Jen Aswell

*excuse the pun ;) Many have now discovered when they eat is just as (maybe more so...) important as what they eat. Fasting is no longer a terrible f word met with tsk tsk noises and warnings about slowing metabolisms. In fact, I was just at a market this weekend  and when offered samples I would let them know I couldn’t partake because I was fasting, I was astonished at the amount of people who also fasted or had a story about someone else’s fasting success.  Fasting is the quickest way to reduce insulin levels and your body weight set point. Bye bye buddha belly. Studies also point to fasting potentially for longevity enhancement . In fact, longevity improvements are seen with intermittent fasting even without caloric  reduction. Fasting can also cause a reduction in   inflammation.  Inflammation is bad for the joints, the heart, your waist line and can even play a role in cancer and depression.  So how can we see all these great benefits from fasting and yet no

What to Eat I grew up in the 90s where fat was demonized. As a overweight kid, my mother, following doctors orders, had me eating special k with skim milk. All the low fat yogurt, and rice cakes never stopped my weight from creeping up. In fact, I was always hungry. When I was old enough to make my own nutritional decisions I was of the “a calorie is a calorie” mindset. Which of course is true, but that is only a part of the equation. But at the time, I didn’t know that. I learnt how to calorie count and drank Diet Coke like it was a necessary macronutrient. But like most of us who follow this paradigm - it worked...until it didn’t. So I cut more calories out, ended up feeling unsatiated and downing a bag of chips before I even knew what hit me.   I was weak willed. If I tried harder, if I was better, I could resist temptation and stick to my 1200 calorie a day diet. I will start again tomorrow, but tomorrow took much longer to come then I thought it would. Finally I was de

If you haven’t figured it out already, I am a go with the flow kind of girl. I have found the current ‘hustle’ mentality to be counter productive and creatively draining. I focus on listening to my body and I usually wait until inspiration hits before I put my all into something. When I get excited about exercise - I exercise, when I get excited about binge watching Riverdale - I put on my comfy pants and snuggle up with the pug to watch.  This past year, my intuition has led me on a bit of a health journey. Last fall I flowed into a ketogenic diet and fasting protocol. The more research and books I read on the subject the more I was convinced that this is the path I am meant to be on. And the more I practiced the advice I gathered, the better everything got! I feel great, my insatiable hunger has decreased (my main reason for trying keto) and my energy has sky rocketed.  So far, so good! You might be thinking fasting is a little extreme, I used to too, but in this series