A Dietitian Follows the 80/20 Rule to Eat Enough Protein, Fiber

As a registered dietitian, most of Maddie Pasquariello’s Instagram feed looks like how you’d expect. Beautifully constructed salads, grain bowls, and fruit-topped oats.

Occasionally, a more decadent treat pops up. A glistening cinnamon bun, an exceptionally bubbly cheese pizza. Pasquariello, 32, told Business Insider that this reflects her overall relationship with food.

“I roughly follow an 80/20 approach, and I think that tends to work well for most people,” she said. A diet followed by celebrities and nutritionists alike, 80% of her meals are devoted to whole foods, usually cooked at home (or store-bought replicas of something she would make, like a salad).

Cooking most of her meals allows her to control the amount of fat, salt, and sugar that goes into them, as well as swap ultra-processed ingredients for fresh fruits and vegetables. “One thing I like to tell people is if you’re starting from zero with healthy habits, just cooking for yourself more is an amazing place to start,” she said.

However, she believes the “all-or-nothing” approach to eating whole foods can be too restrictive for many people, including herself. “The other 20% is more indulgent meals out: ice cream on the beach, a side of chips here and there, a cocktail with friends,” she said. “Things that are part of feeding the soul.”

Pasquariello, who describes her lifestyle as “very active,” aims to eat enough protein and fiber every day. Here’s how she does it — with room for dessert.

She starts with a high-protein breakfast

Pasquariello gets up between 5 and 6 a.m. for a workout, usually eating a rice cake or half a banana with peanut butter for quick fuel.

For 3 to 4 days a week, she focuses on resistance training with heavy weights. The rest of the time, she runs, goes on long walks, or takes boutique fitness classes, like Pilates.

Because her training focuses on progressive overload — scaling up in weight and rep counts to build muscle — she prioritizes eating enough protein to replenish her muscles. “If you’re doing that and then not getting enough protein, you’re not setting yourself up for success,” she said.

After her workout, she opts for a high-protein breakfast such as overnight oats, unsweetened Greek yogurt, or chia seed pudding topped with fruit and granola for extra fiber and nutrients.

While she prefers sweet breakfasts over savory, she occasionally meal-preps egg bites or breakfast wraps with eggs to switch things up. Either way, she said, these options “can be a great way to start your day off with plenty of protein.”

Plant-based protein sources add more fiber

Pasquariello tries to squeeze in as much fiber as possible — a nutrient most Americans don’t eat enough of.

“It helps keep digestion regular, which impacts a whole host of other things, and contributes to fullness as well,” she said.

Her lunch is usually whatever she meal-prepped for the week, such as a soup, stew, or salad.

One of her favorites is a grain bowl with quinoa, a roasted vegetable, a raw vegetable, a lean protein (such as chicken or tofu), dressing, and a textural addition like roasted pumpkin seeds. A former vegan, she likes to cook plant-based protein sources like tempeh or chickpeas, which are also rich sources of fiber.

“Sometimes, I’ll mix in some lettuce, some nuts, things like that to add bulk, add fiber, add micronutrients,” she said.”That’ll tide me over for a while.”

Dinners are also mostly home-cooked, she said. She often cooks chicken or fish as her protein sources, due to their lower cholesterol content, and pairs them with a vegetable and greens.

Little treats boost her emotional health

Pasquariello doesn’t go a day without some kind of dessert.

“I’m such a sweet treat person,” she said. “I truly don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t have a sweet treat before bed.” Sometimes, it’s more Greek yogurt with some fruit. Other times, a mini ice cream cone.

Just as she feels it’s important to exercise almost every day or watch her fiber intake, she finds it equally important for her health to enjoy dinner and drinks with friends or reward herself after a hard workout.

“I love to get a pastry after a long run, it’s a ritual,” she said. “I don’t want to deprive myself or anyone else of those special moments.”