Women in Wellness: Jenna Longoria

Jenna and I were classmates at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and since graduating have stayed in touch via social media. I’ve been following Jenna’s travels all around the world through her Instagram account, and boy, she visits the prettiest places, like my favorite: India where she spends a good amount of time studying yoga. Here’s my interview with her that is sure to inspire you to raise your standards on healthy living.

Your food philosophy:

I’m a firm believer of bio-individuality, meaning that one diet does not fit all. We are all different, so why should one diet or way of life be expected to work for everyone? That said, I think the one philosophy all humans on this planet should observe is mindful eating. The earth’s resources are limited, and we must do our part to conserve them. This means cutting back on meat consumption, or cutting out meat completely. And we must have respect for our animals. If you eat meat or animal products, remember that a healthy animal means a healthy you.

Daily breakfast:

I’m very big on liquids in the morning. I always drink lots of water, with lemon, turmeric and apple cider vinegar in the mornings, and for breakfast I have a green juice and then an hour later a green smoothie. I also observe intermittent fasting (IF) most days of the week. I do this by not eating for 16 hours at a time by taking an early dinner around 5 or 6PM and then I break my fast the next morning around 9 or 10AM.

Morning ritual:

I’m an Ashtanga yoga practitioner, so I wake up before the sun rises to practice. Before practice I have a small cup of warm lemon water, and then I have a Matcha Bomb. This is basically the same thing as Bulletproof Coffee, but with matcha, as I find coffee too intense. I journal or read the “Yoga Sutras” while enjoying this, and then I hit the mat for a few hours.

Go-to juice or smoothie

1 scoop of Vega Vanilla protein powder, 1 tbs. ground flaxseeds, 1/2 cup coconut kefir, ½ cup coconut milk, ½ banana and some berries, a few handfuls of leafy greens, 1 tbs chia seeds, sprinkle of cinnamon, and 1 tsp. chlorella.

What supplements do you take if any

I take Vibrant Health’s Green Vibrance every day after breakfast, because it’s full of greens, nutrients, and 25 billion probiotics. I also take 2,000 grams of high EPA/ DHA fish oil, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3 with K2.

To help with hormonal balance, I take Ashwaganda, 1,000mg of Vitamin C, 100mg of Vitamin B, Chaste Berry (only take this if prescribed by your health care provider), iodine (same thing do not take unless advised), 100 mg of Selenium (be careful with this one as well because too much can be a bad thing), and chelated zinc. In the evenings I take 400 mg of Magnesium Citrate.

Your favorite kitchen tool:

That’s a hard one! It’s a tie between my blender and juicer.

5 pantry staples:

Quinoa, Vega Vanilla protein powder, chia seeds, cacao and maple syrup.

Favorite thing to cook for friends and family

Spaghetti Squash primavera, and vegan cheesecake.

Favorite way to workout:

Ashtanga yoga.

Strange wellness habit

I don’t know some people think they are all strange! But a lot of people don’t understand the intermittent fasting, which is a shame because it has so many benefits!

Favorite thing to wear

You can usually find me in yoga wear.

Favorite place you’ve traveled to

It’s a tie between Bali and India.

Where would you like to travel

Colombia is high up on my list!

Your favorite healthy place in your city?

I’ve been traveling non -stop for the past 2 years so I really don’t have the opportunity of having a favorite place in my hometown city. But my favorite health place in the world is Ubud; it’s paradise. Check out the Seeds of Life Café and Sayuri’s Healing Food.

One piece of health advice

Eat fermented foods daily and take your probiotics. Use antibiotics with extreme reservation. If you are female do your research and make sure you are informed of all your options before taking birth control.

Healthy plant-based recipe to share

I love healthy sweet treats and these chocolate-chip cookie dough bars are my favorite!! They are vegan and gluten free.

 About Jenna Longoria

Jenna Longoria is a holistic health practitioner specializing in digestive health and female hormonal balance. She received her training from the Institute Of Integrative Nutrition, and is board certified with the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She is the author of “7 Steps to a Healthier You: An Attainable Guide to Health”, which is available on Amazon. For more of her work you can visit HealthierNotions.com.

One Reply to “Women in Wellness: Jenna Longoria”

  1. I really should get back into doing some yoga. I certainly wasn’t perfect with my poses but it let me feeling so relaxed 🙂

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