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'd 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.

Today we are chatting with Danielle Frankel from Los Angeles.

So, oh my goodness, we are literally across the country from each

other, Michigan to California, which I think is one of the

coolest things about the internet.

Hi, Danielle.

How are you today?

Hello.

Hey, so Danielle, we found out right before we started this recording,

we're actually the same age.

Well, Danielle's three months younger than I am, but Danielle is an actress and

a production accountant in Los Angeles.

And Danielle and I have actually never met in person.

I think Danielle originally found me on Pinterest and we connected that way.

Is that right, Danielle?

Yes.

So since then, she has joined our supportive.

So what if with Jen fasting Facebook group, and I do want to take a

minute to thank Danielle for being a total rockstar member of our group,

because she's been so active and such a supportive member Danielle.

You've given so much great advice and you've shared so many awesome,

helpful tips with our members that.

Uh, that's really helped them out a ton.

And so I really want to thank you again for that.

So welcome, Danielle.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You're so welcome.

Let's have some serious fun today.

I'm ready to, ready to rock and roll.

So, all right.

I would like to start off by asking you, Danielle, what have been your top

three wins with intermittent fasting?

And, and that can be, you know, weight loss or any non scale

victories, improved sleep.

Go ahead, Danielle.

Well, I, I would say my top three wins that I could think of is one,

finally getting to my goal weight.

For years I could not get to my goal weight.

I would have some weight loss.

But then eventually I would like fall off and then get to my goal weight.

And that really gave me a lot of relief and happiness.

And it was nice to fit into, you know, all my clothes and my closet.

Uh, so that's one, I would say that's one and two, the weight loss

and, um, getting to my goal weight.

Um, and then also, you know, You know, mentioning our age at 48 years old, I

was able to get into the top seven to be on the cover of hers fitness magazine.

And I just got so much love and support.

so excited that you mentioned that.

Would you say that one more time?

so cool.

Say it again.

Yeah.

So there's a competition every year for the hers fitness magazine

and I applied for it and I ended up getting into spot number seven.

That is incredible.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Well, I didn't want to cut you off.

So if you are keep going with your win, so that's amazing.

So you hit your, your goal weight and I, I can definitely relate to that being a huge

struggle for myself for two whole decades.

And, uh, I couldn't believe when I actually, my goal weight actually

kept changing because I kept losing more and more weight where, which

eventually I ended up being lower than my high school weight, which

I never even thought possible.

So,

Yeah.

It's really amazing.

And yeah, that, that really had been something.

Another thing that happened too is the, the flexibility with fasting.

So during the time that I started this fasting program, uh, were the

holidays and I had tons of parties, um, you know, Thanksgiving, and

then I had a lot of holiday parties this year and I went to all of them.

And what I would do is I would just do like, um, OMAD, which is one meal a day.

And I would do like 20, I usually like to do 23 to 24 hour fasts.

And I just allowed myself to have everything I wanted.

So, you know, uh, the cakes, the cookies, um, you know, all this

stuff to indulge during the holidays.

And I just said to myself, you know what, I'm just going

to continue with my workouts.

I'm going to continue with my supplements.

my hydration goal.

So I try to drink about a half a gallon of water a day.

And, then I said, in terms of whatever I eat, I'm just going to

allow myself to have everything I want.

And what ended up resulting from that is I just maintained my weight.

Mm hmm.

Well,

And then,

that's a, that's a goal in itself, for sure.

yes.

And it, it was really exciting for me to be able to have, that flexibility and to

be able to kind of have whatever I wanted.

And, uh,

like you're deprived.

Absolutely.

Yes.

and I think that's why I really love the idea, um, Of I've one of the top books

that I love to read and I've actually listened to it over and over again to

stay motivated because I, I do about an hour walking a day, usually, and on those

walks, I'll usually listen to, you know, something motivating something that,

you know, keeps my mindset positive.

Uh, so, I've listened to the Gin Stevens, uh, Fast Feast Repeat,

That's a great podcast.

also the, you know, I think the title is, , Don't Deny Delay.

Yeah, maybe it is just, is it just delay, don't deny, or?

Let's look it up, because I don't know why I'm blanking right now on the title.

But they're so good.

I, anyone who, who wants to start a journey of fasting, I highly

recommend, um, I think your first book was, um, okay, so Delay Don't Deny.

So that was Jen Stevens first book.

It's not on audio.

But in LA, you could get it from the public library, which is great.

You could get it on, on Amazon.

And so, um, delay, don't deny.

And then the other one, of course, is, um,

Fast Feast repeat.

Okay,

And.

Or I listen to it.

I listen to it on audiobook and I would just listen to it while

I was working out and I had never heard of the clean fasting before.

oh, yeah, and that's, it's actually not, so gin Stevens actually did coin the term

clean fasting, but she actually didn't mention that or, um, start that until

after her first book, which was delayed.

Don't deny.

So it's kind of, uh, Some people say they like to read Fast Feast Repeat first.

I read Delay Don't Deny first, and I'm actually really glad that I did because

it was so simple and that's like the teacher, elementary teacher mindset in

me, and so I related to Jin, her being a teacher as well, and so I was glad

because then it does, Fast Feast Repeat is an excellent book, but it also goes

Way more into the science and it's, it's just a little bit bumped up a bit.

And so I, I liked the, the dumbed down version cause I was like,

Ooh, I totally get that, you know, so that was a great book for me

to start with, but yeah, great.

And she does, she has, I, that's how I lost the weight so quickly and was

so motivated was listening to those podcasts and we sound very similar.

And when I am on a walk, I am listening to something motivational or, you

know, self help or improvement.

I just get so much peace from, from doing that.

And, and you're right, listening to those motivating and inspiring

stories and those tips, it's huge.

You know, it will keep you on the right track.

So, so Danielle.

I think I heard you say your preferred intermittent fasting method

is OMAD, or do you do a hybrid?

Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, I do mostly, um, 23, 23, 1 and 24 hours.

And then every once in a while, I'll, I'll do like a longer fast.

Maybe I'll do 36 hours.

Or, um, the longest fast I did so far is 72 hours,

Yes.

Yep.

um, but

you feel in, with that?

Give us, I, I've done a few.

My longest is actually, I did 192 hour, which

wow,

I'll do a whole.

Maybe podcast episode on that sometime, but I've only done that once, but I have

done a few 72s and I feel great after, but tell us what were your kind of, uh,

what, what was your experience with that?

well, I, I had to build up to this.

So a couple of things that I've, that I've learned in my fasting journey.

is that it's important.

It's just as important what I'm doing in my eating window and what

I'm doing in my fasting window.

Perfect.

Yeah.

I really, make sure during my eating window, I eat a, a very,

um, high fat ketogenic diet.

So what that means is yeah, right before I start fasting and especially

a long fast, I make sure to do like 90 to a hundred percent of my calories.

Coming from fat.

Healthy fats.

Yes.

Like, like give us an example

So,

be.

um,

oil or

this is okay.

I love, because one of my favorite things to do, I have two, two of my

favorite things to do is one is like eating like an entire pack of bacon.

Oh, you are

Yes.

then.

Like, like literally eating like a total pack of bacon is great.

Even though that's more like 70 percent fat, if you're going to eat a whole

bat, um, and because, for whatever, because before I, you know, I came from.

being able to maintain my weight.

I never quite got to my goal weight, but I stayed very close to it on

kind of like a body building diet, but I did that in my thirties and,

um, I was hungry all the time.

Yes.

And, um, and so that was more of a, uh, a high protein, low fat diet, moderate carb.

But what I found is if I wanted to fast, that was impossible

coming from a low fat diet.

And, my fiance kept telling me, He said it will be so much healthier for you to do

a high fat diet and fast and he said, you know Especially he says it's anti aging He

said you'll be leaner and you'll be less hungry because remember he when you date

someone and they're hungry all the time and he's been following like a Ketogenic

he's been fasting for years Okay.

He looks like,

Oh, he has.

Okay.

oh, he's an incredible shape, you know, like Marvel superhero kind of shape.

And, um, and he's been eating one meal a day for many years, like 20 years.

Okay.

And, but then when we were

That's

dating, he had to deal with me being hungry all the time.

And

So

eat your pizza.

out a way to fix it fast.

And he, and I mean, we're engaged.

We want to grow old together in a perfect world.

And he started to teach me about this new paradigm, this shift from kind of like,

you know, the bro science bodybuilding diet where you eat six meals a day.

And like I said, very low fat.

He said, you've got to try this.

And then of course, I was persuaded by like Halle Berry

does fasting and she, and I'm 48.

So of course I'm interested in all these women who are over 50.

Yes, exactly.

And I'm an actress.

So it's part of my, it's part of my career to look good on red carpets.

Uh, that was one of my wins too, to see myself in pictures and

love the way I looked again.

That, really felt so good.

Um, so like, people like Halle Berry, she follows fasting and ketogenic.

Um, Jennifer Aniston.

of,

And, you know, they're in their mid fifties.

Um, I think Halle now is like 57, and they look so young.

And I was like, you know, I should really give this a shot.

And it was, um, twerkle.

That's my fiance.

He was the one who said to me.

You know, eat a whole pack of bacon.

He's like, eat a ribeye steak with butter.

Like really?

He, he was like, just go really high fat.

And then he said, it's going to make fasting so much easier.

Now the other book that I love,

go so much longer.

You really can

yes.

And it really lowers the insulin.

I

Yep.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, that's huge.

So Danielle, do you use any kind of, uh, fasting, like a tracking app or anything?

How do you keep track or do you just go with what works?

like using an app.

And so for a long time I use the life app, but now the life

app isn't working anymore.

I

So I found,

we're all crying about that.

yeah, I found another app that's free, um, called,

us.

Tell us free.

hold on.

It's called Sunrise.

Like s u n r i s e?

Yes.

And what I can do is if you, if you want to put a link in the, in the interview,

it in the show notes.

Sure.

Yeah.

I'm going to text it to you.

Cause

Okay.

Perfect.

Um,

like it.

Tell us, you know, what are the top features that you like about the app?

Oh, well, one thing that's nice is, so you do your fast.

And then also it times your eating window.

Oh, okay.

Perfect.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, I know that when I started the Facebook group, was using Life and I used

Life the whole first year of, when I started fasting almost four years ago.

Love, love, loved it.

And so I recommended that to all the people that are in our group.

And of course, like you said, it is no longer.

And so people, a lot of us are looking for something to kind of replace it.

So.

Yeah, that one is free and I really like it.

And then it also times your eating window.

okay.

Can you track your weight in it too?

Do you know, or

I don't think so.

okay.

All right.

That's okay.

I was just curious.

And a lot of people use different apps for that anyways.

So, um, okay, let's move on.

Danielle, can you talk to us about maybe what, what is your biggest

challenge with intermittent fasting?

My biggest challenge is that, um, my mind tells me things.

that are crazy.

So for example,

Explain my dear.

my mind will tell me I'll be working on a project at work

and then my mind will tell me,

Um, yeah.

got to have a snack because if you know, if you have a snack, you're

going to get more done and your work quality is going to be better.

And I would say,

been ingrained in us,

Yes, that's been ingrained from my upbringing.

Um, you know, my

percent

would always say, you know, you, you've got to eat breakfast because

you've got to put, you know, fuel in the tank, but the reality is.

The best fuel site, this is why, um, I, I do like the learning about the

scientific studies around fasting.

So, in fast, feast, repeat, and in, , Dr, , Jason fung's book, the obesity code.

Fun's obesity

And I think in a number of your blogs, if you read your articles.

You talk about the science that the brain really does function the best

on ketones and we do have more focus and, um, there's more of a propensity

to get into a high performance state.

Um, another person who I like to, to follow that he talks about.

I just blanked on his name, but he wrote, he's the guy who

does the primal, um, products.

Uh

He's another proponent of fasting he wrote some really great books about this

is, you know, I have to remind myself that no, the science actually says

that, um, we're better when we fast.

Recently, I was, listening to an, interview with Mark Hyman

and he said actually everyone should fast at least 12 hours.

Mm hmm.

Um, and the fat burning usually occurs after 18 hours.

So if,

that, I cannot shout that loud enough.

That is so true.

Eighteen hour mark is absolutely the magical fat burning hour.

yes, so I think it was good for me to kind of learn Mark Sisson.

Mark Sisson says that, if we're overweight, And we switch

ourselves over to, so we have two ways that the body gets energy.

One is from glucose in the body and we're burning the sugar in our body.

That's it.

Yep.

Yes.

That

then.

the foods we've eaten.

Yes.

And then once we switch over to, ketosis, then we're going

to be burning our body's fat.

So

that, like, so cool?

it's so

That's the

cool.

thing.

And the science shows.

you're right, where the energy really, and the mental clarity, and

all of that starts to really ramp up.

And you can, I don't know about you, but I can absolutely feel

complete difference in my body.

Once, you know, once your body shifts from being a sugar burner to a fat burner,

like a magical thing happens in your body.

You really can tell the

Yes.

And one of the things that I, I'm also in, in recovery, I I've been

clean and sober about 26 years is that

congratulations.

Thank you.

One of our favorite sayings is don't leave five minutes before the miracle.

Oh, I love that.

Isn't that good for fasting too?

Because a lot of times,

good

a lot of times, like my mind will be like, you got to eat something.

You got to eat something because you're going to do this project better.

You know, if it's a challenging, um, project, because I normally

work in the film industry, I've done movies all over the world.

And this year, because of the strikes in the industry, I launched a business

consulting business and my current client.

Um, you know, they were, they were far behind the last, couple the

last people that ran the department, they left a bunch of messes.

So the new head of the department and I, we've been fixing everything.

And like I said, I listen a lot to Dr.

Jason Fung, uh, the obesity code to the, um, To Jim Stevens, um, to

different YouTube interviews from Mark Hyman and they all, and Mark

Sisson, and they all will reiterate that the science shows that when we

are running on a fat burning machine.

system when we're in ketosis that we are actually more focused and more

productive and we do a better job.

Now, there's been a number of times that I've been seduced by my mind and

I end up snacking and where I end up

okay!

Which is okay, but I have to tell you that from experimenting, I have

found that I always end up having less energy and not doing as well.

So it's really not true.

you mean, right?

Yes.

you have, yeah, I totally agree with that.

Yeah, and , I think most people who have been fasting for a while will also agree.

I mean, it, it's just incredible.

But you're right.

It, does take some time to get to that level.

Like we were talking about before we actually pushed record, you know, and

I love your, what was the saying again?

The don't quit five minutes before the miracle

Yes.

And usually,

if I said that just right, but

yes, usually I'll get really, really hungry.

Okay.

And then that's when my mind is like, you've got to And, but what

I've learned is one of my biggest tools, and I know you've talked

about this too, is sparkling water.

It's, it's, it's the lifesaver for me.

Yes, sparkling water, um, and plain black coffee, but especially

sparkling water is a game changer.

And if I just,

It really is.

what brand do you like?

Do you, I use, you use the plain, right?

So it doesn't break your fast, right?

yes, I do the clean fasting, the gin Stevens that I do all unflavored drinks.

During, during my fast, so during my fasting window,

talk about that.

Um, so what, what do you, so clean fast, awesome.

Uh, what drinks, do you enjoy during your fasting windows then?

I do black coffee and um.

And then I do Pellegrino sparkling water.

And I just,

a great brand.

and I find that I could either get like, cause I drink like

six small bottles a day.

So

Oh,

I drink a lot.

Um, so I find that with Pellegrino in, in Los Angeles, I could

get like a 24 pack from Costco.

At a really good price and or I can get it off Amazon

Yes.

I think

on Amazon too.

Uh, for Pellegrino.

We, I mean, we have it in the stores here, but ours in Michigan

around here, it's easier for me.

I usually just stick to the plain LaCroix.

It's the blue, you know, package.

It says innocent on it.

I also

that's great too.

Yeah, it's, it's really, really good.

So, um, yeah.

You're right.

That is my number one tip when people are saying, okay, I'm hungry.

Uh, I'm starving.

Should I eat?

Should I, you know, break my fast?

I'm like, before you do it, I just have this trick where, like you said,

I just I head out, I grab a, 12 ounce sparkling mineral water, plain, and I

drink that over the next 20 to 30 minutes.

And if after 30 minutes, am still hungry, which normally I'm not.

But if I am, then I do listen to my body and I will go get,

you know, a snack of some sort.

But nine times out of ten, honestly, it does the trick, like you said.

And I am totally satisfied.

And I'm like, I wasn't really hungry.

So you're, it's a mind thing for sure.

But that does help.

I think it's the carbonation.

It does something kind of magical in your stomach.

Yes.

And it also helps if like, after I have vitamins, if my.

Stomach is feels a little if I get those like sour stomach

the sparkling water helps

It settles it.

I've heard that before too.

Um, yeah, from some people in our, the Facebook group, they've said that if

you kind of get that nauseous feeling, it's a great way to settle that down.

Yes

use any?

Electrolyte supplements at all

Yes

fasting?

I use the reset

do you use?

It's called reset

And it's been a game changer because I tried like all those things

where where you make your own and you buy the um no salt and you

make your own electrolyte drinks.

I've, tried various when there, there's another one that people love.

That's really expensive.

Um, and I forgot the name of it, that people love it.

I it's, is it element

Yes.

do

Elements.

that one.

And I

Okay.

Yeah, it's kind of expensive.

reset cheaper is reset cheaper.

Yes.

And they're

And

capsules.

just our other capsules?

Okay.

Good to know.

I'm going to check that out.

Yeah.

And, um, so that's been a game changer.

Um, and the other thing I want to say when my mind is telling me to snack

and it's not necessarily that, um, It's sometimes it's hunger and I'll

think about like how Jason Funk says, you're going to have waves of hunger.

But just hang in there because it will pass.

So I'm also a yoga and meditation teacher.

So sometimes what I'll practice is, um, I'll remember, you know, the

studies that I read in the obesity code and in Jen Stevens book.

And then sometimes I'll just put my hands on my chest and just take a deep breath.

And I'll say it's safe and comfortable for me to stay on my fast.

Yeah, absolutely.

Oh, I

it's.

It's going to pass, just set a timer for 20 minutes and drink sparkling water and

just, you know, you're going to have, I'm going to have like five, 10 minutes

where I'm struggling with concentrating.

My mind's going to tell me a snack will make it better.

But my experience has shown me over and over again, if I stick to my fast,

it's going to be better, especially if I'm looking to lose weight.

Because according

right.

this page is so crazy and I have it saved and I wanted to share

it with you in this interview.

sure.

So in the obesity code, I have an MBA, I'm a bit of an academic,

so I know this is kind of a geeky thing that I'm bringing up.

You know, a page in the

geeky things.

It's a teacher in me.

No, let's do it.

Me too.

Me too.

So, hold on.

I think I have a page number for you.

Okay, this is again in the Obesity Code by Jason

This is in the obesity code.

Later.

I'll send you the exact

that

page because I saved it, but

perfect.

a page number.

Um, it says.

Or the first five days weight loss averages.

1.

9 pounds or 0.

9 kilograms.

So sometimes just reading that keeps me on track because, I mean, I,

good.

I usually in the first 10 , sometimes I could lose like up to like three pounds.

Now this is for fasting from 24 to 36 hours.

Anyone who's going to do like 24 to 36 hours, I really recommend prior

to doing, I would say at least one to three days of very high fat meals.

So one thing I'll do is

I think

I'll, I'll make like coconut cream ice cream.

That's like pretty much all that you just, yeah.

saw your recipe for that.

You have to send us that

Yeah, you just,

and I'll add that to my.

My recipe website will give you the, we'll write your name on there,

Danielle, and add it to the website.

So, yeah, go ahead.

so like, um, having coconut cream ice cream, it's fantastic.

It's just like you take two cans of coconut cream and you mix in, I

usually do like organic monk fruit.

Um, then I'll throw in some vanilla.

That's an amazing way to have a very high fat meal that

just like gets rid of hunger.

It's so satisfying.

Like I said, if you love bacon, having an entire package of

bacon, rib eye steak with butter,

I can't

also

imagine.

it with like Bernays sauce is fabulous.

Cause Bernays sauce is just so good.

made with, um, it's just made with egg yolks and like, um,

uh, vinegar and tarragon.

That's, you know, putting a ton of butter on a ribeye steak.

You ever tried The Kerrygold garlic and herb butter.

no, I haven't.

it's okay.

You gotta, I actually just, uh, made a post or something about

it, but it will change everything you eat into something magical.

So it's Kerrygold's a pretty popular brand, but,

Yeah, I love that.

garlic and herb is, is not sold everywhere, but most places, um, You,

you gotta get it, and add it to your stake, and then report back to me.

You, you're gonna love it.

So,

And I do,

but you,

I do want to emphasize also, you know, incorporating a lot of vegetables,

especially like the low carb vegetables.

Um, those are really satiating too.

So when I do those three days of preparing for a fast, um, if I'm coming off like

Days of maybe the holidays or maybe a special occasion where I had a lot

of sugar and my insulin is very high.

My blood sugar is high.

I may take a day.

And say, I'm only going to do maybe 12 hours of fasting, um, or 16 hours of

fasting, allow myself to, just have a lot of low carb vegetables, the green

vegetables, and then very high fat meals.

So like my first day will just be like, let's just get off the sugar.

Let's just detox off the sugar.

Mm hmm.

I'll, then I'll be like, okay, day one, just have high, high

fat, very low carb, no carb meals.

Only get my carbs from vegetables.

Another thing that will help is pink Himalayan salt.

Oh, love that.

Yeah, it's good to

If I have very low energy, just have some salt, even though my mind is,

swears by that.

He does.

even though my mind is telling me you need sugar.

Actually, the salt and the fat will actually end up really satisfying me

and, helping me detox off the sugar.

Then I'll blow.

tip.

know, then I'll work up to that 24 hour fasting, usually in 24 combining,

um, a very high fat ketogenic diet.

with 24 hours, I'll usually lose, you know, at least one pound a day.

Wow.

Yeah.

I do think that there is some definite, uh, power in that.

And so when you talk about the low carb vegetables,

which, ones are your favorite?

I know I have my favorites, but what are your go tos?

Um, I love doing spinach.

hmm.

Um, I love Brussels sprouts

Love

because we're doing high fat, you know, you, I could just toss them in

like a bunch of olive oil and butter.

to those.

Add your bacon to the Brussels sprouts.

I do bacon for the Brussels sprouts.

Exactly.

I love cucumbers.

I'm a big fan of doing like a, you know, salad that's with cucumber, a

chopped salad with cucumber, tomatoes, and like bell peppers and doing

that sounds

a Mediterranean type dressing, adding some parsley and then have like a,

porterhouse or like a ribeye steak and then putting tons of butter on it.

Completely delicious.

sounds, that sounds so good.

Oh, that you have given us so many awesome tips.

Thank you so much.

So I know that you, I absolutely know, especially because of the, uh,

the fitness magazine posts that you put out there, which were incredible.

But tell us a little bit more about your exercise, routine.

What are your favorite ways to stay active?

I know you mentioned walking.

Go ahead, Danielle.

Yeah, so, walking, I do walking for about an, I try to do like an hour a

day and get out in the sun, especially because, you know, cortisol, so

stress management is part of my fitness program too, because cortisol, um,

raises the blood sugar in the body.

So just stress.

You know, we're stressed out, our cortisol goes up, and that raises our blood sugar.

So, an idea that came out of the obesity code, which was a game changer for me,

is, he says that long term weight loss, And ultimately getting to our goal weight.

Cause you remember, I tried everything, weight watchers,

Jenny Craig, um, um, I'm trying to think what other ones I've tried.

Um,

like, slim, I did SlimFast back in the day, you know, the, the smoothie

diets, the, you know, I did one that was called Fat Loss for Idiots.

I mean, it's, it was, it was,

yeah, tons of different things.

one, the idiot doing it, but, because it didn't work, but,

also, you know, I mean, you and I, we like measuring, we like tracking, you know,

I really, I really followed in and also doing kind of that bodybuilding type diet.

I did that.

Um, but I couldn't get to the goal weight and I was always like, what?

It, it, it almost felt like, Yeah, like I would get to a certain

ceiling and I couldn't break through.

And I was like, what?

Yeah.

So I'm going to get,

mean, I just couldn't believe it was, I mean, game changer is the easiest

phrase to describe it because, um, especially like you said, we're almost 50.

So we, know, I think I had almost gotten to the point where I'd resigned myself

to the fact, like I've had two kids, my body is just not going to go back.

And, then it was just amazing to be able to experience, you know, the kind

of results with Intermittent Fasting.

And it's like, wow.

So, so do you, um, exercise?

I'm going to think, I think I know the answer to this, but assuming you exercise,

I'm going to make one more point that will then take me back to exercise.

Okay.

So Jason Fung says that weight loss is basically a two step strategy.

So one of the steps is monitoring what we eat.

hmm.

So he says that, he says what we want to stick to is whole foods, low carb diet.

Now, Jim Stevens does say she does better on a higher carb.

as long as she's not having processed carbs.

So we have to experiment.

So he, but I'm going to go with what Jason Fung says, because

this is what's worked for me.

Okay.

hmm.

Is he says a low carb diet.

So he says, what we're eating impacts But then he says the other thing is

we need to lower our body's set weight because our body has a set weight.

And what determines the body's set weight is insulin resistance.

And he says how we Um, how we get rid of insulin resistance is through fasting

because he says all macronutrients.

There's three macronutrients, right?

We have fat, protein and carbs.

He says they're all gonna increase.

insulin to a certain degree.

Of course, fat has the lowest insulin response in our body.

So that's why

Right.

what insulin does is it determines our, um, body set weight.

And it also, gives us hunger.

So that's why he says we want to do two things.

We wanna do fasting.

He recommends for, for long-term weight loss, for breaking

down that insulin resistance.

He recommends 24 to 36 hour fasts.

Mm hmm.

And then he says what means

I mean, this is what's in the book and I wanted to share this with you.

Now, the other thing he says increases, now I think he says blood sugar is he

says it's important to manage stress.

To balance.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

So then we go into the world of cortisol.

Okay.

So there's now going into my exercise plan because my exercise plan is

focused on, cause I'm really targeting the person who's listening to this

podcast who wants to lose weight.

And they're like us.

that they've tried everything.

And especially for the women, the women like us who are over 45 and they

say, geez, you know, when I was in my twenties, I used to be able to join

weight watchers and in a month I would be goal weight and I could move on.

you know, or I could track

but

those were the

Now let's, let's get him back in that bikini, Danielle.

So go ahead.

Ha, ha,

now what, this is what I found over 45 works is combining fasting with a low

carb diet and doing exercise that's geared towards one lowering cortisol.

So that's why I walk.

I love running.

And I used to, in my twenties, thirties,

Another

I

in common.

used to love to run.

I would get that runner's high.

But they say that unfortunately, um, running does increase

cortisol in the body.

It

And walking gets rid of cortisol, so low impact aerobic activity.

Biking and walking, because how we get rid of cortisol in the body is through,

we have to move to get it out of the body.

through low impact exercise.

Another one that's good is yoga is great for releasing cortisol out of the body.

Alright, so we're gonna have to have a separate podcast episode on

that because my husband loves yoga.

I know you said you're a yoga, instructor.

I, Danielle, I am not kidding you.

He teases me all the time.

I am the least flexible person on the planet.

So, I, I, I, I have to find a way to start.

Liking yoga, so that's gonna be, uh, your challenge to help me with that, okay?

Yes.

And it can happen.

You know, that's another story.

I know, I want to get to my, so I, the other thing that gobbles up,

it literally gobbles up the sugar out of the body is weight training.

Mm, 100%.

So weight training does two things.

One, it increases muscle in the body

Mm

and the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn.

So that's one thing.

our metabolism is.

Yes.

So I do weight training.

Um, cause like I said, it gets rid of the sugar in the body.

And if we weight train, we're going to get into ketosis faster

Absolutely.

Yeah.

and,

it's incredible.

and the other benefit,

the difference is huge.

the difference is huge.

And when we fast, it increases something called human growth hormone.

Mm hmm.

So we're

Yep.

when we do these fasted workouts, we're going to put on more muscle

faster because we're fasting.

So I do recommend, you know, um, doing

Work,

Yes.

Working out fasted because it's gonna, um, get me those

benefits of fasting autophagy.

fat burning, and also, like I said, getting rid of the cortisol.

Um, so that's why I, another thing I want to say that's part of my program

is I do practice, um, meditation also.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Meditation and prayer are great ways to, reduce stress.

And I mean,

absolutely.

who kind of loves everybody.

I was raised,

too.

I just, you know, like I'm a lot of times the, the Buddhist, if you go

to a most Buddhist monks and you say that you love Jesus, they'll say, Oh

yeah, because he goes, they'll say, according to the Buddhists, Uh, cause

the Buddhists believe that, you know, new Buddhas, uh, occur throughout history.

So there's like the Tara Buddha, who is a woman Buddha there.

There's various Buddhas that have come through history.

How I practice my spirituality is I'm very inclusive.

So sometimes, I mean, I gotta tell you when you're trying to fast.

Okay.

And being at goal weight, like it increases my sensitivity.

So I, I, I do, I do.

how, how tall are you, Danielle?

I'm five feet.

I think sometimes I'm, I wanted to mention that because, um, a lot of times women

who are not quite as tall, they feel like they struggle more with the weight

loss in, in reaching their goal weight.

And I think that you're just an incredible role model.

Um, to share and to show that of all ages and sizes and shapes,

you know, how big of a difference or a game changer intermittent

fasting really can be for them.

Yes.

Yes.

hope.

So I mean, I saw your pictures, uh, for, for, was it hers?

That's the magazine.

I'm going to have you send me all the info so I can put it in the

Yes.

notes, but,

Yes.

I had a major transformation at 48 years old.

like, you don't, you don't look 48.

I'm just saying.

I mean, your

Thank you.

Welcome.

I mean, great.

Yeah, so

very exciting.

So,

thank you so much.

And, you know, so like I said, that's also in, in the obesity

code, Jason fun does recommend doing a meditation practice.

And there's many out there, you know, if someone is Christian,

there's Christian meditations and there's great things to look up.

Like the palms are great.

I love reading those.

There's a love and kindness meditations.

I like doing, you know, mantra meditation where uh, for a while

I did TM Meditation is great.

Now that I'm a yoga and meditation teacher, I've created my own mantra

that works and really that mindfulness.

of, you know, bringing myself into the present moment and reminding myself

it's safe and comfortable for me to, you know, get to my goal weight.

It's safe and comfortable for me to practice fasting, like You know,

yes, there's all this content and, and information out there telling us

to have three meals and two snacks.

But the reality is that fasting has been around for much longer than the

breakfast idea and three snacks a day.

And the science supports fasting.

It does.

And you're right.

I think in order to be successful, there's so much power in what you said

about, know, wrapping our mind around it and getting our mind healthy, uh,

to be able to move forward successfully through this intermittent fasting journey.

So, well, Danielle, we are almost ready to wrap things up.

So, I would love if you would leave our audience with your shiniest gem.

So what is your very, very best intermittent fasting tip for success?

You've given us so many, but if you could choose just one gem, what would

you like to leave us with today?

Okay, this is not an original one.

But I'm going to say it again, um, is hunger is not an emergency.

So the hunger will pass

that

and the results will be worth it.

And it's like a muscle, you know, it's like a muscle.

So it'll get easier and easier over time.

So just trust the process.

fabulous gem.

Fabulous tip.

Danielle, you have been a total superstar and it's going to take me forever to

edit this episode because I want to make sure I write down every awesome

gem that you gave to our audience today.

Um, You are a rock star.

I am so blessed to have met you through the power of the internet and,

um, getting to know you better today and finding out how much we really

have in common, even though we live on opposite sides of the country.

Um, just can't thank you enough for sharing your wisdom and, um, your beauty

and, all of your awesome tips with us.

So thank you so, so much, Danielle.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Well, you've been amazing, so thank you.

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.

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