Day 7 - Article: International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day. Today we celebrate women around the world — our strength, our resilience, our incredible capacity to care for others. But I want to talk about something that often gets lost in the celebration: the way women chronically deprioritize their own health.

A 2023 study in Feminist Psychology found that women who focus on nutrition and empowerment — who genuinely prioritize their own health — show better outcomes across the board. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. And a landmark JAGS study of 4,800 women confirmed that those meeting protein targets showed 35% better physical function. The data is clear: prioritizing your health isn't selfish. It's essential.

Why Women Put Themselves Last

You already know this pattern. You cook dinner for your family but grab whatever's left. You drive your kids to activities but skip your own gym time. You make sure everyone else has what they need and then wonder why you're exhausted by 3 PM.

Research calls this "self-silencing" — the tendency of women, especially in midlife, to suppress their own needs in favor of others. It's culturally reinforced, socially rewarded, and physically devastating.

Here's what self-silencing looks like in nutrition:

• Skipping breakfast because you're rushing to get others ready
• Eating the kids' leftover chicken nuggets instead of a real meal
• Having coffee and a granola bar for lunch because "it's fine"
• Cooking a protein-rich dinner for the family but serving yourself mostly sides
• Feeling guilty about spending money on high-quality protein for yourself

Sound familiar? You're not alone. But today is the day to start changing that pattern.

The Health Cost of Self-Neglect

When women chronically under-eat protein, the consequences accumulate silently:

• Muscle loss: 1-2% per year without adequate protein and exercise, accelerating after menopause
• Bone weakening: Protein is essential for bone matrix — inadequate intake increases fracture risk
• Fatigue: Your body can't produce energy efficiently without amino acids
• Weakened immunity: Antibodies are made from protein — less protein means less defense
• Mood changes: Amino acids like tryptophan are precursors to serotonin and other mood-regulating neurotransmitters

The 4,800 women in the JAGS study showed this clearly: protein intake directly predicted physical function. Women who ate enough had 35% better function scores. Women who didn't were losing ground every year.

Prioritizing Yourself Is Not Selfish

Here's the truth that needs to be said more often: you cannot pour from an empty cup. The woman who skips her own meals to serve others eventually doesn't have the energy, strength, or health to serve anyone.

Prioritizing your nutrition is not taking away from your family. It's ensuring you'll be around — strong, capable, energetic — for decades to come. Your children don't benefit from a mother who's exhausted and depleted. Your partner doesn't benefit from you running on empty. Your grandchildren need you strong enough to get down on the floor and play with them.

Every protein-rich meal you eat is a vote for your future self. The woman who can still hike at 70. Who can travel independently at 75. Who can carry her own bags, climb her own stairs, and live on her own terms at 80.

Small Steps, Big Impact

You don't have to overhaul everything today. Start with one change:

1. Eat breakfast with protein. Even just 3 eggs and a piece of toast gives you 20g. Stop grabbing coffee and calling it a meal.
2. Make your plate first. Before you serve everyone else, put your own food on your own plate. The same quality, the same portions.
3. Stop apologizing. You don't need permission to eat well. You don't need to justify buying salmon or Greek yogurt for yourself.
4. Schedule your meals. If you schedule everything else in your life, schedule your own nutrition. Put "lunch with protein" in your calendar if you have to.
5. Ask for help. Tell your family you're prioritizing your health. Ask them to support you. Most of the time, they want to — they just didn't know you needed it.

A Women's Day Promise

This International Women's Day, I'm asking you to make one promise. Not to anyone else — to yourself.

Promise that you will eat like you matter. Because you do. Promise that you will fuel your body with real protein, real food, real care. Not because a magazine told you to, or because you want to look a certain way, but because your strength, your independence, and your quality of life depend on it.

Strong women need strong nutrition. And you are a strong woman — even on the days when you don't feel like it.

Happy International Women's Day. Now go eat some protein.