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 there, fasting friends.

Can you believe it?

We have made it to episode 58 and I am still having so

much fun with this podcast.

So thank you so much for being here with me today.

It means a lot.

Alright, so today we are diving into part two of our little mini series titled 11

Simple Weight Loss Food Swaps to Maximize.

Your intermittent fasting results in the last episode, I gave

you five food swaps to try.

Did you get a chance to try any of them and how did it go?

I would truly love to know.

So send me an email, look me up on Pinterest and let's chat.

Alright, so today I've got the final six food swaps for you, so let's get to it.

Starting with weight loss, food swap number six.

Go with mushrooms instead of meat.

It doesn't have to be all the time, but every once in a while, why

not switch out mushrooms for meat?

Because mushrooms are seriously a fantastic swap for meat when

you're trying to eat healthier and shed some extra pounds.

Now, I do realize that about, and I looked it up, 29% of the population.

Dislikes mushrooms.

I, however, do not fall into that category.

I love mushrooms.

I always have, even from the time I was a kid.

But if you don't like mushrooms, you can tune out for a minute if you do.

Woo-hoo.

Mushrooms are super duper.

Awesome for you.

They're low in calories and they have that meaty texture, which makes your

meals feel satisfying without all the extra fat and calories that sometimes

comes with meat, especially when we are eating a lot of times a lot of red meat.

Um, so if you're trying to cut back on that mushrooms.

Great replacement plus mushrooms are packed with loads of vitamins and minerals

and fiber, and if mushrooms aren't really your thing, listen closely because yes,

eggplant, quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, Tempe, and tofu are all extremely healthy,

plant-based meat replacement choices too.

Moving on to swap number seven.

Hi fries instead of french fries.

OMGI am not gonna lie.

This particular swap was tough.

French fries, especially the beloved, salty, crispy ones that

you can dip in the hot mustard from McDonald's can be so tempting.

So delicious.

Yes.

But if you are really serious about losing weight, you absolutely must throw

those greasy spud sticks out the window.

French fries, literally just take a bath in hot oil, loaded with extra calories,

unhealthy fats, and all of that terrible stuff before they land in your mouth.

Plus french fries can be.

Incredibly, as I'm sure many of you know, addictive, making it very, very easy

to gobble down way more than we should.

Alright, so hear me out because I have a really awesome fix for you.

Hi, ma spelled J-I-C-A-M-A.

Uh, it's a root vegetable that is very low carb.

It's a healthy alternative to the potato, which is used

for, of course, french fries.

I started replacing greasy french fries with hickma fries and oh my goodness,

so specifically garlic, parmesan hickma fries that I easily make in my air fryer.

I've got.

The most awesome, easy, delicious, garlic, Parmesan hick of fries recipe for you.

I'm gonna leave it in the show notes along with exactly how to make it, uh,

with a really short video, a how to video that you can check out when you

start replacing greasy french fries With these healthy garlic parmesan

hickma fries, you will be able to.

Easily pass by those golden arches.

Moving on to swap number eight, healthy fresh fruit smoothies.

Instead of wait for it frozen alcoholic drinks.

You know those ones that you like to sip.

By the pool, um, or just have on a Friday night at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

So this swap might sound like a weird one, but it really does work.

Drinking alcohol can most definitely put the breaks on your weight loss

efforts, even if you're eating really healthy and you're exercising every day.

First off, alcohol is packed.

With sneaky calories, they are sneaky because they're empty

calories that do not fill you up.

So it's easy, easy peasy to overdo it without realizing

how much you're consuming.

Plus alcohol can and will definitely slow down your metabolism when you drink.

Your body focuses on breaking down the alcohol instead of burning.

Fat.

Um, this basically translates into putting your weight loss on hold

until all of that booze is out of your system for me, and I bet a whole

bunch of you out there listening.

Drinking alcohol is really a lot about socializing and having a

fancy, bougie drink in your hand while having fun with friends.

So drinking a healthy non-alcoholic smoothie out of

a fancy sassy margarita glass.

It's a fun little trick that really has worked wonders for me.

Just of course, make sure that you are using whole fruit, uh, and not fruit

juice when you are making your smoothie.

And I do have a blog post on, the 10 best fat burning ingredients

to put in your smoothie.

Um, you can check that out if you want, but again, making this swap,

can really make a huge difference, along your weight loss journey.

Okay, I'll leave the link also to my most favorite fat burning smoothie

recipes in the show notes for you below.

Swap number nine, and I seriously love, love, love this one.

Start snacking on Roasted at a mame instead of greasy potato chips.

Potato chips are definitely not doing your waistline any favors

if you're trying to lose weight.

They are loaded with fat and calories and they really don't have much in the

way of nutrients or fiber, um, or they don't really keep you full either.

If you're craving something salty and crispy and flavorful, you

can try snacking on some roasted at a edamame snacks instead.

And guess what?

Edamame is an awesome complete protein food roasted.

Edamame beans have fewer calories and they are a great high protein, keto

friendly, gluten-free, very healthy snack.

So my absolute favorite brand is definitely the only Bean.

They have five awesome edamame flavors.

Sea salt, wasabi, sriracha, buffalo and ranch.

And the company actually sent me a huge variety pack a few years ago to try.

And I have seriously been hooked ever since.

I have a short little video where I do a review on all of the flavors.

Uh, but I, I honestly, they are so yummy, so healthy, and.

I'll leave the link to, uh, those in the show notes for you.

All right, swab number 10.

Another one that I love and use all the time.

Very versatile.

So regular pizza crust for literally the easiest keto crust.

This smart swap is probably the one that I use, most often.

I love all things pizza.

Um, and that's been, you know, that was really hard to kind of give pizza night

up, but I realized I don't have to.

So traditional pizza crust is made from your refined white flour, which as

we've already discussed, is another very high carb nutrient deficient diet trap.

So.

Instead, I make my very own delicious, gluten-free, keto friendly pizza crust.

And, my husband, this is perfect for him too because in the last couple

years he's become gluten-free, uh, with his gut issues and things like that.

So we do not have traditional pizza crust anymore.

The best part of this, awesome.

Pizza crust, it is so darn easy to make you seriously.

Just mix together four protein rich eggs that are beaten

five ounces Parmesan cheese.

And one tablespoon of your favorite spice.

I personally love to use dill.

I also like to use Italian seasoning, garlic and herb.

The possibilities are truly endless.

So you just mix those three ingredients together, spread the

mixture into a circle, baking dish lined with parchment paper.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 22 minutes, and guess what?

You are done, comes out perfect every single time.

It's so fun to experiment, uh, using different spices for this crust.

Then you can make any kind of pizza you want.

You can make regular pizza, cold TKI chicken pizza.

I got a recipe for that on my.

Recipe tab on my website, Mexican Pizza with sour cream.

You can even make, and I've only done this once, but it turned out awesome fruit

pizza, that, like cold fruit pizza that you take to, parties as an appetizer.

Again, the possibilities are truly endless.

All details will be in the show notes.

Oh my goodness.

This has been fun, fun, fun.

We have already made it to weight loss Swap number 11.

The last and final swap on our list.

I've saved the best for last.

Instead of regular ice cream, start making nice cream.

Seriously.

Who doesn't love?

Ice cream.

It is definitely one of my favorite foods, and my husband's too.

He definitely has a weakness for ice cream.

And when you've been married for over 25 years, you'll find that

their weaknesses, your, your spouse's weaknesses become your weaknesses.

I mean, we'll go to dinner and then he'll be like, yeah, let's save

some room and stop at Uncle Ray's.

It's like the best, um, homemade ice cream shop in our town.

I mean, if you've ever been to the Fenton, Linden, Holly, Michigan area,

you have got to stop into Uncle Ray's.

Ice cream, the, the best they're open from, I think it's like, um, they only

close from like Christmas to Valentine's Day, and then they're the open the rest

of the year, but there's nothing like it, and they have the happiest workers there.

Okay, I'm on a tangent coming back to Nice cream.

Okay.

So seriously, everybody loves ice cream.

Unfortunately.

Ice cream is another fun food that is packed.

With weight loss, unfriendly sugars, carbs, and just crap, however.

There's no need to worry because you can make a very low carb, low

sugar, high protein, yummy version of ice cream that will absolutely

satisfy your sweet tooth and.

Keep you on track with your healthy diet and weight loss goals.

You don't need an ice cream maker or any fancy equipment.

Just a few simple clean ingredients and a mason jar, mason Jar ice

cream is seriously so easy to make.

For the basic recipe, you just need some heavy whipping cream,

protein powder, vanilla or almond extract, and a mason jar.

Of course, you can doctor it up with some fruit or other healthy

add-ins like cacao powder.

But for the basic recipe, that's all you need.

I again, will leave the link to my detailed mason jar ice cream recipe

blog post in the show notes below which, looking at this list, the show notes

are going to be rather long this week.

Guess what?

We did it.

Talk about easy swaps.

11, delicious and nutritious weight loss food swaps that'll have you slimming

down without sacrificing any of the yum.

Flavor.

Let's do a quick recap of all 11 awesome swaps.

Number one, zucchini noodles or doodles instead of traditional white pasta.

Number two, drink sparkling mineral water instead of soda or pop

like we call it here in Michigan.

Number three.

Rice cauliflower instead of white rice or risotto.

Number four, coconut or almond flour instead of white flour.

Number five, love this one half of an avocado instead of a banana

in your fat blasting smoothie.

Number six mushrooms instead of meat.

Number seven, hickma fries instead of french fries.

Number eight, fresh fruit smoothies instead of frozen.

Alcoholic.

Drinks.

Number nine, roasted edamame snacks instead of potato chips.

Number 10, three ingredient keto crust instead of traditional pizza crust.

And finally, number 11, Mason jar ice cream instead of traditional ice cream.

These 11 simple food swaps have the potential to be

long-term game changers for you.

So.

What are you waiting for?

Start making a few small changes, little tweaks that will make a very

big difference when it comes to better nutrition, weight management, and

living an overall healthier lifestyle.

Trust me, your taste buds and your jeans will.

Thank you.

Best of luck to you on your if f weight loss journey.

You have totally got this.

Please keep me posted on your progress because I do want to

be your biggest cheerleader.

Thanks so much for choosing to spend a part of your day with me today.

I truly do appreciate it and I hope you have a very blessed and beautiful 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

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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.