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.

Welcome to the show if you're a first time listener and welcome

back if you've been hanging out and listening with us for a bit.

I am so excited to have everyone here today.

So, all right, in the last episode, we talked about falling

off of the intermittent fasting.

Wagon, getting out of our regular fasting routine, maybe getting a little lax with

our fasting lifestyle and unfortunately possibly gaining a bit of the weight back,

uh, that maybe we had previously lost.

I gave you in that episode, eight ways to turn things around and get.

Back on the wagon fast and back into your daily fasting routine, and one of those

eight ways was to complete a prolonged or an extended fast because OMG and

extended fast might be just what you need to reset your body and get things

moving in the right direction again.

So in today's bonus podcast episode, I am going to share 11 simple tips

to help you complete an extended fast with comfort and ease.

Alright, so let's jump right in.

First of all, I'm not going to spend a whole bunch of time today on all

of the incredible benefits linked to completing an extended fast.

I'll go ahead and save that for another podcast episode.

But let me just quickly say that not only can an extended fast help to jumpstart

and speed up your weight loss, it can also stimulate brain cell regeneration.

Improve insulin sensitivity, enhance cellular repair, reduce inflammation

in the body, increase energy levels, improve digestive health,

and studies have even shown that it may also help protect us against.

Chronic diseases.

Now, again, I am not a doctor, just a teacher who has done a lot of

research on fasting, and I've been fasting for four and a half years

now, and so I have done a lot of extended fasts and I absolutely love.

The way that they make me feel.

I wanna encourage you to get out there and do your own research too,

on how great they can really be for both your health and your waistline.

Okay?

Now let's talk about how to comfortably.

Do an extended fast, because I know that it can be kind of scary when

you do your first one, but just like anything else, it does get easier

and easier the more you do it.

Here are some tips to help you get that first extended fast under your belt.

Tip number one.

Talk to your doctor.

Just make sure that you're good to go with your healthcare

professional, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.

Um, I know that I talked to my doctor about my fasting schedule when I

first started, and he was all for it.

But it's also a good idea to just check in with them first just to make sure.

Tip number two, go slow and make sure you have prior fasting experience.

If you're somebody who is just looking to lose weight, but you've not been

practicing at least some sort of intermittent fasting schedule, whether

it be 16, eight, or 18 six, I would definitely say you should hold off for a

bit on doing an extended fast until after you've been doing shorter intermittent

fasting for maybe at least a few months.

Tip number three, this has to do with prepping for the extended

fast, and that is to try and eat.

A whole food low sugar diet, rich in fiber, healthy fats and proteins

with plenty of vegetables, avocados, legumes for a few days leading up

to starting your extended fast.

This is going to help stabilize your blood sugar and prolong

satiety during your extended.

Fast Tip number four, plan to hydrate, hydrate, and then hydrate some more.

So during an extended fast, you are not eating any food, so you most definitely

need to up your clean fasting fluid intake to prevent, dehydration, so you're gonna

wanna stick to black coffee, unflavored tea, green or black unflavored, plain

sparkling mineral water, and lots and lots and lots of just plain old water.

Tip number five.

Honestly, I think this one might be my biggest tip for an extended fast.

I've talked about it plenty before in prior episodes, and it is to

use an electrolyte supplement.

I absolutely will not do an extended fast, nothing past 24 hours if

I don't have a raw unflavored.

LMNT Electrolyte supplement packet handy.

It absolutely helps me power through my fast.

It helps me to not get a headache or feel achy and tired.

You may have to play around with when exactly to take it during your extended

fast, but I have found that taking it between the 20 and 22 hour mark of

my extended fast works beautifully.

For me, that is right around the time that my body starts feeling a little wonky.

Like, Hey, what's going on here?

So what I do is I like to pour a 12 ounce can of unflavored

plain sparkling mineral water.

I usually just use the blue innocent LaCroix I poured into

a glass with some ice, and then.

Dump in one packet of plain unflavored element, tea element

electrolytes into my mineral water.

I stir it around and sip on it for 30 to 40 minutes.

It totally works and helps me breeze through the rest of my fast, whether that

be until the 36 hour mark and sometimes I even push it to the 48 hour mark.

Just make sure and I repeat, make sure.

This is so, so important that you use the raw unflavored electrolyte supplement

and not the flavored kind because that will absolutely break your fast

electrolyte supplement and not the flavored kind because that will absolutely

break your fast spike, your start again, because that will absolutely break your

fast spike, your insulin, all that jazz.

So stick to the plane stuff.

I will leave the link to the stuff I've been using for the last four years.

Uh, I will leave it in the show notes below.

If, and I think this has happened to me maybe once or twice, if you get

stuck and you're halfway through your extended fast and you realize, uhoh,

I don't have an electrolyte supplement handy, you can grab some mineral

sea salt and put a pinch or two into your water, and that should help with

balancing the electrolytes and hopefully helping you feel more comfortable.

Number six, take it easy.

I definitely recommend minimizing intense physical activity

during your extended fast.

Stay away from hit or high intensity workouts and stick to more gentle

exercises like yoga and walking.

I usually do an extra long walk, usually about 60 minutes

on the treadmill or outside.

If it's a nice day when I complete an extended fast, gentle exercise will

help you to conserve energy and support metabolic adaptation during your fast.

Alright, moving on to tip number seven.

Listen.

Listen, listen to your body.

If you are determined to do an extended fast and you get 20 or 22 hours into

it and you've taken an electrolyte supplement, and you just seriously

feel like death that you need to listen to your body, stop the fast, eat

something and you can just try again at another time, it's not a big deal.

I'm not going to say that you're going to feel fabulous the whole

time especially if you're just starting out and you haven't done many

extended fast before, you're probably gonna feel a little off the first

few times, but it does get easier.

What I am saying is that if you feel much worse than just off a little

bit, if you feel really, really bad, then you need to listen to your body.

Eat something and try again at another time.

Maybe you need to take a more gradual approach, like do a 20 hour fast than a

24 hour fast, then 28 hours and so on.

Instead of jumping from doing an 18 hour daily fast and then just going

balls to the wall into a 48 hour fast.

Some people can do that, others can't.

So again, just listen to your body.

Tip number eight, don't over fast or do too many extended fasts.

I recommend starting with maybe one extended fast a month.

You don't want to overly restrict your body because that can get dangerous.

Tip number nine, be smart with what foods you choose to break your

extended or prolonged fast with.

It's very important to remember that whatever foods work for you when you

break your fast, when you do your regular 18 six or 16 eight intermittent fasting

schedule absolutely might not work for you with an extended fast your body.

Is extra sensitive after an extended fast, and you need to be smart

and break your fast with something that will soothe your gut lining.

Otherwise, you run the risk of getting bad stomach cramps or diarrhea or other.

Really uncomfortable side effects.

My absolute go-to food for breaking my fast after a 24 to 48

hour fast is always bone broth.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of breaking your fast with

bone broth, you can go back and listen to episode number 30 of this podcast

titled 13 Bone Broth Benefits for Fasting Plus Easy Homemade Recipe.

I have an awesome, super easy, homemade crockpot chicken bone broth

recipe that I always have made up ready to go when I know I'm getting

ready to do an extended fast.

You can also go back and listen to episode eight titled eight Safe and Delicious

Foods that Make Breaking Your Fast.

A piece of cake.

Um, in this episode, I give you eight food options with bone broth being number one

for breaking your fast easily and safely.

You can check that out if you want.

Just again, be smart about what you choose to first put into your

mouth following a longer fast.

Along those same lines, tip number 10, you definitely do not.

Want to break your fast with a binge?

You want to introduce food slowly back into your system.

Oh my goodness.

If you are like, I just went 42 hours without eating and I can't wait

to scarf down this whole plate of delicious chicken cheesy nachos, you

are going to be so sorry and all sorts of yucky stuff will probably happen.

So go easy peasy when you first break your fast.

And finally, tip number 11, find yourself an accountability partner.

Or group a lot of times in my free intermittent fasting Facebook group.

So what if with Jen, somebody in the group will pop up and they'll post like,

Hey, I'm gonna do a 36 hour extended fast starting at 7:00 PM tonight.

Does anyone wanna join me?

And then a few people are like, yeah, I'm in the mood to do one.

So, um, I'll join you.

And then you instantly have a support group to hang with and

complete the fast with making it easier and way more fun too.

Alright, so are you ready to complete your very first extended fast?

Because it truly is awesome.

You are going to feel so, so good after you do it.

Um, I'd love to hear from you about how it goes.

Just remember to number one, check with your doctor.

Number two, go slow and make sure you've been intermittent fasting

for a bit, um, before you try.

Number three, prepare by eating healthy Whole Foods for a few

days before you start your fast.

Number four, plan to hydrate.

Hydrate, and then.

You guessed it, hydrate some more.

Five, get yourself an unflavored, electrolyte supplement that you can

take in the middle of your fast to help you push through when your body

starts feeling a little bit wonky.

Number six, take it easy with your exercise routine.

Seven.

Listen very closely to your body.

Number eight, do not over fast.

Number nine, be smart with the foods that you choose to break your extended

fast with my golden recommendation being bone broth, for sure.

10. Whatever you do, do not break your fast with a binge.

And finally, number 11, get yourself an accountability fasting buddy.

Or better yet, you can join our so what if with Jen free fasting

Facebook group for support.

Hey everybody.

Happy spring.

We have finally made it to a little bit warmer weather.

I was starting to wonder if we'd ever get there over here in Michigan, but I

think we have finally turned the good weather corner and left the snow behind,

at least for the next six months or so.

Happy fasting everybody.

I can't wait to catch up with you in the next episode.

In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me.

You can find me on Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube, and a little bit on Instagram.

I'm still working on that, but I'd love to check with you about

your personal intermittent fasting journey, and I just hope that you

have the absolute best day ever.

Take care.

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.