So I’m sharing the five foods that I eat every day as a nutrition expert because I’m constantly asked, what do you eat? I’ll talk about my personal food rules, the foods I make sure to eat consistently, and my favorite ways to prepare them fast. Plus, when I really think about cheat meals. Now in the next 30 days, someone who comments below and subscribes to the channel will win a 100 Reignite Wellness gift card, a 100 Amazon card, and a copy of the Virgin Diet Cookbook.

Let’s talk first about my personal food rules. And I have these because they’re like my bumpers, my guard rails that make everything easier. So here’s the thing. If you feel like you’re kind of out of touch, the first place I always start is with a food audit and committing to tracking. This is super important while you’re getting new habits in place.

Or if you feel like you kind of lost your way a bit, I got to tell you, I still track what I eat and I literally travel with a food scale. It just makes it so much easier to stay on track. So I have a mantra, eat protein first. This is because I want to make sure that you get your protein in. And I hear too often, Oh, I didn’t get all my protein and I got too full.

First thing you do is identify how much protein you need, 0.7-1 gram per pound of target body weight. If you’re not sure, go to jjvirgin.com/proteinfirst I got the calculator there. You’re going to eat protein first. You’re going to put on your plate. Next one is upgrade your plate. I like to think of adding before you take away.

My plate has protein, fiber from loads of non starchy vegetables, maybe a little slow low carbs, and healthy fat. And that really is a trifecta. For satiety and blood sugar balance. So that’s what you’re going to see on the plate. Then make sure that you’re staying well hydrated because quite often you’ve heard you’re not hungry, you’re thirsty, but even mild dehydration can actually make you store fat.

And then of course, not only you’re eating by the plate. You’re also eating by the clock. And this is really important because when you align your meal timing with your body’s internal clock to optimize your health, this is all Dr. Satchin Panda’s work. It’s eating with that normal circadian rhythm. This means that you’re going to eat 90 minutes to about two hours after waking up and you’ll stop eating two to four hours before bed.

This is going to be so much better for blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. And it really ensures that you’re eating food. When you’re most likely to use it. Now let’s talk what to eat. And I’m going to share my favorites that I regularly incorporate into my diet. And then after that, I’m going to walk you through what a typical day of eating looks like for me.

First up, of course, is protein. And I go for clean, lean protein. Protein sources. I’m looking for where I can get the right balance of the nine essential amino acids. I eat protein first and here’s what I’m doing when I’m eating protein. I’m getting great satiety. I’m not as hungry, right? I’m getting great satisfaction.

It helps with cravings. I’ve got a better thermic effect from the food because protein is the most thermic of the macronutrients. And of course, you need protein to detoxify. If you’re not sure how much you need, just go to jjvirgin. com forward slash seven day, the number seven to get my seven day challenge and protein calculator.

Now, which type of protein do I eat? Here it is. I try to about three times a week or more eat wild seafood. I do this for a couple of different reasons. Number one, because it’s rich in omega 3s and seafood is really good for gut healing. And also I really love to get wild salmon because of the astaxanthin.

It’s a great antioxidant. So I try to get that in at least three times a week. The next one up is pastured chicken. Now I will tell you, I’m obsessed with pastured chicken thighs, the way my husband makes them on the barbecue. Amazing. So he makes a bunch of them and they are what I have right now. for lunch.

The other thing I like to have for lunch is grass fed and finished beef burgers. So we’ll get lean ground beef and I go for 90 lean, lean grass fed beef. And the reason I love grass fed beef is it’s a great source of B12 and B6 of iron and zinc. Things that are critical for brain health, for your energy levels, for great immune system.

Plus it’s such an easy thing to cook up for lunch. In the morning, I’m generally either starting with a protein shake or I’m starting with Greek style yogurt. And I rotate in now some dairy into my life, but I keep it to whey or Greek style yogurt. If I’m doing Greek style yogurt though, here’s what I do.

I get the fat free and I stir in some of my all in one paleo Protein shake that’s bone broth, so I’m going to get some additional protein and collagen into it as well. The other thing that I’ll do, and I actually had this for lunch today, was I did an egg and egg white scramble. Why do I do it? Because I’m not going to get enough protein by the eggs alone.

I’ll push too much into fat. I love eggs because they’re sulfur rich, which is great for detox, they’re rich in choline. What I did today is what I love to do. I got some deep green leafies, threw in some mushrooms, scrambled it up. You can also take some of that ground beef that we were talking about and throw it in there too.

I do that thing that’s called a Joe’s Scramble. For protein shakes, I have a couple different that I like. I will use a little whey protein. If you are not dairy intolerant, try whey protein. It doesn’t have the casein if you’re doing the isolate, so it might be okay. If you’re doing that, I would highly recommend doing whey protein and stirring in some bone broth protein and getting the collagen as well.

Or, try a pea protein shake. Again, add the collagen in there. And the reason I’m emphasizing doing one of those types of protein and then other Also adding collagen or bone broth is because collagen and bone broth is so good for your joints, for your hair, your skin, your nails, and for healing that gut.

It’s one of the ways that I was able to heal my leaky gut. A lot of the reasons people don’t handle dairy and eggs well is because of leaky gut. Now, the other cool thing is, It helps with skin regeneration because it’s giving you the specific essential amino acids that you need for skin health, for rebuilding cartilage and restoring elasticity of the joints, for reducing pain and stiffness, and also good for your bones and might help reduce the risk of things like osteoporosis.

So collagen for the win. After I put Protein on my plate. The next thing I add in are non starchy vegetables. So  I eat protein first, non starchy vegetables come second. Why am I eating them? For the antioxidants, for the fiber, because they’ve got such great nutrient density with so few calories. And the first thing I really go for, are sulfur rich vegetables.

Those are the ones like cauliflower or broccoli or Brussels sprouts. And I’m going to give you a couple of ways that I love to make them. Number one, I love to do a cauliflower pilaf. So I will get organic frozen cauliflower rice, and then I will add in leftover vegetables. So it might be like some onions, some garlic, some mushrooms, whatever I’ve cooked the day before goes into the cauliflower pilaf the next day.

I also get frozen broccoli rice. I love me some fresh broccoli with a little bit of ghee on it. I also love shaved Brussels sprouts. That’s something you can sauté up or you can even put into a salad. Now, I’m always looking for ways to get more fiber in. One, because we know that fiber is great for satiety.

Number two, because it’s so good for your gut microbiome. And number three, because it helps you poop. So, good for all of these things. The other thing Of course that these do is support detox and especially when we talk about deep green leafies because they support something called methylation. And this is a super important biochemical process that involves the transfer of single carbon units to support DNA repair and then the creation of vital compounds and detoxification.

And in fact, when you methylate well, it decreases the risk of genetic mutations and cancer development. So this is things like arugula, spinach, kale, chard. Now I gotta be honest. I hate raw spinach, kale, chard, hate, heat. The only deep green leafy I really eat is arugula, raw. The rest of them, what I do is I buy the super greens mix and then I stir it into either the egg, egg white scramble or a cauliflower pilaf or a sauce, easy peasy.

The other thing that I love to stir into my pilafs are mushrooms. Ever since I talked to Dr. Sarah Ballantyne about our Nutri Boar scores, I’ve been obsessed with mushrooms. Mushrooms are Packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, what what really sets them apart are their unique compounds, these beta glucans that support the immune system and heart health and can help support cancer treatments.

And then something called ergo thionine. That’s a potent antioxidant that protects cells from oxidative stress. And then there’s these polysaccharides like chitin and chitosan that are known for their anti inflammatory and cholesterol lowering properties. So mushroom, here’s my most favorite thing. When we are doing burgers or we are doing some of our grass fed, grass finished steak, shout out to butcher box.

I do a blend. of mushrooms. I’m kind of into shiitakes right now, but I’ve been doing some oysters as well. I saute those up with some onions as well, and those go on top of the burgers or steaks. After I do the non starchy, next up is fruit. I focus on getting two servings of fruit a day. Pretty much I stick with berries, and I rotate between blackberries, Blueberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

I love berries because they’ve got great antioxidants, loads of fiber, and a lot of vitamin C, which I just was talking about collagen. C is essential for collagen production. Now blueberries, I eat blueberries every day, and they are like just It’s packed with phytochemicals, especially something called anthocyanins.

Those are the natural pigments in the plant that’s responsible for that blue color that have antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties and can help protect your heart, your brain, and overall health. In fact, studies show blueberries have antioxidant and anti inflammatory powers that support your healthy blood vessels and help control cancer.

Blood sugar. So here’s how I eat my berries. This is a great little treat. So I will take a cup of berries. I will take some Lily’s dark chocolate chips or another type of dark chocolate chip that’s got either allulose or stevia type of sweetener or monk fruit. I’ll use a little bit of so delicious whipped coconut cream, or sometimes I’ll make my own.

And then I use a little bit of something called RX sugars. syrup And the reason I use Rx sugar syrup is it’s allulose. And allulose actually lowers blood sugar, none of the calories get absorbed from it, doesn’t do any gastric distress and it raises GLP 1. All right, now let’s talk fat. When you’re eating clean animal and seafood protein, It comes with fat.

Now I like to choose lean sources first, grass fed beef, lean chicken, but salmon I’m not. Salmon I’m actually really working on getting the fatty fish because it’s high in omega 3s. And omega 3s are critical for your heart health, they reduce inflammation, they’re big for your brain health, they help maintain the elasticity of your eyes.

arteries, they help prevent excessive blood clotting, and they can also help lower cholesterol. Now, one of the ways you can tell if you have the right amount of omega 3s, because it’s all about balance, is doing a test called an omega quant, and you’re really going to want to look at your omega 6 to 3 ratio of somewhere in the 4 to 1 ratio.

Now, it turns out that you can also get omega 3s from grass fed beef, and this is one of the big differences between grass fed and farm fed Finished beef versus corn fed beef is that it will be higher in omega 3s. Another thing that grass fed beef is rich in is something called CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, which can potentially help drop fat, improve muscle mass, and especially fat around the Your belly and also sought to have anti cancer properties and may help prevent cancerous growth.

First off, what I do is, and this is where you use a food app, I see how much fat I got just from eating those clean animal protein sources. Then I try to add with whole fat sources first. What would that be? That’s something like an avocado. When I look at an avocado, it’s like a two for one because it’s rich in fiber, which of course promotes great digestive health, regular bowel movements, helps with.

Blood sugar levels, but also it’s a great source of monounsaturated fats, specifically something called oleic acid, which is good for your heart and can help with normalizing cholesterol levels. Plus avocados are rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, E, carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin. These can help protect the cells from free radical damage, might reduce the risk of chronic disease.

And also there’s a bunch of great nutrients packed into avocados, potassium, magnesium, vitamins K and B6, folate, and riboflavin. So you’re just getting a lot of goodness. The other fat that I like to use when I’m looking at oils, I will pretty much stick with three. I stick with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and grass fed ghee.

But I pretty much stick with extra virgin olive oil because it has so many amazing health benefits. It’s predominantly made up of monounsaturated fats, again, oleic acid like avocado, which of course can support heart health, can help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And it’s got powerful antioxidants like vitamin E and polyphenols.

And these compounds can protect your body just like avocados from that free radical. damage, which is such a big deal in aging. Extra virgin olive oil is anti inflammatory, can protect your brain, and studies suggest that a higher intake of extra virgin olive oil is associated with improved brain function and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, let’s go back to fiber. And the ones that I’ll try to put into my diet are beets, lentils, and other legumes. Specifically, I’ll do chickpeas. Now, I gotta tell you, I don’t eat a whole lot of starchy carbs, I just don’t really like them. But I really look for how to incorporate in these legumes and beets.

So, a couple different things that I’ll do is my cauliflower pilaf, I’ll stir in lentils. I’ll do hummus, but I’m always careful with the oils. And, I like to roast beets or get some julienned beets. Well, fiber, of course, we know can help prevent constipation, can help you feel fuller longer, can help your gut microbiome.

And for beets, you’re not only getting that, you’re also getting these nitrates that can help lower blood pressure and improve your heart function. And then lentils, like lentils, when you look at anything for a plant based protein source, lentils are the definite winner in the legume family. They’re high in folate, manganese, iron, phosphorus.

So they are really rich and just like the other legumes are low on the glycemic index, super high fiber, and really good for balancing out your blood sugar. So now I’m going to walk you through what a typical day looks like for me. I wake up, go to the bathroom, take my thyroid medication, and do my oxaline pro scale and record it on my phone.

Then I sit down and I meditate. Then I have a lot of black coffee, and about 90 minutes to two hours later, I will have either a smoothie or a yogurt parfait. My smoothie is made, and I like to combine my different protein shakes. I have a pea based and a collagen inspired bone broth one. I like to mix them together, or I will do a yogurt parfait of Greek style yogurt, and I put in my paleo all in one shake into that.

I also add into that creatine. Mito pure and fiber. And mito pure is something called urolithin A that helps your mitochondria basically stay young and regenerate. Then I’ll go to the gym a little bit later and in my gym drink I make a big green tea. I try to get in, gosh I’ve been really working on getting in 32 ounces of green tea a day.

A lot of benefits with green tea in terms of stress and Antioxidants, insulin sensitivity. So I take a huge bottle to the gym that’s green tea with more essential amino acids added into it and electrolytes. So my essential amino acid blend and my electro replenish blend go in there. If I didn’t get my creatine before I throw it in there too, but usually I’ve already had it.

Then I have lunch. Lunch, here’s what I always do. I make Double protein. Like I said, my husband was making, um, chicken thighs. We make whatever, so we have extra protein left over for lunches. And generally what I like to do at lunch is have that salad. That’s where I’ll throw the arugula in, or I’ll have leftover cauliflower rice, and left, and my protein.

And that’s where I do some berries. And then I have a treat. Now I’m a fast caffeine metabolizer. The coffee we do at home is half decaf, half regular. However, I’m one of those people that can drink coffee up till about two o’clock doesn’t impact me because I metabolize it very fast. There are a lot of people not like that.

So I just am telling you that because if you’re one of the slow ones, don’t do this, but you could do this earlier in the day. But what I like to do as a treat is, uh, I use something called living ratio, cacao calm. And it is this mushroom. Adaptogenic, no sugar added chocolate powder that I put into coffee.

Then dinner. Dinner is always vegetables and protein and a very common one would be a grass fed, grass finished New York steak with those sauteed mushrooms and onions with a little extra virgin olive oil, like I talked about, with some cauliflower pilaf with any leftover veggies thrown into that, little lentils.

And then if I want a little something something after that, it’s the berries, the dark chocolate. And maybe a little of the whip and RX sugar. And here’s the challenge. When they talk about the cheat meal or the cheat day, it just sets you up to fail because you have something and then you want a little bit more of it and a little bit more of it and a little bit more of it.

So remember, what I like to think of is, why not just have a healthier version of something? Like we’ll make keto pudding or a gluten free keto cake. So if we do something for holidays or whatever, I’ve got like a gluten free, dairy free. Keto cheesecake that we make, I’ll make a healthier version of something.

Or if I want dessert, like I talked about, the berries, the whipped cream and chocolate chips with the RX sugar syrup is amazing. And again, eat more protein, have less cravings. See what you think about that. The other thing that I’ve always felt like is, it’s just mean to bring something into the house that you can’t handle.

To me, if you can have three bites, have it. But if you’re going to lose your mind, don’t. Get it out of the house. The bottom line is it’s all about habit building. Start with what’s at the end of your fork, skip the cheat days, and then watch this next video where I share the five daily habits to incorporate into your routine for easier fat loss and better muscle building at any age.
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