About Me
Three months later, I finished the program and left with some great listening skills and a belief that food can fix the human body. But that was about it. I still couldn’t answer the questions WHY or HOW the food you eat impacts the body. That’s why nutrition matters, right?! The body is its own internal science lab that is constantly building, breaking down, building again, and changing, allowing you to DO WORK! Before being able to listen and give advice on what a person should do with their body, I needed to know all of this science.
Fast forward through a year in Minneapolis and then a year in Denver. Still in finance, I went back to school while still working full time. I made it work, because I have my dad’s energy – most of the time. I wanted science, but who knew how much science I would be getting!? The first year was straight science with a little bit of nutrition. I didn’t understand until I got into the 100% nutrition focused classes exactly how science sets the foundation to giving me the WHYs and HOWs the human body works with food. Who knew that there’s a reason we need carbs and fat other than that they taste good? Three years later after finishing my degree, dietetic internship, and passing the board exam, I finally reached my dream and became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Time has flown and my mind is blown! I eat (literally) and breathe nutrition, and look forward to continuing learning to empower others and help them reach their nutrition goals.*
Now at Nutrition Preferred, I provide nutrition counseling to clients all over the country via telehealth. I focus on gut health for prevention, weight maintenance, GI issues such as IBS/IBD/SIBO, and prenatal/postpartum nutrition care. The best news about coming to a RD for nutrition questions, is that a lot of insurances will reimburse either a part or all of your visit. If you are interested in becoming a client, please email me at nutritionpreferred@gmail.com to set up an appointment!
*On a “reach your goals” note, if you have any inkling for a career change, do whatever it takes no matter how hard or how long it takes to do it! You will never once look back. Promise, promise.
Where you’ll find me around town outside of Nutrition Preferred:
Volunteering with FeedMore
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Member
Probably hiking the side of a mountain, traveling, or eating at a cool Richmond restaurant (all preferably with my husband and two kids)
Having a glass of wine with girlfriends
Gotta get schooled:
Iowa State University 1200+ Hour Dietetic Internship
Metropolitan State University of Denver - B.S. in Human Nutrition and Dietetics
Integrative Institute of Nutrition - Certified Health Coach
North Carolina State University - B.S. in Business Management, Finance
My (short but long) story on how I finally made it into nutrition:
Hi! I’m Cayla Bousaba, RDN, LDN. Thank you so much for visiting Nutrition Preferred!
For way too long, it was a dream/goal/nightly prayer of mine to join the nutrition community and help people live their best, healthy life – and now here we are!
The first 18 years of my life were spent in the beautiful small town of Morganton, NC, before going off to college at NC State University in Raleigh, NC. I chose to get a degree in Business Finance because (A) you don’t have to write papers in finance and (B) I happen to be good at math. It seemed like the easy and smart choice, even though I had no plan after receiving that golden college degree. Right after graduation, I moved to New York City to see where this finance degree could take me.
After waiting tables in cowboy boots, interning for a major fashion designer, and boycotting being an adult, I got a job at a hedge fund. After a year or two, I kept seeing how people who were once very healthy were starting to develop small issues such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, all because of their daily nutrition and lifestyles. I did not want that to be me (selfish me), but I also wanted to help them – and people like them – prevent that from happening or get back on track (unselfish me). So I started looking into going back to school for nutrition. I knew it would be a long road, but I didn’t realize how expensive it would be in NYC. I should have known, considering I paid an arm and two legs to live there, but seriously NYC!? Luckily, a friend pointed me to an online holistic health coach training program through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Plus, they were offering a discount. I was pumped! Finally, it was time for me to enter the nutrition world.
My Nutrition Outlook and Coaching Style
After years of seeing 500+ clients, I’ve pinned down who I am as a dietitian (and person) – so here is my creed. First, I am definitely someone you wouldn’t mind going out to eat with. That is, I do not judge what other people eat. I don’t restrict what I want to eat, so I definitely won’t restrict you. If there is a chocolate torte on the menu, I will be ordering it. I do not take food away, but instead add food into people’s diets. I KNOW healthy food can taste freaking amazing. I am a realistic dietitian who believes in healthy whole foods, but understands that life gets busy and take out/quick grabs are sometimes necessary. I think continuing education is super important (especially in the nutrition world), because science and research are constantly evolving. I believe in looking at the big picture of life and finding your “why.” Read: Why you want to live a healthy, full life. We’re all going to live a long time, but let’s make it high-quality. We should all feel great living!
Also I love fiber.
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