In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Julie Linville from Bonney Lake, WA.

Are you ready to take your intermittent fasting lifestyle to the next level? There’s nothing better than community to help with that. In the Delay, Don’t Deny community we all embrace the clean fast, and there’s just the right support for you as you live your intermittent fasting lifestyle. 

You can connect directly with Gin in the Ask Gin group, and she will answer all of your questions personally. If you’re new to intermittent fasting or recommitting to the IF lifestyle, join the 28-Day FAST Start group. After your fast start, join us for support in The 1st Year group. Need tips for long term maintenance? We have a place for that! There are many more useful spaces beyond these, and you can interact in as many as you like. 

Visit ginstephens.com/community to join us. An annual membership costs just over a dollar a week when you do the math. If you aren’t ready to fully commit for a year, join for a month and you can cancel at any time. If you know you’ll want to stay forever, we also have a lifetime membership option available.  

IF is free. You don’t need to join our community to fast. But if you’re looking for support from a community of like-minded IFers, we are here for you at ginstephens.com/community. 

Julie is an administrative assistant in a school district in the special education department. As she went through her 50s, she experienced the hormonal changes related to surgical menopause and then developed Graves’ Disease, and she felt awful. After getting the Graves’ Disease under control, she began gaining weight. As an adult, she had always maintained between 142-148, so when she got on the scale and saw 164, she knew that something had to change. But she also had the thought, “this is just who I am now,” figuring that both the weight gain and sluggishness are simply what happens as we age.

Fortunately, she found a YouTube video in January of 2023 that explained intermittent fasting and recommended Gin’s book Fast. Feast. Repeat. She downloaded the book and got started right away, and a couple of weeks later, her husband joined her. 

Within 2-3 days, Julie felt better. The brain fog she had been living with lifted, and pain she had been living with resolved. By the time her birthday rolled around in April of that year, she was down to 150, and she kept going, eventually getting back down to her goal range. She had been a size 8/M her entire adult life, but now finds herself wearing a size 6/S. 

Julie is motivated to continue living the intermittent fasting lifestyle forever, because she wants to avoid the dementia that her parents faced as they aged. She also wants to remain strong and capable as she ages, and she loves the way she feels as an intermittent faster. 

As the episode closes, Julie recommends that new intermittent fasters focus on the health benefits and how much better you are feeling. She emphasizes that you should stick with it, and don’t put so much emphasis on the scale. Know that everyone is different, but that wonderful things are happening in your body.

Get Gin’s books at: https://www.ginstephens.com/get-the-books.html. Good news! The second edition of Delay, Don’t Deny is now available in ebook, paperback, hardback, and audiobook. This is the book that you’ll want to start with or share with others, as it is a simple introduction to IF. It’s been updated to include the clean fast, an easier to understand and more thorough description of ADF and all of your ADF options, and an all new success stories section. When shopping, make sure to get the second edition, which has a 2024 publication date. The audiobook for the second edition is available now! 

Join Gin’s community! Go to: ginstephens.com/community

Do you enjoy Intermittent Fasting Stories? You’ll probably also like Gin’s other podcast with cohost Sheri Bullock: Fast. Feast. Repeat. Intermittent Fasting for Life. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.  

Share your intermittent fasting stories with Gin: gin@intermittentfastingstories.com

Visit Gin’s website at: ginstephens.com 

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