Lisa Valente, M.S., R.D.

I love a classic monster cookie but these monster cookie energy balls are also delicious! We love snacking on these in my house. Funny story, when Paxton was younger he cried once because his meatball didn’t have m & ms. Poor guy confused energy ball and meatball 😂 I usually eyeball my measurements but did my best to get you a recipe to start with. If your dough seems dry or too peanut buttery you can play around with adding more honey, PB or oats. Monster cookie energy bites 1 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup whey protein powder (optional) 1 Tbsp chia seeds 1 Tbsp hemp seeds 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup oats 2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips 2 Tbsp mini m & m’s Add everything to a large bowl and stir to combine. Chill the dough for 20-30 min to make it easier to roll. (I usually skip this step bc my peanut butter is cold and I’m impatient). Roll into balls about 1 tablespoon each. Store in container in fridge or freeze. Enjoy! #peanutbutter #energyballs #monstercookie

I’ve spent almost 15 years as a nutrition editor and registered dietitian, leading nutrition strategy and content for EatingWell and Healthline. I’ve been lucky to work with brilliant people and learned so much along the way. If you want to eat healthier, one of my favorite tips is to get cooking! Learn how to cook or upgrade your cooking skills by trying new recipes or techniques. Cooking at home not only saves you money, but you’re in control of the ingredients. Bonus points for getting your kids involved and sitting down for family meals. What other insider tips do you want to see? No gimmicks, no fads, just simple, practical tips to helping you feel better about what you eat. #cooking #nutrition #healthyeating

Hi! I’m Lisa, a registered dietitian who loves food and hopes you love it too. I’ll just be over here talking about how carbs aren’t the enemy and vegetables are delicious. You’ll never catch me with my shirt off at the grocery store and I don’t take myself too seriously. Thanks for bearing with me as I come back from a very long Instagram hiatus. Tell me something about you! Or let me know what kind of food and nutrition content you hope you see. Xoxo

Veggies + protein + carbs, with some healthy fats. An easy meal formula to follow when you’re not sure what to eat but want a filling and balanced meal. Ideally the veggies are half your plate. I could have added some more but some is better than none and I am keeping things real over here. Remember: simple and healthy are not mutually exclusive! What’s your go-to lunch? I almost made a salad but felt too cold for that and wished I had soup so settled for this instead.

I live in Vermont so I love maple syrup. And maple syrup and honey both have some small amounts of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. But to actually get reasonable amounts of any of those nutrients you’d have to use A LOT and then you just have a lot of added sugar. So I don’t stress about making muffins or baked goods with refined sugar (and I save some money and keep my maple syrup and honey for when I can really notice them like on pancakes and yogurt) Here’s what I do when I bake though: 1. Sometimes nothing and I follow the recipe as is even if it’s loaded up with sugar and butter because real treats are allowed and taste amazing. 2. I will cut back on the total sugar. I find muffins to be really forgiving (don’t come for me bakers) so if a recipe calls for 1 cup I’ll go to 3/4 cup. 3. I’ll swap in whole grain flours (oat or whole wheat) or almond flour for some of the all purpose flour. Not all of it and sometimes I just find recipes that use these ingredients so I know they’ve been tested. 4. I make mini muffins. Built in perfect portions. 5. I serve the muffins with other healthy foods like Greek yogurt, eggs, and fruit. Do you have questions about refined sugar? Let me know and I can answer them in another post. p.s. baking to 90s rock is so fun. 10/10 recommend.

Me and my tea cabinet live a very exciting life. In all seriousness, I’m almost 40 and love me a good cup of tea. Mint, ginger, decaf chai, hibiscus…I like options! Now tell me how old you are without telling me in the comments 🤗

Dried fruit with no added sugar is almost always my first choice and definitely what I look for. But for a fruit that has almost no natural sugar like cranberries, they’re just bringing up that sweetness level. The thing about added sugar vs. natural sugar is your body doesn’t know the difference. But natural sugar is found in foods like fruit and dairy that have lots of other nutrients (protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc) and it’s much harder to get a lot of it at once. Even eating handfuls of grapes is much slower than drinking a really big soda or having a piece of cake or candy. I tend to skip fruits with added sugar, but I always check the label and compare to see just how sweet the fruit is. Sometimes lower sugar also means other sweeteners are added. do you like dried fruit? What’s your favorite? Dried tart cherries are my most fave, but everyone else in my house is obsessed with dried mango.

How do you have sweets in your house?! If you’ve ever wondered how people can be around ice cream and not eat the whole pint or have one cookie and then stop, here are three of my tips. 1. Don’t make these foods off limits, give yourself permission to have them. 2. Eat enough during the day. When you’re super hungry in the evenings that sets you up to eat more. 3. Portion out your servings, don’t eat straight from the container. I babble on in more detail in the video but the other thing is unlearning habits and behaviors takes time and work. I believe everyone can do it though! What questions do you have about keeping dessert in the house?

I’m a registered dietitian and bagel lover who wants people to know that healthy eating is not “perfect” eating. Also dietitians eat more than just kale salad. 😍 Are you team eggs + ketchup or would you never?!?

Snack swaps don’t have to be complicated. As a registered dietitian, I try and snack on foods with protein and fiber to stay full. I’m not saying have potato chips (I serve mine with salad instead of using croutons all the time) but popcorn can help give you that crunchy salty snack with a bit more fiber and volume. Todsy I had some with pistachios for a little bit more protein and fat and fiber. Would you make this swap?! I’m going to try and nail my split screen filming next time. No fridge in the background 😂 but I felt inspired to test some content like this. So fashion influencer of me 😉

My first podcast interview is LIVE 🎧🎉 I’m so excited for you all to hear this episode with my friend and colleague, @lisadvalente , about how she lost 30 lbs without dieting. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your story! Comment LISA to hear the full interview 🎧 #podcastforwomen #weightlossstory #sustainableweightlossforwomen

Top 5 nutrition tips for college kids that apply to anyone!! 1. Learn how to cook: cooking at home is one of the best things you can do for your health! Feeding yourself is a life skill. 2. Read labels: we’re all busy, sometimes we need to eat packaged foods. Check the labels, look for added sugar, fiber, protein, type of fat, calories, etc. you don’t need to obsess but there’s so much variation between different yogurts, breads, bars, etc. 3. Protein doesn’t need to be in everything: There, I said it! Protein was a hot topic and here’s what I told them. They’re probably eating enough but it’s important to focus on protein because it’s filling and does a lot in the body. Get it throughout the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner,snacks) but just because a packaged food has added protein doesn’t make it good for you and when you eat real food protein sources you get other nutrients! 4. Eat a variety of foods: they wanted to know the best fruits and best fiber sources and I said, all of them! When you eat different foods you get different nutrients so mix it up! 5. Enjoy what you eat: common theme was “I don’t like Greek yogurt” or “I don’t like cottage cheese”. Just because food is healthy doesn’t mean you have to eat it! Pick a different food that gives you similar nutrients. So yes, try it different ways (maybe blended or as “cheesecake” or in a sauce) but don’t force it. There are so many different ways to eat healthy and you should enjoy what you eat! Phewph!! Nothing like cramming 5 hours of talking points into a one minute reel!! I got to guest lecture last night at a nutrition and fitness course. It was a lab night and we made energy balls and burrito bowls and chatted the whole time! Did any of these surprise you? Let me know if you have more nutrition questions! #collegenutrition #healthyeating