Hello and welcome to the Intermittent Fasting Gems with Jen Podcast.

I'm your host Jen, a middle-aged Michigan mama, wife, and teacher who

in 2021 stumbled upon this crazy cool thing called intermittent fasting.

And before I knew it.

I've lost 46 pounds in four months and gained an incredible lifestyle

filled with complete food freedom.

If you're hungry for unique, no nonsense fasting tips that actually

work, you're in the right place.

So whether you're walking the dog, folding that last load of laundry or cruising to

your nine to five, let's start fasting.

Our way to freedom together.

Hello and welcome to episode number 64 of the Intermittent Fasting Gems with

Jen Podcast, the last episode of 2025.

Can you believe it this year?

Absolutely.

Flew by.

Thank you so much for being here with me.

I appreciate your support today.

And for all of you who have been loyal listeners for the last year, your love

and support means the world to me, truly.

So since it is the last episode of 2025, I wanted to make it an extra special

and an extra helpful one for all of you.

And I also wanted to thank and highlight.

All of the amazing intermittent fasting tips that were shared by our success

story guests over the past year.

I want to personally thank Jennifer Mopa, Lisa McGill, Meredith

Doro Jean from Slovenia, and Dr.

John D'Ambrosio.

Um.

They were all guests on my show, and they shared so many incredible intermittent

fasting tips, many of which I have tried and have helped me along my own

continuing intermittent fasting journey.

So in this episode today, I'll be highlighting and recapping many of

the great tips that they all shared.

So get ready for an extremely if f tip packed episode just in time for the brand

new year, which will be a great time to jumpstart or reignite your intermittent

fasting health and weight loss.

Journey.

Alright, let's start out with Jen Mopa, who was on the show

in February of this past year.

Jen, a 50-year-old sales director from Michigan lost 50 pounds

with intermittent fasting.

Jen found success with doing a little bit of both clean and

dirty fasting, which I love.

Jen primarily sticks to an 18 six fasting schedule, skipping breakfast, and usually

breaking her fast around noon or so, and then closing her eating window around

6:00 PM She sometimes throws in if.

Few omas or one meal a days, a few times a month when she can and

when her schedule allows for it.

If she gets hungry, she loves drinking sparkling mineral water to curb

her appetite and help kind of push her through those fasting hours.

Jen enjoys drinking hot green tea.

During her fasting hours, she finds it very comforting.

Uh, she's also a big fan of the Body armor electrolyte supplements that you

can purchase at Walmart and also at Sam's.

They have really helped her to be successful along her IEP journey.

They are low in sugar, I think are actually sugar free, and they still taste.

Great.

Jen has also found that doing an an occasional 24 hour extended

fast helps her push through a frustrating weight loss plateau.

I totally have to agree with the power of doing that for sure.

She is kind of into homemade vegan, organic juicing as well,

which I found very interesting.

Specifically spinach, ginger, lemon juices, and she likes to juice, because.

They give her system a break from digesting food, so she

does that from time to time.

She generally breaks her fast with some sparkling mineral water, which

I thought was pretty interesting.

She does that usually about 20 to 30 minutes.

She drinks her sparkling mineral water before she takes her first

bite of food for the day and has found that that really settles her

stomach and allows her to break her fast gently and safely for the day.

As far as exercise goes, Jen loves the Body Project.

It's an online program that can be found online and also on YouTube.

Uh, lots of different workout options.

It is a subscription, but there are several free, workouts that

you can find with different intensity levels, um, on YouTube

and, a few different places online.

I've been meaning to check that out for sure.

So that is gonna be on my to-do in 2026 list for sure.

Jen's best intermittent fasting gem, she says, just don't quit.

Honestly, just keep going.

That's really the best way to do it.

Even if it's not perfect, just keep doing it and success will definitely come.

Jen's episode is episode number 31.

If you wanna head back and give it a quick listen, I'll also leave the link

to that in the show notes for you.

Okay, let's move on to Lisa McGill.

Lisa has a very interesting if F story because Lisa is a former public

school teacher, a middle-aged wife and homeschool mom of three daughters who

does intermittent fasting on the go.

While traveling the country with her family, Lisa's full story

is shared on episode number 34.

If you wanna go back and check that out.

Okay, so Lisa knew she wanted to spend more time at home with her family.

So she first began homeschooling her daughters.

She, stopped teaching in the public school system and began

homeschooling her daughters.

And then the good lord provided the financial means necessary through her

husband's job to make a very big change.

And that is when in.

2021. She did make some pretty big lifestyle changes.

She began intermittent fasting.

She sold her home and just about everything in it, and embarked on a cross

country adventure with her family of five.

And for the last several years that Lisa has been traveling, she has kept

right on fasting because she absolutely loves the way that it makes her feel.

Okay, besides losing weight, intermittent fasting has improved Lisa's overall health

and really boosted her immune system.

Lisa feels that fasting just makes life so much easier for her.

She's a very routine minded person and has found that IF is fabulous for

keeping her on a scheduled routine, especially as she lives a very.

Nomadic lifestyle.

Lisa absolutely loves the mental clarity that comes with living an intermittent

fasting lifestyle, and she's really been amazed at how much better she

sleeps since she started fasting.

Lisa likes to mix things up when it comes to fasting on the go, and has found that

using a variety of intermittent fasting methods works very, very well for her.

She really enjoys omad or one meal a day fasting.

She's very busy with her travels and finds it to be a very easy routine to follow.

However, Lisa almost always fasts for a minimum of 16 hours a day, and she also

tries to get in a longer 24 hour fast.

Each week if she can.

Finally, Lisa has done enough fasting trial and error to know that switching

to a DF or alternate day fasting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays is an

extremely effective strategy for her if she needs to drop a few pounds or bust

through a stubborn weight loss plateau.

Most of the time, Lisa's family prioritizes healthy nutrient-dense foods

that they choose to prepare themselves.

Lisa's favorites include homemade protein packed soups and chilies in the winter.

She also enjoys eating two eggs a day and loves making her own sourdough bread.

Lisa often breaks her fast for the day with an extremely healthy

chickpea salad, which I actually tried shortly after interviewing Lisa and

I instantly fell in love with it.

My husband loves it too, and I have made it five or six times

now, uh, for my Oma dinner.

It is filling, it's packed with protein.

So this recipe can be found in the blog post that I wrote about Lisa.

That will be on my podcast recommendation page for you.

Okay.

Lisa enjoys outdoor activities and she almost always prefers to exercise

in the fasted state, as do I.

Some of Lisa's favorite ways to exercise outdoors include cross

country skiing, downhill skiing.

Boating and hiking, and she's found that these activities really

do help her to maintain her if f progress and her weight loss.

With Lisa's fasting on the go routine, she doesn't have a gym that

she can consistently go to, so she does often search Google and YouTube

for workouts, uh, for small spaces.

She's found some great 15 to 25 minute Pilates workout videos that are free.

On YouTube and she says they really get the job done.

Lisa uses the free version, , of the easy, fast, intermittent fasting

tracking app to keep her on track and accountable with her fasting routine.

And that is the app that I actually started using this past year.

And it, it works.

It works.

Pretty well.

She takes a mushroom tincture from Earthly Wellness and has found that it

has given her an immune boost, as well as incredible mental clarity and focus.

She simply puts 10 drops of the tincture into her coffee each day.

Lisa also uses a magnesium lotion from Earthly Wellness.

She uses it nightly just by gently rubbing it into her stomach.

Okay, so let's wrap up with Lisa's biggest intermittent fasting, her shiniest gem.

She says Fasting is just so simple.

So just do it.

That's her gem and as Lisa says, you simply eat during your eating window

and you fast during your fasting window.

The end.

I love that Lisa has found that the more you fast and find a routine that works

for you, the easier IF really does get.

But most of all, and I definitely have to agree with this one.

Lisa loves fasting because she doesn't have to diet.

Amen.

I love, love, love that.

So.

Much.

All right, next up, my fasting friends.

We have Meredith Doro, episode number 53, a 50-year-old wife, mom, grandma,

and high school chemistry teacher from Flint, Michigan, who lost 30 pounds

and gained complete food freedom.

Intermittent fasting.

So Meredith has experienced many, many wins with intermittent fasting, but her

top four are number one, weight loss.

Meredith lost an incredible 30 pounds with intermittent fasting

over the course of about one year.

Almost reaching her high school weight.

That's pretty awesome.

Number two, appetite control.

Meredith has found that intermittent fasting has really helped her to

control her appetite and blood sugar levels throughout the day when

number three, smarter food decisions.

So IF has really helped Meredith make smarter food choices.

Her decisions about what she puts in her mouth have really.

Improved.

And number four, she loves the increased energy and the time

that she's been given back.

She enjoys not having to prepare breakfast every day and focus on fasting instead.

And with this, her energy levels have increased and IF has given her more time

in her day to do the things that she loves, like spending time with her family.

Meredith has experienced great success with the 18 six intermittent

fasting method with her fasting hours falling between 6:00 PM until

noon the next day, although that is her typical go-to fasting schedule.

Meredith realizes the importance of mixing her schedule up once in a while

and not, uh, getting into a routine of sticking to the same schedule.

To avoid hitting a weight loss plateau and to keep her body guessing, she often

throws in an OMA or one meal a day.

Intermittent fasting day.

Meredith uses the intermittent fasting app, fast minder, and enjoys

this tracking app because it's free.

It's easy to use and it pairs easily with her phone data, like it tracks

your hydration, your body weight, your steps, all that good stuff.

Meredith's a fan and a proponent of the clean fast with her staples

being plain water and black coffee during her fasting hours.

She did say that she struggled with the taste of black coffee at the beginning

of her intermittent fasting weight loss journey, but she tried the Alton Brown

trick, which I highly, highly recommend, um, which is dropping a pinch of salt.

Into your coffee, and that worked beautifully for Meredith.

So now she loves her plain black coffee, and she no longer needs to put

the salt in to cut that bitter taste.

Meredith often breaks her fast each day with.

Bone broth because it is so gentle on her stomach.

She also shared some fun and healthy eating window favorites with me.

She is a big Costco fan and she gets a few treats regularly.

Number one, she gets the Jackson's kettle cooked avocado oil, sweet

potato chips with sea salt.

I did try those and they are delicious.

Next, she enjoys the unreal low sugar, dark chocolate coconut bars.

The brand is unreal.

Again, I have tried those.

Super duper love those as well.

I just found 'em at my local grocery store.

You can find 'em on or on Amazon as well.

And finally, Meredith is a big fan of my homemade runny ranch

dressing recipe, which you can find, on the recipe tab on my website.

So what if with jen.com and she makes a batch up almost every

week to add to her salads.

Meredith fits exercise into her schedule, and she often works

out with her husband of 29 years.

Jeff, she enjoys running.

Walking, hiking, and some strength training.

Meredith and Jeff are also big fans of the Body by Beachbody subscription and workout

system, which I love that system as well.

Uh, lift four is, it's their favorite.

It's heavy lifting and intense cardio.

Um, that's kind of their go-to workout program.

So Meredith had some final if f gems for us, which I thought were amazing.

Meredith believes that listening to your body.

Consistency and patience is key when it comes to success

with intermittent fasting.

Also, if you are an older woman like Meredith and myself, she shared an

awesome book recommendation with all of us on her episode fast like a girl.

By Dr. Mindy Peltz, a well-known expert on women and fasting.

It's, it's a go-to fasting manual created specifically to address

women's needs based on their hormones, and it really is a great read.

Thanks Meredith, for all of your awesome tips.

Okay, we have now come to Jean from Slovenia.

Took me a little while to learn how to pronounce that correctly,

but I had so much fun getting to know and talking with Jean.

Uh, episode number 56 Jean, a 26-year-old software engineer from Slovenia Europe,

discovered how to burn fat, build muscle, and drastically improve his

overall health with intermittent fasting.

John has been fasting for about four years now, and in that time he has

experienced many wins with intermittent fasting, including number one flexibility.

John absolutely loves the flexibility that comes with living

an intermittent fasting lifestyle.

He really enjoys being able to pick and choose what works best for him

off of the large fasting menu as.

He calls it number two.

He loves that if F is sustainable, he loves following an intermittent

fasting plan that is sustainable, and he just feels like if F is a

tool that he plans to use and easily stick with for the rest of his life.

Number three has been weight loss for Jean and a toned body.

Intermittent fasting has really helped Jean feel comfortable

with the way his body looks.

And overall, Jean lost about 10 pounds with fasting, but more importantly

though, he has built lean muscle and has improved his overall health in so many.

Amazing ways.

And last but not least, number four, increased energy.

Intermittent fasting has given Jean so much energy.

He consistently feels focused, alert, and energized to blast through his busy day.

So Jean has experienced.

Incredible success with the 18 six intermittent fasting method.

His fasting windows and eating windows are pretty much as follows.

He fasts between 6:00 PM and noon the next day, and his eating window each day

generally falls within noon and 6:00 PM.

Okay.

After much trial and error with fasting, Jean has realized why the 18 six

fasting schedule works so well for him.

And first, that's because breakfast doesn't really work for him.

Jean has noticed that when he eats breakfast, it.

Pretty much ruins his focus.

It makes him feel sluggish and more hungry earlier in the day.

Breaking his fast with a nice light lunch around noon works perfect for him.

Next, Jean doesn't sleep well when he eats too late in the evening, so

ending his fast around 6:00 PM has been the sweet spot for feeling.

His absolute best.

And finally, John enjoys having a set schedule, a few rules and

boundaries that he can easily stick to.

The 18 six daily fasting schedule makes him feel at the top of his game.

Hey, fasting friends.

Not only does Jean use a fasting app, but are you ready for this?

He created his very own fasting Tracker app.

How stinking cool is that?

So John's app is called Fast, slow.

Two words and I was able to check it out and download it onto my phone it's a great

app with a super cool timeline approach.

So, I'll leave the link to that in the, in my show notes.

I also appreciate that, like Jean said during our podcast interview, it's a

simple app that does one job really well.

You can learn more about that if you wanna head back to John's episode,

jean tends to keep things clean during his fasting window, primarily

sticking to plain black coffee or water during his fasting periods.

He recognizes the importance of staying hydrated, especially when following an if

f. Plan, which is why he carries his large trusty water bottle with him at all times.

Jean doesn't currently use an electrolyte supplement, however, he

often adds a simple pinch of salt to his water on days when he has a long

workout or needs a little extra boost.

And that's something that I, a tip that I kind of took and have

been, using more consistently.

And I find that, if you're on the go and you don't have an electrolyte supplement,

p it with you and you just, you know, like I said, put a pinch of salt in.

Uh, I've been kind of carrying around some mineral salt with me kind of wherever I

go, vacation or in the car or whatever.

It really does give you that.

Quick little pick me up that you need and kind of helps balance things out.

So, John likes simple meals.

He also understands the importance of limiting his consumption of

processed and ultra processed foods.

Alright, so instead p focuses on.

Eating less meat and unhealthy nutrient dense whole foods.

John's go-to eating window favorites are salmon with rice

or some risotto vegetables.

He really enjoys Greek yogurt topped with fresh fruit like berries and some mango

and maybe a little drizzle of honey, and sometimes a small bit of dark chocolate.

Jean enjoys keeping his body active and healthy, and was currently

training to run a half marathon.

His first one in Slovenia when we chatted his , routine consists of strength

training, dumbbells at home, uh, about three times a week, some running.

As I said, he was currently training for a half marathon and some biking, cycling.

He loves the views of nature as he bikes through Slovenia.

As far as fasted exercise goes, John follows a 50 50

approach when it comes to that.

He typically feels his best when he is in the fasted state during a strength

training workout and the non fasted state when he completes a more rigorous

running or biking cardio training session.

All right, so John's best intermittent fasting tip, or his shiniest gem

is simple, but very powerful.

Find a fasting schedule that makes you feel great and just stick with it.

Results will come.

Just take things slow and steady.

Doing too much too soon is just not sustainable, but most of all,

have a day that you are proud of.

Love that.

Thanks John.

So many amazing if f tips.

All right.

Last, but definitely not least, we have Dr. John D'Ambrosio, a 59-year-old

author of the book Fasting that works, and former chiropractor from

Georgia who cracked the IF code after 15 years of intermittent fasting.

Alright, so like I mentioned, John has been fasting for about

15 years and in that time he has experienced many, many wins with.

Intermittent fasting including weight loss.

So John lost an incredible 20 pounds of fat in just two months

time with intermittent fasting.

John was able to lower his life insurance rate thanks to intermittent fasting.

So although John's top win was weight loss at first, he feels that improving

his overall health is now just as important, if not more important

than the 20 pound weight loss win.

Intermittent fasting even helped John improve his health and blood work numbers

so drastically that he was able to snag an even lower life insurance rate.

Than the one that he already had.

That was pretty cool.

And, number three, the overall health benefits and autophagy

have been big wins for John.

John has always been fairly healthy, but intermittent fasting has provided

him even more health benefits, including the incredible power of

autophagy and growing old gracefully.

I love that one.

Okay.

John has experienced incredible success with the popular, 16

eight intermittent fasting method.

When John was losing the 20 pounds, he implemented a hybrid

intermittent fasting schedule.

During the weight loss period, John consistently followed the 16 eight

method for five days a week and completed two extended or prolonged

fasts around 42 hours each week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Now that John is in maintenance mode, he continues to practice

the 16 eight method daily.

And often throws in one extended fast a week, usually on Mondays.

John enjoys sipping on the following during his fasting window, black

coffee water with Altima, orange flavored electrolytes, which I did

try and um, I kind of fell in love with them after John recommended them.

They taste like an orange creamsicle.

So super yummy.

Zero calories, zero sugar.

Yeah, that's definitely a tip I pulled from John that I am loving.

John likes sipping on Zevia sodas.

They are flavored with Stevia.

Personally, John has had no issues with Stevia, making him feel hungrier or

spiking his insulin or gaining any weight.

So it is working for him.

I say, go for it, John.

John definitely understands and values the importance of healthy, clean eating,

and he prioritizes nutrient dense foods.

Some of his favorite go-tos include Greek yogurt, his favorite brand being

Chobani, that has 20 grams protein.

It's low carb.

He really loves.

Parmesan and ano cheeses.

Meat and veggies.

Hard boiled eggs.

Oh, that's another tip he gave me that I've been using and loving.

John recommends making your hard boiled eggs in the instant pot.

They are perfect every time.

Yes, yes they are.

Um, try it.

You will love your hard boiled eggs and it is really that simple.

And then finally.

Sourdough bread he loves.

So he started making his own some time ago, after he kind of stumbled upon

Ben Star, uh, two Rs Ben Star's, simple sourdough method you can find on YouTube.

So then after I talked with John, about the sourdough.

My newly retired husband was a little bored, so I said,

Hey, I've got a job for you.

And so I gave him John's recommendation for Ben Star's simple sourdough

recipe, and had him watch the videos.

And now it's been fabulous because my husband has been making some pretty

incredible loaves of bread for us to enjoy over the past few months.

And in that time, since I've connected with John, he's given us.

Given my husband some amazing tips to help, with the baking of

the bread, and it's been so fun.

So that was a giant tip that has helped us out.

John, I, I wasn't eating any bread, uh, up until, um, I talked with

John and, and realized you really can have a little bit of bread.

Still, be successful with your intermittent fasting goals and journey and

weight loss and all of that good stuff.

So you might wanna check that out.

Let's move on to exercise for John.

John said that exercise has always been an important part of his life.

However, I have to say I was blown away when I learned from John that

he literally spends just 30 minutes a week in the gym, and he has a better

physique now at 59 years old than he did in his thirties and forties.

Here are a couple of John's tips related to exercise and intermittent

fasting that he gave to me.

Exercising while fasting is especially important as we age and fight

against issues like sarcopenia, the age related progressive loss

of muscle mass and strength.

John says, incorporating resistance training into your exercise routine.

Super important.

John recommends twice a week.

It doesn't have to be for, for a really long time, but twice a week.

John also recommended reading the book, body by Science by Doug McGuff, which

I found is a research based program for strength training, bodybuilding, and a

complete fitness in 12 minutes a week.

Love that.

Alright, I'm gonna add that to my to do in 2026 list.

Okay, let's move to John's final intermittent fasting gem, or his best tip.

He says, just start in giant boldfaced capital letters.

John says, and I definitely agree, intermittent fasting

is easier than you think.

Once you just start and get into it, you'll wonder what took you so long.

Be consistent and just don't give up.

John's podcast episode was episode number 59.

If you wanna go back and listen to all of his awesome advice

and learn more about his book.

Fasting that works.

You can definitely do that.

I'll write my fasting.

Fabulous.

Wonderful.

Spectacular friends.

That about does it.

That is a wrap on 2025.

Happy holidays and happy New Year to everybody.

Remember, if you are ready to jumpstart your intermittent fasting

and weight loss journey, you can save big on my intermittent fasting

and weight loss masterclass video course when you use the discount code.

Gems 20 GEMS 20.

At checkout, you'll save 20 bucks and get lifetime access to my course for just $29.

My lowest price cut yet the discount code will expire on January 2nd, 2026.

So you have a few days to get in on that.

If you have enjoyed my show this year, I really would be so grateful

if you took a few minutes to leave a five star review on Apple or Spotify.

It really does help out the show and it helps spread the word to more

people about how awesome it is to live an intermittent fasting lifestyle.

Be blessed and I will catch up with all of you in 2026.

Bye.

Hey, thank you so much for choosing to spend part of your day listening

to this episode of the Intermittent Fasting Gems with Jen podcast.

If you think these tips could help a friend or a family member, please

consider sharing this episode with them.

And if you really enjoyed the show, taking a minute or two

to leave a positive review.

Would be so appreciated.

Tune in for new 15 to 25 minute episodes released on the 10th,

20th, and 30th of each month.

Episodes will feature solo shows filled with if F hacks that

have worked for me, as well as episodes where I get to chat with.

Fun folks of all ages who've experienced incredible success

with intermittent fasting.

If you have questions or want more unique intermittent fasting health and

weight loss tips, tricks and recipes, please visit my website and blog at.

So what if with jen.com?

Finally, we'd love to welcome you into our free intermittent.

Fasting Facebook support group.

So what if with Jen?

Find all of these links in the show notes below.

And as always, I hope you spend your day loving without fear and

laughing until your cheeks hurt.