Episode 220: Counterfeit Fast.Feast.Repeat. (Beware!), Cheesemaking, Fiber Supplements, Upset Stomach, Bathroom Habits, IF Newbies, And More!

Welcome to Episode 220 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast, hosted by Melanie Avalon, author of What When Wine Diet: Lose Weight And Feel Great With Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, And Wine and Gin Stephens, author of Delay, Don't Deny: Living An Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle. 

Today's episode of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast is brought to you by:

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SHOW NOTES

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Listener Q&A: Jennifer - Glucomannan

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TRANSCRIPT

Melanie Avalon: Welcome to Episode 220 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. If you want to burn fat, gain energy, and enhance your health by changing when you eat, not what you eat with no calorie counting, then this show is for you. I'm Melanie Avalon, author of What When Wine: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, and Wine. And I'm here with my cohost, Gin Stephens, author of Delay, Don't Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle. For more on us, check out ifpodcast.com, melanieavalon.com, and ginstephens.com. Please remember, the thoughts and opinions on this podcast do not constitute medical advice or treatment. So, pour yourself a cup of black coffee, a mug of tea or even a glass of wine, if it's that time, and get ready for The Intermittent Fasting Podcast.

Hi, friends. Okay, we have thrilling news about Joovv. They have new devices and we have a discount. Yes, a discount, no longer a free gift, a discount. As you guys know, there are a few non-negotiables in my personal daily routine. I focus on what and when I eat every single day. And I also focus on my daily dose of healthy light through Joovv’s red light therapy devices. Guys, I use my Joovv all the time. Red light therapy is one of the most effective health modalities you can use in your home. I've personally seen so many health benefits, I find it incredible for regulating my circadian rhythm, helping my mood, boosting my thyroid, smoothing my skin, and I've also used it on multiple occasions for targeted pain relief. Anyone who's familiar with red light therapy pretty much knows that Joovv is the leading brand. They pioneered this technology, and they were the first ones to isolate red and near-infrared light and make it accessible and affordable for in-home use. Since then, they've remained the most innovative, forward-thinking light therapy brands out there.

And we're so excited because Joovv just launched their next generation of devices. And they've made huge upgrades to what was already a really incredible system. Their new devices are sleeker, they're up to 25% lighter, and they all have the same power that we've come to expect from them. They've also intensified their coverage area, so you can stand as much as three times further away from the device and still get the recommended dosage. They've also upgraded the setup for the new devices with quick, easy mounting options, so your new Joovv can fit just about any space. And the new devices include some pretty cool new features, things like their Recovery Plus mode, which utilizes pulsing technology to give yourselves an extra boost to recovery from a tough workout with rejuvenating near-infrared light. And this is my personal favorite update. For those of us who like to use do devices to wind down at night, they now have an ambient mode that creates a calming, lower intensity of light at night. Guys, I am so excited about this. Using this light at night is way healthier than bright blue light from all of our screens, and much more in line with your circadian rhythm. I was using my current Joovv devices at night anyway to light my whole apartment, so this new ambient mode is really going to be a game-changer for me. Of course, you still get the world-class customer service from your helpful, friendly Joovv team.

So, if you're looking for a new Joovv device for your home, we have some very exciting news. You can go to joovv.com/ifpodcast and use the coupon code, IFPODCAST. You'll get an exclusive discount on Joovv’s newest devices. Yes, discount, I said it. That's J-O-O-V-V dotcom, forward slash, I-F-P-O-D-C-A-S-T. Exclusions apply, and this is for a limited time only. We'll put all this information in the show notes.

One more thing before we jump in. Are you fasting clean inside and out? Did you know that one of our largest exposures to toxic compounds, including endocrine disrupters which mess with our hormones, obesogens which literally cause our body to store and gain weight, as well as carcinogens linked to cancer, is actually through our skincare? Europe has banned thousands of these compounds for being toxic, and the US has only banned around 10. It's honestly shocking. When you're putting on your conventional skincare and makeup, you're likely putting toxic compounds directly into your body. These compounds can make you feel bad, can make it really hard to lose weight, can affect your hormones, your mood, your health. And ladies, if you're thinking of having kids, when you have a child, these compounds actually go directly through the placenta into the newborn. That means your skincare and makeup that you're putting on today actually affects the health of future generations. Did you know that conventional lipstick for example often test high for lead, and the half-life of lead can be up to 30 years and your bones? That means when you put on your lipstick, 30 years later, half of that lead might still be in your body.

Thankfully, there's an easy, easy solution to this. There's a company called Beautycounter, and they were founded on a mission to change this. Every single ingredient in their products is extensively tested to be safe for your skin, you can actually feel good about what you put on. And on top of that, their products actually work. That's because they're not “all natural.” They actually combine the best of both worlds, both synthetic and natural ingredients, to create products that actually support the health of your skin and make your skin look amazing. They have skincare lines for all your skin types, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner that I love, antiaging and brightening peels and vitamin C serums, and incredible makeup. If you see my makeup on Instagram, that's all Beautycounter. You can shop with us at melanieavalon.com/beautycounter.

And if you're thinking of making safe skincare a part of your future, like we have, we definitely suggest becoming a Band of Beauty member. It's sort of like the Amazon Prime for clean beauty. You get 10% back in product credit, free shipping on qualifying orders, and a welcome gift that is worth way more than the price of the yearlong membership, totally completely worth it. Also, definitely join my clean beauty email list at melanieavalon.com/cleanbeauty, I give away a lot of free things on that list and join me on my Facebook group, Clean Beauty and Safe Skincare with Melanie Avalon. I do a weekly giveaway every single week for Beautycounter, people share their experience and product reviews, and so much more. And again, the link to shop with us is melanieavalon.com/beautycounter. All right now enjoy the show.

Hi, everybody and welcome. This is Episode 220 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon and I'm here with Gin Stephens.

Gin Stephens: Hi, everybody.

Melanie Avalon: How are you today, Gin?

Gin Stephens: I am cranky.

Melanie Avalon: Oh.

Gin Stephens: Yeah. [laughs] I have got to tell you what just has been happening over the past few days that is kind of unbelievable and infuriating, you're going to be like, “What?” It has to do with Amazon and Fast. Feast. Repeat.

Melanie Avalon: Can I guess?

Gin Stephens: You can guess, but you're going to be wrong. You're going to be a little right, but a little wrong. [laughs] I guarantee you're going to be on the right track. What do you think it is?

Melanie Avalon: Something with how they're selling it?

Gin Stephens: Yes. Something with the listing.

Melanie Avalon: Oh. Did they put it in their own category?

Gin Stephens: No.

Melanie Avalon: Did they change the title?

Gin Stephens: No. It has to do with the copycat books that are out there.

Melanie Avalon: Mm-hmm. Are those ranking higher?

Gin Stephens: No, not even that. For people who don't know, if I go way back, if you've been listening for a long time, you'll remember, as Melanie will, how Delay, Don't Deny--

Melanie Avalon: Are they selling the copycats as your real thing?

Gin Stephens: Yes, and let me explain, it is wacko. If you remember back in-- I think it was 2018, I got an email-- actually it was like a Facebook messenger from somebody I didn't know. They're like, “Hey, I am an author on Amazon, and my book has been counterfeited, and people are selling it, and your book is also being sold by the same counterfeiter that’s selling mine. So, you may want to check and see if yours is legit.” Well, turns out, to make a long story short, it was a counterfeit version, had a different font, it had different typos. They had been selling a counterfeit version in the Buy Box on Amazon through third-party sellers for months. They finally got that taken care of, but I didn't know it could happen, because when you go to Amazon and you buy something and you click Buy Now, you don't pay attention where it's coming from, you're on Amazon, you're on the main listing for whatever it is, whether it's bug spray or a book, you just click Add to Cart, you buy it.

Well, they changed something in 2018 so that anybody could get the Buy Box, if theirs is the cheapest, it's to protect the consumer because you're going to get the best deal. It might not be Amazon selling it. It might be Larry's House of Books, for example, selling your copy for cheaper than Amazon. They want you to get the best price. Well, Larry's House of Books might have some counterfeits. That's the problem, and that was what was happening with mine. It wasn't Larry's House of Books, but it was these other third-party sellers. I just made up Larry's House of Books, if it really exists, I'm sorry, Larry. [laughs]

Anyway, my book had been counterfeited for months. Well, that's one of the reasons I really wanted to go with a traditional publisher for Fast. Feast. Repeat., which I did and we haven't seen any counterfeits of it, but what they're doing now is copycats. If you go to Amazon and search for Fast. Feast. Repeat., there's like this crazy, several, probably multiple blank books. You could go and you could like self-publish a blank book called What When Wine, and it could have nothing in it, but blank pages, but it's called What When Wine, and it might be by Melanie Avalano.

Melanie Avalon: Oh, I see.

Gin Stephens: There's Fast. Feast. Repeat. by like Ginna Stephano.

Melanie Avalon: Okay, listeners, look this up. There's like 20 million.

Gin Stephens: They're all fake, but they're not even real books, but they copy the title a little bit. They copy the way it looks.

Melanie Avalon: So, what happens if you buy them?

Gin Stephens: You get a copy of a blank book. Okay, but it's not illegal to use someone else's title because titles can't be copyrighted or trademarked unless they're in a series like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Like for Delay, Don't Deny, I was able to trademark that because it had a series of books, Delay, Don't Deny, Feast Without Fear, has Delay, Don't Deny delayed on tonight in the title. Then, even Fast. Feast. Repeat. has Delay, Don't Deny in the title. It's a series. It's trademarked, but Fast. Feast. Repeat. is not trademarked. So, here's the thing that was alarming. I got a message from somebody who's like, “Hey, I was showing your book to somebody and I told them to buy it, and I clicked on the listing for it, and then we looked at the Kindle version, then we looked at the Audible version, then we clicked back to paperback, and it went to the fake one.” When you were in the real listing, the real listing for Fast. Feast. Repeat, if you clicked away from the paperback for a minute and went to Audible, and then click to Kindle or whatever, and clicked back to paperback, it was the fake one was in the real listing. The fake cover, the fake name of it, you would get the fake one. Here's what's so infuriating. You can look and see how many copies a book is selling, the fake version of Fast. Feast. Repeat. was ranked number 26,000 out of all books on Amazon, which means a lot of people were buying it, a lot of people over the past week have bought the fake cookbook, blank book version, when they were actually in my real listing. Can you believe it? Somehow got merged, the fake one got merged with the real one.

I was like, “Emergency,” to my publisher. And they first didn't understand what I was telling them. They just thought I was complaining about the fake one. I'm like, “No, I'm complaining because the fake one is in the real listing.” It was the fake cover, it popped over to the fake cover when you would click on it. It seems to be fixed today. But as of yesterday, it was still going to the wrong one if you clicked away from it, can you believe the nerve of these criminals? How did they get it merged with the real one?

Melanie Avalon: Yeah, how did they?

Gin Stephens: I don't know. They are so crafty.

Melanie Avalon: Did you talk to Amazon at all?

Gin Stephens: No, I did not. I put it in the hands of my publisher because that’s who-- they have a department and a legal team, but they have to go through it, through the right department, finding the right department, but it looks like they have fixed it but it just made me want to throw up, because also think about someone who has ordered the book, thinking they're getting Fast. Feast. Repeat., and then this nonsense shows up, can you see it's like not even by Gin Stephens, it's by some name that's close to mine? One of them was by Stephen Gin or something like that. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: That's crazy.

Gin Stephens: It is crazy, and it is absolutely infuriating. Then, the next thing that will probably happen is people will start leaving one-star reviews for Fast. Feast. Repeat. saying, “I got a blank book. This book is garbage.”

Melanie Avalon: Yeah.

Gin Stephens: That'll probably happen next. “Don't buy this, it's fake.” But no, they're piggybacking on the main listing. Y'all, please don't do that. If you ever get a counterfeit book, please do not leave a review on the real book because it shows up as-- even though you got the counterfeit book, it actually affects and hurts the real book, because that's what happened with Delay, Don't Deny after the counterfeit came out. People who thought they were helping, they're like, “I ordered, and I got a fake one. One star, don't recommend.” I'm like, “No, no, no, stop doing that. You're giving Delay, Don't Deny one-star reviews, not the fake one.”

Melanie Avalon: Oh, my goodness.

Gin Stephens: This book is counterfeit. No. [laughs] It's the seller, that's the problem. Anyway, why can't people just find a different hobby than faking other people's books?

Melanie Avalon: And stealing from people.

Gin Stephens: Yeah, if they put all of their creativity to good.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah, because they clearly have skills.

Gin Stephens: They’ve got skills, but people are buying it. That's the thing, because it's ranking so high. I mean 26,000 may not sound high, but it is.

Melanie Avalon: Well, if you think about how many books there are in the world. It's pretty high.

Gin Stephens: Yeah, that's when I really got my publishers attention on like, “Do you notice that it's ranked 26,000, which means that people are buying it.” They're like, “Oh, that's not good.” [laughs] They're thinking they're getting the real one and they're not. Oh, my God. Anyway, I just had to share that story. Listeners, if you get the fake one, return it to Amazon and [laughs] get the real one. Story number one of why Gin does not buy supplements on Amazon anymore. If it's that hard to buy a book.-

Melanie Avalon: That stuff you're putting in your body,-

Gin Stephens: Right.

Melanie Avalon: -makes you a little bit nervous. Well, I'm sorry. [laughs] I'm going to put it out to the universe that that does not happen again. Seems like it was dealt with faster this time around than last time maybe?

Gin Stephens: Well, it took a little longer. Well, I figured out a way to deal with the counterfeits, personally where I didn't even have to involve Amazon, and it worked really well, I'm not going to tell what it was. [laughs] My secret way of dealing with the counterfeits, and basically, I assumed--

Melanie Avalon: This sounds-- [laughs] gosh.

Gin Stephens: I assumed that the third-party sellers, were also victims of a counterfeit and didn't know. I approached them as of that. They always took it down when I approached them that way, but you had to do a test buy. I've done so many test buys of Delay, Don't Deny, because I know when they're fake-- if I hold it in my hand, I know, there's certain things to look for, with the font and with the typos. There's so many versions of the fake one. It's like remarkable. The 2018 fake ones cycled back through earlier this year. But the third-party sellers, whether they know or not, they pretend like they didn't know and they're like, “I'm so shocked. I would never sell a counterfeit,” and they take it right down after I do my test buy and contact them. If I said I wasn't going to tell my secrets, I'm telling my secrets. But I have to look at it like all the time.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Wow.

Gin Stephens: I know when one is counterfeit, because the number of copies they have available, I can just tell. Good times. [laughs] Yeah, it is not easy, trying to just do a legitimate job. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: I know. That's how you know you've made it, I guess.

Gin Stephens: Well, at least there's not a fake podcast, Intermittent Fasting.

Melanie Avalon: That's what I was just thinking about, I was like, “Wow,” but that would be really hard to do.

Gin Stephens: What if they had somehow gotten it so that when people thought they were downloading Intermittent Fasting Podcast through the real listing, they got like them--?

Melanie Avalon: Oh, my goodness, like something else.

Gin Stephens: Fake people.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Oh, that would be really upsetting. Man, if that happened to my show, my Melanie Avalon, I would cry.

Gin Stephens: It feels so out of control, because we trust these big companies. We need Amazon to protect everyone who's selling things, and it doesn't just happen to books, it happens to people who are selling any product on Amazon. The counterfeiters and the scammers are so crafty. My dream would be for Amazon to contact me and say, “I want you to be on our team helping us solve this problem,” because I have so many ideas about how they could just put some more cross checks in place and things, and it's fixable. They could fix it.

Melanie Avalon: Well, maybe somebody who works for Amazon is listening. Send us an email to questions@ifpodcast.com.

Gin Stephens: I would love to help them solve the problem, not just for me, but if it's happening to me, how many people is that happening to? What's up with you?

Melanie Avalon: I had that interview with Dr. John Jaquish. The guy I was talking about, I read the book, Weight Lifting Is a Waste of Time. It's really revolutionized my ideas about exercise. I really want to start using his system, which I should because it is sitting in my apartment. The long story short, and listeners you're going to have to listen to the episode because it was so, so good. The long story short is that I guess with normal weightlifting, we are limited by our range of motion. We're limited by the weakest part of our muscle, when we're doing like a certain movement. I don't do weightlifting, when you're picking up something or certain movement, the bend or the point where you have the weakest potential that limits your entire movement and you can't get the maximum stimulus of your muscle. So he has a resistant band system that apparently gets rid of all of those issues, and you only have to do it like 10 minutes is the entire thing a few days a week.

We talked about this, I think, last time. He talks all about how exercise science, a lot of it's just incorrect. I'm really excited. I have a link for them. If listeners want to get the system themselves, so I want to put that out there. It's melanieavalon.com/x3, and then the coupon code, SAVE50, I think gives you $50 off, but I'm going to start using it. I feel brands and people send me stuff a lot, and it just takes me until I actually interview them or sit down and do the research and then like, “Okay, I really want to start using this.” So, I'm excited. I might actually start using it. That's the biggest thing. Do you want to jump into fasting stuff?

Gin Stephens: Yes, let's do. We're all about everything today. Consumer advice, exercise.

Melanie Avalon: I have one more fun thing. When I do my one meal a day at night every night, it's usually two to four hours. I actually read during it. I know they say you're not supposed to-- when you eat you know you're not supposed to be reading or whatever.

Gin Stephens: They say a lot of things.

Melanie Avalon: I know, it's my me time and it's my book reading time, and it's my research time. It feels so good to just-- I don't know, read and research and eat, which is fabulous. In any case, I usually start the beginning of my one meal a day reading, like, the books that I need to be reading and taking notes and all that. Then, I transitioned into the random stuff that I want to research that's more casual. Fun fact. Do you know why cheddar cheese is orange?

Gin Stephens: Hmm. Why is it orange? I don't know. Is it something that the cows are eating?

Melanie Avalon: Yes.

Gin Stephens: Is that right?

Melanie Avalon: Sort of, not really. Yes, a little bit, [laughs] because I was researching cheeses, and all the additives, and I was like, “Why is cheddar cheese orange? I want to make my own cheddar cheese.” Okay, so originally--

Gin Stephens: Well, not all cheddar is orange. There's white cheddar.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Originally, back in the day, when they were making it, the milk that was often used to make cheddar cheese was the milk that was really high in beta carotene, so that the cows that were eating grass--

Gin Stephens: See, that's what I thought.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Back in the day, the quality of the grass created the beta carotene color in the cheese. They wanted cheese that was more orange because it meant there was more vitamin A or beta carotene. Now, that is no longer the case. All the cheddar cheese that you see at the store, it's an additive. That kind of blew my mind. I was like, “I'm going to make my own cheddar cheese.” Then, I googled how to make it. Gin, it's the most complicated thing, I think, I've ever read-- I didn't even finish reading. I was like, “I can't do this.”

Gin Stephens: No. Now, there's certain types of quick cheeses you can make. I actually have a book.

Melanie Avalon: Cottage cheese.

Gin Stephens: Well, not only cottage cheese. I have a whole book about quick cheese making. I can't remember the name of it. Somebody in one of my groups one time was like, “Gin, you would love this,” I bought the book and put it on the shelf. [laughs] And I haven't made any.

Melanie Avalon: Well, I will say so-- It's kind of like remember, in Harry Potter when they were trying to make the potions. Listeners, just google how to make cheddar cheese. You have to heat it to these very specific temperatures and then move it around and add things. I couldn't even finish reading. I was like, “I can't.” Then, I skipped to the bottom, and it was something to effect of like, “That wasn't too hard, was it?” [laughs] I cannot-- I can't do it.

Gin Stephens: Hey, I can mill wheat into flour and make bread. That's good enough, and then I'll just buy some cheese. But I'm so proud that I was right that it was what the cows were eating. That's why flamingos are pink, for example, based on what they're eating.

Melanie Avalon: That's why salmon back in the day was orange color. Well, it's still from what they're eating, it's just fed into them. Okay.

Gin Stephens: Very good. Yeah, I'm not going to make cheese.

Melanie Avalon: I'm going to make cottage cheese and I'll report back. It seems very approachable.

Gin Stephens: Okay. Well, let me know and then maybe I'll pull that book off the shelf.

Melanie Avalon: Because I want fat-free cottage cheese. You can really only do that if you make it yourself, if you don't want all the crazy stuff they add.

Gin Stephens: The additives. Dairy is tricky. Dairy is one of the hardest things not having whole foods, trying to find good organic, everything, not easy. Here in Augusta, that is. It's probably super easy in Atlanta.

Melanie Avalon: It is easier, for sure.

Gin Stephens: Hi, everybody. Today, I want to tell you about Prep Dish’s New Super Fast Menus. These are in addition to their three existing meal plans, Keto, Paleo, and Gluten free. Instead of scrambling and spending every single night prepping meals, do all of your prep at once in under one hour. You'll get delicious healthy meals on the table, even when you have limited time. If you've been a longtime listener, you know we're huge fans of Prep Dish. No more scrambling at each meal. Instead go into mealtime with a plan. Like Melanie would say, “You've got this.”

Prep Dish subscribers now get four menus every week. Gluten free, Paleo, Low carb keto, and the new Super Fast menus. Now, you can prep a whole week's meals in just an hour. You don't have to choose between meal prep and spending precious time with your family. With Prep Dish’s new Super Fast Menus, you get fast food, but it's homemade and healthy. If you've thought about trying Prep Dish but worried you wouldn't have time to do the prep, now is a great time to check out the free trial. The founder, Allison, is offering listeners a free two-week trial, and you can get that by going to prepdish.com/ifpodcast for this amazing deal. Again, that's prepdish.com/ifpodcast, and your first two weeks are absolutely free. Try it out, see what you think about the new Super Fast Menus, and then send us an email. Let us know, how you like it. Now back to the show.

Melanie Avalon: All right. Well, on that note, books and cheese, and now we can jump into everything. We have a question from Jennifer. Jennifer says, “Good morning, I just started IF, 20:4, one meal a day, two weeks ago. My pants are already looser, and the scale shows down between 7 to 10 pounds. I still struggle with hunger during the weekdays at work. I think mostly because I despise my job, so the days drag and I daydream about food to distract myself. Being so unhappy and bored at work does make fasting more difficult in my opinion. Food was always something I looked forward to daily since I dread going to work every day. Now, I am binge listening to the podcast all day to keep me motivated to stay with my fasting schedule. I'm on Episode 93 as of this morning.

I do work a second job weekends, and one weeknight and I love that job. Tonight, since I have to work immediately after my day job, I will be attempting a 45-hour fast. I close my window at 9:00 PM Tuesday and I will open it at 6:00 PM Thursday. Wish me luck. Anyway, my question is about--” what did you say, Gin?

Gin Stephens: Well, I always say glucomannan. That could be wrong. I don't know that I've ever heard anybody say it out loud. Listeners, we might be saying it wrong. Glucomannan is how I think it said but who knows.

Melanie Avalon: “My question is about glucomannan supplements. In my previous life, as a calorie counter, I tried taking glucomannan to try and trick my stomach into feeling full and eating less. It didn't work for me well, because I didn't necessarily eat when hungry. I just ate whenever, often when stressed and as a reward for having to deal with this terrible job. However, now I apparently have a very active migrating motor complex as my stomach growls, and I feel queasy often throughout the day. I thought maybe this supplement would help with that. Thoughts? Would it break my fast? Thank you both for your books, your time, your podcast, and your passion and for sharing it with the world. I do believe that you are well on your way to changing the world. Have a great day, Jennifer. PS.” Yes. I was going to say this. She said, “Yes, I am actively looking for a job I love. Wish me luck.”

Gin Stephens: I'm sending you so much luck, Jennifer. Wishes for luck.

Melanie Avalon: I hadn't read her PS the first time through, and the first thing I was going to say was, “Maybe look for a new job?” Wishing you luck, Jennifer.

Gin Stephens: All right, I have a lot of things to pop in about this, Jennifer. First of all, I want to say you're only two weeks, so your body is still adjusting. So, that is why you're having trouble right now. You're not yet adapted to the clean fast. During the adjustment period, if you feel shaky or queasy, we want you to go ahead and eat, because you don't want to feel queasy and shaky, and you won't feel that way when your body is adjusted to fasting. Also, make sure you're fast and clean. You probably are if you've been listening to our podcast, but just really double check that you're only having black coffee, plain tea, nothing added at all, plain water, no fruit added in there and nothing for flavor, no flavored anything, don't have flavored coffee. Make sure you're not doing any of those little things because that could actually make you feel worse, and you don't realize that if you're not fasting clean.

Let's talk about the glucomannan, that would be a no. We don't want to try to trick our stomach. You don't need to do that. First of all, you don't want to add things into your digestive system that are bulky, like glucomannan, fiber, any of that. Fun fact, I also tried that as a trick back in the day. It was on Dr. Oz. Did you ever see it on Dr. Oz, Melanie?

Melanie Avalon: I didn't see it on Dr. Oz.

Gin Stephens: Oh, I tried everything that was on Dr. Oz, but he was like, “Here's the number one trick to glucomannan.” I went out and bought it just like the rest of America because everything would be all sold out.

Melanie Avalon: I used to cook with it.

Gin Stephens: Did you? Ugh. As a thickener?

Melanie Avalon: Oh, my goodness. I used to get the powder. If you mixed it up with-- what would I mix it up with? I would make this really, really-- Oh, I would get like low carb Atkins chocolate milkshake things and if you added the glucomannan, it made it into this really thick pudding.

Gin Stephens: Good times. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: And it would sit in my stomach for day-- I'd be like, “Argh.”

Gin Stephens: It could actually literally hurt you. Glucomannan could actually clog you up in a way that is dangerous. This is not something I would recommend for anybody to do because it really could be dangerous in your digestive system. I remember hearing about that later, after Dr. Oz was like, “Try this,” then people like, “Maybe don't try that.” [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: I remember being shocked, I would mix it in with the stuff and it would get really thick. Then, I would usually eat it right away, but if you let it sit a little bit longer and come back to it, it would just perpetually thicken. It's like, “Ugh,” oh, gosh.

Gin Stephens: But you definitely don't want that during the fast, 100%, not during the fast, but I also wouldn't do it during your eating window, because I think it also binds with nutrients and keeps your body from-- that sounds like a really fast way, if you're using it in you're eating window, to nutrient deficiencies, because we really want to be nourishing our body with good food. I would take that glucomannan and throw it away, you don't want to try that. Now, I want to have a little note about this 45-hour fast where you're opening your window at 6:00 PM, I actually don't recommend that. If and when you get to reading Fast. Feast. Repeat., I want you to go to the Alternate Day Fasting chapter and read the part about having an up day after a down day. You need to open your window on the up day after a longer fast, so that you have enough time to have an up day, which would be at least two meals in a window of at least six to eight hours. 12 is even fun. When they did the research on alternate day fasting, there was no restriction on the up days. People would get up in the morning and eat whenever they felt like and eat the whole day.

If you're opening your window at 6:00 PM, you're definitely not going to have time to do an up day after 6:00 PM. I would always do shorter, 36 to 42 is really a better length because then you have time to fit in an up day after that. I think I got it all. Body is still adjusting, glucomannan in the trash, you need an up day, boom.

Melanie Avalon: Perfect. Shall we go on to our next question?

Gin Stephens: Yes, this is from Rebecca. The subject is “Less frequent bowel movements? LOL, sorry.” [laughs] I had to read the whole thing. I love that, Rebecca. All right, Rebecca says, “Hi, Gin and Melanie. First, I want to say that I'm so, so grateful I found you ladies in November of 2018. You both completely changed my life. After struggling with weight gain and binge eating for years, and all of the mental struggles that go along with these issues, I started IF, lost about 65 pounds and have kept it off with ease. I've often seen many non-scale victories. Chronic pain from a foot injury decreased, skin tags fell off, mental clarity throughout the day, don't think about food constantly anymore, mental health has improved, etc.

However, I noticed one odd thing that has been consistent throughout these last two and a half years. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm sorry to be blunt, LOL, but I don't poop as much as I used to. Before starting IF, I used to have a daily bowel movement without fail, but ever since I started fasting, I would say, I average one bowel movement every three to four days. I don't feel constipated or uncomfortable or in pain. But it worries me that I don't have a daily poo anymore. Again, sorry for the awkward topic.

My question to you ladies is why the heck is this happening? Is this okay/normal? Is there anything you can recommend to do or to take to help me become a bit more regular? Any info or suggestions you provide will be greatly appreciated. Some background. I'm 28, eat mainly, whole foods, but I'm not super strict because of my binge eating habits in the past, and walk about four miles daily. I usually follow a 20:4 fasting pattern and start eating at 7:00 to 8:00 PM at night. I'm a total night owl like you, Melanie. Wolves unite, sleep chronotype quiz reference.” I love that by the way. That's just me talking.

She continues to say, “I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing your thoughts about this. Thank you both so much for everything. You're truly making this world a better place. Love from Boston, Rebecca.” That's the second question to say that, Melanie, that may have given me the chills.

Melanie Avalon: About making the world a better place?

Gin Stephens: Yes. That is the same thing that Jennifer said, and now Rebecca said it. I'm feeling--

Melanie Avalon: It's not on purpose.

Gin Stephens: What?

Melanie Avalon: I said it was not on purpose.

Gin Stephens: I'm like we are making the world a better place on purpose, and then I got what you meant.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah, and I love the sleep chronotype quiz reference as well. Although, I am a dolphin, like I said before.

Gin Stephens: You have now figured out that you're a dolphin.

Melanie Avalon: Yes, I am. We talked about this, Dr. Michael Breus’ The Power of When.

Gin Stephens: I'm still a lion.

Melanie Avalon: Still a lion. Yep.

Gin Stephens: And I'm a Leo

Melanie Avalon: Yep. For listeners, the lion’s the early riser, the wolf is the late night, wake up late, and that dolphin is just the restless insomniac that can never sleep. I was thinking about this this morning. All of my biohacking hacks for my sleep, they really work. I sleep eight or nine hours every night and I pretty much sleep straight through.

Gin Stephens: Well, that doesn't sound like a dolphin to me.

Melanie Avalon: Well, it's all of the biohacking stuff. I am definitely a dolphin, I would not be sleeping if I hadn't really attacked it. Because obviously with his book, he provides tools and tips and tricks to take charge of it. But even if you fix it, it's not like you change your chronotype.

Gin Stephens: Okay, so naturally, you would have insomnia.

Melanie Avalon: Mm-hmm.

Gin Stephens: Okay.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. But all the light and all the-- because normally the dolphins are like super sensitive to everything, so they're not sleeping, and then they're not-- with the mental stuff. They're just much more likely to respond to everything that would make them not sleep. My point is, this stuff works, that's why I talk about it all the time.

Gin Stephens: I might be a lion riding on a dolphin. [laughs] Well, I didn't have trouble with insomnia, really until menopause.

Melanie Avalon: I think I told you, the quiz that you take, if you're a dolphin, it'll identify you--

Gin Stephens: Yeah, I'm not a dolphin. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: It asks all these questions, about rumination and sleeping on planes, can you sleep on airplanes?

Gin Stephens: No.

Melanie Avalon: Maybe take the quiz, I'm curious.

Gin Stephens: I've taken it before.

Melanie Avalon: Oh, you have?

Gin Stephens: Yeah, and it said lion.

Melanie Avalon: Okay.

Gin Stephens: But I could take it again.

Melanie Avalon: I wonder if it changed at all with menopause. He says you do change throughout life.

Gin Stephens: I did take it in the fall.

Melanie Avalon: Oh, when you were still in menopause?

Gin Stephens: Yeah.

Melanie Avalon: Okay. You probably are. He said menopause is when most people become lions or dolphins. Maybe you became a more dolphin-y lion.

Gin Stephens: That’s why I said, I'm a lion riding on a dolphin. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: I don't remember what kids are, like, babies. But teens are wolves usually. And then adults are bears/your natural chronotype.

Gin Stephens: Teenagers, definitely. It's been amazing as a mother to watch both my boys go through that change. They really do stay awake all the time at night, but then want to sleep all day, just naturally. And then, they stopped doing it naturally, when they get older. It's been fun. Will gets up early like a normal person now, and so does Cal.

Melanie Avalon: Oh, wow. I can never get up early. Oh, I was talking with one of my friends the other day on Voxer. Do you ever use Voxer?

Gin Stephens: No, I don't know anything about it.

Melanie Avalon: It's like a voice app, and he sent me a Vox like 8:00 AM. He was like, talking and then he was like, “What am I doing now?” He's like, “Maybe I'll take like a nap.” I'm like, cracking up. I was like, “I don't understand. How early did you have to get up if you can take a nap at 8:00 AM?” This blows my mind. If I was up at 8:00 AM, I don't remember the last time I was up at 8:00 AM.

Gin Stephens: I've already been up for a while by 8:00 AM.

Melanie Avalon: What?

Gin Stephens: I can't imagine the last time I slept till 8:00 AM.

Melanie Avalon: [gasps]

Gin Stephens: Even when I would go to the beach with friends, and we would stay out really late, and I wouldn't get to sleep till like 2:00 AM, this is recently, I still wake up at 6:00, 6:30 AM.

Melanie Avalon: Oh my gosh. If I'm up at 6:00, it's because I didn't go to bed. If I was up at 8:00, I would be so proud. So proud of myself.

Gin Stephens: If I'm up at 6:00, it's a day that ends in day. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: Wait, if you're--?

Gin Stephens: It's a day of the week that ends in day, that's all the days. I always wake up early. Yeah.

Melanie Avalon: Did not follow that. I was like, “Does that mean it's still daylight when you go to bed? It's daylight when you wake up?” Good times. For Rebecca's question, this is a really great question, and it's something that I see a lot perusing the carnivore Facebook groups, which I'm not currently carnivore. I do know that when I did my carnivore-ish thing for a while, where I was basically just eating meat and coconut oil, I have no idea how often I was having bowel movements, and that's really a little bit shocking for me that I reflect on now. I just realized I'm talking about my bowel movements to all people listening, but that's okay. Now, I am wanting things to be flowing, and it's a concern of mine. So, it's weird for me to think that there was a time when I didn't even think about it. It seems to be a very common thing, like I said, in the carnivore world, because people are doing-- there's no fiber. The question-- and I'm not saying that they are the go-to authority on this, but a lot of people have healed themselves, their digestive issues with a carnivore diet. I'm not suggesting a carnivore diet. I'm just using this to explain my answer.

The question that they usually ask themselves, do you feel constipated, or do you feel uncomfortable, or do you just feel normal, but you're not having daily bowel movements? Usually, 70% of the time the people in those groups say that they feel completely normal, but they're not having bowel movements, but then 30% of the time, they say they do feel kind of stuffed up. I know that's a very casual way of looking at it, do I feel constipated or do I not? I know they say that you're supposed to be having daily bowel movements. But if there are people not having daily bowel movements, free of health issues, and feeling fine, it's hard for me to say that their gut state isn't a “healthy one” or that that's a problem. It's really hard to know.

I think we are so in the infancy still of the gut microbiome and there's so many intense polarizing ideas about it, especially when you look at the carnivore side versus the very plant-based side. What gut bacteria signify a healthy digestive state and what does it all mean? Basically, it's just really, really hard to know. And then, that was a carnivore example, but in the fasting world, I think people do experience this as well. My suggestion is the question that you already asked, so do you feel constipated or uncomfortable? If you do, then hands down, I would look at addressing it. If you don't, I would leave it up to you. If you're not stressing about it, and you're not feeling unwell, I don't know that I would stress out too much about it. Either way, the answer will be the same. So, as far as to how to get more bowel movements, if you like, magnesium is a great thing for that.

Actually, I think I did this on purpose, but BiOptimizers is actually a sponsor of today's episode, they make a really awesome magnesium supplement that uses all seven types of magnesium, because there's seven types, and most of the supplements on the market don't contain all the seven types. Oh, it was so interesting. I take that supplement. When we were recording the newest ad for them, which I think is the ad running on this episode, and I asked on my Facebook group for listeners who have used it to provide their testimonials if they liked, and so many people commented. Oh, my goodness, I was a little bit overwhelmed, which is really exciting how it's helping so many people, but a lot of people find that really helps their bowel movements. If that magnesium doesn't, there are magnesiums that have even more of a laxative effect. The natural--

Gin Stephens: Like citrate.

Melanie Avalon: Magnesium Citrate, I like the Pure Encapsulations brand. That works really well. Natural Calm, it's magnesium, I forget which form is in that, but that works.

Gin Stephens: I think that one's also citrate.

Melanie Avalon: I thought it was, but I actually don't think it is. Wait, let me check. It says magnesium citrate on part of the bottle, on part of the listing on Amazon. It says, “magnesium citrate is better absorbed by your body than magnesium oxide.” But then when you go to the ingredient list, it says magnesium as magnesium carbonate. That is so confusing.

Gin Stephens: Yeah, that must be just how it's created. I don't know.

Melanie Avalon: But magnesium carbonate is different than magnesium citrate.

Gin Stephens: I'm married to a chemist, he could probably explain why it's not, but I don't know. I would guess.

Melanie Avalon: Well, in any case, I find that it works really well, especially because you make it as a drink. In addition to the magnesium, you're getting all the liquid with it. If you really want a magnesium that will just have a laxative effect, it's really not going to give you any of the health benefits of magnesium besides the laxative effect, magnesium oxide, I think is what it is, but this specific brand is Mag 007. That is kind of the last-- if you just need to pull out all the stops. The thing about magnesium is the reason I like it for bowel movements is, it's not habit forming. It's not going to injure your intestines or anything like that. It really just keeps things moving through. GI docs will often prescribe laxatives, like--

Gin Stephens: Like Ex-Lax? I don't know.

Melanie Avalon: There's like all the ones that you can get over the counter. I just don't see any reason to do those because magnesium will give you the exact same result. Other things that can help, vitamin C also has a laxative effect. Then, there are other types of laxatives that actually work by a stimulant mechanism. So, that's things like Senna and cascara. But I don't really recommend those because there's debates as to whether or not they can be habit forming. So, I would really go the magnesium route and/or addressing the food choices. She says that she's eating mostly whole foods. The reason I actually first went because, listeners know I often follow a really high protein, low fat, high fruit diet. Honestly, the reason I first got allured with the high fruit part of it was that I found that it really did just keep things flowing. So, playing with your food choices also will-- obviously going to supplements is the last thing I actually want to do. Ultimately, I think it would be the best to address it through food choices. So, playing around with what you're eating can have different effects as well. That was a really long answer, Gin.

Gin Stephens: Did I tell you that I finally switched to BiOptimizers Magnesium?

Melanie Avalon: Yes. How is it going?

Gin Stephens: I'm really enjoying it.

Melanie Avalon: Yay. How many do you take each night?

Gin Stephens: Two.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Do you find it helps your sleep?

Gin Stephens: Yes. The reason I think that I struggled with it is because it took me a couple nights for me to get that effect with their magnesium, like the first night I didn't sleep very well, and the second night, I didn't sleep very well. I'm like, “I am going to try this again,” because the magnesium I had been using for so long, like way before even we'd met BiOptimizers, like the one I'd been using for since like 2014, I think they changed their formulation. I heard from someone that they had. And then, I'm like, “Wait a minute, that might be what's happening.” Then, I was at the beach, and I didn't have it with me. I grabbed like a cheap one, just at Target because I was at Target and took just an over-the-counter cheap Target brand and slept better. I'm like, “There is something wrong with my magnesium. That is true.” Then, I got back home and I'm like, “Okay, I'm going to try this BiOptimizers.” Like I said, the first couple of nights, it might have taken a while for it to build up for whatever reason, because it's all those different types, so I don't know. Since then, it's been great. I'm officially using it. Anyway, it’s only taken me this long. When I find something that works, you don't want to change it till it stopped working. Again, I think they changed my old one. Anyhow, I have a one-word answer for helping with constipation, and that word is beans. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: Oh, my goodness. Beans would kill me. If I were to eat beans, I would be so constipated.

Gin Stephens: What?

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Gin Stephens: Okay, I recently have started-- I told you I was making dried beans now. Did I tell you that? I got all these fancy beans, and I'm like soaking them and making them in the-- I have the Pampered Chef version of the Instant Pot, which is amazing. I'll make my beans in there, in the pressure cooker.

Melanie Avalon: Wait, what is the Pampered Chef version special about the Instant Pot?

Gin Stephens: Well, it's the only one I have. I've never used the Instant Pot. I don't know how they compare.

Melanie Avalon: Oh, it's not the Instant Pot brand.

Gin Stephens: Right. I don't have the Instant Pot, but I have the Pampered Chef version pressure cooker. Similar idea, but it's not an Instant Pot. It's the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker. Anyway, long story short, I wanted-- Kleenex, you just say Kleenex, I guess you just say Instant Pot now, even though that's not the one I have. Anyway, when I eat a lot of beans, like I go to the bathroom, like good ones. Okay, there's way too much information, sorry, but multiple times in one day in a good way.

Melanie Avalon: It would be so funny if we were doing this podcast in front of the audience, if we could see the audience.

Gin Stephens: Yeah. Would they be horrified? Sorry.

Melanie Avalon: I don't know. I just don't know how much I would be saying all of this.

Gin Stephens: I know. That's true. I probably would.

Melanie Avalon: I probably would. No, I would.

Gin Stephens: I'm at the point where-- we were trying to figure out today how many millions of downloads we've had of this podcast, and we were based on-- like it, we knew it was 7 million at one-- Anyway, I'm like, so now--

Melanie Avalon: It's fine.

Gin Stephens: Millions of people know that feed Gin beans, and she's going to be going to the bathroom a lot, but in a good way. When you're going to the bathroom the right amount, it just feels good. That's all I'm going to say.

Melanie Avalon: Actually, can I do a public service announcement as we're talking about this?

Gin Stephens: Sure.

Melanie Avalon: I will say for anybody if they ever just find they're at this place of constipation, of misery and that nothing is going to change, getting a colonic can be so, so helpful. The reason this is a public service announcement, is don't do the closed system. Because if you go to the closed system and have a bad experience, you're going to write off colonics, but the open system is a game changer. That's my public service announcement. Find an open system.

Gin Stephens: Okay. I would like you to guess. Is Gin ever going to have a colonic? Yes or no? Audience, go ahead and make your guess before Melanie makes hers. And now register your guesss. And now Melanie, make your guess.

Melanie Avalon: No.

Gin Stephens: No. [laughs] Nope.

Melanie Avalon: It feels so good.

Gin Stephens: Not doing it. Sorry, not doing it.

Melanie Avalon: I told you about how I interviewed that woman in her 70s. Did I tell you that?

Gin Stephens: No.

Melanie Avalon: Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman?

Gin Stephens: Oh, yeah. I think you mentioned that. I didn't know she was in her 70s, or maybe I forgot.

Melanie Avalon: She is wise and older, and is a multiple New York Times bestseller. On the interview that I did recently with her, she mentions colonics in her book, and I asked them about her, and she said that she thinks they are one of the key factors in her longevity. And that made me so happy.

Gin Stephens: Well, good. I'm glad that--

Melanie Avalon: She has a system in her home, I am so jealous.

Gin Stephens: Well, you can go right from that to your cold shower. [laughs] Again, good times. I did want to add something, and you said it, you touched on it, but I want to reiterate what you said or should I just say iterate, that I'm going to reiterate that Rebecca, if you feel good, that is a good sign. I genuinely believe that if you don't feel uncomfortable, you feel good, then as long as you're feeling good, that's a sign that things are working well. That's what I think. Our body lets us know when things are not by sending us the feelings.

Melanie Avalon: I agree with that. I thought of one other thing. You can also try coffee enemas, if you like. [laughs]

Gin Stephens: Oh, Lordy.

Melanie Avalon: [laughs] This can be game changers for a lot of people. Their main thing is not for bowel movements. It's more for liver detox.

Gin Stephens: I'm going to put coffee in the mouth. [laughs] Send it down that way. It can then just do what it does on its way through. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: They're actually pretty easy to do once you start doing them.

Gin Stephens: All right. I'll believe that. Just like I'm going to grind my own wheat and make some beans. [laughs] Maybe I'll make cheese if I really want to go crazy. [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: Make the cheddar cheese.

Gin Stephens: No, I don't have time for that.

Melanie Avalon: If we ever meet in person, we can make cheddar cheese together.

Gin Stephens: Well, okay, that would be fun.

Melanie Avalon: That could be a fun time. [laughs] Okay, do you think we sufficiently answered Rebecca's question?

Gin Stephens: And then more.

Melanie Avalon: I think so. [laughs] Okay.

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All right. We have a question from Jill. The subject is, “Brand new to IF world.” And Jill says, “Good afternoon. I am brand new to the IF world, actually just beginning my second week. I began listening to your podcast on iHeartRadio and I am on Episode 14. I'm currently reading Fast. Feast. Repeat. and it is extremely helpful. I'm doing the one meal a day, 20:4 or 21:3. I have adjusted well despite not having my stevia and creamer-filled coffee. For the past several years, I have taken over the counter sleep aids and nightly. ZzzQuil.”

Gin Stephens: ZzzQuil. I think it's just ZzzQuil.

Melanie Avalon: “ZzzQuil or Unisom. While taking this medication at the end of my feeding window cause any unwanted delay in my fasting window?”

Gin Stephens: I just have to say something that's really exciting that I just noticed by looking at Jill's email address.

Melanie Avalon: She's in the government.

Gin Stephens: Well, she's from Greenwood, South Carolina, which is where my mother grew up, and my brother lives there now. It's like home. Anyway, like old family home. I never lived there, but I always visited. I was always there for holidays. So, hello, Jill. I feel like we're neighbors. Also, my parents, my dad is from Ninety Six, South Carolina, which is right down the road.

Melanie Avalon: Nice, small world.

Gin Stephens: Yep, I just got excited because I saw that she was from Greenwood. All right, so Jill, I'm so glad that you are finding Fast. Feast. Repeat. to be helpful. Now, I have two things I want to say. The first I'm going to say, taking something get right before bed. Let's just say random anything, is taking something at bedtime going to break your fast? Here's my universal advice for that. If you have an evening eating window, let's say-- I'll use myself as an example. I usually close my window by about 7:00 PM these days, usually. So, I'm not eating after 7:00 PM. And then, let's say I go to bed at 10:00 because it's summer, and it's still light at 9:00, and I can't get to bed when it's light outside, so I'm making myself stay awake till it's dark, so it's 10:00.

I take my magnesium at that time, even though my eating window is closed, and I don't even concern myself with what's in it or whether it breaks the fast. Why is that? It's because I am not deeply into the fasted state by that point, it's been like three hours since I closed my window. So, a little medication at that point is not-- and then I'm going to bed. Even if it was something that broke the fast, I'm not deeply into the fasted state yet anyway. I feel like it would be different taking something at hour 18 of the fast for example, would be more likely to disrupt your fast than taking something before you're really even in the fasted state. Keep that in mind.

Now, let's talk about taking ZzzQuil or Unison long term. I don't think that's recommended. I know that sleep is really important, but I don't think that you want to take those long term for sleep. I would try to find something else. Go back to magnesium that we were just talking about before. Magnesium helps a lot of people get a good night's sleep and it's essential nutrient. Some of those may have for example, Benadryl, whatever that ingredient is, I can't remember. Whatever's in Benadryl is often an ingredient in these sleep aids, like Tylenol PM or whatever. It's an antihistamine, that actually is linked to weight gain over time, taking a lot of that. I would absolutely not, if I could help it, rely on some of those over-the-counter sleep aids, and instead I would try a magnesium approach and also really work on getting your bedroom just ideal for sleep, making it dark, getting the pets out of there, things like that.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah, I think you really nailed it. I forgot that this question was in the lineup, but I agree about not taking the sleep aids every single night. Now, I was just thinking more about what has been the thing that has made me be able to sleep so well. It's definitely the magnesium. It's the Feals CBD. I really think that has just-- I don't want to say it changed me as a person, but taking it consistently, really, really I think modulated my cannabinoid system and got rid of a baseline level of underlying chronic stress that I had. The cool thing about CBD and they are not a sponsor on today's show but they do sponsor shows, is most people experience a reverse tolerance effect. What I mean by that is, you often need less the longer you take it, it's not something like caffeine where you need more and more. It's just because it's modulating your cannabinoid system.

I would maybe try that. Try Feals and our code for them since they're not our sponsor is, it's 50% off, which is crazy. So, that's feals.com/ifpodcast with the coupon code, IFPODCAST. The magnesium, Gin just touched on it but making sure your sleeping environment is very conducive to sleep, so the blackout curtains, oh, game changers. Blue light blocking glasses before bed. We love BLUBlox. The coupon code, IFPODCAST, will get you 15% off at BLUBlox. I use those every single night in my life. I love their Sleep Remedy Mask that also completely blocks out. It's amazing because you can completely open your eyes when you're wearing it, and not even really realize. It makes everything look really dark. It's amazing. That's at BLUBlox. And working on just your mental health and your stress, so gratitude journals, turning off social media before bed. There's a lot, and I'm telling you, insomnia is in my core, and this stuff really works when you really commit to it and keep it going. And the great thing, the fun bonus of all of that is then you can have, what do you say it? ZzzQuil?

Gin Stephens: It's like NyQuil.

Melanie Avalon: Yes, I'm getting confused seeing the Z-Z-Z in a row. But, yes, it's the ingredient that's in Benadryl, which is diphenhydramine, I think that's how you say it.

Gin Stephens: Yeah, I didn't even try to say that one.

Melanie Avalon: [laughs] The great thing is, because I went through a period where I was taking that every night, this was a long time ago. I still keep in my back pocket, it's in my counter.

Gin Stephens: Do you know why I don't take it?

Melanie Avalon: Why?

Gin Stephens: Because I'm one of those people that does the opposite.

Melanie Avalon: Right, makes you awake.

Gin Stephens: My ADHD brain, that's very linked to people with an ADHD brain. It does the opposite. It makes me wired.

Melanie Avalon: Yeah. That's crazy to me. Especially if I haven't been taking it, it knocks me out. I love the relationship that I have with it right now, because I'm not using it every night. It's rare that I use it. But if ever there's a night where for some reason-- usually if I have to be up really, really early for something, and I'm like I'm just not going to-- the anxiety of having to get up early and like trying to fall asleep earlier is not going to happen, then I just pull out a Benadryl. I don't do the ZzzQuil, I do just Benadryl, and it will knock me out. It's really wonderful. That's why I think it's really fabulous to have modern medications, because when you're not using them chronically, they can be pretty amazing when you need them. Like with pain medication, same thing. If you've had something where you're in a massive amount of pain, and you need pain medication, there's definitely a time and place for that, and it's wonderful that we have access to that. It’s when their way into our lives chronically that they can become addictive and no longer offer all of the benefits to make up for the side effects of being on them chronically.

Gin Stephens: I get it. If you're having trouble sleeping, that you're just desperate to find something and then it's easy, they're over the counter, they work, and [unintelligible [01:02:03] that for me, [laughs] because my brain is crazy, but I get the attraction to them.

Melanie Avalon: Yep. 100%. I know she was asking about it for the fast which you answered. I think there's a bigger thing there that she possibly can benefit from.

Gin Stephens: Yes, I think so too.

Melanie Avalon: I'm glad she asked about it.

Gin Stephens: Me too.

Melanie Avalon: All right. Well, this has been absolutely wonderful. A few things for listeners before we go. You can directly email questions@ifpodcast.com if you'd like to submit your own questions, or you can go to ifpodcast.com, and you can submit questions there. The show notes will be at ifpodcast.com/episode220. There'll be a full transcript in those show notes, so you can definitely check that out and we'll also put links to everything that we mentioned, all those links and discounts and all of that stuff. And you can follow us on Instagram. We are @ifpodcast, I'm @melanieavalon, Gin is @ginstephens. And I think that's everything. Did you see my most recent Reel, Gin?

Gin Stephens: I'm not sure. What was it about?

Melanie Avalon: It was my ideal dating list.

Gin Stephens: Oh, I did see that. Yep, I did.

Melanie Avalon: I was thinking about that. A lot of people have been messaging me about that.

Gin Stephens: Trying to find your man?

Melanie Avalon: Yes. [laughs] Good times. But, yes, I love Instagram. So, follow us on Instagram. Oh, and you can get all the stuff that we like at ifpodcast.com/stuffwelike. All right, well, this has been absolutely wonderful. Anything from you, Gin, before we go?

Gin Stephens: No, I think that's it. Don't buy fake books on Amazon. That’s all I-- [laughs]

Melanie Avalon: Yes. Oh, and if a listener has ever made cheddar cheese, will they please write in and tell me about it?

Gin Stephens: Awesome. Yes. All right. Bye.

Melanie Avalon: Thank you so much for listening to The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. Please remember that everything discussed on the show is not medical advice. We're not doctors. You can also check out our other podcasts, Intermittent Fasting Stories, and the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast. Theme music was composed by Leland Cox. See you next week.

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