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.

Hey, hey, hey, my fabulous fasting friends.

This January bonus episode is going to be short, but very mighty and powerful.

We are halfway through the month of January, 2025, and hopefully

your intermittent fasting journey is off to an all time high.

awesome start.

I also hope that if you have listened to several of my previous episodes,

you have embraced my seven ingredient apple cider vinegar weight loss drink.

And ideally, you've been breaking your fast with it daily as you move

along your 2025 intermittent fasting health and weight loss journey.

However, if you have not jumped on board the ACV wagon, today is the day.

Why?

Well, first of all, I truly, truly believe it does help to boost your

results, and why wouldn't we want a little extra help if we can get it?

And there are so many potential benefits to taking about a tablespoon

of apple cider vinegar each day, like supporting the digestive system,

balancing blood sugar levels, it helps with detoxification, stimulating

liver function, aiding in the breakdown, and elimination of toxins.

It also promotes satiety and it has the potential to lower insulin levels, rev

up your metabolism, and best of all, prepare your body for optimal weight loss.

No, apple cider vinegar is not a get skinny quick fix where you can just take

some ACV and eat like crap and then do intermittent fasting whenever you want

and expect the pounds to just fall off.

But it was a huge game changer for me when I started adding it into my

daily intermittent fasting routine.

So why not give it a try?

Today I'm going to give the exact recipe so that you can make up some

today and get started with this fast breaking favorite right away.

I'm going to give you a few ACV no no's to steer clear of.

I'm going to share with you exactly when to drink it each day.

And finally I'm going to give you an awesome trick that will make

adding ACV to your day Easy peasy.

Alright, first up is the actual seven ingredient recipe.

You need seven ingredients.

One you need Bragg apple cider vinegar, two organic lemon juice

from the bottle or freshly squeezed.

Next, you need the following for weight loss spices.

You need ground ginger cinnamon.

Next let's talk about when you should drink this ACV drink.

Ideally, you should drink one 7 ingredient ACV cocktail each day,

20 to 30 minutes before taking your very first bite of food for the day.

So, for example, my eating window, and I mostly do OMAD, um, or the 19 5, But

my eating window is usually around 5 p.

m.

to 7, 7.

30 or 8 p.

m.

I generally start cooking dinner around 4.

30 p.

m so after I've been fasting all day, just drinking my black coffee,

plain or sparkling mineral water and green tea, so After that, at about 4.

30 when I begin cooking dinner for my family, I make up an ACB cocktail and I

sip on it over the next 20 to 30 minutes while I'm finishing up making dinner.

I then usually snack on a handful, um, or about a quarter cup of nuts or a hard

boiled egg as I finish up dinner and then I have my large dinner for the day.

It's as easy as that.

So, what does the drink consist of?

One daily serving is one tablespoon of the apple cider vinegar, one

tablespoon of the organic lemon juice.

One teaspoon of all of the four weight loss spices mixed together

and then a 12 ounce can of the citrus flavored sparkling mineral water.

I like to add mine to ice.

Um, we'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute, but I

actually love the taste of it now.

But it may take a little getting used to, and I'm not gonna lie,

it definitely has some bite to it.

I prefer lime mineral water, but orange and lemon are really good too, and if

you can find a lime ginger flavored mineral water, that really tastes awesome.

All right, here are a few things to steer clear of.

First and most important, please use Bragg Organic With The Mother, it says

right on the bottle, Apple Cider Vinegar.

Again, Bragg With The Mother Apple Cider Vinegar.

vinegar.

You can get other generic apple cider vinegar brands, but I highly, highly

recommend sticking with the real stuff.

Just get the Bragg brand and just be done with it.

You can order it from Amazon.

You can also find it for between five and seven dollars for a big bottle

of it at most regular grocery stores.

Walmart has it.

It's not hard to find.

Next no, no, and this is a big one, never, ever, never, drink

apple cider vinegar straight up.

without diluting it.

That is not safe and it can really wreck the enamel on your teeth

and a bunch of other nasty stuff.

So, don't just say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll just skip all that other

stuff and choke down a tablespoon of ACV and be done with it.

Again, don't do that.

It's not safe and also it's not as effective without the

other ingredients mixed in.

All right.

If you happen to not be a fan of sparkling water You can mix it with

regular water Just regular tap water.

I just personally think it tastes pretty nasty with just regular water,

but I have talked to some people who don't mind it along those same lines.

I highly recommend mixing it with citrus flavored mineral water and staying

far away from fruity flavors, like berry flavors and coconut and really

sweet, um, flavors of mineral water.

For some reason, most people report back that it tastes super nasty

with the fruity flavors and I.

Absolutely, 100 percent agree with them.

I am not a fan.

I really, really do like it with the citrus orange, lemon,

and lime flavors though.

And finally, here's a trick that will make this daily routine so, so easy for you.

I started doing this about six months into fasting.

I was just making my own individual drink every day.

It was getting kind of old.

It was taking me a little time.

Um, but once I started with this trick, it made my fasting life so much easier.

So instead of making up.

individual ACV drink every day when you're ready to break your fast.

I like to mix all of the ingredients and make them into mini ice cubes.

So you'll need one to two of those silicone mini muffin pans.

They work so good for this.

I like to use the ones that have the 24 wells in it.

They are the perfect size.

Then all you do is, and I like to do it at the beginning of each

month, I just make up a big batch.

First I take all four full bottles of spices and I dump the ginger, cinnamon,

turmeric, and cayenne pepper into a medium sized airtight container.

And I mix it all up really good with a spoon.

Then I add one tablespoon of the apple cider vinegar to each well.

Then one tablespoon of the organic lemon juice to each of the, um, muffin wells, I

buy the Italian Volcano brand from Amazon, but you can use any organic lemon juice.

or freshly squeezed, but that does take a lot more time.

So next what I do is I add one teaspoon, not tablespoon, one teaspoon of the mixed

spices in my container, um, to each well.

Then I just take a butter knife and I stir each well around just

a few times, swirl it around.

I freeze the cubes for a few hours.

And then once they are frozen, I usually just pop them.

They just pop right out of those silicone molds.

Pop them right out.

And I store them all in a Ziploc baggie in the freezer.

And then all you have to do when you are ready to make your drink up for the

day is take one ACV cube out of the bag from the freezer, drop it in a glass

and add your 12 ounce can of citrus sparkling mineral water, wait about

five minutes for the cube to dissolve.

It's actually really fun to watch.

Wait for it to dissolve into the mineral water and voila.

It's ready to drink and start sipping on, um, before you

have your first bite of food.

So it's seriously the best trick ever.

And that, my fasting friends, is it.

That's all there is to it.

So easy and so quick.

I will leave the link to my detailed apple cider vinegar drink blog

post in the show notes below.

You can find the full recipe, a short video tutorial, and the recipe

directions for exactly how to make the cubes, again, in that blog post

on my website, sowhatifwithjen.

com.

The biggest key to this ACV game changing strategy is consistency.

Please don't think you can drink this once a week or whenever you feel like it

and expect to get these fabulous results.

It's not gonna happen.

But it really can improve your health and give you a boost

along your weight loss journey.

If you are consistent, I recommend trying to break your fast with it

daily, and if not daily, shoot for at least five to six times a week.

Thank you so much for tuning in to this bonus episode.

I really, really appreciate it.

Also, you are not going to want to miss my next two episodes where

I'll be sharing a two part series 15 ways to bust through a frustrating

intermittent fasting weight loss plateau.

Have yourself an incredible day.

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 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 sowhatifwithjen.

com.

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

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.