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The Plant Powered Collective Podcast helps women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond live vibrantly and nourish boldly. Hosted by integrative nutrition coach Lori Willinski, each episode blends science-backed nutrition with approachable strategies for hormone balance, energy, and healthy aging. Rooted in lifestyle medicine and personalized coaching, Lori shares her story of thriving on plants since age 14 and managing autoimmune disease with nutrition. Discover how a plant powered lifestyle fuels not only your health, but also your leadership and your future self.
Lori (00:00)
Welcome back to the Plant Powered Collective Podcast. I'm Lori Walinsky, integrative nutritionist, coach, and founder of the Plant-Powered Collective. Around here we talk about nourishment on the plate, around the plate, and at the table. Because health is never just one thing. It is how we eat, it is how we move, it is how we manage stress, it is our environment, it is the people we share our lives with. And most of all, it is
Building a way of living that actually works for you. So pull up a chair at my table and join me while we talk all things protein. Because apparently, protein is having a moment. It is everywhere: protein coffee, protein cereal, protein bars, even protein water, protein chips, and protein cookies. And the list goes on and on. And if you are in perimenopause, menopause, or
Of post-menopause like me, there is a very good chance that someone has told you that you need more protein. Maybe a lot more protein, and there is some truth there, but I want to slow the conversation down a little. Not because protein is unimportant, it is important for sure, but because I don't want protein to become one more thing we feel we have to do perfectly. Protein definitely helps our bodies repair tissue, make enzymes and hormones.
Hormones, support immune function, and maintain muscle. And muscle becomes increasingly important as we move through midlife. We naturally become more vulnerable to muscle loss as we age. The hormonal shifts surrounding menopause can influence body composition too. But when I say muscle, I'm not talking about trying to create some ideal body. I'm talking about being able to carry our own groceries, being able to lift your
Suitcase up into the overhead compartment. Get up off the floor. I know sometimes I have a problem with that. Walk through the airport, garden, play with grandchildren, travel and live independently. Muscle is part of how we protect the life we want to keep living. And that is a very different reason to care about protein. Research continues to show that resistance training helps women maintain and build strength before and after menopause.
So protein definitely matters, but protein needs a partner. We need to use those muscles too. So how much protein do we actually need? This is one of those areas where protein can start sounding like a math class. You may have heard the recommendation of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That number is the RDA, and RDA actually means recommended daily allowance.
I think of it as a baseline amount designed to meet the needs of most healthy adults. It is not necessarily the perfect amount for every woman in every stage of life. Let me use myself as an example, because that maybe might be more approachable and easier to understand. I weigh about 113 pounds on a good day.
It is roughly fifty one kilogram that I weigh about one hundred and thirteen pounds. That is roughly fifty one kilograms. If I multiply that by zero point eight, my RDA is about forty one grams of protein per day. If I were aiming closer to one gram per kilogram, that would be about fifty-one grams. At one point two grams
Per kilogram, that would be about 62 grams of protein. And depending on age, activity, resistance training, health goals, and medical history, some women may benefit from more. But I do not want you leaving this podcast thinking you need to hit one magical number every single day. This is where I put on my coaching hat. Before we count, I want us to notice. At breakfast, where is the protein? At lunch, where is the protein?
At dinner, where is the protein? And it doesn't have to be one huge hunk of meat or protein source. It can be incremental and in small amounts. It can be nuts and seeds. It can include protein sources like tofu.
Because I want us to ask another plant-powered collective question to accompany where is the protein? That question is, where are the plants? Because I am much more interested in the entire plate than I am in one thing sitting in isolation like protein.
I want to take a moment to talk about tofu because tofu deserves a place at the table and on the plate. Tofu is one of those foods people tend to have a very strong opinion about, even before they have learned how to cook it. Soy is a complete protein.
What that means is it contains all nine essential amino acids our bodies cannot make on their own. And newer research has also found that tofu is a highly di is highly diwer research has found tofu to be highly digestible compared with a number of other plant-based protein products.
So when people casually say plant protein is somehow incomplete or inferior, that is simply too broad a statement. Tofu is a wonderfully useful protein. And what I love about tofu is that it is almost like a blank canvas. And what I love about tofu is that it is almost like a blank canvas. It takes on the flavor you it.
The key is making it taste good because I do not believe in eating something just because it's healthy. If I want you to eat more plants, I also want you to enjoy them. And that is part of Plant-Powered Collective too.
So there is a bigger picture here. And another dietary pattern you may be hearing about more is called the planetary health diet. I know that name sounds complicated. The actual approach really is not. It emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and other plant foods, while reducing things like red and processed meats. Does that sound familiar?
In almost everything I do, all podcasts, I talk about vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and other plant foods. So there's one large study following women through the menopause transition.
So there's one large study following women through the menopause transition, and it found that women whose eating patterns aligned more closely with this kind of plant-forward pattern tended to experience less weight gain around menopause. That does not mean there is one special menopause diet. You know I don't like the word diet.
But what it tells us is something much simpler: that patterns matter, that plants matter, that fiber matters, that whole foods matter, and protein matters too, and they all work together. So this is where like small shifts come in. One of the things I hear all the time is, Lori, I know I should.
One of the things I hear all the time is, Lori, I know what I should be doing. I just do not always do it. Exactly. That is why coaching is not simply telling someone what to eat. Like when I gained weight during menopause and I went to get some nutrition guidance and they just handed me a sheet of paper with things on it that I didn't eat that didn't match my lifestyle.
And I left there thinking, what a waste of time and money.
Most women already know that vegetables are good for them. They are they already know they are prob they they already know they probably need more to move. They already know they probably need to move more. They already know a bag of cookies is not nutritionally equivalent to an apple.
The challenge is making the healthier choice work in our real lives. That might mean keeping tofu in the refrigerator so you have an easy protein option. It might mean adding edamame to a salad you already eat. It might mean throwing hemp seeds onto your breakfast.
in the morning. I just did that this morning with my avocado toast because I asked myself, Where's the protein? And there wasn't protein. So I threw some hemp seeds on there and some pumpkin seeds. Automatic beautiful protein sources. It might mean
It might mean making enough dinner that lunch is already taken care of tomorrow. I do that all the time. Those are systems, and systems make healthier choices easier. So today's small shift.
Here's what I invite you to try this week. Do not track everything, do not change everything. At each meal, simply ask, where is my protein? Then where are my plants? That's it. Just notice. Maybe breakfast needs a little help. I know mine did this morning and that's why.
I threw on s ⁓ my avocado toast, some hemp seeds and some pumpkin seeds. Maybe lunch is great. Maybe dinner has plenty of protein, but hardly any color. We are gathering information, not grading ourselves. So I've talked about tofu a lot in this podcast, and so I want to leave you with a recipe. ⁓
For salt and pepper tofu with Chinese style broccoli. This recipe is incredibly approachable. It reminds me of it reminds me a little of Chinese chicken and broccoli, but we're using tofu. And I have made it myself and I use it all the time because it's one of those super simple recipes. So
You can head over to the Plant Powered Collective YouTube channel and cook it with me. You can look on my sub-personal Substack, Lori Walinsky, where I've written an article about it. And so here's basically the way it goes. You start with one block of extra firm tofu. And you can get extra firm tofu in like the vegetable and produce section of your grocery store.
Press out some of the moisture and cut it into cubes. Toss it with a small amount of oil, cornstarch. I actually don't use cornstarch, but some people like that better than potato starch. I like to use potato starch. Both are about the same thing, ⁓ but I just use potato starch. Salt, and plenty of black pepper. Bake it on parchment paper, on a cookie sheet.
For it at about 425 degrees Fahrenheit until it is golden browned and crisp around the edges. While that's happening, make a simple sauce with soy sauce or tamari or coconut aminos, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, garlic, a little toasted sesame oil, and a splash of water. And if you like a touch of sweetness, add a little bit of maple syrup.
And then steam or saute a big pile of broccoli. Toss the broccoli and crispy tofu together with the sauce, finish it with scallions and some sesame seeds, and serve it over brown rice if you want something more substantial. It is simple, it is familiar, it gives you plant protein, vegetables, flavor, texture, and a meal that feels like food rather than a nutrition assignment. And that is exactly what I want for you.
If there is one thing I want you to take away today, it is this: protein matters, but the goal is not to obsess about protein. The goal is to build strength, to support your body, to eat enough, to keep plants at the center of the plate, and to create a way of eating that you can actually live with. Here is your reflection question.
Where could I add protein to my day without making eating feel more complicated? Maybe you already know the answer. Start there. And if this idea of making small realistic changes instead of trying to overhaul your life resonates with you, that is exactly what we do inside my four-week program called Nourish Boldly Small Shifts. It is not a meal plan, it is not me telling you what to eat.
It is about helping you build your own systems around food, movement, environment, and the way you want to live. You can find the link in the show notes. And if you know another woman who is confused by all the protein noise right now, please share this episode with her. And then come find me on social media at Plant Powered Collective and let me know where you are finding your proteins these days. Thank you for pulling up a chair at my table.
Until next time, nourish boldly and live vibrantly.