What Jillian Michaels eats in a day to stay fit and support her metabolism

• Jillian Michaels shared what she eats in a day with her 1.4 million Instagram followers.
• The personal trainer said she aims to fast for 12-14 hours a day.

Personal trainer Jillian Michaels shared what she eats in a day to stay healthy and fit, including toast, salad, and pasta "once in a blue moon."

"This regimen helps optimize my metabolism, keep my immune system strong, my skin glowing, and my hair thick and full," she wrote on Instagram.

Michaels said her focus isn't weight loss, but longevity, and she aims to have all three macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) in every meal, she said.

Michaels intermittent fasts

Michaels fasts for 12-14 hours a day then eats all her food in the remaining hours.

Michaels starts her day with coffee with heavy whipping cream. She calls this "dirty fasting," because she's consuming fat, but not carbs or protein.

"Dirty fasting" isn't a scientifically researched practice, but advocates think it's OK to consume around 100 calories in a fasting window, according to Healthline.

For breakfast, Michaels eats two eggs on wholegrain toast; Greek yogurt with fruit, cocoa nibs, and nuts; two pieces of wholegrain bread with peanut butter and banana; or a bagel with cream cheese and lox.

Around three hours later, Michaels has lunch but said it's more of a snack, such as a piece of fruit with either a couple of slices of rotisserie chicken, a hard boiled egg, a string cheese, or Greek yogurt.

"Basically, a complex carbohydrate and protein," she told her 1.4 million Instagram followers.

Around three hours later, Michaels has a larger lunch which is often "a monster-size salad."

Examples include a Cobb salad without bacon; a Mediterranean salad with grilled salmon or shrimp; or a taco salad. Michaels always has the dressing on the side, she said.

Michaels makes her salads with protein (like eggs or blue cheese) and complex carbs (such as garbanzo beans or black beans), and lots of vegetables and fruit, she said.

Michaels eats pasta 'once in a blue moon'

For dinner, Michaels often eats out. If she goes for sushi, she doesn't have rolls, but will have salmon sushi, yellowtail sashimi, edamame, and seaweed salad.

"I do this because I'm looking for fiber, I'm looking for the iodine in the seaweed," she said.

Other days, Michaels might go for Mexican food and order fajitas with light oil, black beans, and tortillas.

"If we go for Italian, once in a blue moon I'll eat pasta, but not a ton," she said. Michaels is more likely to order a grilled protein with vegetables.

At a Mediterranean restaurant, Michaels would order labne, hummus, chicken skewers, fattoush salad, hummus topped with beef, or eggplant.

She also enjoys chicken pho, rice paper spring rolls, and stir-fried vegetables, which she requests with less oil.

Michaels regularly tries to recreate restaurant meals at home, cooking lots of different vegetables to keep her feeling full, she said. Her wife also sometimes makes kung pao chicken with lots of peppers and steamed rice, she said.

Michaels doesn't "do dessert" and doesn't drink alcohol often, and has "no more than four drinks a week," she said.

Experts don't recommend copying other people's diets

"What I eat in a day" posts are common on social media but nutrition experts have previously warned against them.

Registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told Insider they can be unhelpful because every person's food requirements are different.

"It might actually be completely opposite of what the person needs," she said.

Registered dietitian Tai Ibitoye added that such posts can trigger disordered eating by creating an illusion of what "healthy eating" looks like.

"There is also an element of food elitism and food snobbery which I don't really like," she said. "Not everyone can afford certain ingredients to make certain meals, not everyone will like certain foods, and not everyone has the time to make certain meals."