Virtual Journey to a Healthier You: 6-Week Series

We know there’s not just one way to be healthy, and finding a successful healthy lifestyle can take some trial and error. There are many different opinions and outlooks when it comes to choosing the best route, and to help you through the process, we have created a special 6-week virtual class series designed to open your mind to many different concepts and practices.

Chopping Block chef and owner, Shelley Young, will be collaborating and co-teaching with a different guest each week who will bring their unique approach and strategic health-conscience ways to the table. Each week, a variety of recipes will be prepared by Shelley while our featured guest fields your questions and offers suggestions on how you can achieve your own personal goals. While some of our guests are nutritionists and registered dietitians, others have had their own successes on this journey and want to share their personal stories with you. Although there may be areas where our guests overlap in their approaches, each one has a unique perspective to share. Join us on this voyage as we take a close look at several points of view of healthy lifestyles, so you can then choose the best option for yourself.  

Day 1, Monday October 5: Dawn Jackson Blatner - The Superfood Swap

We’re kicking off our new series featuring Dawn Jackson Blatner, RDN. Author of "The Superfood Swap: The 4-Week Plan to Eat What You Crave Without the C.R.A.P.", Dawn’s approach is all about figuring out something you crave and just aiming to make it a little better for you. Instead of steering clear of bad-for-you food, she believes you should embrace your cravings... just do it with healthier ingredients. The key? Not deprivation, but a new kind of gratification, which she calls "super swapping"-- exchanging fake foods (C.R.A.P.: food with Chemicals; Refined sugar and flour; Artificial sweeteners and colors; and Preservatives) for wholesome high-quality foods--superfoods. A largely plant-based diet rich in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants stabilizes hunger hormones, speeds metabolism and fights disease.

Day 2, Monday October 12: Biz Velanti - Weight Watchers Platform

This week we’re featuring former Chopping Block class assistant and inspiring person, Biz. She never had a weight problem growing up, but after college she took a desk job and slowly started to put on weight. Biz’s sister convinced her to join Weight Watchers, and she’s had a lot of success with it! Biz has certainly had some ups and downs: being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, trying to navigate all the delicious food out there, all the while maintaining her blood sugar levels is quite a battle! But she realizes weight loss is slow and steady progress, and will not give up! Although Biz is not a registered dietician or a medical professional, she has a hugely successful, inspirational and informational blog called My Bizzy Kitchen.

Day 3, Monday October 19: Amy Klassman - The Non-Diet Diet

We’re featuring Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Amy Klassman this week. Amy has been working with food her entire life. Trained in the kitchen at a young age by her grandmother, she later worked in kitchens from restaurants to bakeries to cooking schools throughout high school and college to support herself. She got her culinary certificate at the same time as her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition, so while she was taking biochemistry and microbiology, she was also taking charcuterie and pastry classes!

Amy is a firm believer that everything can fit within moderation into a diet.  She doesn't believe in elimination diets that restrict you from a specific food because no food is inherently bad. "Nutrition and food have been at odds for a while. Either nutrition is viewed as the enemy or food is the enemy when really, they should come together to bring enjoyment to eating. It's not just about counting calories".  

Day 4, Monday October 26: Grant Weaver - Eating for Activity Levels and Weight Loss Goals

Grant Weaver, a NSCA certified personal trainer and precision nutrition coach, understands we are living in a world full of fad diets that are mostly centered around excluding certain foods from your plate. Grant’s perspective on nutrition is the exact opposite. He feels we should be determining if our diet as a whole is appropriate for our activity levels and goals, NOT labeling individual foods as “good or bad” or “healthy or unhealthy”.  Therefore, we need to create a new understanding of how we term individual foods. We will explore creating and highlighting what a meal plan looks like on a low activity day vs. a high activity day to create the right balance and meet your goals.  

Day 5, Monday November 2: Leah Johnston - The 80/20 Rule

Week three features registered dietitian Leah Johnston. Leah’s goal is to make healthy eating and healthy cooking approachable and user-friendly. Many studies have shown that people who cook more often have diets that are more nutrient dense. Leah’s hope is to empower people to take control of their health by being REAL: • Eat real food. • Make it real easy on yourself. • Knowledge based on real science. • Changes that are realistic. To do this, she practices the 80/20 rule. Dietary perfection is not necessary to feel good and be healthy. Neither is extreme restriction. Balance and moderation are terms that we hear over and over when it comes to healthy eating. These concepts can be put into practice using one simple rule known as the 80/20 rule - The food you choose should make you feel good - physically and mentally. And yes, good for you food can be delicious too! 

Day 6, Monday November 9: Liz Songer - Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting

The final Installment in our series features Liz Songer, a 20-year food industry veteran working as a buyer and senior manager. Child of restaurateurs and food enthusiasts, Liz recently started an unexpected wellness journey that resulted in better health and an 85-pound weight loss! Liz was always a plus-size person; her high school prom dress was a size 16W. Never worrying too much about weight, she maintained her larger physique with seasonal ups and downs but always staying close to her usual size of 18W. A year ago, as she anticipated her 50^th birthday, she decided to get healthy, quit smoking and lose some weight. She worked out vigorously, 6 days a week with a mixture of swimming, high intensity aerobics, strength training and matt Pilates. After 8 months, she had toned her body, increased her stamina, and lost 10 pounds. Then COVID hit and the gym was closed. Time to add nutrition. After much research, she landed on a combination of the Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting, and with the help of a few online resources, started the next chapter of her journey. After a steep nutrition learning curve and a pantry overhaul, she settled into the day to day routine and 7 months later, has lost 85 pounds. Learn first-hand Liz’s meal planning tricks, tips and recipes garnered over the past 7 months.

Since our stores remain closed for COVID-19, we unfortunately cannot accept gift cards as form of payment for virtual classes at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience! 

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