{"id":38819,"date":"2025-11-17T20:41:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/a-dietitian-shares-how-the-80-20-rule-helps-her-eat-enough-protein-fiber-and-pastries\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T20:41:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:41:46","slug":"a-dietitian-shares-how-the-80-20-rule-helps-her-eat-enough-protein-fiber-and-pastries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/a-dietitian-shares-how-the-80-20-rule-helps-her-eat-enough-protein-fiber-and-pastries\/","title":{"rendered":"A dietitian shares how the &#8217;80\/20 rule&#8217; helps her eat enough protein, fiber &mdash; and pastries"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161e0889026fbb4d0d9894?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Maddie Pasquariello\"\/><figcaption>Pasquariello cooks most of her meals and devotes 20% of her diet to treats.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie Sahara<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Maddie Pasquariello, a registered dietitian in New York City, follows the 80\/20 diet rule.<\/li>\n<li>She cooks 80% of her meals, focusing mostly on plant-based foods for protein and fiber.<\/li>\n<li>The other 20% is devoted to treats like desserts, decadent dinners out, and cocktails.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As a registered dietitian, most of Maddie Pasquariello&#039;s Instagram feed looks like how you&#039;d expect. Beautifully constructed salads, grain bowls, and fruit-topped oats.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I roughly follow an 80\/20 approach, and I think that tends to work well for most people,&quot; 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).<\/p>\n<p>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. &quot;One thing I like to tell people is if you&#039;re starting from zero with healthy habits, just cooking for yourself more is an amazing place to start,&quot; she said.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161ff589026fbb4d0d98f0?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Ramen with tofu\"\/><figcaption>Cooking at home helps her avoid using as many ultra-processed ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, she believes the &quot;all-or-nothing&quot; approach to eating whole foods can be too restrictive for many people, including herself. &quot;The other 20% is more indulgent meals out: ice cream on the beach,a side of chips here and there, a cocktail with friends,&quot; she said. &quot;Things that are part of feeding the soul.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Pasquariello, who describes her lifestyle as &quot;very active,&quot; aims to eat enough protein and fiber every day. Here&#039;s how she does it \u2014 with room for dessert.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>She starts with a high-protein breakfast<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161fb5e1a9cbb014de27f1?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Oatmeal two ways\"\/><figcaption>Pasquariello tops her protein-packed oatmeal with fresh fruit and seeds for extra fiber and nutrients.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Because her training focuses on progressive overload \u2014 scaling up in weight and rep counts to build muscle \u2014 she prioritizes eating enough protein to replenish her muscles. &quot;If you&#039;re doing that and then not getting enough protein, you&#039;re not setting yourself up for success,&quot; she said.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161f79e1a9cbb014de27e6?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Chia seed pudding\"\/><figcaption>She makes her chia seed pudding with Greek yogurt, milk, and granola to pack in more protein.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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 &quot;can be a great way to start your day off with plenty of protein.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Plant-based protein sources add more fiber<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161f20abd5e944effaae33?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Grain bowl\"\/><figcaption>Pasquariello makes grain bowls at home using a mix of fresh and cooked vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pasquariello tries to squeeze in as much fiber as possible \u2014 a nutrient most Americans don&#039;t eat enough of.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It helps keep digestion regular, which impacts a whole host of other things, and contributes to fullness as well,&quot; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Her lunch is usually whatever she meal-prepped for the week, such as a soup, stew, or salad.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161ef2e1a9cbb014de27c9?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Salad with chicken\"\/><figcaption>While Pasquariello eats meat, the bulk of her meals are plant-based to increase her fiber intake.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&quot;Sometimes, I&#039;ll mix in some lettuce, some nuts, things like that to add bulk, add fiber, add micronutrients,&quot; she said.&quot;That&#039;ll tide me over for a while.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Little treats boost her emotional health<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69161e83abd5e944effaae12?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Maddie Pasquariello with cocktails\"\/><figcaption>Pasquariello, who lives in New York City, loves going out for dinners and drinks with friends.<\/p>\n<p>Maddie Pasquariello<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pasquariello doesn&#039;t go a day without some kind of dessert.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I&#039;m such a sweet treat person,&quot; she said. &quot;I truly don&#039;t know what I would do if I couldn&#039;t have a sweet treat before bed.&quot; Sometimes, it&#039;s more Greek yogurt with some fruit. Other times, a mini ice cream cone.<\/p>\n<p>Just as she feels it&#039;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.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I love to get a pastry after a long run, it&#039;s a ritual,&quot; she said. &quot;I don&#039;t want to deprive myself or anyone else of those special moments.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pasquariello cooks most of her meals and devotes 20% of her diet to treats. Sophie Sahara Maddie Pasquariello, a registered dietitian in New York City, follows the 80\/20 diet rule. She cooks 80% of her meals, focusing mostly on plant-based foods for protein and fiber. The other 20% is devoted to treats like desserts, decadent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}