Healing Metabolism with Haylie Pomroy

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Hey, it's JJ Virgin. And welcome to the JJ Virgin Lifestyle show where I talk nutrition, exercise, mindset and lifestyle with some of the coolest people in the world. Plus, I give you tips that you can put into fast action to uplevel.

Your health so that you can go.

Out there and live that big life you're meant to live. Now, today's show is all about metabolism and realizing the power on your plate. And I have with me the metabolism whisperer. Now, a couple years ago I published the Virgin Diet and this gal published Fast Metabolism Diet. And we found out we were super simpatico. So we ended up meeting up and hanging out. And I have been pals with her ever since. She's just awesome. And I am talking about Hayley Pomeroy. She has spent 20 years helping people lose weight, overcome health challenges and reach their ideal health. And she is a four times New York Times best selling author of the Fast Metabolism Diet, the Fast Metabolism Diet Cookbook, the Burn, and the Fast Metabolism Food Rx. Now she's got integrative health clinics. But what's super cool about her is she's been helping celebrities and regular people and doing all that for years. But her background actually is in veterinary science and she got her BS degree in animal science from Colorado State University. And then she went through her own health crisis actually around the same time, which is how she found all of this information out. Then she went and got all sorts of cool advanced certifications in everything from autotoxic therapies to biological terrain, heart rate variability, all sorts of stuff. And she has just put together, like, put it all together to come up with some really fantastic information. But the bottom line, it all comes down to food. And that's what she's going to share some of that today. And really what, what you can do with your metabolism. And kind of a little pearl of like, yes, can the metabolism shift. She'll share that answer here today too. So I am excited to have today Hailey Pomeroy on the show. All right, so let's do it. Hailey Pomeroy, welcome to the show. I'm so glad you're here with me today.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled.

I know, and everyone's going to be thrilled with the topic because this is definitely one that people always want to know more about. And I've got the Metabolism whisperer herself on with me. So how did you get that name?

It was funny, actually. The producer of Juno and 500 Days of Summer and Ricky and the Flash, Mason Novick first called me that when I was able to kind of really change his metabolism. And then Dr. Oz adopted it and it just kind of stuck. So it's been, it's funny, but it's being a horse person and a dog person, you know, the horse whisperer. The dog whisperer. I was more than happy to be the metabolism whisperer.

Yeah, it's super cool, but also fits perfectly. Now you've being the author of Fast Metabolism and really dialing in metabolisms. Here's the deal. Because you hear people talk about and they're like, oh, I just have a slow metabolism. Right. I'm sure you hear this all the time. So can you really change it?

You can just ask a 40 or 50 year old woman that's going through hormonal changes if the metabolism can change. It can definitely change for the worse. But you can use food and micronutrients to speed it up and change it for the better. We see it all the time.

Yeah, and that's a good point. It's like, well, if it can change one way, it can change the other. Right? Yeah.

What goes up must come down.

Now. I know when we got to meet for the first time, I went over to the barn to meet with you. You've been a super busy gal with these four New York Times bestsellers in four years. These are things that just like humans shouldn't take on. But what else? What do you do for fun?

You know, we're a blended family. We have five kids between the ages of 13 and now 18. And so, you know, we travel a lot. We are definitely, we ride horses and we cook. I mean, we are definitely a family that's centered around food and a lot of card games and backgammon games and, you know, the kids are up sometimes.

Those really exist. I think you're making this up.

No, I can't get him to go to sleep. My husband, he's so so bad about it, he lets them. They all sit and play cards till like 3 or 4 o' clock in the morning. Just ask our neighbors.

Well, you have genetic night owls over there. We should really get together and do a cooking thing. That would be super fun. Now let's go to you because I think what I've seen is everyone has their own hero's journey, especially in our world where they've had some struggles. So what about you? Have you anything in there? Any struggles?

I had a lot of eczema and food allergies as a kid, and they weren't really sure. They called it systemic eczema. They weren't really sure why they had done prednisone, a bunch of different meds. And when I was 19, I had a tonsillectomy and I hemorrhaged. And that's when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called itp, where basically your body attacks its own platelets. And I was well on my way to vet school actually, at the time, and I took a medical leave of absence and really had to learn how to biohack my own body. The list of medications that were offered to me and that I was taking were just, you know, truly kind of killing me. And so through biochemistry and the study of foods and micronutrients, I was able to complete turn my own health around. And I always say, you know, not just survive with an autoimmune disorder, but truly thrive. And I see that in my clinics and in my practices all the time.

Well, this is huge because, you know, we're just now starting to talk about autoimmune disease. But it's the biggest worldwide umbrella disease that's like, no one's really been talking about it is.

And we study. It's all about the metabolic pathways that are disrupted or opened up or rerouted because of, you know, it can be tox, it can be genetic, for sure. Epigenetics, where the genes expression. But for me, it's all about turning towards food to burn through the toxins, burn through the fat, and create true health.

Yeah, it's crazy too, because if you look at the way. Here's a couple things that I've heard from clients when they come to me. I have an autoimmune disease, but it hasn't reached critical levels yet. So the doctor said we should watch it. I'm like, what? You know, or they'll have one autoimmune disease. And you know, you know, if you have one now, you're set up to have More. So they'll medicate for that, but then you just start down this other pathway. So it really has to come back to what's the root cause of it and why?

Yeah, why exactly.

Crazy now. Fast metabolism, diet. And I know that we were both kind of out on the PBS road together, and it has just done amazing. It's like, what, almost a million copies now.

Yeah, we're right there.

Yeah, I know. So, you know what's awesome about it is it's an awesome book. A lot of times you see some of these books now, they don't have the staying power of this that come out. You're kind of going have that book on the list. But this book is fantastic. And I know that we're also very simpatico in a lot of the things that we talk about.

Absolutely.

I still love my coffee, so, shh. Be kind. However, what do you think's going on there? Like, what's the big success? And then also the back of the question is, what are some big takeaways you can give people around the book?

Yeah, you know, I think the success, because I get that asked a lot because, you know, I didn't have a TV show, and I'm not this big celebrity presence by any stretch of the imagination. And the book did catch on like wildfire. It was truly grassroots. You know, we just went out and started showing people that you can actually fall in love with food for what it does for you. You can actually, as the tagline says, eat more food to lose more weight. Food can be the reason why you burn fat. It's not about white knuckling it and abstaining from. It's about nourishing your body so that you can unleash that treasure chest of fat, whether it's on your hips or legs or thighs or pulling in the blood and cholesterol, that you can actually unleash that and have the vitality that you want. I think the food's delicious. I think, you know, we've just logged over a million and a half pounds of weight loss together just through the app alone. And so I think the results, I think the community. I think the fact that the food's delicious and the fact that there is no room whatsoever for guilt or shame or deprivation in this program.

Such a big thing. You know, I am so sick of people doing the whole shame thing. When we did our whole survey of our community, the big issue was this feeling of not being worth it and feeling bad, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, where did we get all this stuff there.

I always say it's not about your weight. It's about your worth. And you are worth nourishing and feeding and feeding yourself to whatever it is that you desire in life. And, you know, none of us are getting anywhere without food. You know, we can last maybe three days. So if we want to be amazing and incredible and have love and abundance, we have to nourish our bodies in that same way.

So let's talk about you specifically, because it always comes down to this. I'm sure you gotten asked this question before. So breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Haley, what do I do? I'll tell you what I said today. I'm actually really working on my adrenals today. I've had a ton of travel, a lot of stress, and so I started my day with oatmeal and berries. And then I had cherries for a snack. And then for lunch, I had made a sweet potato shepherd's pie that I always make a bunch of it and froze it. I've got chili in the crock pot, and I'm probably going to have mangoes for a second snack. So when I'm nourishing the adrenals, it's all about kind of the comforting foods. That's why I like the shepherd pie and the chili for tonight. And definitely the stress hormones, the higher glycemic, but good fiber and good antioxidants. You know, I'm really working on my skin right now. It's summer. I'm getting ready to go to Hawaii. I'm trying to kind of tighten everything up and put it all in Bikini Place. So, you know, it's about what I'm eating right now. And right now I'm really focusing on the adrenals and how to nourish those.

And it's so important because, you know, there's a lot of stuff going on. It seems to pop up every year or two, something about ketogenic diets. And while they have an application with, you know, seizures and with cancer, I find a lot of people grab them, especially for weight loss. And then I get them, and they're a mess because their blood sugar. Right.

Yeah. And they're acidic and they're not alkaline, and they're storing toxins like crazy. And their skin is crepey, and they don't have collagen production, and they can be thin and have more cellulite than should be happening. Their bodies morph into these things that they don't even recognize. And maybe the scale moves, but their health doesn't move in the right direction.

Yeah. So I think it's so critical and I'm glad you brought that up, that it's, it's, it's just because again, I get a lot with, okay, well how about intermittent fasting? How about ketogenic? I'm like, okay, guys, you know, well, gals, my audience tends to be more women and seems like guys can get away with some of that stuff and they seem to handle a lot better than us. We do it for a couple days and bam, you know, like, and then the periods get out of whack and we get mad. I would say like angry.

And those complex carbohydrates, they're like, you know, coal. If you can turn them into a diamond, if you can turn them into energy, they're so important for your serotonin, your dopamine, your L dopa, all those things that make you feel bright eyed and bushy tailed. You know, we have so many people that come into your point that are weight loss resistant that they can't evoke a change in their body anyway. You know, they have a cup of margaritas, they gain £4 on the weekend. I always say it's become easier to gain weight than it is to lose weight. You have to focus on repairing the metabolism.

So important. It was one of the first things. I started working with Diana Schwartzbein years and years ago and she was like, you have to get healthy to lose weight. I'm like, that's such an unpopular message. It's like true. And once you start to really eat well, then you can kind of see, okay, well how damaged is this metabolism?

There's no other way. We don't do it. You know, you and I are business women. We're entrepreneurs. You don't do it in business, you don't do it in relationships where you think if I do less, I'm going to get more. You know, it's a crazy concept, but it's very abusive in our diet world. And you and I talk about that a lot. And it's time to stop that and start nourishing all these women that are working their behookies off that are putting out more than they're receiving for sure. And nourish them so that they can have the health they want.

Exactly. And put themselves first. Because I am so sick of hearing, seeing so many of us working so hard and then beating ourselves up. So we're. That stops now. So I want to guide everyone to your website, haileypomroy.com and I know they can misspell it, but I'm going to spell it correctly here so they can get there. And it's H A Y l I e Pomeroy p o m r-o y.com and you've got, what do you got there? You've got a jump start program, right?

I do. It's amazing. I want to invite everybody in, make it simple, make it easy. And so I have a seven day jumpstart guide. And what it is is we email you every day. We help you with meal map. It's got recipes, it's got tips and ideas. A lot of people jump in, they start with us right away. Some people like to get the series of emails and kind of just play with the recipes for a while. But it's definitely my gift to everybody. The food is incredible. It's stuff my family loves, my friends love. We serve at parties and we just want to make sure that we can all break bread together.

Yay. And it's much easier than I think people realize. That's the best part. Normal food, easy to do and once you start eating correctly, everything shifts. So thank you so much. Haley, any parting words?

You know what I would say is fall in love with food. It should be why your body is the way that it is with having health and energy and muscle tonicity and collagen and elastin is all micronutrient based. So heal the metabolism and you'll be at the weight you want and have the health you desire.

There you go. Profound and simple. Thank you so much for joining me today and everyone, I want to remind you Again, go to haileypomroy.com to get that great seven day jumpstart program. Now after the break I'm going to be answering a listener's question. So stay with me.

Ready to lose fat fast and keep it off forever. Discover the number one resource for fast and lasting fat loss by visiting JJVirgin.com Access exclusive videos, content, rich blog posts and lots of free resources to help you lose weight and feel better fast and be part of a community. Get ready to transform your life one simple shift at a time by visiting www.jjvirgin.com.

Welcome back. This is the time where I answer a listener's question. And today's question comes from Karen in Burbank. And Karen says, jj, I'm following the program. I'm doing the sugar impact diet, but I've also been following a more low carb diet. So I've tried to get my carbs down as low as possible. And what I've noticed is that my blood sugar keeps creeping up and I don't understand it. I'm doing everything perfectly eating right, yet I cannot get my blood sugar under control. What do I do? All right, I am so glad that you asked this question, Karen. And you know, I've seen this so many times. And Haley talked about today nourishing the adrenals with some what I call slow low carbs. And what I've seen with people is that if you try to drop carbs too low into more of a ketogenic style diet, which is really, really low or even low carbohydrate diet, is that quite often you get rebound elevated blood sugar and you really stress out the adrenals. So what I've seen work so well with people is this trifecta of healthy protein, healthy fat and fiber. That would be like my shake in the morning. So all in one protein powder and some coconut milk, a little bit of avocado, spinach and maybe some berries is a great way to get in slow, low carbs, healthy fat and fiber and keep your blood sugar stable. What I see often is when people don't get enough carbohydrates in, they really start to tax the adrenals and overtake time. Their cortis starts to elevate, they start breaking down muscle and they start elevating blood sugar. So my sense is that's what's happening to you. And where I really see this creating a problem is at night, because a little bit of carbohydrate at night, like some squash or some pumpkin or some wild rice or some lentils at dinner, half cup to a cup of this can really help you get a good night's sleep and can help boost testosterone production. So the big thing here is to make sure you're eating by either the sugar impact diet or virgin diet plate, which means healthy protein at each meal, some good healthy fats, and some loads of non starchy vegetables and then slow low carbs again so you get that protein, fat and fiber trifecta. Keep blood sugar balanced throughout the day because it's nice, steady blood sugar right in your ideal range. That makes all the difference, both for your energy, for fat burning, for reducing inflammation, slowing down the aging process, you know, for overall health. Now if you'd like to submit a question, just go to jjvirgin.com ask and you can leave a voicemail for me. I love hearing from you. And another way I would be so appreciative to hear from you is if you could jump on Stitcher or itunes and leave a review for me. It really helps. And be sure to subscribe and share the show with your friends. Alrighty. This is JJ Virgin signing off and reminding you that you are worthy. Dare to live a life that matters.