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.

Hello, everybody.

I am back with part two of 25 intermittent fasting hacks for faster weight loss.

In this episode, I'll be sharing the last 12 strategies and tips to

help you speed up your intermittent fasting weight loss results.

And if you're new and tuning into this podcast for the first time, I recommend

going back and listening to episode number 23, which is part one of this

series, where I give you the first 13 IF hacks for faster weight loss.

All right, let's jump right in and get started.

to it.

Beginning with hack number 14, eat veggies like a boss.

Choosing to eat veggies like a boss is one of the easiest and most

effective ways to lose weight quickly.

And this is because vegetables have fewer calories, and they

are very nutrient dense foods.

So not only are vegetables uber healthy for you.

They have a very high water and a very high fiber content.

And this is amazing because they help fill our bellies up quickly, making it way

easier to reduce overall calorie intake.

High fiber foods like veggies are better choices for weight loss because they

move through the digestive tract slowly.

Nutritious food keeps us feeling fuller for longer, and when we're intermittent

fasting, this has huge health benefits.

We also don't absorb calories from fiber, so, It just provides

really satisfying volume.

Some of my very favorite weight loss vegetables include cauliflower, mushrooms,

kale, pumpkin, zucchini, squash, spinach, broccoli, and romaine lettuce.

Number 15.

Break your fast with ACV or Apple Cider Vinegar.

If you really want to step up your weight loss game, you have got

to try breaking your fast with Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

Apple Cider Vinegar is the bomb!

And it is by far my number one go to solution for breaking my

intermittent fast every day.

Um, since adopting an intermittent fasting lifestyle and losing 46

pounds in four months, I have been breaking my fast every single day

with ACV for almost four years now.

Why ACV?

Well, I'm going to tell you.

ACV stimulates the fat burning process, aiding with weight loss, improves gut

health by killing harmful bacteria, it stabilizes blood glucose levels, lowers

insulin levels and improves insulin sensitivity, it helps make you feel fuller

for longer, it stimulates the digestive tract and improves digestion and the

coolest of them all, it has the potential to prepare your body for Optimal.

So it is important though to know that you should never drink

ACV without it being diluted.

And you also need to be careful when you are purchasing ACV from the store.

Read the label to make sure that you are getting the real deal.

I highly recommend purchasing the Bragg Organic with the mother.

Apple cider vinegar.

You can get it off Amazon, or you can easily buy it at almost any grocery store.

I will leave the link to my seven ingredient fast breaking ACV drink

recipe in the show notes for you below.

I simply make up a whole batch of them using those cute little silicone, um,

mini muffin holders and I freeze them into ACV cubes that include the lemon juice

and the weight loss spices, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger and cayenne pepper.

And then all you have to do right before I'm going to break my fast

for the day is I pop out a cube.

I add 12 ounces of my.

favorite citrus flavored sparkling mineral water, whether that's orange or lime

or lemon, whatever I'm in the mood for.

I'll wait about five minutes and it's, it dissolves and voila,

it's ready to drink before my very first bite of food for the day.

Moving on to number 16 on my hacks for speeding up your IF weight loss is

this, and it's another really big tip.

End your eating window with a healthy fat.

Alright, here's the deal.

Fat can actually be your friend when it comes to weight loss.

Certain foods spike your insulin levels and they disrupt your blood sugar

levels much more than other foods.

than other foods do and this can sometimes cause your body to have

a crash and burn feeling and a drop in energy levels after you eat them.

However, foods that contain healthy fats create an extremely low

if any Insulin slash blood sugar spike when they are consumed.

So, ending your eating window with a healthy fat food really is an

excellent strategy that can help you to fast easier and longer

and ultimately lose more weight.

So, closing your eating window with a healthy fat food food helps stabilize

your blood sugar, and it really does help ramp up your energy levels.

Munching on healthy fats at the end of your eating window specifically

promotes satiety and feelings of fullness that last well into your next fast,

and This, my fasting friends, is a very, very beautiful thing, and that's

because it will give you that extra push that you need to easily reach your

fasting, weight loss, and health goals.

So maybe grab a piece of paper real quick, because I'm going to give you 10

of the best healthy fat foods for weight loss that can very easily be added to

your intermittent fasting meal plan.

They are avocados.

coconut oil, walnuts, salmon, macadamia nuts, eggs, pumpkin seeds,

olive oil, almonds, and Greek yogurt.

Surely you can pick out two to three foods from that list that you like, and that

will help you blast some serious fat.

Moving on to number 17, eat a tablespoon of coconut oil daily.

Oh my goodness, seriously, the weight and fat loss benefits and results

of ingesting one to two tablespoons of organic coconut oil daily are

nothing short of mind blowing, truly.

And as I just mentioned, coconut oil is a very, Healthy fat.

It's one of the ten, um, greatest ones for you.

And a healthy fat that also contains zero carbs.

Studies have shown that coconut oil is also thermogenic.

Which means eating it tends to rev up your metabolism and

increase fat burning in the body.

Coconut oil also boosts energy levels, reduces your appetite,

and it keeps you feeling full.

In addition, it can help keep your hormones balanced, regulate

blood sugar levels and even possibly reduce abdominal fat.

Some of my very favorite ways to incorporate coconut oil into my daily

intermittent fasting routine include cooking and baking with coconut oil.

You can swap out the use of butter and other cooking and

baking oils for coconut oil.

And it's super yummy.

You can add one to two tablespoons of coconut oil to your

favorite weight loss smoothie.

I love doing that.

Uh, you can also add it to your coffee for an instant, healthy and

super yummy creamer replacement.

Just make sure that you do it during your eating window because

it does have calories and it will break your clean fast.

You can drizzle melted coconut oil over yogurt or popcorn.

Just pop a spoonful or two of coconut oil into the microwave

and heat it for about 20 seconds.

It will completely change to a liquid form and then drizzle away

and enjoy the total yumminess.

It's so, so good, but I have to say that my absolute by far favorite way

to enjoy coconut oil daily is by eating one to two of my delicious homemade

low carb coconut oil fat bombs as I close my eating window for the day.

By doing this, you are actually executing a few different weight

loss hacks with one simple action.

So, give it a try.

Recipe will be in the show notes.

Number 18, you need to be a busy bee.

If you want to fast easier and longer and lose more weight with

intermittent fasting, you simply need to turn yourself into a busy bee.

I know that when I am busy, fasting really is a piece of cake.

I am a teacher, and I know that when I'm busy at work with my students,

I'm not even thinking about food or eating one tiny little bit.

It is a good idea to focus on activities that distract you from

hunger, But aren't too strenuous.

It also might be helpful to stay away from food related activities

like cooking or baking or watching TV with too many yummy food commercials.

I have a blog post titled 101 non food activities to make

fasting easier and more fun.

You can check it out in the show notes below.

All right, number 19, drink green tea.

There are so, so, so many massive benefits of green tea that can help

you to not only shed pounds, but also improve your long term health.

Green tea has the potential to increase your metabolism, boost energy levels,

improve focus, strengthen your immune system, lower stress levels, reduce

body inflammation, improve oral health, and it may even reduce your risk for

diabetes and extend your lifespan.

Woohoo!

Wow, so many awesome things related to drinking green tea.

I personally love the Bigelow Organic Classic brand.

It's so good.

So why not grab your favorite mug, sit back, and enjoy a cup of this awesome tea?

antioxidant rich, plant based, truly magnificent beverage.

Oh, and I actually love to have my green tea sometimes cold and mixed

with plain sparkling mineral water.

It just mixes things up a little bit, keeps things interesting,

uh, during my fasting window.

And since they are both clean fasting drinks, you won't be breaking your fast

if you drink it during your fasting hours.

Yum.

Number 20, get creative with protein powder.

Incorporating a quality protein powder into my intermittent fasting

meal plan has been a complete game changer for me when it comes to weight

loss and weight maintenance too.

Just be careful because a lot of the protein powder out there on the market

is packed with a lot of crap like extra sugar and just artificial junk.

So, luckily, I found Quest protein powder.

It's, uh, It's my favorite because it's low carb, it's gluten free, it's low

sugar, it's low calorie, it's packed with plenty of delicious protein, and

it doesn't have that chalky aftertaste like so many protein powders do.

Oh, and you can easily bake with it too.

Quest has a bunch of yummy flavors.

My favorite, um, definitely is the salted caramel.

And I also have really come to love the cinnamon crunch flavor too.

I have a blog post with 10 easy and delicious protein

powder recipes for weight loss.

These recipes include smoothies, protein shakes, and even desserts

like a mason jar, protein ice cream, and a salted caramel mug cake.

The link to that post will be in the show notes below.

We have reached number 21.

Snooze to lose.

So this specific intermittent fasting hack for weight loss,

quite often gets overlooked.

Did you know that the amount of sleep we get each night is

directly related to reaching or not reaching our weight loss goals?

Researchers say poor sleeping patterns can absolutely lead to weight gain.

Getting fewer than six to seven hours of sleep each night is considered

short sleep and short sleep has been repeatedly linked to weight

gain, greater waist circumference, accumulation of dangerous belly fat

and a higher BMI or body mass index.

In addition, short sleep people have a 41 percent risk of becoming obese.

So, lack of sleep also negatively affects our hunger hormone levels.

And what it does is it increases ghrelin, which makes you feel

hungry, and it decreases leptin, which makes you feel full.

And in turn, these disruptors often influence a person to crave

and then consume More sugary and highly processed junk foods.

Poor sleep has also been linked to the increase of cortisol.

A hormone.

that is related to stress.

Getting enough sleep can absolutely help moderate your appetite, and it

also may help you to make healthier food choices, like I mentioned earlier.

Interestingly, getting enough sleep each night can also benefit your metabolism.

The length of your sleep may also have an effect on RMR, which is your

resting metabolic rate, or the number of calories that your body burns.

when it is at rest.

Moving on to number 22.

I love this one.

Start shopping at Aldi Foods.

Every Sunday afternoon around noon, I have a very hot date

that I never like to break.

And that very special date is with, of course, my husband, um, and a

German grocery store named Aldi.

So I discovered the magic of Aldi in early 2021 on my journey toward

better health and weight loss.

And I have got to tell you that I am now Madly in love with

Aldi foods for so many reasons.

The variety of the different foods that they have, the

savings is absolutely ridiculous.

Like I get to the checkout and I'm like, there's no way I feel

like I need to pay you more money.

It's awesome.

The product quality.

Um, so those are just a few of my very favorite benefits.

Aldi makes it so easy to make healthy choices.

While living an intermittent fasting lifestyle, I will link below to the

nine products that I buy just about every single week on that Aldi date.

Um, they are the nine products that helped me lose 46 pounds in four months

and now maintain my weight loss today.

Number 23 is another big one.

Get your mind right.

It's totally natural to get sucked into diet culture thinking.

And this is why placing a great deal of importance on mental

health when it comes to weight loss, it's, it's an absolute must.

There will 100 percent be naysayers and plenty of them, and as you begin to

lose weight, others who may be jealous that you're looking and feeling great,

they're going to spew negative comments.

You, you have to get right with your mind and surround yourself with supportive

and positive people that build you up.

If I had listened to all of the negativity that I encountered throughout

my journey, I never would have reached the goals that I have, and I wouldn't

feel as fantastic as I do now.

A great way to keep yourself motivated and pumped up and positive is by

listening to Motivational Weight Loss and Health podcasts and joining and

interacting with others inside social media, support groups and Facebook groups.

I got hooked on Jen Stevens, Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast.

I love listening to the intermittent fasting success stories of others.

They're so inspirational and motivational.

And I even had the privilege of being a guest on Jen's podcast

in, I believe, 2022 and chatting with Jen and telling my complete.

If Success story, it's episode number 237 on her Intermittent

Fasting Stories podcast.

I will leave the link to that episode below if you want to

go ahead and give it a listen.

Number 24, mix up your fasting routine from alternate day fasting

to OMA or the Warrior Diet.

Finding an intermittent fasting plan and weight loss schedule and routine

that works just right for you.

It can be a bit tricky and it really does often take some serious trial and error.

I have most definitely found that, like the saying says, variety

really is the spice of life.

And when it comes to fasting, it's so important to avoid

getting too comfortable.

You definitely don't want to do the same thing day after day.

Intermittent fasting is flexible and it offers many

different ways to be successful.

So I mix up my routine and my fasting methods to ensure that I keep my

metabolism humming and my body guessing.

And I now have a pretty good understanding of what I must do as

far as mixing things up, um, so that I can maintain my weight within,

uh, About a five, five pound range.

So finally, we have reached number 25 be consistent and listen to your body.

Pay close attention to how your body responds to fasting, and

adjust your fasting schedule and your action plan accordingly.

Additionally, it's important to maintain a consistent fasting schedule that will help

manage blood sugar and insulin levels.

Intermittent fasting totally works, but it does take some time.

And that's why it's doable and sustainable and a long term solution to

weight loss and to weight management.

So, there you have it.

In addition to the first 13 hacks to speed up your intermittent fasting weight

loss, consider eating veggies like a boss.

Breaking your fast with apple cider vinegar daily.

End your eating window with a healthy fat.

Eat one to two tablespoons of organic coconut oil daily.

Be a busy bee.

Drink green tea.

Get creative with a protein powder like quest.

Get plenty of sleep each night.

Start shopping at Aldi.

Get your mind right, switch your fasting routine up from time to time, and be

consistent, and listen to your body.

Remember, the main thing is consistency and patience.

So stick with it and don't forget to celebrate your

awesome progress along the way.

I will be cheering you on.

Every single step of the way.

And as we wrap up today, I want to give a huge thank you and a shout out

to our December success story guest, Mary O'Rourke, who lost an incredible,

and I mean incredible 100 pounds.

Mary has found impressive success, mainly by using the OMAD and sometimes the 19.

5 intermittent fasting schedule.

Mary's shiniest gem to us was this.

Patience is key when it comes to success with intermittent fasting.

It's so important to realize that intermittent fasting is

not a crash or a fad diet that will yield results overnight.

Intermittent fasting is healthy, consistent, sustainable, and healthy.

And it works.

It takes time, but it's definitely worth the journey and the wait, which

is why today should be your day one.

You can go back and listen to all of the juicy details related to how Mary

lost 100 pounds with intermittent fasting in episode number 21.

of this podcast.

Finally, we have just a few days until it's a brand new year filled

with new and exciting possibilities.

If you think you are ready to go all in with this intermittent fasting thing,

you can get my intermittent fasting and weight loss masterclass for just 39.

It retails for 49, but if you use the code GEMS10, G E M S 10, lowercase letters,

at checkout, you'll save an extra 10.

In my 6 week video course, I walk you through exactly what I did to

lose 46 pounds in four months with intermittent fasting, all my tips,

my tricks, my hacks and recipes.

And once you have the course, you have it forever, including

all future updates and additions.

All right.

Thanks for listening.

Happy new year.

I can't wait to catch up with you in 2025.

Be safe, be kind, and be happy.

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.