My Diet As A Nutritionist Expert To Build Muscle and Lose Weight - For Women Over 50

Hey, it's J.J. here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order. Hey JJ here. Every year around this time, I get the urge to make my home feel a little extra special. A space that feels just like the holidays. And Wayfair is my go to for that. Think cozy textures, twinkly decor, warm lighting, and all those little touches that make you want to curl up with a good book and a blanket. You'll usually find my book stacked on a great little end table I got from Wayfair, proof that function and style can coexist. Now, whether you're adding last minute hosting essentials, picking out gifts for loved ones, or refreshing your decor for the season, Wayfair makes it easy with beautiful finds, great prices and fast delivery. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Plus, with free shipping for any order over $35, that's fast delivery and a total peace of mind. It's the perfect mix of joy and order, bringing the holiday spirit in, then storing it all with EAs ready to make your home feel as good as it looks. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair Every style, Every home that's W A Y f a I r dot com@sierra discover joyous deals on great gifts for everyone on your list, like cozy slippers, ski gear, fishing poles, bikes, large kayaks, even larger canoes. Whew. Which might lead to another discovery. Robbing gifts is the only sport you need to stay fit this season. Tis the season to discover great gifts at unexpectedly low prices. Sierra let's get moving. I'm JJ Virgin, PhD dropout. Sorry, mom turned four time New York Times bestselling author. I'm a certified Nutrition Specialist, Fitness hall of Famer, and I speak at health conferences and trainings around the globe. But I'm driven most of all by my insatiable curiosity and love of science to keep asking questions, digging for answers, and sharing the information that I uncover with as many people as I can. And that's where you come in. And that's why I created the well Beyond 40 podcast to synthesize and simplify the science of health into actionable strategies to help you thrive. In each episode, we'll talk about what's working in the world of wellness, from personalized nutrition and healing your metabolism to powerful aging and prescriptive fitness. Join me on the journey to better health so you can love how you look and feel right now and and have the energy to play full out at 100. Don't miss an episode. Subscribe now@subscribetoj.com to start unlocking your healthiest, most energetic self. Want to listen to this show ad free? Head over to subscribetoj.com and start your ad free experience today. Hey JJ Virgin here. Okay, real talk. So often the holidays sneak up on me. Travel, gifts, hosting, you know, all the things, and suddenly it's like, wait, who spent what and where? And I know I'm not the only one who's looked at a bill in January and thought, wow, that escalated quickly. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch lets you link everything and gives you real time visibility so you're not shocked later. Right now, I've been checking the holiday spending category so I don't accidentally start the new year with that dreaded debt hangover. And honestly, just seeing everything laid out is already helping me stay more aware. This season, Monarch does the heavy lifting. It links your accounts in minutes gives you smart categorization and super clear visuals. Yes, that end of year reset could be a real goal. This time, don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use the code virginonarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with the code Virgin Minute Maid. Zero sugar tastes so amazing. You've just got to say great taste and zero sugar. And Minute Maid zero sugar sells itself. Great taste, zero sugar sells itself. As a woman over 50, what you eat can literally make or break your results. Now I've spent years fine tuning the perfect diet to stay strong, to stay lean and stay energized, which is most important, let's be honest. And now I'm going to share my secrets with you. If you are tired of struggling, struggling to lose that body fat, struggling to stay energized, struggling to put on some muscle, stay tuned. This is for you. Let's start first with breakfast. This became so controversial. Who knew that it could be. You've heard about intermittent fasting and skipping breakfast and I say that should be a no go. Mom was right. The most important meal of the day is breakfast. And here is why. Actually, there was just a study that came out that showed that people who skipped breakfast or, or ate a high carb breakfast, you know that skinny latte and the muffin that you get when you go out to the Starbucks, those people were at a higher risk for obesity than people who ate a high protein breakfast. So listen to what I just said. If you eat a high protein breakfast versus no breakfast, you are better off. You're at a higher risk of obesity if you skip breakfast. Why? Couple different reasons. Now when you're eating that high protein breakfast, first thing that's going to happen is you're going to have great satiety. Remember protein really is that satiety macronutrient that helps you feel fuller longer, helps reduce cravings. In fact, there's something called the first meal effect that when you eat that it sets the metabolic tone for the day. So when you eat protein at breakfast, coupled with some healthy fats which generally come along with that protein source and a little bit of say a slow low carb. So easy thing would be maybe Greek style yogurt with some of my bone broth, protein powder stirred in couple little bit of freshly ground flaxseed meal and some berries. Now you've got the satiety trifecta, protein, fats and fiber that are gonna give you nice slow Steady blood sugar response, no spikes and dumps for you and you're going to feel fuller, longer and it's gonna set you up for making good choices on your second meal. So this is super important and we know that people who eat during the normal circadian rhythm. So you wake up in the morning and give your body time to wake up, go out, see the sunshine, you're going to drop that melatonin, raise cortisol and wake your body up. Get your pancreas ready to secrete insulin. So you eat breakfast maybe two hours after that. And now you eat the majority of your calories during the light when you're most active, you are going to be better off as well. So rule number one, make breakfast a high protein bonanza. Don't skip it. So what happens after breakfast? Well most likely you're going to eat lunch or a mid morning meal at some point. Now, in between breakfast and lunch, what would I love you to be doing? Working out would be a great one. And getting in a lot of fluids, especially some water. Water with electrolytes. And now we're moving into your midday meal. Now when I look at your overall macronutrients for the day, I'm going to look at a couple different things. Number one, I want to make sure that you get enough protein in the morning because you're, you're stopping that overnight fast. We want get you out of being catabolic, breaking down and into anabolic building up. So that is getting somewhere in the 30 to 40 grams of protein I push to the higher amount, especially if you are over 50 or eating a more plant based diet. So you get the beautiful essential amino acids that you need. And then I'm looking at getting at least 100 grams of protein overall, but really more like 07 to 1 gram per pound of target body weight. We know you need to push to the higher amount if you are over 40 or 50, if you're working on building muscle, if you've got more muscle mass, if you're more plant based. So then we're going to divide that throughout the day again make sure you get what you need in the morning. And then when you think of your midday meal, what I like to think about is focusing again on that satiety trifecta. So eating protein first and then making sure that you're getting in some non starchy vegetables, a little bit of slow low carbs and then some healthy fats. I'll tell you what this looks like for me, my big hack, because I don't love to cook is to make sure that whatever protein we make for dinner the night before, we make extra of so that we have it for lunch the next day. Makes it super simple. So let's say that we had some grilled chicken thighs the night before. I always make sure we have extra. So lunch is an easy one for me. I'm either going to make a big salad and I love arugula, and then things like radishes and green onions and cherry tomatoes. So I'll either do something like that or I use some leftover vegetables from the night before. When I'm making something like a cauliflower pilaf, I always make extra of that because it's such an easy thing to reheat, to stir some protein into. And I have a really super easy lunch. You can also do that with some bone broth. Throw in your leftover vegetables, throw in your leftover protein, and you have an easy soup, protein rich soup for lunch. So my lunch is always leftover protein. Right. And if I don't have leftover protein, then I'm going to pop something like a can of ventruska salmon or a tuna from Vital Choice or something like that. So leftover protein, loads of non starchy vegetables, a little bit of something like extra virgin olive oil or a little avocado. So I make sure I'm getting some healthy fats in there and then I like to do some berries there as well. Especially if I worked out. I always feel like I need to get some slow, low carbs in there. So to really help, crank the glycogen back into my muscles so I have energy for the next time I work out. All right, your final meal of the day is dinner. Now, I love that philosophy. You've heard it. Eat breakfast like a king and lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. I think it makes a ton of sense. We really want to think of eating by the circadian rhythm. So eating a bunch late at night is a no go for a variety of reasons. Number one, if you eat too close to bed now, you're going to sleep. Your pancreas has been going to sleep too. You're not secreting insulin like you need to, and all of a sudden you're overloading your body. You'll see in the morning that your blood sugar is higher and that your sleep was disrupted. So we really want to give at least two hours before bed. More is better. In my perfect world, it would be three to four hours with a walk after dinner to improve digestion. That's really what we're trying to do. It's lowering the blood sugar response to the meal. Sure. But it's really improving digestion. It's a moderate walk. It's helping you get ready for sleep as well. If you do this correctly, you can see how easy it is to get a 12 to 14 hour overnight fast. Because you ate about two hours after waking up in the morning, you stop eating two to four hours before bed. So it's very easy to get that done if you're hungry before bed. Guess what? Have a glass of water. It shuts down 100% of dieters hunger pangs. In a study that was done, I think out of Washu. Okay, so that's the first part. Next part, big question would be, well, what the heck should I eat? I talked about the importance of starting the day with a good bolus of protein, eating it first so that we can get you out of being catabolic and into being anabolic. I really think of breakfast and dinner as my bumper meals where I want to make sure that I'm really reinforcing 30 to 40 grams of protein or more so that I stay anabolic for as long as possible. So for me, dinner looks a lot like lunch, just a little bit smaller version of it. And I also like to get a little bit of slow, low carbs there. I found that it helps me with sleep. So this could be things like lentils, legumes, beets, or again, some berries. So simple, easy stuff. Here's the way that I make this really easy for myself. Again, I'm busy and I don't love cooking. My husband makes the protein, by the way, so he's always in charge of making the wild salmon or the Chilean sea bass or the pastured chicken thighs or the grass fed finished beef. So he makes that piece of. And if we don't have protein, by the way, one of our easy things we do is we do very lean grass fed beef burgers for lunch and we'll make extra for the next day. So he makes that and I'll make the veggies. So I keep in the freezer frozen cauliflower, frozen broccoli, rice, a bunch of different frozen organic vegetables. And then in the fridge I always have broccoli, green beans, Brussels spring sprouts. I always keep onions, but I don't have them in the fridge. They're in the pantry. A variety of them, yellow and red. And mushrooms, a lot of mushrooms. I'm a big mushroom fan. I have them in the freezer as well. And then of course in the pantry we keep all of our legumes and we'll keep some wild rice. And then we also have a variety of different types of pastas like the shirataki pasta noodles. So we always have that stuff around, makes it easy. I get fresh berries, I also have frozen berries so that it's never hard to put this all together. The key thing here is shut that kitchen down after dinner. And again, if you want something, try that glass of water or try something like an evening caffeine free tea that can taste like dessert. They've got amazing flavors like chocolate, cream, etc. I learned that one when I went to Calave this week, this great spa in California and they serve these dessert teas at night and it just, it just is so satiating and helps you sleep as well. Let's talk about wine. Now I've jokingly said that my favorite food groups are coffee and wine. And left to my own devices I would probably end up drinking, drinking more coffee and wine and basically like limiting how much I eat of food. But I don't do that. And here's why. Number one, let's go to coffee before we go to wine. I'm the fortunate fast caffeine metabolizer, so I can actually metabolize caffeine very well. But even so, I like to shut it off at noon. You might be someone has to shut it off at 9am Depends on how quickly you metabolize it. If you are not sure, I would start by shutting it off at nine and then you can play around and watch your oura ring to see how you do. Now let's talk wine. If you are drinking wine, in the perfect world, you'd be better off having a glass in the afternoon or with lunch. Now I'll tell you, going to Europe, I've never understood how they do that. I have a glass of wine at lunch and I want a nap. But maybe, I think they do take afternoon naps. Maybe that's why. But let's say you want a glass of wine with dinner. I think the important thing is you just said with dinner and not before bed, which would be very problematic. And in terms of getting that great 12 to 14 hour fast, a glass of wine at bedtime is not only going to interrupt that fasting time, but it's also going to interrupt your sleep. And I think what we have to do with wine is really have a serious look at how it impacts your your sleep. If you are drinking wine, I'm going to shout out to my buddies over at Dry Farm Wine so shout out to Todd and David because this is lower alcohol wine so it won't have as big of an impact. But let's be honest about the wine situation. I used to always say get it for the resveratrol. Well you'd have to have like bottles of wine to get enough resveratrol so that that shift sunk sadly. If you want to drink wine, keep it to a glass, monitor your oura ring and see how you do. I have been doing very little wine I will tell you because I noticed such a massive change in my oura ring. So I might be having one or two glasses a month versus one or two glasses a day. So I think this is where what you measure and monitor you can improve. And if you are going to check this out on your oura ring, the first thing I would tell you to do is get off of wine for at least a week. Kind of give yourself a clean reset and longer is better. There's a reason people do dry Januarys and so were Octobers and then go in and check it out. Sort of like the virgin diet where you do an elimination diet. You pull all the foods out, the dairy, the gluten, the corn, the eggs, the soy, the peanuts, the sugar and artificial sweeteners. You leave them out for at least three weeks and then you go back one by one and see how you feel. I would say to do the same thing with alcohol and see how you feel, because I think what you're going to find is that it can really, really mess up your sleep and that can then trigger this whole host of issues like insulin resistance, more hunger, poor energy, difficulty putting on muscle, and it just may not be worth it. I want to empower you with your aging. That means I want you to age powerfully. Be sure to join me next time for more tools, tips and techniques you can incorporate into everyday life to ensure you look and feel great and are built to last. Check me out on Instagram, Facebook and my website jjvirgin.com and make sure to follow my podcast@subscribetoj.com so you don't miss a single episode. And hey, if you're loving what you hear, don't forget to leave it. Review your reviews make a big difference in helping me reach more incredible women just like you to spread the word about aging powerfully after 40. Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you on the next episode. 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Hey JJ here. And just a reminder that the well Beyond 40 podcast offers health, wellness, fitness and nutritional information that's designed for educational and entertainment purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. Make sure that you do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your healthcare professional because of something you may have heard on the show or read in our show notes. The use of any information provided on the show is solely at your own risk.

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