How to Pick the Right Online Health Program & Where to Start

by JJ Virgin on September 13, 2019

We’re diet agnostic around here! 

While many of my online programs come from books with the word “diet” in the title, I’m talking “diet” as in the choice of foods you eat each day, not a program to lose weight. (It’s a happy coincidence that eating the right foods usually results in weight loss!)

My books and the online programs that go with them are tools to help you learn more about your body and unique needs, so you can set yourself up for long-term success. With their help, you’ll discover how to: 

  • identify your food intolerances
  • find the amount and type of carbs that are right for you
  • detox to stay healthy
  • design a healthy, sustainable fitness routine
  • create a strong, positive mindset, so you can face any challenges that come your way 

Once you have those foundational steps in place, you’ll have the freedom to follow any other diet that you’d like! It doesn’t matter to me if you’re vegan, keto, Paleo, pescatarian, or somewhere in between. The key is to find the right eating plan for your individual body chemistry and moral compass! 

Now, don’t get me wrong – with our online programs, you’ll still get everything you expect from a traditional weight loss diet and more! Our programs can help you shed pounds and feel better without going hungry, stop sugar cravings and blast away belly fat, eliminate uncomfortable symptoms, and improve your overall health. 

And if you choose to stay on our programs forever, you’ll still have an incredibly nourishing eating plan! But if you decide you’d like to move on and try other things, you’ll be well-prepared because you’ll know exactly what works for your body and what doesn’t.

Want to learn more? Here’s a closer look at all of our online programs and how to figure out where to start…

Detox First 

Before starting a new eating plan, it’s crucial to cleanse your body of toxins! Wondering why? 

The sad reality is that you’re exposed to over 80,000 chemicals (according to the EPA), and they sneak in everywhere: from your makeup and home cleaning supplies to your laundry detergent and the food you put on your plate.  

And those toxins can wreak havoc on your health! A high toxic burden has been linked to an increased risk of risk of serious health issues like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurological conditions.1-6

Not only that, toxins can make you feel miserable on a daily basis, triggering symptoms like fatigue, headaches, brain fog, and joint pain. And exposure to certain toxins can also make it more difficult to lose weight by interfering with your hormones and lowering your metabolic rate.7 

If you want to protect your health, restore your energy levels, and refresh your metabolism, detoxification is a must! The Detox Reboot Online Program is the answer, with all the recipes, resources, and support you need for a smart, science-based 7-day cleanse to help get you back on track.

As with all of our online programs, you’ll be part of a private online forum, along with our team of knowledgeable health coaches, a compassionate community, and yours truly! Ask questions, find an accountability partner, celebrate your wins – we’ll all be here for you, rooting you on and sharing our own journey.

I recommend starting with the Detox Reboot  Online Program and coming back to it anytime you need a quick boost or help refocusing on your health. My team and I do the 7-day cleanse quarterly to ensure we stay as healthy and fit as possible all year long. 

Have Your Breakthrough 

Now that you’ve detoxed, it’s time for your breakthrough! 

Whether you start with the Breakthrough Food Intolerance Online Program or the Breakthrough Carb Intolerance Online Program, both of these comprehensive plans put an end to one-size-fits-all dieting and help eliminate the real causes of stubborn weight gain.

The Breakthrough Food Intolerance Online Program walks you step by step through my New York Times bestselling book, The Virgin Diet. My team and I help you identify your food intolerances and stop the cycle of weight gain and symptoms like fatigue, gut issues, headaches, and skin breakouts.

If your main complaints are sugar cravings and belly fat that just won’t budge, the Breakthrough Carb Intolerance Online Program is for you! Based on my third NYT bestseller, the Sugar Impact Diet, this program helps you cut out hidden sugars and discover how many carbs are right for your body chemistry.

BCIOP also helps you get metabolically flexible, so you burn fat for fuel instead of sugar. That’s key if you want to go keto or Paleo. 

There’s a reason that both programs start with “Breakthrough”: they’re designed to complement one another, and each of them is key to helping you create your customized eating plan! 

Which one you choose first really depends on the symptoms you’re struggling with. Here’s the quick and easy breakdown:

Do the Breakthrough Food Intolerance Online Program first if…

  • you frequently suffer from gas and bloating
  • you suffer from chronic pain or inflammation
  • you often struggle with poor focus or mood swings
  • you crave dairy products like milk, cheese, or ice cream
  • you have chronic skin issues like acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or eczema
  • you have autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis
  • you have chronic GI issues like heartburn, constipation, or diarrhea
  • you have difficulty losing weight, no matter what you try

Do the Breakthrough Carb Intolerance Online Program first if…

  • you have excess belly fat, even if your arms and legs are thin
  • you often have energy crashes or feel fatigued, especially between meals
  • you frequently crave sweets or carbs
  • you often struggle with brain fog or emotional eating
  • you have diabetes or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • you feel hungry all the time
  • you have elevated cholesterol or triglycerides
  • you have difficulty losing weight, no matter what you try

If you have symptoms from both lists, it’s best to do the Breakthrough Food Intolerance Online Program first. Then follow up with Breakthrough Carb Intolerance to kick your carb cravings for good! 

With both Breakthrough online programs, you’ll get instructional videos, step-by-step worksheets, resources, complete meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, and specialty guides. Not to mention that answers are only ever a mouse click away in our private online forum! 

Dial in Your Fitness 

Fitness is a journey, and it’s important to move more from the start. 

If you haven’t been active in a while, that’s okay! Begin slowly by incorporating movement into your day in small increments, and gradually work your way up to moving 60 minutes a day. 

That movement could be in the form of walking, gardening, shopping, or yoga – any activity that you enjoy is fine, as long as you’re moving your body! If you have a Fitbit or fitness tracker, aim for 10k steps a day.

Strengthening your balance and flexibility is another key component of any fitness plan! Not only does balance and flexibility training help reduce the risk of falls and other injuries, it also improves your range of motion and coordination, helping enhance your exercise performance and ability to do everyday tasks.  

Setting aside just 5 minutes a day for stretching and balance exercises is all you need to start making a difference! And as an added bonus, daily stretching can help lower stress hormones like cortisol, which in turn, can go a long way toward crushing those pesky food cravings that threaten to derail your diet. 

Once you’ve consistently included daily movement and stretching in your schedule, the next step is to add in high-intensity interval training, or what I like to call “burst training.” 

With burst training, you can get a fat-blasting, brain-boosting workout in minutes, and your metabolism will reap the rewards all day long! My Fast Fitness Online Program explains exactly how to burst train and provides quick, Fast Blast workouts so you can burst right along with me. (And you guessed it – it’s also included in Reignite Wellness 365….) 

Fast Fitness also walks you through resistance training, which is the final piece of my Core 4 fitness plan. Find out my top resistance training exercises for building lean muscle and toning your body.

In addition to looking and feeling great, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body is able to burn! (That’s why I like to call muscle your metabolic Spanx…)

And there’s no need to worry if you’re new to working out! The beauty of Fast Fitness is that it’s customizable for all fitness levels. 

You’ll get your choice of schedules designed for a range of experience and needs. Whether you’re a beginner who’s never lifted a weight or a long-time exercise buff who’s looking for a change of pace, the program has a schedule and exercises that will work for you! 

Fix Your Mindset 

Last, but certainly not least is mindset! And for you, mindset may need to come first. 

Can you honestly say all 3 things below with complete conviction? 

  • I’m 100% worth it. 
  • It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, as long as I’m on board with my health goals. 
  • I know I can do it.

If you have any doubts, then changing your mindset needs to be your first priority! 

Miracle Mindset Academy is the solution – it’s a self-paced online program that gives you the tools, advice, and support you need to grow a strong, positive mindset. And as with all of our online programs, you’ll have plenty of support in our private online forum. 

The Academy is based on my autobiography Warrior Mom, which walks you through the 7 mindsets that helped me get through one of the hardest times in my life, when my 16-year-old son Grant was left for dead after a hit-and-run accident.

Please believe me when I say that if I can get through that, you can get through your challenges too! And we can do it together, with the help of my awesome team and Miracle Mindset Academy.

You Never Have to Go It Alone

In addition to providing nurturing support in our online community, we also offer one-on-one health coaching that’s extremely popular. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stuck in a weight loss plateau, the First Steps Metabolic Makeover Health Coaching Program is for you! 

Our highly trained, compassionate health coaches will take the time to listen to your health history and goals, then work with you to develop a personalized 3-step action plan to set you up for success. With First Steps, you get to know a health coach who wants nothing more than to cheer you on and give you the tools you need to make changes for life! 

And there you have it: a roadmap to our science-based online programs to help you break down your health journey into simple, achievable steps. And we’ll be there for you, every step of the way! 

References 

1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28886060

2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30699382

3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22809777

4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17934035

5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17934034

6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3270432/

7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279464/