The duo deadpanned at the camera. On the other side of the gym, the group had moved onto half-hearted dumbbell lunges.

Then, finally, it was time for protein. The protein-maxxers leapt on the buffet, heaping spoonfuls of hummus and shreds of rotisserie chicken onto paper plates. They unwrapped jerky and grabbed slices of cold cuts. The crinkle of protein bars being unwrapped blended with the jostle of conversation. Someone cracked a raw egg directly into their mouth. Aitor filmed as 23 year-old Jason Paz estimated how much protein was in each item.

“40 grams,” he said, pointing to a rotisserie chicken breast. “11 grams,” he said, pointing to one of the cups of Chobani.

Photo by Sam Stone

But although he seemed to be a macronutrient guru, Paz wasn’t particularly concerned with proteinmaxxxing. “I like to work out,” he tells me. “Most of the time it’s just sprinting to work. Or just sprinting when I feel like it.” But protein? Meh. “I just know I have to eat well, eat enough, and eat when my body demands it.”

His ambivalence towards protein was not unique. “Protein is gross,” said Mabi Moeng, a 22-year-old paralegal. “It comes across my mind sometimes, but I’m not thinking about protein all day,” 21 year-old Jline Inez confessed. Pen Gerow was just passing through town, and like many other attendees mostly came to meet new people. The protein was simply a bonus. “I was hungry,” he said. No one at the Protein Slop Potluck could possibly care less about protein.

Except Francisco Pincay, one of the few potluckers in real, sweat-wicking workout clothes, who told me he dutifully eats at least 170 grams of protein every day. Sometimes that’s in the form of shakes, steaks, chicken, or fish. Other times, it means full on protein slop: a bowl full of whatever protein you can find, some carbs, and a drizzle of hot sauce. “Mix it up, and that’s the dog bowl,” he said.