It still baffles me that I thought that was normal, but onward and upward. My periods are better. Less cramping, less intense mood swings for which everyone in my house is grateful. This has been the slow and steady journey. I started by working with Dr. Heather Rhodes about two years ago. My goal was to lose weight, but what I realized is that I had a long way to go. I am thankful for what I learned with her and I am happy that her approach was not a calorie deficit, but rather a dense nutrition strategy. This is not a sponsorship, I just think her course was accessible and very helpful. It is exactly what I needed for that first year of my weight loss journey…and that was to not really lose any weight. I had a lot of damage to repair and a lot of ground to make up in letting my body know it was safe and not in starvation mode. My overall health needed an overhaul. I was coming down off of a multi-year stress roller coaster. This would not have been a good time to implement an intermittent fasting routine. I needed to make sure I was eating enough protein, healthy fats and carbs to give my body the nutrition is desperately needed. So after this initial healing phase, I began really focusing on metabolic health.

The book "Forever Strong" on a shelf next to a green bowl.

#2) Eat a protein forward diet.

I have been following Dr. Gabrielle Lyon for a while now. Last Spring, I read her book, Forever Strong. It really helped solidify what I was already learning about the importance of a protein forward diet. I am continuing to learn how to build and preserve muscle mass. There are numerous health benefits of eating adequate protein including helping to stabilize blood sugar levels, building lean muscle and muscle preservation, improving insulin sensitivity and improving longevity. You can learn more about what she has to say about protein here: Where she answers the question “why protein?”

I try to eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of ideal body. Ideal body weight = my goal weight.

I consume complete protein sources from high-quality proteins like meat, dairy and eggs. I shoot for at least 30 grams of protein per meal. Here are a couple of my posts with high-protein ideas.

#3 Protein Supplements

Although my diet was primarily whole foods, I had not prioritized protein to the extent I really needed to. Now, I am putting a much more concentrated effort into eating enough dietary protein. An easy way to increase supplement protein is by drinking protein shakes. I personally do not utilize meal replacement shakes very often, but rather use my protein shakes as a supplement, snack or to round out a meal. I chose a whey protein powder because it is a complete protein and my body digests it well.

There are a variety of protein powders and pre-made shakes on the market. I look for complete protein powders and shakes with minimal added ingredients. I don’t need a fancy protein powder, I just want something with about 25 grams per scoop, low sugar and a decent amount of fiber.

The best protein powder that I have found in recent years is by Just Ingredients. You can use my code LaurenW for 10% Just Ingredients. The best protein shake (premade) that I have tried is Jocko Molk. I enjoy the Jocko Molk powder more than the premade shakes, but the shakes are handy for sure. I have tried LOTS of protein shakes, protein powders and protein bars and these two are my favorite by a long shot.

Chocolate is my favorite of the premade drinks. Do note the black lab in the background contemplating a snatch and grab from the fridge.

Vanilla tastes like vanilla pudding snack packs.

Favorite of all of Jocko’s proteins. FYI it comes in bags now. This is an older picture.

Quick Health Class Review about Protein

In case you don’t remember from health or biology class, we have essential nutrients and non-essential nutrients. In this case, the word “essential” does not necessarily mean important, but rather something the body can’t produce on it’s own and must get elsewhere. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a food is considered a complete protein when it contains all nine essential amino acids that our body can’t produce on its own. By comparison, incomplete proteins contain some, but not all, of the essential amino acids, and in various amounts.

#4) Intermittent Fasting

Recently I have begun intermittent fasting, and though I am not an expert I will include resources I have found on it. There are a lot of ways you can intermittent fast. I am working toward a 14/10 fasting period, where I would fast for 14 hours and eat within an 10 hour window. A lot of people fast 16/8, but I prefer to eat within the first 1-2 hours of waking. I have hypoglycemia so I can’t just jump right into not eating for 16 hours. I just started intermittent fasting a few weeks ago, so right now my fasting window is about 12-14 hours and my eating window is usually 10-12 hours.

From what I am learning, the benefits of intermittent fasting are numerous. This article from Johns Hopkins has a lot of good information on intermittent fasting and states “Most of the available research shows that intermittent fasting can help people lose body weight and lower their levels of fasting glucose, fasting insulin and leptin while reducing insulin resistance, decreasing levels of leptin and increasing levels of adiponectin.”

The main reason I wanted to start focusing on some intermittent fasting in conjunction with strength training is to increase my insulin sensitivity.

#5) Build Lean Muscle Mass

I have put a very concentrated effort into building lean muscle mass. I have been working out at a functional fitness gym for almost two years. When I first started I could only go 2 days per week. I was still recovering from the vid and had to work up to more days.

#6) Walking

I have been walking 2-4 miles a day when I don’t go to the gym and sometimes even on the days I do go. Walking is supposed to be good for increasing insulin sensitivity especially if you walk within 30 minutes of eating. This YouTube video with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and Dr. Casey Means had some great info on insulin resistance, increasing insulin sensitivity and the benefits of walking.

In my experience, I would say diet and strength training have the most immediate affect on how I feel. How I feel is most strongly impacted by what I am eating, (eating enough/enough protein and eating less junk). Whereas, walking and intermittent fasting tend to be cumulative. I hope this is helpful. Here are a few more posts I’ve written about healthy eating.

Drop any questions in the comments!

-Lauren