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.

Hey, hey, hey, my fabulous fasting friends.

Welcome to episode number 57 of the Intermittent Fasting

Gems with Jen podcast.

I am super excited that you're here with me today.

Thank you so very much.

Alright, so today we are chatting about simple.

But healthy food swaps who said healthy eating can't be fun?

Right.

So, uh, since starting my fasting journey in 2021, when I finally got serious about

saying goodbye to fad diets and started focusing on losing weight for good, I've

made some fun food swaps along the way.

Today I'll be sharing five of the 11 super simple, healthy weight loss food

swaps I've made over the last few years that have helped me reach my weight loss,

weight maintenance, and health goals.

With intermittent fasting, these simple swaps have pretty much

become a staple in my routine now.

Um, they've helped me shed extra pounds while still enjoying every single bite.

And honestly, these smart swaps are so tasty.

I often forget that I'm actually eating healthy.

I hope that by sharing my simple swaps with you today, that they

will help you reach your goals too.

So get ready to transform your taste buds and your waistline.

Alright, I'll be giving you five food swaps to try today.

I don't wanna overload with all 11.

And then the last six of the 11 swaps will be in my next episode.

Ready?

Set.

Let's get swapping.

Alright, swap number one.

Eat zucchini noodles instead.

Pasta.

So while pasta is undeniably delicious, it is also incredibly

high-end carbs, which can definitely lead to spikes in blood sugar.

And those extra pesky pounds.

Pasta dishes also often contain rich sauces, making them very calorie

dense, meaning it has a whole bunch of calories with just a small amount

of food, which can make it really easy to consume too many calories.

If you eat too much of it, which if you're anything like me, when I eat

pasta, I always eat way too much.

Finally, most pasta is very low in fiber and lacks essential nutrients like

vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy and balanced diet simply by trading.

Traditional white pasta for zucchini noodles or zoodles is

what they're usually called.

You are going to save yourself.

Are you ready for it?

You will save yourself about 200 calories and almost 40 grams of carbs per one cup.

That is seriously a very smart swap.

I have a really good tip for you.

I've been using for the last several years now, this very

inexpensive veggie spiralizer.

That works awesome.

I use it with zucchini when I make my zoodles.

It works great and it can also be used with squash, cucumbers, and carrots too.

I'll leave the link to that in the show notes below.

Moving on to swap number two, and this is a super duper big one.

Drink sparkling mineral water instead of soda pop.

So did you know that a 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew contains

a whopping 77 grams of sugar?

That is just crazy to me.

Sugary drinks are, in my opinion.

Seriously the weight loss devil, which is why this weight loss food

swap is one you simply can't ignore.

Swapping regular soda or pop, like we say here in Michigan for naturally flavored

zero calorie sparkling mineral water.

Is such a smart move for your health and your waistline.

By making this very simple switch, you're cutting out a

ton of sugar and empty calories.

That can most definitely lead to weight gain and, uh.

Lots of other issues with chronic diseases too.

Plus, I have found that sparkling mineral water can be just as

refreshing and satisfying as soda.

The tiny carbonation bubbles, they just.

Do like this little dance in your tummy, and it curbs hunger too.

I drink flavored mineral water during my eating window, and then I drink the

plain mineral water during my intermittent fasting window so that it doesn't exit.

Dly spike any insulin levels and break my fast.

My favorite go-to sparkling mineral water brands are LaCroix.

Uh, Waterloo is really good, and Bella V, which you can get if you

live close to an Aldi grocery store.

Also, if you live near an Aldi grocery store, I highly recommend

purchasing your sparkling mineral water there because Aldi has.

An incredible selection with a ton of yummy mineral water flavors, and their

prices are the absolute best that I have found, compared to places all over.

Their prices are really incredible.

At first.

This, I will definitely admit, this was a very, very hard swap for me.

I. Was seriously addicted to Dr. Pepper and the Coke from

McDonald's for many, many years.

When I was teaching kindergarten, years ago, I would, at the end of

the day, head down to the teacher's lounge, once I finished my day and I

was exhausted, but knew I had to lesson plan for the next day, I'd grab two 20

ounce Dr. Peppers out of the, vending machine in the lounge and bring 'em

back to my kindergarten classroom.

And I, I just thought, oh, I deserve this.

And, I would drink 'em for the next two hours while I planned in my classroom.

And I, I just cannot even believe how terrible that really was for me.

So it, it was a hard one for me to break, but now I do not

even miss, soda one tiny bit.

So if you're just gonna pick one out of the swaps that I give you today, I

would suggest starting with this one.

Alright, moving on to swap number three.

Cauliflower, instead of white rice or risotto.

Using cauliflower to replace white rice is an absolutely incredible

weight loss, friendly food swap.

Did you know that one cup of cooked white rice contains just over 200 calories?

In addition to being high in calories, rice has a high glycemic

index, meaning it can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar levels.

Leading to hunger and potential overeating.

In addition to being very easy to overeat, white.

Rice is also low in fiber and may also lead to insulin resistance.

Now choosing rice cauliflower.

And this is very easy to do.

You can just buy, I usually just go to the frozen food section of my local

grocery store and they have those frozen packages of rice, cauliflower.

Some of 'em have.

Herbs, uh, already mixed in, they're delicious.

So you can just pop them in the microwave and in five minutes

you have rice cauliflower.

I like to add a lot of different fun stuff to mine.

I'll get to that in a minute.

But choosing rice cauliflower instead of white rice can save you

179 calories and 40 grams of carbs.

Per cup.

That is huge.

Additionally, cauliflower has a ton, and I mean a ton of health benefits.

It's also, again, it's, it's a very versatile weight loss vegetable.

I mean, just go on Pinterest and you can find 8 million ways,

fun ways to make cauliflower into crust and I don't know, so.

I started making this dreamy, creamy, that's what I call

it, because that's what it is.

Dreamy, creamy cauliflower risotto A few years ago.

I make it all the time now, and it is absolutely my all time favorite

healthy way to enjoy cauliflower.

It makes for the perfect healthy side dish recipe, for dinner or sometimes I

make it up and add some grilled chicken or salmon to it and make it a main meal.

So, so good.

I will leave the recipe for you in the show notes.

Okay.

Swap number four, start using coconut or almond flour instead of white flour.

In many ways, white flour basically falls into the same diet trap

as pasta, rice, and white bread.

Swapping white flour for almond or coconut flour is a great way to make

your favorite baked goods healthier.

Weight loss friendly and gluten-free too.

White flour has been basically stripped of its bran and germ

which contain most of the healthy fiber.

Coconut and almond flour are much lower in carbs and higher in fiber

in protein, which means they'll keep you feeling full for longer and they

won't cause your blood sugar to spike like white flour does plus almond and

coconut flour add a delicious, nutty.

Little flavor to your recipes, making them super duper yummy.

Once I made the switch and threw out the white flour and started baking with almond

and coconut flour, I gotta tell you, the pounds really started to melt off.

I love to use Bob's red Mill organic, uh, almond flour and coconut flour.

To make my own tasty bread, I make mug cakes, , with almond and coconut flour and

other really healthy low carb desserts.

I will link, to my favorite almond and coconut flour, in

the show notes too for you.

Now I do wanna say this is kind of a tip that I've kind of

picked up in the last year or so.

A few years ago I read, and then recently, just a few months ago, reread Dr. Josh

X's incredible book Eat Dirt, which is all about improving your gut health.

If you have not read that book, you have got to read that book.

It is simply incredible.

But since rereading that book.

I will say that I probably 90% of the time Choose because of

what he has said in his book.

Choose Organic Coconut Flour over Almond Flours.

So I do still use almond flour from time to time, and I, I enjoy it, but coconut

flour, , has been kind of my go-to and I really, really love the quality of it.

Okay, moving on to, swap number five, and I, I love this one.

Avocado instead of a banana in your smoothies.

Alright.

You might be thinking, Jen, you are crazy.

Bananas are so healthy and they taste so good.

In my weight loss smoothie.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know.

And honestly, I love bananas too, but.

Despite bananas being a nutritious fruit, they are one of the 10 foods I completely

avoided while I was losing 46 pounds.

And this is because there are some reasons why they may not be considered the most

weight loss friendly option for everyone.

First.

Bananas are relatively high in carbohydrates like.

27 to 30 grams of carbs in a medium sized banana.

So people who follow a low carb or keto diet for weight loss like

I do, should definitely consider limiting their banana intake.

Next.

Bananas are naturally high in sugars.

Particularly fructose.

While these sugars are natural, consuming, too much sugar, even from natural sources,

can definitely contribute to weight gain.

And finally, bananas have a moderate to high glycemic index.

Meaning they can cause a rapid increase in blood sugar levels leading.

To increased hunger and cravings, and I know a lot of people, they don't

realize it, but sugar from fruit can cause us to crave more unhealthy foods,

sugary foods, and make us hungrier too.

So you just wanna look out for that.

Alright, back to the smoothie issue.

The main reason people like adding a banana to their weight

loss smoothie is because it adds a nice, thick, creamy texture.

Well, no worries.

This is the perfect fix for you.

So instead of adding a banana to your smoothie drop in one half.

Of an avocado, you will get the same creamy texture and you'll be adding

some pretty awesome heart disease, fighting healthy fats to your diet too.

And just by making this simple swap, you are going to save 14.3 grams of sugar.

That's a lot of sugar, and 18 grams of carbs.

Instantly turning your diet trap smoothie into a fat blasting treat instead.

All right, so today I have given you five simple but healthy weight loss

food swaps to try, and I'll be back with my next episode on October 30th,

where I'll be sharing the last six super simple weight loss food swaps with you.

All right, my fasting friends, go out there and have yourself a super

duper incredible day, and I hope to catch up with you in the next episode.

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

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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.

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

Fasting Facebook support group.

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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.