Nutrition Made EASY with Alix Turoff, RD

Are you ready to gain an immense amount of knowledge about nutrition and wellness?!  This post is all about Alix Turoff, RD, who has been featured in SELF, TODAY, SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, Women’s Health, Reader’s Digest and MORE! Impressive, right?

I was able to pick her brain on ALL things nutrition, health, fitness, wellness, etc. You’ll learn about her top recommended supplements to try, her typical day, her go-to EASY AF dinner meal, her fave skinny cocktail, who she looks to for inspiration and more. Trust me – it’s worth the read!

Biggest takeaway – being healthy doesn’t have to be hard. It can be easy, it just takes a little bit of preparation and dedication – two things I know you have 😉 ANYWAYS -enjoy!

Q: I know you from following along on your Instagram for the past few months and know that you’re always hustling away on your virtual Registered Dietitian practice and giving the BEST nutrition advice on your feed and your blog. Can you give the readers a bit deeper dive onto who you are and your certifications?

A: Thanks so much! So a little bit about me. I went to New York University for undergrad and obtained a Bachelor’s in ‘Media, Culture and Communications’. I originally entered college thinking I wanted to go into fashion journalism and work at a big magazine like Vogue. I started interning in the fashion industry and quickly realized that magazines were being replaced by online media (this was 2008) and I also found that I really didn’t like working in the industry as a whole. People were overworked, underpaid and not very nice!

I started interning for “”Tanya Zuckerbrot Nutrition”” as a way to explore my passion for nutrition and see what it was all about. It was during that semester of my Sophomore year of college that I realized I wanted to become a RD. I decided to start majoring in Nutrition and wound up graduating from NYU early and going right into my Master’s in Clinical Nutrition, also at NYU. I completed my dietetic internship and received my Master’s in Clinical Nutrition from NYU in 2015!

Through grad school, I taught indoor cycling classes at Equinox Fitness (I have certifications from both Schwinn Fitness and Mad Dogg Athletics). I also have my Certified Personal Training license through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In addition, I am “”Nutrition Life Certified”””

Q: WOW – that’s is amazing. I love how you have validity/knowledge in both health and fitness – it must be such a benefit for your clients! For the average person who isn’t your client, and may not have the immense knowledge that you have in regards to nutrition, what are your top five basic ‘need to know’ tips for eating well?

A:

1. There is no one right way to eat! There are so many different “”diets”” out there and it’s easy to see something working from someone and think you have to be doing the same thing but this is NOT true! The best diet is the one you’re most likely to follow!
2. Beware of overly restrictive diets. Diets that have too many rules about what you can and can’t eat do not work in the long term. If you cut out tons of things to lose the weight and then add them back, you will inevitably regain the weight back! I always stress to my clients the importance of moderation and finding a way to indulge once in awhile but still reach your goals.

3. Lack of time should not be a barrier for eating well. You can rely on frozen options or even take out and there are more options out there than ever before!

4. Listen to your body! Try to get in touch with your internal hunger cues. Don’t just eat lunch because it’s “”time to eat lunch””, but rather, determine if you’re hungry, rate your hunger on a scale and do the same when eating. Ask yourself if you’ve had enough and/or if you want to continue eating.
5. Practice self care in other facets of your life other than just eating. Of course, exercise if the first that comes to mind but creating a “”healthy lifestyle”” involves more than just diet and exercise! Some things that work for me are regular face masks, reading, journalling, meditation, etc.”

Q: Such great advice. There isn’t one blanket lifestyle that is going to work for everyone! And overall self-care is totally key. Part of what I need to get better on in this area are daily supplements. Are you into them, and if so, what are your personal favorites & why?

A: This is a hard one. Supplement regimens need to be extremely personalized to the individual person. The two that I recommend to almost everyone will be a Probiotic and a Omega-3 fish oil supplement.

Beyond that, I will often recommend collagen for hair, skin and nails because I’ve personally found that works well for me! I will also recommend Branched Chain Amino Acid and/or specific supplements for athletes.

From there, I only recommend supplements if someone has a deficiency that can be found through blood work (for instance, if someone has a Vitamin D deficiency, I would certainly recommend a Vitamin D supplement) but these things should be evident in lab work! In addition, non-meat eaters may require additional B Vitamins and Calcium so I will also recommend those if I see fit.

Pre-natal vitamins for women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant are also something I’ll recommend. Finally, I’ll occasionally recommend a plant stanol/sterol for cholesterol control.

Many people are taking WAY too many supplements and because the supplement industry isn’t regulated, it’s really hard to know what you’re getting. It’s less that I’m worried about dangerous effects of supplements but mostly, people are probably just wasting money that would be better spent on really healthy foods!

Q: The knowledge just keeps coming! You obviously are BEYOND certified in nutrition and know your stuff, so people (such as myself) look to you for wellness inspiration. Who inspires YOU in the wellness space?

A: You’re too sweet! There are so many amazing people that inspire me, not just in the nutrition field but also in the business world. To name a few:

1. Tanya Zuckerbrot: I credit her with helping me realize that I wanted to become a RD in the first place
2. Lauryn Evarts of The Skinny Confidential: I just love her beauty/skin care tips and also how she balances her business and personal life
3. Gary Vaynerchuk: He gives really practical and honest advice and any time I want to complain or feel sorry for myself, he gives me the kick in the butt I need to get back to work!
4. Tim Ferriss: I love how he’s sort of a human guinea pig. I’ve learned so many things from him– from how to speed read, to how to boost my memory, to increasing my dead lift, I can go on and on!
5. Rebecca Louise: I absolutely love her workouts and quit my gym because I found I was happier working out with her through YouTube!

There are so many other amazing people out there, I could go on all day!

Q: I feel ya! I love gaining inspiration from multiple different people, it’s always great to get a different point of view or a new opinion on something. Moving back to nutrition, sometimes people think eating healthy is too hard or is too overwhelming, which we know it doesn’t have to be! What is your fave go-to meal that’s easy (AF)? 🙂

A: YES, this! Eating healthy does NOT have to be hard or time consuming! One of my favorite quick meals:
Banza Chickpea Pasta (just have to boil water!) + Bilinski’s Chicken Sausage (just heat them up in a skillet) + Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce + Parmesan Cheese. Full of protein and fiber and so quick! Plus, who doesn’t love pasta!

I’ll usually pair this with a quick salad– I always buy salad mixes at the grocery store and instead of using the dressing and crunchy toppings that come with it, I just use all the veggies and add my own dressing! I always have 1-2 healthy bottled dressings in my fridge. Right now I’m obsessed with the Green Goddess Dressing from Trader Joe’s!

Also, never underestimate the ease and versatility of rotisserie chicken!

Q: Yes- love that! Such a simple, easy meal for any night of the week! Alright, looking into your pantry – I’m sure it’s STOCKED with goodies! What are the few items that you will always find there that you couldn’t live without?

A:

1. Propellant Free Cooking Spray: think of this as fancy Pam. Pam has a bunch of unsavory ingredients but there are a few brands (Chosen Foods, Spectrum, Trader Joe’s, etc) that make cooking sprays with ZERO chemicals or propellants. The only ingredient is the oil!
2. Chicken Broth: I love using chicken broth to add flavor/moisture to my veggies without having to add a ton of oil!
3. GG Bran Crispbreads: I love these as an afternoon snack. I’ll typically have 4 crackers with either some cheese + turkey or with PB2 + banana.
4. Something sweet! Always, always have something sweet. I’ll usually have some kind of dark chocolate bar with sea salt, usually some kind of candy (yup, I do eat candy! I LOVE Swedish Fish and will just take a few at a time and they make me so happy so YOLO).
5. Powdered Peanut Butter: love this stuff- great for mixing into Greek yogurt, to top my GG crackers, to dip fruit into or to make Asian sauces.
6. Truffle Salt: I LOVE adding truffle salt to roasted veggies and potatoes. It makes it feel so fancy.

Q: Love it – I’m never low on GG’s or PB2, that’s for sure! Day in the life of Alix – what does it look like food & workout wise??

A: No day is ever the same when you’re a small business owner (which I LOVE!) but a typical week day might look like this:

• 6 AM: Wake up (my husband goes to work early and I wake up with him, usually the pup wants to go out anyway).
• I make sure to get at least 8 oz of water in followed by my coffee with collagen. I personally don’t usually eat before I workout because I’m up so early and not hungry yet. I get the house together, have my coffee and am working out by 7 AM or so.
• 7-8 AM: Workout (not everyday but probably ~5 days per week). I go through phases with my workout but right now, I’ve been doing the Rebecca Louise 30 Day Get Fit Plan which consists of ~30 minutes of resistance/strength training and then I’ll usually hop on my Peloton bike for 20-30 minutes!
• Then I’ll shower and get ready for the day and sit down to breakfast! Breakfast might be an omelet with lots of veggies & high fiber crackers or a high fiber English muffin. Sometimes I’ll do a smoothie bowl but I’ll always add protein. Other days I just have a Greek yogurt parfait or a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit and chia seeds.
• More coffee! Then I’m seeing clients, working on meal plans, blogging, Instagram-ing, doing admin work and e-mailing!! So much e-mailing 🙂
• I’ll usually eat lunch at 1-2 PM or so, just depending on my clients and meetings.
• Lunch is quick and simple. Usually leftovers, rotisserie chicken over a salad, soup + turkey roll ups, zucchini noodles with protein, etc.
• I always need a snack around 4 PM or so. This is when I like to have my GG crackers!
• Dinner is usually around 7 PM. I like to try to disconnect when my husband comes home and hang out with him. It’s a balance and I’m working on it! I make dinner most nights (we go out on the weekends). Always some sort of protein- usually chicken because we both love chicken. Some sort of veggie and a carb source (either tortillas on taco night, rice on greek night, pasta, etc). I always go with a lower carb option but I do like my carbs 🙂 Sometimes wine is involved!
• Dessert: Like I said, I always like to have something sweet! Sometimes I’ll have some Halo Top or Enlightened Ice Cream, Bark Thins or another kind of chocolate or sometimes I’ll want a little something savory. Lately I’ve been hooked on the Siete Nacho chips!”

Q: I TOTALLY feel you on the dessert front. Sweets are my WEAKNESS and I’m always trying to look for a new ‘healthy hack’ to my favorite desserts. Do you have a fave sweet treat recipe you love?

A: You and me both! Honestly, I like to have just less of the real thing but sometimes, I can do with a healthy hack! I have a really great recipe for PB2 Chocolate Cups on my blog— they’re like a low sugar Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup!

I also like to make a sugar free hot chocolate using unsweetened cocoa powder, almond milk and stevia! So great in the winter. It’s hot so it takes longer to drink and is so satisfying!

Another one I’ll do often is I’ll melt Lily’s Chocolate Chips (sweetened with stevia) and drizzle it over berries. Then I’ll pop the berries in the fridge/freezer just to let the chocolate thicken and you have a chocolate covered strawberry but because you drizzled the chocolate rather than dipped, it’s not too indulgent!

 

Q: I need to make both of those, for sure. All this food talk has me thinking of cocktails now! I saw your mason jar infused tequila/vodka creation (genius, BTW.) It’s all about balance, and alcohol is just necessary sometimes, ha! What’s your go-to skinny cocktail?

A: Oh man. I’m a cocktail girl.

If I’m drinking wine, I ALWAYS go for a Sauvignon Blanc but it has to be from the Marlborough New Zealand region. I don’t know much about wine but I do know that I love any wine that comes from that region 🙂

I also LOVE a Skinny Spicy Margarita. It’s basically just tequila, fresh lime juice, muddle jalapeno, a splash of contrieu or triplesec (whatever they have)– if I’m making it at home, I add some liquid stevia or my new obsession- Madhava Agave 5 which is a blend of stevia/agave so it’s much lower in sugar!

Other faves: Vodka Martini with muddled cucumber and fresh mint leaves, a Moscow Mule, or a Mojito (made without sugar– if I’m on vacation I’ll sneak my little liquid stevia out of my beach bag and give it a squirt– hehe) ”

Q: HA! I literally do the same thing on vacay, glad I’m not the only one! OK finally, can you let everyone know where to find you and follow you to continue to gain great info from you?!

A: Yay! I love new friends. My website is www.alixturoffnutrition.com and you can find my blog there. I’m also very active on instagram and my handle is @alixturoff_RD

Well, I hope you all took away as much from that as I did! Alix has such a wealth of knowledge to share, and is always posting such great recipes, tips, etc. on Instagram, so def go follow her there – I religiously check it 🙂

Anyways, I’m off to make one of Alix’s skinny spicy margs – CHEERS!

XOXO

Alysia (Purely)Pope