Everything You Need to Know Before Starting the Blood Sugar Reset

So many women have gone years and decades of kind of white-knuckling their way through whatever diet or whatever trend that they're trying to stick with, and that's not supporting their health. As we're aging as women, sometimes just healthy food isn't enough. It's about that balance that are going to support stable blood sugar throughout the day.

Today on the Being Brigid Show, I'm joined by Christina Palmisano. Christina has a background as an MBA and accountant and then switched careers to study nutrition, became a board-certified integrative and functional nutritionist, and has been part of the Being Brigid for years and has led the Blood Sugar Reset Community for so many rounds.

Taking the mental load off your plate as a woman, individual, mom, whoever, all those roles that we're all playing, when you can take that mental load off by having a plan in place, pairing it with optimal nutrition, like, that's really that bliss point. That's what we bring into the Blood Sugar Reset recipes. We bring, of course, healthy, optimal foods, but we combine them in a balanced way. This is a plan that is— you're making sure that you have this meal plan in place, you have the structure, you also have the flexibility. You're using food as medicine, and you're not coming from that place of restriction. And the results that people could achieve when they're working with their body versus against it is really incredible.

We're kicking off with an exciting announcement. The Fall Blood Sugar Reset is here. This will be our 12th round of the Blood Sugar Reset, where we've supported 31,000+ people, primarily women. Join us October 12th to the 18th for our 7-day science-backed reset with a fall-inspired menu. And if you sign up now, then you have more time to prep, which is exactly what we're gonna dive into today. Today on the Being Brigid Show, I'm joined by Christina Palmisano, an integrative and functional registered dietitian on the Being Brigid team who has led many rounds of the Blood Sugar Reset Community. Christina has a background as an MBA and accountant, and then switched careers to go back to school to study nutrition. She became a registered dietitian, got her master's in nutrition, became a board-certified integrative and functional nutritionist, and has been part of the Being Brigid Brigid team for years. She's a mom of 3 with a 4th on the way and has led the Blood Sugar Reset Community for so many rounds of this program. Christina, with all of the experience that you have running the Blood Sugar Reset Communities, why is fall such a good time to do this?

The fall is an incredible time to do this for a number of different reasons. First and foremost, the flavors are incredible. Lots of butternut squash, lots of cinnamon, lots of apple, lots of pumpkin, so it really hooks you in because everything tastes so, so delicious and of course is nutritious too. But from a consistency standpoint, coming off a summer where life is a bit more chaotic and crazy and, you know, you're just enjoying yourself a little bit more, it's so nice to just dive back into structure to support that consistency when it comes to your health goals, especially before the holiday season. I mean, the holidays are right around the corner, and doing the Blood Sugar Reset in the fall is just such a great way. to bring stability and consistency and routine into your life, into your family's life, before that chaos of the holiday season comes upon us.

And before the holiday spiral, because we don't want you to get to the point that October, November, December happen, and all of the treats and things that you're surrounded with during the holidays are in full play, and then you're at January 1st feeling like you have to start over and pull yourself out of this hole that you've dug throughout the fall, where we want you to be able to get ahead of that so that you're feeling really good leading up to the end of the year.

Totally, totally. You don't want to just be waiting month after month to, to start a new habit, a new menu, a new meal plan. If you start now, you'll be able to be so stable come holiday season.

So can you explain to a lot of women that are listening what insulin resistance is, since this is a core part of our nutrition frameworks and philosophy— decreasing insulin resistance, decreasing inflammation? Can you explain What insulin resistance is?

Yeah, absolutely. So insulin resistance— think of insulin as that key that brings glucose into the bloodstream. So when you're consuming a variety of different foods, sugar-rich foods, carbohydrate-rich foods, there's going to be a lot of sugar floating around your bloodstream. Insulin is that key that brings it into your cells so your body can better utilize that sugar. When your body is exposed to a ton of sugar and then it has to make more and more insulin, over time you become less and less sensitive to that insulin. And that's where insulin resistance develops. When insulin is piling up in the bloodstream and in the body, a lot of unfavorable symptoms come with that. So, of course, inflammation, but also fatigue and hunger cravings and irritability. The list goes on and on. So, using something like the Blood Sugar Reset is an impeccable tool to be able to control the amount of, one, sugar that gets into the bloodstream, but two, how much insulin your body has to release to be able to best utilize that sugar and ultimately improve that symptom load.

So if you feel like you're eating pretty healthy, but you're still having some of these symptoms like the fatigue and the cravings and the mood swings, it may be a sign that your quote unquote healthy diet is not optimized. Where especially as women age after the age of 35 and 40, we're more prone to insulin resistance. We're more prone to inflammation. So a lot of women that come into our community, they'll say what used to work is no longer working. And it's not that you're doing something wrong, but a lot of times it means that you just need to change up how you're actually approaching your nutrition, and that's really. what we focus on in the Blood Sugar Reset with everything that you're talking about. Totally.

As we're aging, as women especially, sometimes just healthy food isn't enough. It's about that balance, like you said, and that's what we bring into the Blood Sugar Reset recipes. We bring, of course, healthy optimal foods, but we combine them in a balanced way with ample amount of protein and fiber and healthy fats and some whole food carbohydrates to be able to support women in their energy and their mood and their overall health.

So, for someone who hasn't done the Blood Sugar Reset before, how is it different? How would you explain the difference between this program and other nutrition programs?

Yeah, so, as I mentioned previously, of course, we're including optimal foods, optimal ingredients, but it really comes down to the balance and the structure of every single meal, but really, as the meals go from meal to meal, day to day. And so, it's not just about those healthy ingredients or healthy meals, it's about blood sugar balanced meals. So, for example, instead of just having a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit, those are 2 specific sources of whole food carbohydrates. We include whole food carbohydrates in the meal plan, but we pair them alongside ample amounts of protein, ample amounts of healthy fat, as well as wonderful sources of fiber from a variety of different plants that are gonna yield that balance in the meal that are gonna support stable blood sugar throughout the day.

And then I'd also say that we focus on nourishment over restriction. So it's really not a program that's like, eat these foods, avoid these foods. As a team of nutritionists, we are there alongside you helping to answer your questions, to be able to figure out what works best for you. So it's not a program that's like, never eat this, never eat this. If you're going to have a glass of wine during it, it may not be the most optimal, but here's what we would suggest doing if that's the case. If you fall off the plan, here's what we recommend doing for your next meal. If you're eating out, here's what we recommend ordering in order to stay in alignment with a lot of the principles so that it doesn't feel like this rigid all-or-nothing plan that so many diets on the internet position themselves as.

For sure. We give you so much structure, but we also support you in flexibility, right? Because we all lead our everyday life, we have social plans, we have, you know, other things going on.

Kids.

Kids, raising kids, growing kids, you know, that you want that flexibility. And so we're there to support you. We give you the structure, but the structure isn't rigid. It's got flexibility within it to be able to make swaps, which we'll talk about later, to be able to customize it to the timing of what works out best for you, and so many other examples.

And then lastly, I'd say having a plan in place, because one recipe will not change your life. For as much as I love sharing some of the nutrient-dense anti-inflammatory recipes that we have in our membership and other places, people, wouldn't you say, like, when they come through the program, they're like, I could not believe how much having everything laid out for me, in a way, it's not just about like what you're eating at one meal, it's about what you're eating the entire day, and then the accumulation of the entire week that is really the needle mover for people feeling so good in such a short period of time.

For sure. Put the nutrition aside for just a second, taking the mental load off your plate as a woman, individual, mom, whoever, all those roles that we're all playing, when you can take that mental load off by having a plan in place, pairing it with optimal nutrition, like, that's really that bliss point.

Yeah, yeah, you're like unstoppable at that point. So a lot of people will say, how long does it take for me to actually notice a difference in how I feel? And from the thousands of people that we've supported in going through this program, what would you say is the most common thing that we see?

So, you know, across the board, it's important to keep in mind we are all different. But when we look at the various cohorts of the Blood Sugar Reset, we see some of the same common themes, the same improvements across all the individuals who participate. Increase in energy is huge, or decrease in cravings, huge, and just overall improvement in your mood is what we see so often. And it's important to note that, of course, it's gonna be a little bit different for everybody, but typically, women are experiencing these changes in just a few days. Some people just get through that day one and they're like, oh my gosh, like my cravings are gone. I got to dinner time and I didn't need that chocolate after my meal, or whatever, you know, the example may be. Other people, it might take a couple more days. Maybe the first day or two feels like a bit more of an adjustment for them, but midweek they're feeling their best. Their energy is high. They're talking about their performance in the gym, or they're able to tolerate bedtime with their toddlers better before, you know, than previously had because they have more of that energy, or just their overall mood throughout the day seems to be more stable from breakfast to lunch, to snack, to dinner, because they're fueling themselves so well.

And sometimes that's even supported by data where we have people start to upload not only graphs of their continuous glucose monitors, if they wear a continuous glucose monitor, where they're like, here was my blood sugar the day before I started, and then here's what it looks like on day 3, where you can already see such an improvement. But then we'll also have other women that are uploading their screenshots from their wearables, their Oura, their Whoop, where it's like crazy changes in their heart rate variability or their sleep scores by literally like day 3 or 4 of the program. Which I think is such an amazing way to get that positive reinforcement very quickly beyond just where women are trained to look for it, which is the scale.

Absolutely. And we totally nerd out over seeing that data. It's just so cool to see someone's deep sleep go up 5 percentage points than what they're used to, or their HRV jump X amount of points in, in just a few days.

And especially knowing that in the interview that I did last March with Dr. Tim Spector, he talked about how oftentimes they see before changes in cholesterol and blood sugar, actual improvements improvements in symptoms, and that the symptom improvements happen before the actual physical changes that happen in your labs, which helps people, I think, like, really say, oh wow, this seems to really be working, before they have to wait for those numbers to end up showing. You know, we've seen people drop their cholesterol by 50 or 100 points just a few months after the blood sugar reset, or reverse their prediabetes. But even before that, you get the reinforcement in that first It's so motivating to feel those symptom improvements. The only caveat is when some people do feel a little worse before they feel better. We're in the day 2, day 3 window. We're pretty prepared for the comments that come in about having headaches or feeling a little lightheaded or other things that then we make recommendations for to be able to help to support you. Sometimes it's withdrawal. Sometimes you need more carbohydrates based on how much you're— how active you are. But it's not the type of program that's like, well, just keep pushing if you feel awful. And wait it out, which for some people, if they are going through the withdrawal and they've made the changes that we recommend, then that can be the case where they wake up and then they feel so much better. But we're there to offer that additional support.

Yeah, and that's where the community comes in. It's so key because whatever you're experiencing in the Blood Sugar Reset, if this feels like the best day ever for you from an energy standpoint, there's somebody else feeling the best day ever too. If you're struggling with some fatigue and some headaches because this type of change in nutrition is a bit more new to you, there's somebody in the group that's feeling the same way. And that's really where the community comes in to kind of cheer you on and bring you up when you kind of need that extra support.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Okay, so let's talk about the frameworks. Let's go into the frameworks, and then we'll talk about how everyone can set themselves up for success and how we'd recommend prepping going into these next few weeks. Um, so when it comes to the nutrition, on average, can you walk us through kind of like the first 5 benchmarks that we're looking for when we're designing the Blood Sugar Reset meal plan?

Okay, so first I'm gonna start with protein. Every single day, the meal plan includes 100+ grams of protein, which is so important for women. Most women are not getting enough protein in, so this plan is packed with protein. Next, whole food carbohydrates. We know whole food carbohydrates are so important for our overall health, but at the same time, eating too many carbohydrates can be problematic too. So from those whole food carbohydrates, you're getting at least 30+ grams of fiber every single day, which is so important for, of course, overall health, but your satiety and feeling full and energized throughout the day. And that's coming from 30+ different plants throughout the week, which is so, so key for your overall health to get that color, to get that diversity. And packed with all that stuff together is going to yield you about 1,600 calories every single day.

And we're not calorie obsessed. We do teach you in the beginning how you can calculate your own calorie needs based on your levels of activity. It's mainly about really hitting some of these other benchmarks so that naturally your satiety kicks in and you have a better ability to establish like, oh, I feel very satiated and I feel good after eating this meal, instead of rigidly counting calories and points and macros.

Totally, 'cause the calories matter in the grand scheme of things, they absolutely matter, but more importantly is making sure that you're getting those macronutrients and also those micronutrients too.

And then the phytonutrients and the polyphenols that we go into when you talk about the 30+ plants per week, I'd say that's also something that really sets us apart is not only focusing on protein and fiber that so many people are talking about on the internet, but how do you have a meal plan that helps you achieve such a vast array of different sources of phytonutrients and polyphenols that actually do the heavy lifting for you underneath the surface when it comes to supporting your gut microbiome so that you can produce those short-chain fatty acids that have the anti-inflammatory effects that help to naturally lower inflammation across the board. And I really think that people who are eating low carb and keto or calorie restricted are missing the mark when it comes to that comprehensive approach to really improving metabolic health and decreasing inflammation by using these plant-based compounds to do so.

Absolutely, yeah. Plants are so powerful, and the diversity of the plants is really what's so key for our overall health. And we work so much of that diversity into the meal plan.

And even diversity of proteins with the diverse sources of amino acids, where you have fish in one of the recipes with the blackened salmon, fish and coleslaw. Then you have the butternut squash turkey chili that has the turkey in it. We have another dish that's the chicken cacciatore with the chicken. We have a pumpkin spice yogurt bowl that has Greek yogurt in it. You can modify it to dairy-free if you need dairy-free. The sausage onion kale egg cups that have the eggs as protein so that you're getting a variety of amino acid sources too.

So true. Yeah, it's not just about diversity from plants, it's about diversity across the board in the entire diet.

Yes, I completely agree. Okay, so if you have not joined us yet for the Blood Sugar Reset, definitely join us for the fall program. The core program is only $29 for the 7-day meal plan and all the support that we provide over those 7 days. You can join us at beingbrigid.com/blood-sugar-reset. Again, that's beingbrigid.com/blood-sugar-reset. And then you can upgrade to the VIP for just $39 additional. A total of $68, where you'll be able to do daily Q&As with myself and our team of amazing nutritionists. And you'll get access to Brigid AI, which is an AI algorithm that's trained on all of our years of coaching other women. And you have the cooking class, the live cooking class, where we'll walk you through exactly how you can set yourself up for success in my kitchen that Christina and Danielle will be walking you through, and I will virtually be walking you through as well.

Yes, we're going to miss you in person this round.

So again, you go to beingbrigid.com/blood-sugar-reset. Once you're signed up, we want to talk through in this part 2 how you can set yourself up for success over these next few weeks. So once a person joins the Blood Sugar Reset, what are the next steps for them to take?

So right when you join the Blood Sugar Reset, you get immediate access to our portal, which is packed with so many great resources, and of course, the meal plans. We want to encourage you to go right into that portal, check out the meal plan, We have a how-to video in there, which is really important to watch. It'll get you more familiar with how to use the portal, how to adjust the serving sizes of the recipes, how to print out the shopping list, and so forth. So definitely wanna go in there, play around, kind of get familiar, and also join the Facebook group as soon as that Facebook group opens. That's gonna get you access to the community so that you have the energy, the support from all those other individuals that are gonna be joining us throughout the Blood Sugar Reset, too. Additionally, on the portal is going to be the specialty items list. So this is going to be a list of ingredients that we include in the recipes that may not be found at your just traditional kind of conventional grocery store. So things like your protein powder, which we, you know, we'll talk about in a little bit, but we encourage you to order often from other places that, you know, sometimes grocery stores do have protein powders, but it may not be the best fit when using them for our recipes and other specialty items that can just be harder to find. So it just gives you a little bit of extra time to find those so that you're ready to go when it comes to starting the recipes with the rest of the group. But speaking of starting the recipes, we also encourage you to not wait to start until October 12th. You get access to the portal, you get access to the meal plan, start to dive into some of the recipes. There's so many great recipes, and we found that individuals who start to prep and start to explore a few days before the actual live event, find that, you know, they're a little bit more successful and feel a bit more comfortable when it comes to the meal prep of the actual 7-day plan. So don't be afraid if you don't have the chance to explore those recipes ahead of time, but if you do have, you know, several days, jump into some of the recipes. Highly recommend, you know, the pumpkin apple smoothie is a great one to start with. Um, oh yes, we have them right here. The egg cups are also delicious because, you know, we'll talk about prep of the egg But it's good to kind of get in the routine of doing that first recipe with the muffin pan, if you need a silicone liner, which again, we'll talk about that in just a few minutes too. But, you know, exploring a little bit with the recipes before, so not only you can make sure you enjoy the recipe and it kind of matches the liking of the flavors you're looking for, but also that you feel comfortable when it comes to the week that you're like, okay, I've done this once, I can do this again.

Yeah. So, really starting with 3 recipes is what we recommend, trying 3 recipes before we actually start the live round of the blood sugar reset. Like Christina said, the pumpkin apple smoothie we have right here, that's a great one that you can start with that has a lot of great fall flavors. The egg cups, and then if you're looking for dinners that you could start with, between the kitchen cacciatore or the butternut squash turkey chili, starting with those so that you can do a batch of them, see how you like them, see how your family likes them, any modifications that you might wanna make the actual week of the blood sugar reset. That is really important for setting you up for success. So you basically walked through, 1, logging into the portal, 2, reviewing the how-to video, and then adjusting the serving sizes because we do the shopping list automatically for you in the portal. So that will save you a lot of time with being able to use that. And then 3, being able to review your specialty items list. 4, joining the Facebook group when that opens. And then 5, getting started on 3 recipes from the Blood Sugar Reset so that you can make those in advance. You're used to the ingredients that you need from the grocery store, etc., so that you walk into October 12th feeling so confident in your ability to just nail those 7 days.

Absolutely. And share in the Facebook group too. If you've tried a recipe before the actual 7 days, share with it, you know, share us with your picture, share us your tips. Like, instead of this, I did that, or I found if I blended this a little bit longer, it worked better. That's really what the community is for. So kind of come into the program as a bit of a veteran, Tried a few recipes ahead of time.

We love seeing people's pictures of the recipes. We're always encouraging people to upload their recipes because it is the best to be able to see how people's recipes come out and how they make them, how they style them, how they serve them.

The plates, the colors, the scenery, we love it all.

Yeah, we really do. So if you haven't signed up for the Blood Sugar Reset yet, you can join us at beingbrigid.com/blood-sugar-reset. The program is $29 for the 7 days, which includes the meal plan, the access to our team, the community and the coaching calls. I go live every single day in order to support you in improving your energy, your mood, and your cravings. And then the additional level that you can get is VIP, which is $68. It's an additional $39 that includes daily Q&As with me in addition to Brigid AI, which is an AI algorithm that we've trained over years and years of our coaching and meal planning and recipes. And you can also join us for our live cooking class, which will take place the Saturday before the blood sugar reset to set you up for success. So you can join us at beingbridget.com/blood-sugar-reset. Okay, let's talk about probably the number one question that we get when people sign up for the Blood Sugar Reset, which is protein powder. Everyone sends us the protein powders that they're using, asks what we think about them, but really when we design the recipes, we do it with specific protein powders that we know will ensure how the protein— how the recipe ends up tasting after the fact And knowing the flavor profile, the grittiness, the texture, all those things that we factor in when making the recipes. So can you walk us through the key protein powders that we recommend?

Yeah, absolutely. So there's 3 that are our top favorites that we test our recipes with. They taste great and they use high-quality, simple ingredients, which is so important when it comes to protein powder. So the first is Be Well by Kelly's grass-fed beef isolate. They come— her flavors come in both vanilla and chocolate and unflavored. So you can use, of course, the vanilla. For the one smoothie that does call for a chocolate protein powder, you can always add a cacao or a cocoa powder to it if you're not using a chocolate protein powder. So Be Well by Kelly Grass-Fed Isolate. The second is Just Ingredients protein powder. So this is going to be a combination of some grass-fed whey as well as some other their plant-based protein powders. Really, really delicious, great flavor. Obviously, we recommend getting the vanilla flavor, but, you know, for after the blood sugar reset, encourage you to try a variety of other flavors by Just Ingredients. And then lastly is another Just Ingredients protein powder. It's a bone broth protein powder. So also recommend getting this in vanilla, but the bone broth protein powder is delicious and works really, really great with our recipes. A lot of individuals who go through the blood sugar reset ask questions about using a plant-based protein powder. And you can absolutely use a plant-based protein powder. However, we have found that most individuals who don't love the flavor of the smoothies once they've blended them up and they've had them for lunch, typically our first question is, okay, what protein powder did you use? And most of the time they've used a plant-based protein powder. Plant-based protein powders, although very nutritious and can be made with simple, great, high-quality ingredients, often have just a gritty, sometimes chalky texture to them that just kind of negatively impacts the flavor of the smoothie. So keep that in mind when you're grocery shopping for your protein powders. We highly recommend either the Be Well by Kelly grass-fed isolate or one of those 2 just ingredient protein powders because we know they work great in our smoothie recipes.

If you choose to use a plant-based one, that's okay too, but just know that it does alter the flavor and the texture of So if you write to us saying that the recipe did not turn out and that you don't like the smoothie, the number one question that we'll ask you is, what protein powder were you using?

Okay.

We do smoothies for lunch every day of the blood sugar reset, and that's mainly because smoothies are so easy, such an easy way to get a lot of nutrients in a small amount of time. And then also they're convenient and they can help a lot for people that have afternoon energy slumps. That's when I started moving my smoothies to lunch was when I just noticed We've noticed such an amazing unlock from a brain health standpoint, which is why we keep them for lunch. A lot of people will also be concerned that smoothies aren't gonna be filling enough, but we have so many women who have come through the program and said, wow, I cannot believe how full and satiated I feel after this.

Totally. And if you want to switch the smoothies to be your breakfast, and then whatever the breakfast item is for the day to make your lunch, that is totally fine. You can kind of mix and match the meals throughout the day, throughout the week. week in a way that works best for you. But we have really found that sweet spot that that smoothie lunch works for so many women. If you are somebody who does find that you are a bit hungrier after that smoothie, like it's not scratching the itch from a satiety standpoint, you can increase the protein powder. I always recommend starting with a half scoop. You can always, you know, ask this question in the Facebook group. There will be 50 women who chime in on how to support you in getting that smoothie to keep you satiated.

Yeah, it's so true. Our community is the best. Yes, and you can move your snack to your lunch. We— the cadence is breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner, so you could move the snack to the lunch as well if you're feeling like you want to eat something alongside having the smoothie.

Totally, the structure with plenty of flexibility.

One other thing that I would say about the protein powders is that both brands, Be Well by Kelly and Just Ingredients, we are not sponsored by or paid to recommend, but we do have affiliate links with them. So if you're looking for a discount code to get a discount off of an order that you're placing through Be Well by Kelly Just ingredients, we'll include those links in the show notes. Okay, let's talk kitchen equipment, the basic things that people need in order to set themselves up that they should purchase in advance if they don't already have.

Yeah, so we were just talking about those smoothies. So obviously top of the list is a high-powered blender. I'm a huge fan of my Vitamix that I've had for 10+ years. It still works incredibly. So something like a Vitamix or other high-powered blender is gonna be really important for the smoothies. For those egg cups that you'll have for breakfast 3 times throughout the meal plan, you want to make sure that you have some sort of muffin pan, but we specifically recommend going for a silicone muffin pan just because this helps with the sticking that can happen when you're making this recipe. So if you don't want to go the silicone muffin pan route for the egg cups, you can also kind of skip that and turn it into more of a frittata style. So just like like a traditional pie dish, baking dish works when it comes to that. And then next is glass storage containers. So these are going to be really important because you're doing a lot of meal prep throughout the week, and for so many of the recipes, you're cooking once and you're eating twice or even 3 times. So that glass storage container is going to be great when you're making your dinner in the evening and you're making 2 servings, for example, if it's just for you, or maybe you're even making 4 servings or 6 servings for your family. And then you're also gonna repeat that dinner 2 days later, for example. So that glass storage container, really important to keep things secure and safe and portioned out so that it's just ready to go and grab from the fridge when it comes to eating it for the next time.

And while we're talking about the storage containers, we do get the question often of like, if I'm making 2 servings of one recipe, how do I know how much it makes? So what we do recommend is making it and then portioning it out right away into the glass storage containers, because that's really the best way for you to ensure that it is equally distributed for the amount, for the actual serving that you're making.

Absolutely. Additionally, it can be really helpful, not that we expect you guys all to go out and buy an additional freezer before the blood sugar reset. However, having a separate freezer to be able to store some of the items that you can buy in bulk, we're going to be talking about Costco and buying in bulk in just a minute. So having a separate freezer to be able to store all of these various items can be really helpful to set you up for success. And to keep you going after the blood sugar reset. And lastly, I would say some sort of Dutch oven or larger size pot is going to be really, really helpful for making the chili recipe, for even the chicken cacciatore too, to be done in that style. I have obviously a larger family and I'm making multiple servings, and so I find it really helpful to have something like a Dutch oven that has multiple quarts that So I can make those, you know, multiple servings at once before I put them, you know, the other half of it away in a glass storage container.

And then can you also talk about how you do it with your family, like how you do the individual ingredients sometimes?

Yeah, so oftentimes, depending on the recipe, it just kind of depends. I have picky eaters. I think so many people listening probably have picky eaters too. It's normal to have kids with preferences, to have husbands or, you know, friends with preferences that you're going to be feeding throughout the blood sugar reset. So what I like to do is a lot of ingredient prep. So for example, you know, I may just make, like, for the chicken cacciatore, instead of throwing it together all in one pot, which would be great for maybe my husband and I and like one of my kids, but because of the selective eating of my other 2, cooking the chicken separate from the vegetables and then also keeping some veggies on the side so they're not overly saucy, for example. So kind of think of like making your own little buffet style. of protein and the veggies and whatever the other ingredients are so that my kids can then mix and match. So maybe one is going to be doing some chicken with some beans with some veggies, whereas the other might just be doing chicken and, for all I know, like a baby carrot from the fridge.

Okay, let's talk about shopping because we want to make this easy for people and also affordable. So sometimes people will comment and say, oh, that grocery list was so expensive, and sometimes it will be your first time if you don't have some of the staple ingredients on hand, like the extra virgin olive oil and like the nut butters and other things that you buy, and then you obviously get a lot of use out of over the week. So you put together an amazing Costco list so that we could talk about some of the ingredients that we purchased from Costco to go through. So let's start out with the proteins. These are proteins from our shopping list that are great that you can get from Costco.

Yes, and Costco or Sam's Club or BJ's, whatever the wholesale club is is, you know, in your neighborhood, but pasture-raised eggs, organic tofu, organic chicken breasts, organic ground turkey, wild-caught fish. You know, we have snapper as the fish in one of our recipes, and if you can't find snapper or perhaps you don't like snapper, you know, there's always a wild-caught fish option at Costco or other wholesale places.

Cod or salmon that you can use instead.

Exactly, exactly. And that's across the board. You can always swap out a protein for a protein. So if we suggest a specific type of fish or we suggest chicken, You can swap that out for a protein that you have on hand or is perhaps just easier to access at your grocery store. Organic Greek yogurt, as well as chicken sausage or a turkey sausage, which you can often find at a lot of these places.

And then we do have a swaps list too, because we commonly get the question about, can you make this dairy-free? So the whole meal plan is gluten-free, it's 90% dairy-free, and then we make the substitution recommendations for dairy-free. So if you're not purchasing the organic Greek yogurt from Costco, Then you could always do a dairy-free yogurt from your grocery store. And we have some recommendations that are higher in protein.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So yeah, we'll talk about the swaps bank, but the swaps bank is an incredible resource. Highly recommend you read it because we say protein powder is probably our number one question. Swaps are like question 2 through 100. And that's fine. We're happy to answer your swaps questions, of course, but definitely review the swaps bank. I love that swaps bank because this is flexible. If you don't like chicken, you can use turkey. If you don't like peppers, you can use broccoli. You know, there's flexibility. We obviously wanna keep you in the category so that you're swapping non-starchy veggie for another non-starchy veggie or protein for protein. But that swaps bank is a really great example of, you know, a great resource we provide.

So true. Okay, let's go to the frozen section.

Yeah, so from the specific recipes for this round, cauliflower rice is obviously a key ingredient when it comes to our smoothies. Of course, most grocery stores have cauliflower rice too, but it's really great to buy that in bulk. Frozen strawberries for the chocolate-dipped strawberry smoothie, and then edamame. Now, keep in mind, at least from Costco, the edamame is not shelled. We recommend shelled edamame just for the sake of making your life easier when it comes to meal prep. But I've been there before, popping out those edamame from the pods because I can buy in bulk from Costco.

Okay, and then nuts and seeds?

Nuts and seeds. So pumpkin seeds, pecans, almond butter, chia seeds, those are all available at Costco. And again, you can swap these out if for some reason— I don't know who doesn't like pecans, but if for some reason you don't like pecans, you can always swap that out for walnuts, for example. We'll alter the flavor of the recipe a little bit, but it's a pretty equal swap when it comes to nutrition. Same thing with almond butter. We recommend using the almond butter, but if you don't like it or can't find it or for whatever reason, you can use a peanut butter, you can use a cashew butter. Costco is a great place to buy those nuts and seeds because Because one, they're expensive, and when you're buying them in bulk, it definitely cuts the price down, and you're going to be using these foods beyond the Blood Sugar Reset.

Yes, and hopefully most people like pecans because the pecan pie smoothie is really amazing, but it will still taste good with other nuts. That's a good fall-inspired smoothie that we have coming up. Okay, and then for the miscellaneous category, go— why don't we go through that?

Yeah, so canned pumpkin, obviously that's going to show up in our recipes. It's a great time to get that canned pumpkin from a wholesale place. Chicken broth, olive oil, avocado oil, black beans. Again, items that are just easy, especially the olive oil and avocado oil, buying that in bulk will cut the price down a lot because these are high-quality foods and that comes with a price. So buying it in bulk at a bigger size definitely helps from affordability standpoint.

And then miscellaneous fruits and vegetables.

Yeah, and this is going to change obviously from week to week, month to month, But most of the time in the fall, like Costco has cubed butternut squash. So if you can save yourself, you know, having to peel the squash and dice the squash, it's going to save you a lot of time. So for example, always look in the refrigerated section or right outside of the refrigerated section by the, you know, where the produce is, because a lot of the veggies that we include in the meal plan will be there. And if not, you can always swap out, you know, veggies with what's on hand versus what's in the recipe.

Okay, let's talk about a few other modifications that people ask us about. So one, we get questions about vegetarian, and it is possible to do this vegetarian, but definitely not vegan because that's too many changes that you would have to make if you don't eat eggs and you also don't eat fish. But vegetarian for sure. We talked about gluten-free. The plan is 100% gluten-free, 90% dairy-free with easy modifications if you are trying to do it fully dairy-free. Another question that we get asked about, like you said earlier, So we have that swaps bank that answers so many questions about random food allergies and other things to hopefully help you, and then we provide additional support with those questions. And then the last modification that is probably the most common is carbohydrates. So you created an amazing guide that we now have in the Blood Sugar Reset programs for women who are really active, who are breastfeeding, who are pregnant, and may have higher carbohydrate needs than what the base plan contains. So can you walk us through kind of like what those suggestions are, And then what the guide is that you created.

Exactly. So most of the recipes include 1 to 2 servings of whole food carbohydrates. So it's gonna come from fruit or legumes or butternut squash or pumpkin, for example. And for some individuals going through the program, that may not be enough based off of their increased caloric needs or just increased energy needs in general. So the carb guide is essentially your resource Of if I am making the egg cups, for example, what whole food carbohydrate can I add to this that will, one, taste good, and what quantity can I add that's going to still kind of deliver that blood sugar balance response? So, for example, you know, that guide is going to have a lot of additional servings of fruit in it or additional servings of legumes in it, like chickpeas, for example, or cannellini beans, for example. It'll also make some recommendations for some other whole food carbohydrates, like one of the smoothies, for example. I added in a few dates to it, so that'll sweeten it up. It'll get you that extra, you know, 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrate. We don't want just adding 4 or 5 servings of whole food carbohydrate to the meal because that will throw off your blood sugar balance, right? So even though there's protein and there's fat and there's fiber in there, if you're still getting way too many carbohydrates, it's going to throw off that blood sugar balance. So that carb guide is a great resource of how can I add a little bit more to be able to support my additional needs, but not so much that's gonna kind of, you know, throw things off and kind of put me in that like blood sugar rollercoaster. So lots of great sources of whole food carb, and to be able to add those to the various different meals so that they still taste good, but they're, you know, better meeting your individual needs.

Because what we know is that for women who don't have enough carbohydrates in their diet, sometimes that will increase cortisol, which then can actually make blood sugar harder to manage. It can also increase hormonal imbalances. Can make your periods less regular and all those kinds of things that, especially as women are going through perimenopause, is already a little bit complicated. So making sure that you have enough, but then that you're not getting too much, because on the other hand, insulin resistance can also be created when you're eating too much added sugar, too many refined grains, too many even whole food carbohydrates. I mean, the number of women who went through the summer program who were like, I actually didn't think I ate a lot of sugar at baseline, and I'm surprised because I felt like I was so healthy that, like, I'm still having symptoms of withdrawal. And so being able to find that sweet spot of getting enough and then not getting too much is really what we're striving to help you figure out and kind of, like, listening to your body for a lot of that guidance on in order for us to then be able to support with those additional resources, like the carbohydrate guide, to give you that additional support.

For sure. And it's a bit of trial and error, right? It's not always like you're gonna know exactly. The blood sugar reset, that meal plan is not a one-size-fits-all. So you do have to kind of trial and error a little bit of, how do I feel if I add that extra serving of carbohydrate to my breakfast or to my dinner, for example? See how you feel, and then, you know, the next day you may need to do something a bit different.

And especially knowing that this can be an amazing 7-day catalyst for changing so many aspects of your health. Some of the women that have even gone through just from March who share their results with us, that it's like, You've achieved that literally just in signing up in March, where then they've become consistent after that. Or Kimberly, who I interviewed a few months ago, who's lost 90 pounds since doing her first blood sugar reset over 4 years ago. We have Olivia, who I'm interviewing soon, who has lost almost 50 pounds. Like, there's so— and it's not just about weight, it's also about the other things that come with the improvements in your energy and brain fog. And sleep and so many other symptoms that women just normalize, where then you're like, oh wow, food is medicine. Food is such a powerful form of medicine. And when I'm able to listen to my body and identify how I can be optimal and not healthy, so much is possible in terms of improving how you feel on a day-to-day basis. Right.

And yielding those results coming from a place of flexibility and structure and not restriction. I think so many women have gone Years and decades of kind of white-knuckling their way through whatever diet or whatever, you know, trend that they're trying to stick with, and that's not supporting their health. This is a plan that, you know, is pre— you're, you're forward fueling in a sense, and you're making sure that you have this meal plan in place. You have the structure, you also have the flexibility. You're using food as medicine, and you're not coming from that place of restriction. And the results that people could achieve when they're working with their body versus against it is, is really incredible.

It's so true. That's such a good point and something that really makes it a very different experience, in addition to the live training, so that you understand the science behind the methodology, so that you're able to take away so many things even after the blood sugar reset. Because we don't just want you to change for 7 days, we want to help you change all of your habits and how you're approaching nutrition and your health for the rest of your life. For sure.

This, this is the jumpstart to get things going through the fall, through the holidays, into 2027 and beyond.

Into Christina's maternity leave. This is Christina's last blood sugar reset before her maternity leave, which we're so excited for as well. So yes, we would love for you to join us for the fall blood sugar reset. You can do that at beingbridget.com/blood-sugar-reset. This is going to be an amazing way to jumpstart that fall season. And we also have a lot of amazing interviews coming from other people who have done the Blood Sugar Reset in the coming weeks. We have Lindsay Baumgren, we have Halle Abrams, we have Chatty Cathy, who will all be sharing their stories so that you better understand some of the transformation that's possible as well. Because I love being able to just learn from other women's unique experiences.

And hearing it from those who've participated in the program is so much more powerful than hearing it from us, right? I mean, we love talking about the Blood Sugar Reset, and there's power to listening to us talk about it, but being able to hear from the individuals is the absolute best.

It's so true. Christina, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being the best dietitian and the best mom and example for so many of the women in our community of how you can prioritize yourself, prioritize your family, while also balancing a career, because you just do it in the most amazing way that inspires me every single day.

Thank you. Happy to be here today. Happy to be here for the Blood Sugar Reset. So excited to see see so many of you with us, um, uh, during the, the 7 amazing days.

We really can't wait. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Being Brigid Show, and I'll see you next time.