The Long Game: What a Lifetime of Movement Has Taught Me About My Skin (plus, a bonus high protein/high fiber breakfast recipe)

If you landed here from my newsletter, welcome! The recipe is at the bottom and it’s worth the scroll. But first, a little context on why a makeup artist is in your inbox talking about protein and strength training.

My fitness origin story begins in my childhood living room in the 1980s with a VHS tape my grandparents had picked up at a garage sale and an excitable woman in a leotard telling me to shake it, find it, feel it. I felt it. I shook it. Somehow, I was completely hooked.

I step-aerobicized my way through college and the harrowing “heroin chic” aesthetic of the 90s, quietly internalizing the message that thinner was better and shrinking was the goal. From there it was years of doing The Firm DVDs at home, several years of teaching barre (equal parts humbling and rewarding), and a genuinely transformational two weeks at a yoga ashram in Cambodia. My fitness journey has been long, varied, and occasionally absurd.

my barre instructor days, circa 2019

In the past five years I’ve finally landed somewhere that feels truly right: strength training and prioritizing protein. And, it is an ongoing process of actively unlearning that disempowering programming to flip the script: aging strong doesn’t mean shrinking. It means finding movement I enjoy, taking up space, building muscle, and showing up for myself in a way that can sustain me long into the future.

What My Routine Actually Looks Like

These days I split my time between my home gym using the Ladder app (try 30 days free here!), dropping into group classes at NK Studios when I need community energy and a fun feel-good workout, and getting outside as much as humanly possible. Hiking and mountain biking when the weather is fair, cross-country skiing when the snow is good. More than any aesthetic goal, movement for me is now about feeling strong and capable first. Everything else is gravy.

Truly, the strength training piece has been the most transformative addition. There’s something deeply satisfying about getting stronger in a way that’s visible and measurable; not in a “chasing a number on the scale” way, but in a “I just rode my bike up a mountainside and back down again and still feel great” way.

The Fitness-Skin Connection Nobody Talks About Enough

Things get interesting, at least to me as a licensed esthetician and skin-forward makeup artist who thinks about skin from every possible angle, when I consider the benefits that exercise confers to skin. In other words, most everything that supports overall health also supports skin. Cardiovascular exercise increases circulation, which means better oxygen and nutrient delivery to skin cells and more efficient removal of cellular waste like free radicals that can degrade skin over time. Strength training supports healthy hormone levels. Sleep, which consistent exercise genuinely improves, is when skin does most of its repair work. It’s all connected, and none of it requires spending a dime on a single product!

Other things I’ve become most evangelical about (after sleep) are protein and fiber. Specifically, eating enough of both. Collagen is the structural protein that keeps skin firm, plump, and resilient, and your body needs adequate dietary protein to produce it. Most of us, especially women, are chronically under-eating protein without realizing it. Prioritizing protein over simple carbohydrates (which can spike your blood sugar and contribute to premature skin aging), and building meals around it rather than treating it as an afterthought is one of the best long-game skin investments you can make. It also keeps you full, supports muscle recovery, and stabilizes blood sugar (and therefore energy).

I cook most of my own meals and try to make protein the anchor of each one. I also supplement with unflavored collagen peptides, which dissolve invisibly into smoothies, coffee, or the recipe I’m about to share with you.

What I’m Currently Loving

A few resources that have been valuable in shaping how I think about caring for this earthly vessel of mine:

Rachael’s Good Eats cookbooks: delicious, healthy, and easily achievable. A permanent fixture on my kitchen counter.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s podcast: if you want to go deep on protein, muscle-centric health, and the science of eating well as you age, start here. She reframed a lot of things for me.

Ladder app (try 30 days free here!): if you're motivated to work out at home, this app does the hard work of programming workouts while allowing you to document progress.

Heather Robertson and Bodyfit by Amy on YouTube: both completely free, both excellent, both challenging without being sadistic. Perfect for home gym days when you need someone in your ear.

And now, as a bonus for reading this far, my favorite high protein/high fiber breakfast recipe that's gluten free, dairy free, and front loads protein, fiber, and healthy fat into my day:

The Recipe: My Daily Miracle Breakfast

I’ve been making this on rotation for years and it is still a favorite. It takes about 10 minutes to prep 5 portions for the week, it’s great for your gut, it keeps you full until lunch, and it has 20 grams of protein and 20 grams of fiber per serving. I make five days’ worth at a time in small Weck jars so mornings are easy.

The secret to making it friendly for sensitive bellies like mine is to use basil seeds instead of chia. They do the same satisfying gel thing but without the lectins that can aggravate digestion. If you’ve ever had a complicated relationship with chia seeds, this is your redemption arc.

Basil Seed Protein Pudding

Makes 1 serving Ingredients:

•  2.5 tbsp ZenBasil basil seeds

•  ¾ cup hemp milk (I make my own, but any store-bought almond, macadamia, and coconut milk are all great substitutes)

•  ⅛ tsp food-grade matcha (for the extra skin-loving benefits of green tea) • ⅛ tsp cinnamon (for flavor and blood sugar control)

•  1 scoop unflavored collagen peptides

Directions: Combine everything in a small jar (I use these) and stir frequently for the first five minutes, making sure the seeds aren’t clumping and everything is well incorporated. Once the mixture starts to gel, cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, scoop into a bowl and top with shredded coconut, diced walnuts, a drizzle of honey, and fresh blueberries. That’s it. Twenty grams of protein, fifteen grams of fiber, beautiful skin fuel, and breakfast = solved.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and my perspective as a skin enthusiast, licensed esthetician, makeup artist, fitness instructor, certified nutrition coach, and lifelong lover of movement!