The author realized that to build muscle, she needed to eat more.
Courtesy of Lauren Melnick
The moment I picked up a barbell in 2019, it was love at first squat. In a matter of weeks, I had become a quintessential gym rat. I bought my own extra-padded barbell pads and creatine, and signed up for my very first strength-training program.In short, I was locked in and ready to "get jacked." But in reality, it would take me years to see improvements in muscle tone because I didn't realize that my nutrition was my biggest blind spot, even though I believed the opposite.When my hair started falling out, I knew something was wrongI didn't eat ultra-processed foods. I ate fruits, vegetables, and healthy carbs, and made sure to have a protein shake after every workout. For years, I thought my lack of progress in the gym came down to a lack of effort. I was sure that it must be something besides my nutrition that was the problem, but by February 2022, I could no longer ignore that my hair had started to fall out.If I had my hair in a ponytail, I started noticing that my hair had clearly thinned out, and every time I washed my hair, the drain would clog up. I had other symptoms too, like fatigue and feeling cold all the time. I knew something was wrong, and decided to take a micronutrient blood test. I ordered a test online and went into my local hospital to have my vitamin D, E, B12, magnesium, iron, copper, and selenium levels checked.And the results? Not great. I had deficiencies in vitamin D, zinc, and copper — all micronutrients that explained my hair loss and fatigue. The doctor explained over the phone that it was most likely caused by my diet, and I needed to make changes if I didn't want my deficiencies to get worse and lead to more serious health concerns.
