Multivitamins may help weight loss in obese women

Nutrition is Life: Using the Healing Power of Food to Transform Our Health and Change the World is shaping up as the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP) best conference yet for health professionals and students coming together to be inspired and informed in a program specifically designed to meet the needs of today’s holistic nutrition professional.

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Who or What is NANP?

The National Association of Nutrition Professionals represents holistically trained nutrition professionals. Our mission is to enhance the integrity of the holistic nutrition profession through self-governance, educational standards, a rigorous code of ethics, and professional registration of holistic nutritionists.

The NANP’s dedication to serving the specific needs of holistic nutrition professionals distinguishes us from other nutrition trade organizations. We also invite other healthcare professionals who are passionate about and use holistic nutrition in their practice protocols to discover the value and benefit of joining the NANP.  Find membership information and application here.

The Top Five Ways to Teach Your Body to Burn More Fat
By JJ Virgin

#5 Pump it up

Resistance training builds muscle and muscle is your metabolic “Spanxs”.  It holds everything in tighter while boosting your metabolism.  Building muscle also improves insulin sensitivity which helps you become a better fat burner as well.

The Top Five Ways to Teach Your Body to Burn More Fat
By JJ Virgin

#4 Don’t sweat the small stuff

Chronic stress raises adrenaline and cortisol which can make you crave sugar and caffeine and store more fat around your waistline while raising the setpoint for burning it off. I call my waistline my personal stress meter. I have found that the biggest source of stress is actually our perception of what is happening so shift your focus to the positive and build in some bliss into your daily life.

The Top Five Ways to Teach Your Body to Burn More Fat
By JJ Virgin

#3 Sleep Deep

Failure to get the recommended 7-9 hours of quality sleep consistently creates a hormonal chaos in your body. You become less insulin sensitive which means fasting insulin may be higher than it should be which can block fat burning. You have more ghrelin around(the hormone produced by the stomach when it is empty to signal hunger to your brain) and thus you are hungrier. And your cortisol levels are higher which can lower serotonin, which can make you crave sugar and carbs. Don’t steal from sleep, make it your number 1 health and weight loss priority.

The Top Five Ways to Teach Your Body to Burn More Fat
by JJ Virgin

#2 Skip the Sugar

A diet high in sugar and fast release carbs (white bread, white potatoes, etc.) raises blood sugar and insulin. Higher fasting insulin levels put a lock on your fat cells so that you don’t burn fat for fuel. Stick with three balanced meals a day that include clean lean protein, healthy fats, high fiber carbohydrates and loads of non starchy veggies.

Top Five Ways to Teach Your Body to Burn More Fat
By JJ Virgin

#1 Burst to Blast Fat

Shift your steady state aerobic training(walking, jogging, cycling, etc.) to high intensity interval training where you go all out for 30 seconds and then recover for 60 seconds and repeat until you have accumulated 4-8 minutes total of burst intervals.  Not only will you save time on your workout, you will also create a bigger metabolic effect post exercise than traditional cardio training and that means more calorie burning and better fat burning.

Stay tuned for the next four!

GROCERY SHOPPING 101
By JJ Virgin

Most weight loss and wellness plans focus on what you can’t eat. They’re quick to tell you to throw out the cookies, candies and chips from your house. Of course, I hope that you keep the enemy out of the house, too. (You don’t need the temptation or foods calling out to you in the middle of the night! I don’t know how that chocolate knows me by name!)
I want to focus now on what you should keep in the house. Many people find it hard to stick to a healthy eating program because they don’t have the type of foods that they need close at hand. You’re starving and it’s just easier to run to a fast food restaurant or order a pizza. Let’s stop that madness! I wanted to offer you a quick grocery list of what should be in your closet and freezer. Remember that options that are easy to make will make it easy for you to eat healthy.

YOUR GROCERY LISTS

Below, I’ll offer a sample grocery list of what products are great to keep in your fridge, freezer and closet. This is an easy way to make sure you have the staples for your healthy meals.

FOR YOUR FREEZER: THE STAPLES

Grass fed beef (Make into patties and freeze)
Bison patties or ground bison (Have five to ten packs ready to go; even eat them for breakfast)
Organic chicken and turkey sausages
Frozen wild scallops (I love the ones at Trader Joe’s)
Frozen shrimp (Again, great ones at Trader Joe’s)
Organic turkey breast
Frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries and cherries are wonderful)
Frozen veggies (have a wide variety and use them for sides, soups and stir-fry’s).

FOR YOUR FRIDGE: THE STAPLES

Organic turkey slices (To throw on a rice cake or in a salad or roll-up)
Grass fed beef slices (To throw on a rice cake or in a salad or roll-up)
Organic whole chicken (For meals, salads and JJ’s dog loves it, too!)
Uncured, nitrate free bacon (Add bits to salads, too)
Garlic: whole cloves and crushed (Use whole cloves to jazz up roasted veggies)
Nut butters: almond butter, pecan butter, walnut butter, macadamia butter and cashew butter are yummy)
Guacamole (Whole Foods makes an amazing one with salsa in it)
Bagged salad greens and whole salad greens that you will chop
Bagged and fresh veggies for stir-fry’s
Wasabi peas to kick you salad in the butt
Containers of cut-up, fresh, washed veggies (To use in salads or steam as sides)
Greek yogurt (If you can handle dairy)
Goat or feta cheese (If you can handle dairy)
Eggs (If you can handle dairy)
Fresh, low-glycemic index fruits such as berries and apples (Some may go on the counter to ripen)
All the non-starchy veggies you can store and eat that week!

FOR YOUR CLOSET: THE STAPLES

Quality shake mixes (Check them out in my store at jjvirgin.com)
Canned beans — including black beans and lentils. (Some people can make them fresh from a bag. They become little hard rocks for me. The cans are fine.)
Organic chicken broth
Brown rice
Rice pasta, whole grain pasta
Whole grain wraps and pitas
Rice cakes and rice chips
Sea salt rice crackers (I crunch them over salads instead of tortilla chips)
Nuts (Mix it up and choose from raw almonds, raw sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachios)
A little dark chocolate (Know yourself, I have to watch it because it calls to me at night. Don’t make a good thing bad and remember your portion control. Keep one serving at a time if you can’t resist).
Green teas (To drink both iced and hot)
Garbanzo beans
Can of green chilies
Ready-made sauces that aren’t heinous (Including red Thai curry sauce from Trader Joe’s. Make sure you read labels to find hidden sugars or high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. Don’t buy products with those ingredients in them).
Coconut milk in pantry for shakes and sauces (Put in the fridge after you open it)
Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (Love to throw them into roasted veggie mix)

Next Week: I’ll cover other foods including oils and shakes that should also be staples in your kitchen

THE MEAL
Jar spaghetti sauce mixed with browned ground beef
2 cups white pasta
2 pieces garlic bread
1 Diet Coke

JJ’S PASTA-PALOOZA (WITHOUT THE PASTA):
Keep organic Marinara sauce around and make this delish “pasta” recipe. Take the jar of sauce and throw into a crock-pot. Add half a glass of red wine. JJ’s Rule: If it’s bad wine, it will make bad sauce. Use the good stuff! Then add 2 cups diced peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant and 12 ounces grilled chicken sausage or grass fed meat. Toss in chopped basil, garlic and sea salt to taste. Let it cook on low for 2-3 hours or until the veggies are soft. Serve over spaghetti squash –serves 2. This sauce has so many veggies that it’s like a stew. You can add a bit of pesto for a jolt. It’s also great over chicken and fish or on top of an omelet the next day.
And, oh yeah, skip the bread! You will be more than satisfied without it.
Drink sparking water with fresh lime.

SNEAKY WAYS YOU CAN LOSE EVEN MORE WEIGHT
By JJ Virgin

You’ve been doing your cardio bursting and eating from my plate.

You’ve tossed out foods with high frutose corn syrup and you’re drinking your breakfast shakes and making those yummy lunch wraps. The weight is coming off ..and you’re feeling great. Now you’re mentally pumped up and thinking, “What else can I do to become even more successful?”

I have a few easy ways to take your program and build on what I know is working. Now, let’s add a few more ways you can lose even more weight.

*Watch your portions and don’t let them quietly creep up to bigger sizes. We’re so used to restaurant sized portions that a normal sized portion seems small to us now. Always remember my ideal eating plate and don’t start to slip and start upping your portions — even a little bit. A little bit today will be a little bit more tomorrow. Keep a careful watch here. If you put more on your plate, you will eat it.

*Organize your fridge. Most of us just shove things in the fridge in a haphazard way. Most of the time, you might not even know what’s in there and it’s hard to make your healthiest meals. Take a few minutes once a week and clean and organize the fridge. Have a spot for your containers of washed veggies and a place where you always keep your salad for the next day. Put last night leftovers in one spot, so you know it’s there for wraps at lunch the next day. It’s also helpful to keep a list on the fridge of what you need to replace, so your healthy items are always there. Don’t let yourself run out of your staples like fresh fruits, veggies, extra virgin olive oil and lean proteins. When you’re desperate and out of things, you will make bad choices.

*Remember to check out the local farmstands. They’re a great place to shop because the produce is extra yummy, plus it’s always better to eat what’s in season. There’s nothing worse than buying those hard, tasteless peaches in January when peach season is June. Right now, opt for apples that are in season and buy the organic kind. Often they’ll even go on sale making them more affordable. The point is to eat what’s in season because it will taste the best.

*Here’s one more reason NOT to snack at night. At first, many of my clients tell them they’re used to a “late night snack.” After they start eating from my plate, their dinner is satisfying enough to easily carry them to morning. Yet, the habit of late night snacking takes a while to break. (How many times have you reached for a late night snack when you weren’t even hungry?) Here’s some research that should stop your midnight noshing: A study at Northwestern University finds that our circadian rhythms, which regulate our sleeping and waking cycles, also influence how the body uses energy. Furthermore, our metabolism varies and gets slower at night. So even that seemingly healthy snack of some nuts and a piece of fruit instead of cookies is harder to burn off.

*Remember to drink your green tea. It’s not only a powerful antioxidant that might reduce the risk of cancer and makes your face look vibrant and pretty. Green tea has also been linked to reducing levels of LDL or bad cholesterol while also revving up your metabolism. As if that wasn’t enough good stuff, new studies show that it might even help your teeth because it’s antibacterial properties might stop tooth decay. Okay, now go pour yourself a glass and enjoy.