Melissa Varela is Athletic Lift’s consulting dietitian for everyday eating. She is reviewing our balanced meals, heart healthy swaps, and family meal prep, and each post she has reviewed is marked as reviewed. She is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to San Diego for college. After graduating from San Diego State University, she worked with low income families for a few years, then spent several years in clinical nutrition at Sharp HealthCare.

After a few years at home raising her young children, she went back to helping people eat healthy to improve their lives. She teaches heart healthy cooking classes, develops menus for VA facilities, and counsels clients virtually through Nourish. In her free time she spends beach days with her family around San Diego.