Episode 437: Alison Pizanie

In this episode of Intermittent Fasting Stories, Gin talks to Alison Pizanie from Medford, NJ.

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Alison is an elementary special education teacher, and the author of The Regain Remedy.

Alison shares her lifelong battle with weight problems and emotional eating. Alison describes how anxiety and shyness led her to use food for comfort from childhood, perpetuating a cycle of emotional eating, dieting, and weight fluctuation. She recounts her experience with various diets and weight loss methods, from Weight Watchers to the cabbage soup diet, and she ultimately opted for weight loss surgery in 2016. Despite initial weight loss success, losing 90 pounds in the first year, Alison faced numerous challenges post-surgery, including physiological side effects and eventual weight regain. Her turning point came when she discovered the book Delay, Don't Deny, which introduced her to intermittent fasting and transformed her approach to weight management.

Alison notes how adopting intermittent fasting helped prevent further weight gain and soon she began to see her weight trending back down. She was delighted with ten pounds of loss the first year, which turned into twenty, getting her back to her lowest post-surgery weight. At that point she realized she still had fat to lose, and decided to focus on consistent fasting windows, particularly on weekends, and has gone on to lose seven more pounds, and she is still slowly losing.

While telling her story, Alison provides insight into the physiological aspects of weight regain post-surgery, such as stomach stretching and calorie intake through liquids and slider foods. Since approximately 75% of patients experience “considerable” weight regain within 6 years, she wants to provide hope to this large community that there is a solution, which motivated her to write her book, The Regain Remedy, available on Amazon.

Gin and Alison discuss the importance of finding the right eating window for your body. They highlight mindful eating and celebrate non-scale victories, such as increased confidence, energy levels, and reduced clothing sizes.

The episode concludes with a reflection on the tangible success Alison has achieved through intermittent fasting. Alison finishes by offering her final advice: embrace intermittent fasting with a slow and conservative approach, understand the science behind it, trust the process, and consult with your doctor to tailor the lifestyle to your individual needs. She emphasizes that the magic is in the repeat.

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