In this episode of the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast, host Gin Stephens has a conversation with cancer survivor April Stearns about her experience with intermittent fasting. April’s journey to IF was long and difficult. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, and through the course of battling the disease and receiving treatment, she gained a significant amount of weight. At a follow-up appointment with the cancer in remission, April asked her oncologist for advice concerning weight loss, and he recommended IF, telling her that he and his wife were already living an IF lifestyle.
Initially unnerved by the prospect of IF, April researched it and decided to give it a try. She eased into IF, trying methods such as alternative daily fasting – things she considers IF “training wheels” – and then eventually realizing that a more regular fasting pattern would actually work better for her. Through the course of this development, she was already seeing results, and now, close to a year since her slow start with IF, April is down seventy pounds from her previous weight and is no longer pre-diabetic. She holds to a roughly four-hour window in the afternoon/evening of each day, with a twenty-hour minimum fast as her aim for the day. In her window, she will generally allow herself to eat anything permitted by her vegetarian diet, though she still tries to limit simple carbs.
Through the course of their conversation, Gin and April talk about a variety of topics relevant to listeners who may be considering an IF lifestyle. They discuss IF in the context of a family, touching on the participation of their husbands, and talking in more detail about how to navigate conversation with children about IF. They consider such things as the freedom within an IF lifestyle to choose foods and fasting methods that are best for one’s body, the helpfulness of meal kits, and the dynamic of being open with others about IF. April’s final advice to any listeners just starting IF is to give the lifestyle time, start with clean fasting, and trust the process rather than stepping on the scale constantly.
In a section of the interview not directly pertaining to IF, April tells Gin about the magazine she publishes, Wildfire, which is geared toward women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. April and Gin recommend this resource as a possible source of help and encouragement to any listeners battling breast cancer or acquainted with a woman facing a breast cancer diagnosis.
Links:
Find out more about April Stearns’ magazine, Wildfire:
http://www.wildfirecommunity.org/
Share your intermittent fasting stories with Gin:
gin@intermittentfastingstories.com
Follow Gin on Twitter:
@gin_stephens
Connect with Gin on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Gin-Stephens-370557866639779
Read Gin’s book Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle:
http://www.ginstephens.com/get-the-books.html
Read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung and Brian Nishii:
The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss
Listen to the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast on iTunes:
Intermittent Fasting Stories on iTunes
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