When it comes to cooking, Greek mothers have legendary skills. And my mother-in-law is an Olympian in the kitchen! When she visited for Christmas she whipped up this simple, delicious and healthy dish and it’s quickly become a favorite in my house. It’s warm and filling with less than 400 calories and only 15g carbs and 36g of protein. Serve it with a little pita and hummus or a simple green salad and enjoy!
Read MoreWant to avoid blowing your fitness goals during this holiday party season? Check out my latest Law.com column for my best tips.
Read MoreFollowing the low-carb, high-fat keto diet can have some desirable effects on the body. It’s been shown to accelerate weight loss, reduce seizures in children and help people manage diabetes. The keto diet will likely also affect the way your body handles a workout, though there’s some debate over whether exercising while in ketosis helps or hurts performance. Check out my interview for LiveStrong.com to learn how you may want to adjust your workouts if you go keto, how to survive the "keto flu" and other considerations when deciding whether keto is right for you.
Read MoreFinding TRULY healthy lunch options, especially in downtown San Francisco, can be a wild goose chase. The city is littered with quick serve restaurants and pop ups marketing themselves as “fresh”, “light” and “natural” but when you look closely you find hidden calories, astronomical amounts of sodium and food devoid of any real nutrition. But there is one option that stands out—Lite Bite. Having Lite Bite’s DELICIOUS proteins, veggies and salads as options for a quick lunch, snack or dinner, is a godsend.
Read MoreMany of my nutrition and training clients find success in flexible dieting. If their goal is fat loss, the most important thing is to maintain a modest calorie deficit over time. But if maintaining or building lean muscle is also a goal, we have to make sure they are hitting their protein target. Sometimes this means aiming for ~175-200g protein in a day on a ~2,400kcal diet which can seem impossible at first. So here is a sample day for how that can be achieved that won't leave you starving and will likely leave you feeling full and satisfied.
Read MoreWhen the mid-morning, mid-afternoon or late night munchies hit, be ready. Don't fall prey to office vending machines, desktop candy bowls or those left over cookies from a client meeting. Get your booty to Trader Joe's and make sure you have some of these healthier (and still super tasty) options on hand at work and home to tide you over. Presented here in somewhat random order. Enjoy!
Read MoreMost of us don’t realize how poor our diets really are. And the hard truth is that even if you are finding time to exercise, you can’t exercise away a poor diet. Check out these clean eating tips from my latest Law.com Fit Counselor column.
Read MoreWhile "Fish in a Pouch" may not sound delicious, this quick, clean and tasty dish is one of my favorites. Taking less than 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook this all in one meal is perfect to make for one person or a big dinner party and requires almost no clean up. You can use any starches, veggies and fish you like including cod, halibut or salmon and you can also toss in shrimp or scallops.
Read MoreMy good friend and fellow fitness professional @MichaelBonella is offering JJFit.com readers a great deal on DXA scans booked in July. As I've blogged about, the information these tests provide helps me build the most effective exercise and nutrition programs for my clients. Check out the details in this flyer and book your appointment with him via email at Michael.Bonella@dexafit.com.
Read MoreWhen writing my last post about getting enough protein I was reminded how AWESOME lentils are. Packing as many as 40g in one cup they are an affordable source of protein, easy to prepare and loaded with vitamins and nutrients like folate, iron, potassium and manganese. Plus they are super tasty when mixed with veggies and healthy fats. Give this quick and easy recipe a try. It makes up to four servings loaded with protein, fiber and yummy goodness. I added chicken, but if you are vegetarian or looking for a break from meat, skip the chicken and it's still delicious.
Read MoreI get so tired of gimmicky, unsafe and ineffective products promoting unrealistic promises of trim waistlines and washboard ads. While fat loss is generally a function of "calories in, calories out" there are some helpful cardio and nutritional methods for helping stimulate fat loss. These five methods have helped many of my clients over the years get lean and more healthy safely and with minimal kicking and screaming.
Read MoreI do a lot of corporate presentations, workshops and consulting. I love helping companies like Nixon Peabody, BPM and Union Bank improve employee wellness, productivity and culture through various health initiatives. My favorite these days is my Smoothie Making & Tasting Workshop. I give attendees three smoothie recipes and in a hands-on demo we make them and everyone gets to taste and pick their favorites. We talk about how to make the perfect smoothie to maximize nutrition and dispel common myths about popular ingredients. I bring everything. All I need is a blender set up in the kitchen or conference room. Folks love it. But don't take my word for it. Email me at JJ@JJ-Fit.com to book a wellness workshop at your office.
Read MoreWhat I thought was a simple information request has turned into a complex legal research project, a one-sided social media battle with a restaurant chain and the uncovering of perhaps the biggest example of government ineptitude I've ever witnessed (and I worked as a consultant to the government in Washington, D.C. for many years). This is some Erin Brockovich sh*t, ya'll.
Read MoreOne of my nutrition coaching clients in Rochester, New York recently pleaded with me to create a hot and hardy recipe to help her make it through the cold months ahead. Nothing is more warming and filling than lasagna! So my amazing Greek meal prep guru and partner Peter worked out this FANTASTIC adaption of traditional lasagna using eggplant instead of noodles. It's relatively easy to make and when you do you can get at least six solid meals out of it that are easy to save and re-heat for lunches and dinners. So if you're craving some comfort food give this one a try.
Read MoreMany of my favorite healthy and tasty recipes are inspired by my clients. I love it when they take our nutrition coaching ideas into the kitchen and dream up new, fun ways to eat clean. This one is a winner from my rock star client Geoff. In addition to having the best animated Elmo gifs he also has the best reinvention of this classic comfort food that I call "Me Pretty" Mac & Cheese.
Read MoreThere are a lot of nutritional strategies being popularized in the news and on social media these days: fasted cardio, macro tracking, elimination diets, keto, etc. It can be hard to make heads or tails as to whether these are legit or just some whacky protocol designed to sell you supplements and pipedreams of ripped abs. In this post we’re going to talk about one very legitimate strategy for fat loss, digestive health and improved energy that has been around for quite some time but may be misunderstood: Intermittent Fasting.
Read MoreThis has been a year in the making and I'm stoked to launch my first e-book: JJ's Guide to Eating Clean and Getting Lean. In this guide, I’ll provide you with a framework and tools for eating to your body composition goals that will still allow you to enjoy your life. My coaching methods have helped hundreds of clients reduce their body fat, get strong and become healthier and more energetic. Ditch the diets and learn a practical and effective way to approach eating for safe, long-term results. On sale now for $4.99. www.JJ-Fit.com/guide.
Read MoreCheckout my 7 practical tips for not blowing it this holiday season. Thanks to my pal and leading fitness writer @jillschildhouse for putting this helpful piece together for @oxygenmagazine.
Read MoreWhen it comes to losing weight, there are things we’ve been told over and over again. While certain things hold true (calories matter, interval training works and deprivation doesn’t), there are other long-held beliefs that recent research has shown to be a little iffy. In some cases, things we’ve always thought to be true about weight loss have turned out to either be wrong or vastly oversimplified. I was honored to be asked by Moira Lawler to shed some light on some of these topics for her article on LiveStrong.com where we dive into three common misconceptions and explore what the latest research says. Spoiler: There’s still no magic bullet when it comes to losing weight.
Read MoreMany of my clients and followers want to eat healthy and are trying to make changes to their diets to reduce body fat or gain muscle mass. While your exercise program is key to eliciting physical changes, your nutrition is equally as important. I cater to busy professionals and often they just don't have time to grocery shop and meal prep. They prefer to outsource cooking but want to make sure they are getting nutritious and tasty meals that fit their caloric and macronutrient needs. These are my two favorite meal deliver services that won't disappoint.
Read MoreOnce a month I gather the best fitness and nutrition news, tips and videos from my blog into one handy email. I never share email addresses with third parties and you can unsubscribe at any time. Check out past issues.
