Hi Justine, I'm a culinary nutritionist focusing on promoting healthy dietary habits through meal planning, grocery store tours, and cooking lessons (both one-on-one and community-based events). I've always believed culinary nutrition is the key to get people interested in healthier habits as well as just finding joy through food! I've been in the industry for ten years, have a Master's degree in nutrition, and started cooking as a 13 year old when I decided to be rebellious and become a vegan. But honestly everything important I learned from watching my mom in the kitchen. I would love to provide more insights for you!
I'm Joy Grout, a Certified Health Coach and Personal Trainer with over 20 years working with women 40+ through my practice Personalized Fitness For You in Indiana. My degree in Therapeutic Recreation plus certifications as a Certified Brain Health Trainer and Bone Health Instructor give me a unique lens on how food directly impacts functional aging, cognitive performance, and bone density--not just weight. The biggest shift I've seen in my clients happens when we stop treating nutrition as separate from movement and mental wellness. I wrote an article on incline walking where I connected protein timing to muscle recovery during walks, because women in perimenopause lose muscle mass faster and need that post-walk protein window. When one client started pairing her morning walks with a protein-rich breakfast using avocado oil instead of butter, her energy lasted through afternoon without the 2pm crash she'd battled for years. My most practical strategy is what I call "swap and build" meal planning--I recently published a piece on five healthy cooking oils (olive, walnut, avocado, coconut, flaxseed) where I gave specific culinary uses for each based on smoke points and nutrient profiles. For example, I teach clients to use flaxseed oil in cold smoothies for omega-3s that support brain health, but switch to avocado oil for high-heat roasting to protect bone-building vitamin K. This approach removes the all-or-nothing pressure and builds confidence through small, measurable wins. The digestive piece ties directly to stress management in my Whole-istic model (spirit, mind, body). I've worked with post-op clients where gut inflammation sabotaged their recovery, so we focused on fiber from whole grains in nutrition bars and fermented foods--I even covered gut-friendly wellness drinks like Poppi and Olipop in a recent article. When digestion improves, sleep improves, which then impacts cortisol and food choices the next day--it's all connected, which is exactly why isolated "diet plans" fail my demographic.
I've come to see food play a huge role in how we feel as I've navigated my own health struggles. A few years back, I found myself dealing with some pretty nasty digestive issues & began experimenting with meal planning to see if I could make some of the symptoms subside. What i discovered was that when I combined whole foods with a balanced mix of macs and paid attention to how I was cooking/ preparing my meals, big changes started to happen. Over time I started to distill that into simple , real life strategies that could give people a solid energy boost, support their gut health and ultimately get them on a path to more sustainable , long term lifestyle changes. I know it sounds a bit weird but i actually went formal training in Culinary Nutrition which taught me alot about how the things we eat impact our bodies, specifically how different ingredients can affect digestion and overall wellbeing. Applying that knowledge to my own life had a really big impact on the kinds of meal plans i could put together for myself, ones that are not only healthy and nourishing but actually pleasant to eat, and ones that i can share with the clients i work with. What I do now is really focused on making those adjustments that are realistic for people, a little tweak here and a little tweak there in how you cook your food what you're eating & when, which makes all the difference. when those healthy food choices feel natural, rather than forced, people are way more likely to stick to them in the long term, and that's ultimately what it's all about, seeing my clients get healthier and happier