Want the secret to feeling good? It starts with food. When you eat nourishing food, you’ll find balanced blood sugar. When your blood sugar is balanced, your cravings are reduced. When those tempting cravings are gone, you’ll likely feel more satisfied, energized, and in control. Then your cravings shift to foods you know will make you feel good, and that feeling of hope is a special kind of medicine.
Cara Clark, a nutrition expert with a new cookbook on its way to shelves near you, knows this practice firsthand. She spent years over-exercising and under-eating, stuck in a stressful, unfulfilling job. A change was in order, and soon, this shift would offer her a career she now considers a passion rather than a job.
Clark is an integrative nutritionist and wellness educator certified in sports and clinical nutrition, blood chemistry, and integrative health, a position that has allowed her to work with thousands of clients from everyday people to celebrities and elite athletes. She’s the primary nutritionist for the Carrie Underwood-backed fitness app and online community fit52 and, she contributed to Underwood’s cookbook, Find Your Path, and she co-authored The Wellness Remodel.
Now in 2025, she’s releasing her own book, The Feel-Good Way: Simple Recipes for a Better Life. The cookbook is packed with nearly a hundred recipes that are equal parts easy, delicious, and macro-balanced, ranging from peach berry cobbler overnight oats to pad Thai and smoothies.
“Each week, my priorities shift, but I tell entrepreneurs to take a look at your week on Sunday so you aren’t bombarded on Monday,” Clark says. A mom of four, she’s perfected the practice.
The book lays out a blueprint for Clark’s Feel-Good fundamentals—which aren’t about deprivation or restrictions, but an overall healthy lifestyle. It’s all about progress, not perfection. So when you’re ready to start implementing these fundamentals, start with your macros first.
The goal? Clark says every meal should contain 50 percent carbohydrates, 25 percent protein, and 25 percent fat. As a simple guideline, she suggests using your own hand for portion sizes—carbs should be about the size of your palm, protein the size of a fist, and fats about the size of a thumb.
While the cookbook deviates from those generational, nostalgic recipes packed with processed ingredients common in older kitchens, Clark notes many are drawn to the desserts. “We came up with a dairy-free, gluten-free ice cream cookie,” Clark says. “In general, people think when eating healthier or following a diet, they can’t eat dessert. But here, we utilize dessert as a meal.”
And if you aren’t willing to part ways with your passed-down cookbooks and favorite hearty recipes, Clark has created a comprehensive exchange list to help people learn how to make healthy swaps in their favorite dishes.
“There’s tons of gumbos and different types of ways to make biscuits,” Clark says. “My goal for the book is not just to be the 90 recipes you need for the rest of your life, but to build confidence in the kitchen and feel confident in your choices. My goal is to be a roadmap and a guide, not a hard and fast rule.”
Life is busy for the mom and serial entrepreneur, but she puts her teachings into practice through weekly meal preps and strategic planning. And when things don’t go according to plan (because, do they ever?), she has a tip for that too.
“The way my refrigerator, fridge, and pantry look, I can build 10 meals at any time,” she says. “I’m always making double dinner so I can utilize the leftovers in different ways, whether it’s shredding chicken and making four different meals or batch cooking and batch prepping.”
In addition to the brand-new cookbook, Clark offers programs like wellness challenges and hormone masterclasses, as well as a monthly or annual membership model. After years of contributing to other people’s books, she knew it was time to write her own. And when it came to selecting a publisher, she placed importance on one that would allow her faith to shine through.
“A huge part of why I wrote this book with Penguin Random House was that I could incorporate my faith,” she says. “Each section of meals—breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks—has a prayer and prayer tools before each meal. I used a lot of mind, body, and spirit to write the book.”
The Feel-Good Way is available wherever books are sold, with a launch celebration and signing at the Franklin Theatre on May 14 in partnership with Landmark Booksellers.
For those looking for even more guidance, Cara’s membership platform provides ongoing support, offering a structured but flexible way to integrate her philosophy into daily life. CaraClarkNutrition.com
“In general, people think when eating healthier or following a diet, they can’t eat dessert. But here, we utilize dessert as a meal.”