A fitness influencer calling herself a nutritionist has sparked intense debate online after recommending a daily intake of up to 5,000 calories—more than double what health authorities typically suggest for most women—and defending the practice by claiming it has made her look and feel better.
Sandra Wagner, who runs the Instagram account @thewagnerway with over 93,000 followers, has become a lightning rod for controversy after posting videos of herself consuming fast food while explaining her unconventional dietary approach. In one post, she detailed how she gradually increased her caloric intake from 3,000 to over 5,000 calories daily, citing persistent fatigue and bloating as her rationale.
“The last month I’ve been feeling extremely exhausted and bloated. Like the deep kind of fatigue you just can’t shake,”
Wagner wrote in a lengthy caption accompanying images of fried chicken.
“So I started eating over 3,000 calories. Started to feel better but then my body said, ‘We need more.'”
Wagner, who describes herself as 5’10” and currently breastfeeding, claims her body is
“healing at a cellular level”
thanks to the massive caloric increase. She attributes the need for such high intake to metabolic and thyroid health, stressing that this is what her specific body requires.
The response from both followers and critics has been swift and divided. While some supporters praised Wagner for encouraging women to listen to their bodies rather than restrictive diet culture, medical professionals and fitness experts have raised serious concerns about both the quantity and quality of her food choices. One healthcare practitioner who identifies as measuring cellular and metabolic health through functional testing commented that while increased calories are necessary during breastfeeding,
“5,000 calories would put so much energetic strain on your body unless you have that much energetic output. This number is nuts.”
The criticism intensified when Wagner posted videos showing herself eating fried chicken from fast-food chain Raising Cane’s, prompting numerous followers to question how processed foods could support healing.
“You aren’t healing at a cellular level eating fried foods. The seed oils will make you insulin resistant,”
one commenter wrote. Others compared Wagner’s caloric intake to that of elite athletes, with one person noting they consumed 5,000 calories daily while training for strongman competitions seven to fourteen times weekly. Another pointed out that 250-pound bodybuilders typically eat such amounts only during off-season bulking phases.
Wagner has remained defiant in the face of criticism, posting a video transcript in which she addresses detractors directly:
“The amount of people that just keep coming and keep telling me, you’re F.A.T., you’re a wham, you’re a cow,”
she says, before pivoting to describe feedback from her clients about increased mental clarity, energy for playing with children and newfound confidence around food.
“You can come at me, you can come at me all you want. But we all know you just feel crappy about yourself,”
Wagner states in the video. In follow-up posts, Wagner has doubled down on her approach, even claiming to have increased her intake to 10,000 calories on some days. She maintains that traditional calorie-deficit approaches are
“outdated—especially for women”
and positions herself as leading a revolution in nutritional thinking.
“Is what I’m doing revolutionary? Yes. Did I start this revolution? Also yes,”
she wrote in a recent post, comparing herself to Thomas Edison and suggesting critics are simply
“scared of change.”
Registered dietitians and medical professionals have expressed alarm that Wagner’s message could be particularly dangerous for individuals struggling with eating disorders or metabolic conditions. Several commenters noted that while breastfeeding does increase caloric needs, the typical recommendation is an additional 500 to 1,000 calories—not the 2,000-plus extra Wagner advocates.
Wagner’s claim to be a “nutritionist” has also drawn scrutiny, as the term is not regulated in many jurisdictions the way “registered dietitian” is. For her part, Wagner insists her approach is helping women
“restore their metabolisms”
and live healthier lives. But as one skeptical commenter put it:
“If you need junk food to feel okay the problem is likely in your head, this is a slippery slope please be careful when following your own intuition.”
