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Cult of wellness | You don't need to eat more protein (maybe)

Cult of wellness | You don't need to eat more protein (maybe)

I said what I said...but read the whole thing before you yell at me plz

Helen Phelan's avatar
Helen Phelan
Sep 15, 2023
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Cult of wellness | You don't need to eat more protein (maybe)
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My on demand pilates studio members might see this headline and think I’m a massive hypocrite, as it wasn’t all that long ago that had my friend and registered dietitian nutritionist, Anna Brown on to chat in a video about the importance of and easy ways to implement more protein—but stay with me.

I’ve noticed a considerable uptick in discourse on wellness-tok encouraging women to eat more protein. While I am always relieved to see influencers talking about adding in food instead of taking it away, I have some notes.

If you have a history of disordered eating and you’re still trying to figure out your relationship with food without food rules, tracking your protein is not it, my friend. 🎤 ⬇️

Theoretically, eating more protein is great, particularly if you’re an active person, and even more so if you’re an active person who can’t stomach the sight, smell, look or subsequent guilt associated with eating meat—but it’s not that simple in practice. There’s a very good reason the “mindful nutrition” chapter is at the very end of the Intuitive Eating book (Bookshop.org affiliate link). Without doing the work to relax your rules around food, tracking macros can slip very easily into disordered territory. 

If you’re feeling defensive or on edge, stick with me!

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