In the “Getting Girls to Train” series, I aim articles at you, the reader, in hopes that you can use them to help a female in your life — friend, girlfriend, wife, relative, etc. — get into training. In Part 1 I gave some basic guidelines on how to create a strength program for her and in Part 2 we talked about why monotonous time spent doing “cardio” isn’t necessary as well as how to incorporate simple high intensity endurance workouts into a strength program. Today’s Part 3 concerns with ‘eating right’.

If you remember the Improving Diet post, you’ll remember that I’m not a stringent diet groupie. More importantly, I’m not an advocate of completely changing everything about a person’s diet because it’s the hardest habit to alter. Instead, I like to recommend small steps to improve eating, make it habitual, and then take the next step by addressing big things first, then focusing on the little things. It’s analogous to acting as a page, then a squire, and then being accepted into knighthood (with even fewer being raised to lords).

Women who are new to training are no different in that I would ask for gradual changes over time, yet the process is different than a typical guy’s. Societal and government sources would have the public believe granola bars, oatmeal, and orange juice is a healthy breakfast. Carbohydrates, especially the processed variety, run rampant. My first order of business with new female trainees is to get them to eat more protein.

Typically girls, especially those who don’t train, don’t gorge superfluously (unless they’re high?). By getting them to focus on having protein in every snack or meal, they will not only eat more of it, but they won’t have as much of an appetite for other crappier food sources.

Erin Stern has trained for 15+ years and some how didn't get bulky

Protein won’t make a girl bulky, especially since she not only hasn’t had a history of accidentally becoming bulky but more importantly females only have 5 to 10% of the testosterone that a male has. Instead, protein is the most abundant molecule in the body that is a major structural component of all cells — muscle, organs, hair, and skin — and helps regulate metabolism, form blood cells, and supports the immune system. The average woman is deficient in protein intake, and she will significantly improve her health by consuming more if it…even without exercise.

Then we compound this new-found protein intake with a proper program (this or this), and she is on her way to being lean and strong.

My friend Courtney Modecki, a female oddly enough, is in agreement with the “progressive steps” method of improving diet with women. She pointed out to me that it’s a sensitive issue since ranging from eating disorders to emotional issues with eating as a result of obesity. We both agreed that eating breakfast is one of the first progressions we would urge, along with increasing protein intake.

Courtney pointed out that she found it easy to get women to adapt to eating whole eggs. Some girls can be weary of meat (for whatever reason), but eggs are cheap and can be easily prepared to preference. Since each egg has the protein equivalent of an ounce of meat, they are a significant addition to a female diet.

Lastly, whey protein added into smoothies is another form of protein intake that is acceptable and easy to a female new to training. Whey is perfectly acceptable for any type of trainee, although it shouldn’t be relied on for the primary source of protein in a day. 50 grams of protein can be consumed through whey by women — this would typically leave another 100 grams for them to consume in food. In comparison, that number can be 75 to 100 grams for a male, and it leaves 100 to 150 grams for the average guy to eat through food. It doesn’t matter if a majority of the protein is consumed all at once, but typically we aim for a distribution throughout the day to prepare the body for training as well as recovering after.

The diet topic, especially concerning women who need to change it, can be extensive. Courtney and I have will explore this topic in future “70’s Big Female posts” on Mondays.