Intermittent Fasting Stories cover art

Intermittent Fasting Stories

Intermittent Fasting Stories

By: Gin Stephens
Listen for free

About this listen

Are you ready to be inspired? Tune in each week to hear real-world stories from successful intermittent fasters, including their best tips to help you find success. Intermittent Fasting Stories is hosted by Gin Stephens, author of the New York Times bestseller Fast Feast Repeat, as well as her other books: Cleanish, Delay, Don't Deny, and Feast Without Fear. Looking for a community of like-minded intermittent fasters? Go to ginstephens.com/community for more information and to join.

© Copyright 2018 All rights reserved. Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Episode 476: Alyssa Welling

    Episode 476: Alyssa Welling
    Jul 24 2025
    In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Alyssa Welling from West Des Moines, IA.Gin has a new YouTube Channel! Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_frGNiTEoJ88rZOwvuG2CA and subscribe today so you never miss an intermittent fasting tip, a support session, or an interview with a past IF Stories guest or expert.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. Alyssa is an administrative assistant for the parks and recreation department. Alyssa explains how she initially dismissed IF as “unhealthy” when someone first mentioned it to her, but grew curious after plateauing on Weight Watchers following two close pregnancies. She recounts how, beginning in early 2020, she dove into fasting podcasts and adopted a gentle 16:8 approach, gradually shortening her eating window as her comfort and understanding grew. Alyssa describes how immersing herself in fasting resources helped her unlearn pervasive diet culture messages like the need for constant meals and snacks.The conversation delves into Alyssa’s challenges and milestones, from her significant weight fluctuations due to multiple pregnancies and postpartum experiences, to the setbacks she faced after a bout of Covid that caused her to regain some of the weight she had lost. Then, Alyssa became pregnant with her third child, which meant she needed to take a break from IF. After her third baby was weaned, Alyssa went back to IF, but she didn’t see the weight loss she was hoping for. Despite that, she never abandoned IF, citing the mental clarity and stress reduction it provided as reasons to stick with the lifestyle regardless of the scale.A pivotal point in Alyssa’s journey came when she confronted the reality that her eating habits—particularly mindless binging and snacking during her eating window—were undermining her progress. Diagnosed with ADHD and binge eating disorder, she used calorie tracking for awareness and shifted her focus to intentional, satisfying meals, and avoided grazing and finishing her children’s leftovers. Alyssa added regular, enjoyable treadmill walks to her routine and cut out alcohol, which improved her food choices and boosted her well-being. These changes, paired with intermittent fasting, helped her shed over 100 pounds, reaching a weight lower than she dreamt possible, and transforming both her confidence and quality of life.Alyssa wraps up by offering heartfelt advice for those starting out with intermittent fasting: don’t expect drastic changes overnight and avoid focusing on a specific finish line. She emphasizes that lasting success comes from treating IF as a sustainable lifestyle, allowing ample time to adapt, maintaining a clean fast, making foods work for your body, and not being afraid to make adjustments if progress slows. Alyssa also encourages listeners to be open about fasting without shame and to remember that growing bodies—like those of children—need to eat differently. Ultimately, she underscores that giving yourself the grace to adjust and the patience to persevere are the keys to enjoying the many benefits IF has to offer.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/...
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
  • Episode 475: Janelle Samson

    Episode 475: Janelle Samson
    Jul 17 2025
    In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Janelle Samson from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.Gin has a new YouTube Channel! Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_frGNiTEoJ88rZOwvuG2CA and subscribe today so you never miss an intermittent fasting tip, a support session, or an interview with a past IF Stories guest or expert.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. Janelle is a chemist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Janelle shares her journey into intermittent fasting after a long history in the world of bodybuilding. Janelle explains she first heard about intermittent fasting during her bodybuilding days in the early 2010s, though at the time, she and others in the fitness community dismissed it as just another fad. She attempted fasting briefly under the guidance of someone who didn’t fully understand the clean fast principles, leading her to give up, concerned about muscle loss. Many years and life changes later—including pregnancy, motherhood, and the closure of gyms during the pandemic—Janelle found herself struggling with unexplained weight gain and low energy, even after trying traditional approaches to nutrition and fitness.A turning point came when a coworker, whose sister’s doctor recommended intermittent fasting, rekindled Janelle’s interest. Janelle began her journey in June 2023, starting with a 14:10 approach and gradually narrowing her eating window as she learned more, eventually settling into a routine that worked for her lifestyle. Her initial research brought her to Gin’s book, Fast. Feast. Repeat., which she credits—as well as the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast and community—for giving her the knowledge and support to embrace clean fasting and the “delay, don’t deny” philosophy. Listening to the podcast episodes, Janelle connected deeply with the stories of others and found practical tools and reassurance in their diversity of experience.Janelle’s approach to fasting has not been defined by rapid weight loss but by steady progress and substantial health improvements. She openly discusses her slow, “turtle” pace in shedding pounds, emphasizing how much better she feels in terms of physical energy and mental clarity. Throughout her two-year journey, Janelle has released over 20 pounds and, most importantly, shifted away from a restrictive, scale-obsessed relationship with food, particularly as a former bodybuilder. She highlights the newfound freedom she enjoys around food and eating—modeling a positive example for her young daughter and appreciating treats, family meals, and special occasions without guilt or diet mentality.Janelle concludes her story by encouraging newcomers to immerse themselves in well-researched resources—particularly Gin’s books and the podcast—for practical guidance and support. She underlines the importance of keeping an open mind, especially for those with a diet-focused background or entrenched ideas about nutrition. Janelle’s final advice is to try intermittent fasting without overcomplicating it: read, learn, don’t stress about perfection, and remember it costs nothing to give it a shot. According to Janelle, intermittent fasting has been truly life-changing, and she urges others to discover its benefits for themselves.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 ...
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
  • Episode 474: Andrea Moon

    Episode 474: Andrea Moon
    Jul 10 2025
    In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Andrea Moon from Bloomfield Township, MI.Gin has a new YouTube Channel! Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_frGNiTEoJ88rZOwvuG2CA and subscribe today so you never miss an intermittent fasting tip, a support session, or an interview with a past IF Stories guest or expert.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. Andrea is not only a retired elementary music teacher but also a piano composer, karate instructor, and women’s self-defense teacher. They dive right into how Andrea discovered intermittent fasting in 2023 after hearing about it from a friend, initially reacting with skepticism before getting curious and quickly diving into podcasts and resources. A structured person by nature, Andrea took to tracking her fasting hours with an app, finding the visual goal-tracking motivating, and soon made fasting a daily habit, even amidst travel and a busy, active lifestyle.Andrea shares several anecdotes highlighting how intermittent fasting has become more mainstream, citing moments in pop culture and interactions with global karate colleagues who also fast. She describes her initial fasting experience, gradually finding what worked best for her, including experimenting with alternate day fasting (ADF) and 500-calorie down days. Andrea found joy in making down days a fun challenge by cooking satisfying meals within calorie limits, and she emphasizes the flexibility and long-term sustainability she now feels with intermittent fasting.A significant part of the conversation centers on mindful eating, overcoming toxic diet culture, and the freedom that comes from ditching rigid calorie restriction. Andrea candidly recounts her own weight plateaus and how shifting away from eating while distracted—especially stopping the habit of eating in front of the TV—made a real difference in her progress. She encourages listeners to track their weight over weeks, not days, and to adjust their process (including mindful, plated meals) rather than simply trusting the process when stuck. Both Gin and Andrea also reflect on the pitfalls of diet brain, the importance of eating real foods over ultra-processed choices, and the culture of comparing oneself to unrealistic standards.Andrea finishes the episode by sharing her advice for anyone starting out: celebrate finding intermittent fasting, consistently plate your meals, avoid distracted eating, and prioritize some form of exercise or stretching routine. She advocates for patience, embracing the journey, and seeking out community to find inspiration and support along the way. Andrea’s story is a testament to adapting intermittent fasting to fit your life, making mindful choices, and prioritizing long-term health and enjoyment over short-term restriction.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/communityDo 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@...
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
All stars
Most relevant  
The contributors tll their stories and G in Stephens listens and comments with great warmth and empathy. Their stories are helpful in their honesty

Helpful stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love these podcasts, they support my intermittent fasting journey and help me learn so much and stay focused. I'm really love to hear other people's journeys, successes and stumbling blocks.

Inspirational and helpful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.