(Ep. 27) Erika Thomas on How Intermittent Fasting Changed Her Life and Helped Her Lose over 100 Lbs.

Erika Thomas shares her inspiring journey from the beginning on how she struggled and overcame anorexia, put on unwanted weight and the turning point that led her to start intermittent fasting. We go into detail on how she started fasting, what hardships she encounters and how she's been able to stick to this lifestyle change (hint: because it's not a diet!). We go over everything in her pantry, how she incorporates cheat days and how she includes walking and exercise into her daily routine. For anyone to lose weight, it requires discipline. For someone to lose over 100 pounds, requires a complete overhaul in mindset, which she has conquered. Such a motivation story, that hasn't seen it's ending yet. 

Find Erika on FB:

Erika's Personal Page
Erika's Essential Encouragement FB Group
Twitter: @5NEWSErika

Recipes Erika follows:

BREAK-MY-FAST SMOOTHIE

Calculations depending on fruit and any substitutions (easily could be split into two servings but I drink it all — but it’s large!)Use one of those bullet blenders and layer in from bottom to top:

1/2 frozen banana (60 calories, >1g protein)
1 cup frozen spinach (50 calories, 6g protein)
1 cup frozen fruit of choice (~50 calories, 1g protein)
1/2 scoop vanilla Body Fortress whey protein powder (no added sugar, from Walmart) (95 calories, 15g protein) — this is what we use, you can use any powder of choice
2/3 cup nonfat plain (unflavored, unsweetened) Greek yogurt (100 calories, 17g protein)
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (30 calories, 1g protein)
1 Tbsp. cinnamon powder (optional)

Blend up, freeze for an hour if you want it thicker & enjoy! It can be refrigerated for an hour or two as well if you want. We make it around 1 PM, I bring it to work and don’t drink it until 3 PM.

Calories = ~385 calories
Protein = ~40g

OATMEAL BANANA NUT COOKIES

Mix all together. Put heaping tablespoons on a non-stick cookie sheet. These don’t spread at all so you can fit more on one pan than regular cookies. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes and enjoy!Healthy tropical, no-added-sugar, vegan, gluten-free cookies (plus kid-approved)

I took a recipe someone sent me and tweaked it to make it my own! Change up the add-ins (nuts and fruit) to make this perfect for your family. Warm up for 10 seconds before you eat and they taste like banana bread.

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 cup chopped nuts (I used raw walnuts)
2/3 cup chopped dried fruit w/ no added sugar (I used prunes and dried apricots)
1/4 cup chopped unsweetened toasted coconut chips
1/4 cup natural no-sugar peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch sea salt

Mix all together. Put heaping tablespoons on a non-stick cookie sheet. These don’t spread at all so you can fit more on one pan than regular cookies. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes and enjoy!