
What you eat every day can’t have much of an impact on your overall health, and we can all look to diet experts like nutritionists for guidance.
Carissa Galloway has 10 years of experience as a registered dietitian nutritionist and is a nutrition consultant and personal trainer for Premier Protein.
Prior to her career as a nutritionist, Galloway was a sideline sports reporter. Her realization of her own eating habits and their impact on health sparked her interest in nutrition, which changed not only her daily routine but also how she approached her diet.
“I realized that when I was traveling, I wasn’t eating healthy. I wasn’t feeling energetic, I was sluggish,” Galloway told CNBC Make It.
Here’s the diet Galloway now follows for better health.
Here’s how this nutritionist eats for optimal health.
When it comes to the Galloway diet, aim to get three types of food at every meal:
1. Protein
Protein is “very important for muscle growth and repair,” says Galloway.
“For weight management, protein foods help you feel full and satisfied,” she adds. “So when you have protein at every meal and snack, you’re helping stabilize blood glucose levels, and you’re looking at that blood sugar roller coaster.”
The types of protein Galloway has are:
- Protein shakes.
- Seafood is high in omega-3 fatty acids.
- The chicken
- Turkey
- Tofu
“If you’re using meat in your meal, you want the amount of protein to be about the size of your palm,” she says.
2. To produce
“I want a fruit or a vegetable when I eat anything. And I want to make sure I vary my colors,” she says.
“Because when you’re varying your different colors, that means you’re varying your different antioxidants and vitamins that are in them.”
Her family’s favorite fruit to start her morning is berries, and she’s a big fan of dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, and arugula.
“But also broccoli, cauliflower. There’s research that shows they have cancer-fighting properties,” adds Galloway.
3. Foods rich in fiber
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adults age 50 and younger get 25 and 38 grams of fiber per day for women and men, respectively.
Yet, on average, American adults are getting only 10 to 15 grams of total fiber per day, according to Harvard Health Publishing.
That’s why Galloway aims to eat fiber-rich foods at every meal. Some foods that are high in fiber include leafy greens, avocados, raw almonds, apples, and chia seeds.
A nutritionist’s typical breakfast, lunch and dinner
That’s what Galloway made for breakfast, lunch and dinner for herself and her kids the day she spoke with CNBC Make It.
- Breakfast: Overnight oats, made with plant-based milk, cinnamon and protein powder, topped with nuts and berries
- breakfast: Premier Protein High Protein Shake
- Lunch: Air Fried Salmon with Broccoli Slaw and Microwave Brown Rice (leftovers from the night before)
- Dinner: “Salmon again,” she says. But usually on Thursdays, his family has tacos with tilapia, black beans or ground turkey.
“The main thing I think about is planning when I eat every day. I’m a mom, and I’m really busy,” Galloway says.
“I’m not trying to be the most creative person on earth. I’m just trying to find foods that taste good, that support my overall health goals, that make it for me. Make it easy to achieve and not difficult.”
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