STOP DIETING! HOW to Get “REAL” WEIGHT LOSS RESULTS!

How in the world, at 46 Years Old, did I STOP DIETING and FINALLY get “REAL” WEIGHT LOSS RESULTS? INTERMITTENT FASTING absolutely did the TRICK! With INTERMITTENT FASTING, I “FIRED UP” my Metabolism, LOST 46 pounds in 4 MONTHS and fell in love with a lifestyle that simply CAN’T BE BEAT!

INTERMITTENT FASTING – simply put – has 100 percent CHANGED MY LIFE!

Hey there! I am a 48 year old MOM, WIFE, and TEACHER from the Great Lakes mitten-shaped state of Michigan who is LIVING MY BEST LIFE NOW thanks to the discovery of the Amazing INTERMITTENT FASTING LIFESTYLE! Intermittent Fasting helped me lose 46 pounds in just 4 months and has turned my body into FAT BURNING MACHINE I have kept the weight off for OVER THREE YEARS  now and I truly feel like a MILLION BUCKS!

After trying so many different crazy weight loss diets over the years, I finally feel like I can STOP DIETING for good! I have found a lifestyle that works for me, I feel FREE and I am truly LIVING MY BEST LIFE NOW! 

I am excited to share my journey with you including the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY! Stay right here If you are ready to finally STOP DIETING, LOSE WEIGHT and FEEL GREAT FOREVER!

WHO??? AM I?

In addition to being what I like to call a “TEACHERPRENEUR” and starting this Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle WEBSITE & BLOG, I have a few other very important jobs in my life. I am a MOM to two awesome kids, Cambria (22) and Carson (19). I am a WIFE to my college sweetheart, Barry, whom I have been married to for 24 fantastic years now! And…I am an ELEMENTARY GYM TEACHER who loves to laugh at corny jokes and play Pac-Man Tag with my superstar students from Fenton, Michigan who call me Mrs. T.

Yes, But HOW Did I STOP DIETING & LOSE 46 POUNDS in 4 MONTHS?

Alright, let’s move on and chat a bit more about this “Intermittent Fasting” thing and about HOW it has brought me to this incredibly AMAZING place in my life!

READY, SET, GO!!! 

As a child and teenager, I was very active and fit and never really struggled with my weight. I was a three sport athlete throughout high school and then went to college on a track scholarship. I never gave my weight a second thought until my college track coach started monitoring our body weight. We had to weigh-in weekly in front of all our teammates. When I was told that I needed to lose three pounds by next week’s meet, I was truly devastated. It completely ROCKED ME and went STRAIGHT TO MY HEAD. I ran for two years in college and struggled to keep my weight between 130-135 pounds. It was a definite battle, but I did it.

FAST FORWARD (2000)

I married my college sweetheart and the love of my life in 2000. Then I found a job teaching third grade, and we had our first baby in 2001. My body bounced back fairly quickly after having our beautiful daughter, Cambria. I maintained my weight between 140-145 pounds, which was still in the “normal” range (I’m 5″7′) on all the charts. Life was pretty good! Then, we knew we really wanted another child. God, however, had other plans and LIFE got pretty TOUGH over the next three years. I endured a few miscarriages, a molar pregnancy and a severe bout with kidney stones. 

Somehow, against all odds, and after being told I wouldn’t be able to have another baby, I GOT PREGNANT! I gave birth to our handsome son, Carson, in January of 2005. Unfortunately, I gained 65 pounds with that pregnancy and DID NOT bounce back too well after giving birth. I took a leave from teaching so that I could be home with my babies. Then, for the next several years I tried pretty much EVERY DIET known to (Wo)MAN! 

The Weight Loss ROLLER COASTER

I tried fat-free diets, juice cleanses, detox smoothie diets, calorie shifting, Slim Fast Shakes and MANY, MANY, more. Get this! I even tried one diet labeled “FAT LOSS FOR IDIOTS!” What a complete joke that was! Despite losing 10-15 pounds, here and there, the restriction and deprivation was unbearable. The weight would always come back at some point. My weight went up & down like a roller coaster for almost two decades! I absolutely didn’t know how to STOP DIETING!

My son started preschool in 2009. At that time I weighed about 167 and knew I needed to do something with my chunky, slightly overweight self. I’ve always been a runner so I decided to make some much needed changes. I set out to get in shape, lose weight, and run my very first marathon. Well, that is just what I did.

I started in January of 2009 and by June of that year I was down to 126 pounds. How did I do it? I’ll tell you! IT WAS NOT PRETTY! First, I became a professional calorie counter. Next, I exercised like a crazy person for 60-90 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY! I would have a binge day about once every two weeks because I felt so deprived. It was completely EXHAUSTING! I weighed less than I ever did even in high school. I was OBSESSED!

I was able to maintain at that weight for almost two years and during that time I actually ran two full marathons which I am so proud of. I ran the Detroit Marathon in 2009 and the time I achieved at that marathon was fast enough (at age 34) to qualify for the Boston Marathon which I ran in 2011, two years before the bombing. After a few years, however, I felt so restricted and tied to counting calories that I threw my hands up in the air and shouted “I JUST WANT TO EAT SUPERMAN ICE CREAM WITH MY FAMILY IN THE SUMMER.” It was seriously my breaking point. So, I gave up the intense calorie counting and just let things go.

The weight piled back on and I was again on an endless cycle: TRY A NEW FAD DIET. LOSE A FEW POUNDS. FEEL DEPRIVED. STOP DIETING. BINGE SEVERAL THOUSAND CALORIES. GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK. FEEL LIKE A FAILURE. REPEAT!

When my son started middle school in 2016, I went back to work full-time after being home for 13 years. That same year, after being back to work for just five weeks, I had to have an emergency hysterectomy. Due to inactivity from the recovery process and some surgery complications, I gained even more weight. Again, my weight teetered for the next several years.

WHAT? OH NO! CORONA!

Fast forward to the NOT-SO-MAGICAL year, 2020! I had gone back to teaching and was in my fourth year of being a full-time kindergarten teacher when everybody’s lives were abruptly uprooted by the Coronavirus Pandemic! I, like so many others who were sent home to work remotely, became quite depressed and EVEN MORE OVERWEIGHT.

I was sitting at home all day struggling to teach kindergarten students how to read, write and do math remotely. Furthermore, in an effort to help pay the family bills, I took on a second job teaching English to the kids in China from my basement computer! 

Needless to say, my stress level quickly reached an all-time high and my health, eating habits and self-care reached an all-time low! At the end of the 2020 school year I knew I needed to make some serious life changes, both professionally and personally. I applied and was granted a position teaching elementary physical education.

BUT…WHEN??? WHEN??? WHEN??? Did You STOP DIETING, LOSE THE WEIGHT & START LIVING?

At the start of the 2020-2021 school year as the new Elementary P.E. teacher, I was loving my job but felt like a bit of a hypocrite. How could I be teaching young children about the importance of exercise and eating healthy foods while being so overweight and unhealthy myself? The date was one that I will never forget: January 5, 2021. I was absolutely terrified to step on the scale for many months prior! I just wasn’t ready to face the truth of it all.

When I did step on the scale that day, I was completely BLOWN AWAY! 174.6 pounds!!! What??? I had never in my life been in the 170’s. That day was absolutely eye-opening. I cried for about two hours straight, curled up in the fetal position eating a box of Milk Duds and gulping down a Coke from McDonald’s.

Then, I DECIDED!!!

It was time to end my pity party and get to work. I had heard a little about intermittent fasting and that it could help with weight loss! So… for the first two weeks, I easily started incorporating a 16:8 fasting regimen by just skipping breakfast. I lost about 8 pounds those first two weeks which kept me encouraged and in the game.

WHAT??? My Total “OMG!” Moment

Then it happened. I went to work on a Wednesday and passed a co-worker in the hall that I hadn’t seen in several months. She looked absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!

I asked her what she was doing and she told me about this book that I just “had to read” called Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens.  She scribbled the information down on a scrap piece of paper and off I went! I was on a mission and instead of eating lunch at work that day like I always had, I raced back to my office, Googled “all things Gin” and ordered the book off Amazon Prime so I could get my hands on it as quickly as possible.

I received the book on Friday and stayed up until 1 am reading it from cover to cover. It was like I had a total “OMG!” moment and everything Gin said in her book about insulin being released every time we eat and the science behind clean fasting made so much sense to me. I was so excited, I didn’t sleep all night! My mind was racing with excitement! So, two days later, I got serious, JUMPED IN and began my life-changing IF journey!

I have STOPPED DIETING and gone on to lose 46 pounds in four months with intermittent fasting! I feel AMAZING! I’m much healthier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. I reached my goal weight in May of 2021 and have been effortlessly maintaining for well over a year now! My energy is through the roof, my sleep has improved immensely, I have more energy than the Energizer Bunny and I am no longer getting 3-4 headaches per week, I feel FREE and I truly am Living my BEST LIFE NOW!

CLICK HERE to listen to my FULL PODCAST INTERVIEW with GIN STEPHENS (Episode #237 INTERMITTENT FASTING STORIES)

WHY??? Stop Dieting & Shout “IF” From the Rooftops

Over the next several months of my journey I was asked, what felt like, a million questions. So many co-workers and friends were curious about what I had done to make such a dramatic change in such a short amount of time! I wanted to SHARE and HELP and shout this LIFE-CHANGING information from the rooftops. 

So…Driven by PASSION to PROVIDE HOPE for others, I started my own supportive Intermittent Fasting Facebook Group: SO WHAT IF? WITH JEN on February 20, 2022. In just a few short months, our group has grown to almost 2,000 members and intermittent fasters!  I feel so blessed to be able to use this opportunity to HELP others FAST Their Way to FREEDOM!

If you are looking to STOP DIETING, LOSE WEIGHT and FEEL BETTER THAN YOU EVER HAVE BEFORE, we would love to have you join us in our very POSITIVE and SUPPORTIVE Facebook Group! We consistently share Tips, Tricks, Recipes, Concerns, Questions, Struggles and Successes! You can LEARN MORE HERE!

More SHARING, TEACHING, & HELPING!

After witnessing the many successes and lives that have been changed in just a few short months through the So What IF? with Jen Facebook Group, I knew I wanted and NEEDED to DO MORE SHARING so that I could HELP MORE PEOPLE feel as amazing as I do!

New WEBSITE & BLOG

My So What IF? with Jen Intermittent Fasting WEBSITE & BLOG was created and launched in July of 2022 in an effort to foster my intense love for SHARING, TEACHING, LEARNING, CREATING & HELPING! I am super FIRED UP to use this space to SHARE with YOU all of the unique TIPS, TRICKS, RECIPES & SECRETS that I’ve learned along my HEALTH & WELLNESS journey! The same TIPS & TRICKS that helped me lose 46 pounds in just 4 months, keep it off for OVER A YEAR now and feel like a MILLION BUCKS!

So, stick around! This may be MY VERY FIRST BLOG POST (YAY – I’m so excited) but…I AM HERE TO STAY! And… So What IF? with Jen is JUST GETTING STARTED! I’d love for you to JOIN ME as we FAST OUR WAY TO FREEDOM… TOGETHER!

P.S. – Here’s another chance to SNAG that AWESOME Gin Stephens’ book, DELAY, DON’T DENY [Amazon Affiliate Link] that COMPLETELY CHANGED MY LIFE! You can get it RIGHT HERE.

You can also listen to my INTERMITTENT FASTING STORIES PODCAST EPISODE with Gin Stephens HERE!

You can grab my first ever ebook RIGHT HERE for only $5. It comes complete with my 10 favorite low-carb, delicious dinner recipes. These are the exact recipes that helped me lose 46 pounds in just 4 months.

Recipes include: 

1. Low-Carb Crustless Pizza Casserole
2. Superfood Salad
3. Low-Carb Cheesy Taco Skillet
4. Chicken Noodle-less Soup
5. Peek-A-Boo Chicken
6. Green Bean Chicken Casserole
7. Roasted Red Pepper Ricotta Chicken
8. Spinach Turkey Meatball Zucchini
9. Lemon Pepper Pork Tenderloin
10. Zucchini Baked Cheesy Ziti
11. *BONUS: Cauliflower Risotto

WEBSITE & BLOG/So What IF? with Jen

BE KIND & BE WELL! I hope your day is spent LOVING WITHOUT FEAR and LAUGHING UNTIL YOUR CHEEKS HURT!

BLOG POST DEDICATION:

I would like to dedicate this blog post, MY VERY FIRST EVER BLOG POST, to Kari Shaw! She was my high school english teacher back in the late 90’s. Kari was kind, but firm, and always knew how to give fantastic constructive criticism during class. I loved how, instead of grading us on the first draft that we handed in, she would allow us to revise each writing piece as many times as we needed to make it just right. That is what a truly great english teacher does! Thank you, Mrs. Molter (Shaw) for instilling in me the confidence to write, as well as the passion to express myself through words. You are a teacher who left a very big imprint on my life!