Show Notes
Karen Coleman-Ostrov, age 65, spent much of her adult life trapped in the exhausting cycle of dieting. She was a lifelong dieter who tried over a dozen different diet programs and protocols, each promising weight loss but ultimately leading to frustration. Some diets caused her to gain weight or slow down her metabolism, while others required tedious food measuring or strict deprivation. Though she often lost weight temporarily, none of these plans were sustainable long-term, and she would always regain what she lost. In August 2020, Karen had a pivotal moment when she saw a stunning, youthful photo of her sister-in-law, Dedra Campbell, on Facebook. Karen initially thought it was a much older photo because Dedra looked so slim and vibrant. When she learned it was recent, Karen immediately called her to uncover her secret. Dedra shared that her success came from practising intermittent fasting, a concept that initially worried Karen because it sounded like deprivation and constant hunger. Yet, out of curiosity and hope, Karen bought the book, “Fast.Feast.Repeat.” by Gin Stephens and decided to give fasting a try—starting with a clean 18/6 fast. To her surprise, Karen found fasting easier than expected. The first fast sparked a change that would transform her life.At the time, Karen weighed 175 pounds (fluctuating often between that and 182 pounds) at 5’5”. Over the coming months, Karen faced challenges like a slowed metabolism caused by years of yo-yo dieting, the effects of menopause, and managing type 2 diabetes. Less than a year into fasting, Karen joined The Fasting Highway and also ordered and read the book. Karen found encouragement from Graeme and fellow fasters, which was crucial as she learned to trust the process and understand that her weight-loss journey was uniquely hers—meaning she shouldn’t compare her progress to others'. Karen lost weight gradually but steadily. After about two years, she dropped from 175 pounds to 160, and then a few months later to 149—a weight she hadn’t seen in more than 20 years! Eventually, Karen’s body settled around 142 pounds, a healthy and comfortable place for her. Her highest weight was 208 pounds, at which point she struggled with daily tasks such as bending over to tie her shoes, suffering from sleep apnea, and being out of breath after going up stairs or walking long distances. Today, Karen’s health and mobility have vastly improved. She no longer has sleep apnea and can climb challenging staircases, like the 185 steps of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in Bermuda and the 294 steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, with ease. Maintaining her weight is effortless now with a flexible intermittent fasting routine, usually fasting 18/6 or OMAD on weekdays, and enjoying longer eating windows on weekends to socialise and eat out. Karen’s favourite part about fasting is the control it gives her over food—not feeling controlled by it. When asked why she continues fasting after reaching and surpassing her goal weight, Karen’s answer is simple: Intermittent fasting is not a diet or a fad—it’s a sustainable lifestyle. This lifestyle has allowed her to lose weight for the last time and live confidently in her body every day.
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Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast should be taken as medical advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the host and guest only.
More from The Fasting Highway
Rachel Awad is a longtime member of the Intermittent Fasting Community, and has been a previous guest on The Fasting Highway. Originally from the US, Rachel lives in Egypt; she has been an expat for over half of her life. Currently 63 years old, she has been doing some for over IF for 12 years and has been clean fasting for 9 years. Over the years, she has followed many different fasting protocols, including 5:2, OMAD, 16/8, 19/5 and ADF. She’s a firm believer in tweaking when needed to find your fasting sweet-spot. She has lost over 100 pounds – currently down 120 lbs from her highest recorded weight. Since we last spoke in August 2025, Rachel has faced some personal obstacles and is up about 10 lbs from her lowest weight, and is determined not to let that discourage her. Lately she is very focused on the mental and emotional aspects of weight loss, which are sometimes the most challenging part of the journey.
Dana last appeared on the podcast in Episode 263 in March 2025, where she shared her IF story. She started IF on September 5, 2023, after learning about it on a podcast focusing on Alzheimer's and dementia prevention and mitigation—a topic close to her heart after losing both of her parents-in-law to the disease. At 5'2" and 55 years old, Dana spent most of her adult life weighing between 128 and 140 pounds, but now comfortably maintains between 113 and 116 pounds. Within just one week of starting IF, she remembers saying out loud to her husband, “I feel fantastic. I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop doing this.” She never looked back and has been thrilled that the journey continues to bring her so many non-scale victories (NSVs) that she can't imagine ever not fasting daily. It has truly become part of her identity, and she is deeply grateful. Even through the hardest times, fasting is the one thing that gives her a positive sense of control over her health and happiness. Although she still struggles with emotional eating at times—and occasionally too much sugar—she holds fast to the 80/20 rule and feels confident she can maintain this lifestyle forever. She completely flipped the script on her diet: she used to eat sugar and ultra-processed foods (UPFs) 80% of the time and nutritious foods only 20% of the time, but now that ratio is fully reversed! Her mental health is better, her motivation is higher, her nutrition is improved, her sleep is better, and her mood is brighter... the benefits don't stop there! So many positive changes have happened simply because she gave her digestive system the rest it needs. Dana attributes much of her progress to staying active and informed. She relies on the ZOE app to select healthier foods with confidence and ease, and draws daily inspiration from James Clear's Atomic Habits. Her routine includes lifting weights 3 to 4 times a week, fitting in two HIIT workouts, prioritising rest days, and walking after meals or hopping on her vibration plate. A retired English teacher, current theatre director, wedding officiant, and part-time nanny, she keeps active and on her feet three days a week nannying in a large house. Dana is super grateful for fasting mentors like Graeme, Gin, and Dr Fung—all of whom she listens to regularly and is inspired by. She encourages anyone and everyone to try fasting and loves talking about it. Given her deep passion for its health benefits, she is even considering pursuing a coaching certification to help guide others on their own journeys!
A real treat: inspiring community member Jacqui Lewis, a Journalist and keen podcast fan, takes over the host chair this week. Jacqui delves into Graeme's early life and how Intermittent Fasting has changed his life for the better. Graeme shares some very personal moments in this candid interview. A big thank you to Jacqui Lewis; it was a thrill to be interviewed by her, a person I hold in very high regard.
Bonnie is 64 and lives with her husband in beautiful southern Oregon in the western United States. She enjoys her full-time office work. She has a great life with her husband and their little sausage dog, and she likes to visit her grown children who live out of the area whenever she can. After being thin throughout childhood, Bonnie first felt the need to lose weight in her mid-twenties. This was followed by decades of yo-yo dieting, as she was unable to maintain for very long any success she achieved. She discovered intermittent fasting in 2017 and dabbled in it for a few years without reaching its full potential. In January 2025, Bonnie turned the corner in her pursuit of health through a committed daily practice of intermittent fasting that she has continued to this day. She lost 50 pounds in about 8 months to reach her healthy weight range and has maintained her loss for about a year. Her “why” for IF as a life practice is the continued pursuit of health to do all she can to avoid very serious health problems suffered by her family. She considers her weight just one indicator of that pursuit. Bonnie sees maintenance as its own journey. She practices IF daily with a little added flexibility to accommodate and enjoy life events. She feels maintenance is the “real game” for her, and weight loss was the “pre-game” warm-up. Before IF, she couldn't keep her weight in a healthy range, but with IF, she's finding success. She believes IF will always be part of her life. In this discussion, she shares some of the guardrails she uses to stay focused on her pursuit of health. She mentions challenges in crossing the bridge from “knowing” what to do to “doing” what is best for her. She speaks of the hope she feels now as she does whatever she can to help her healthspan last as long as her lifespan. Maintenance has given her the opportunity to explore broader health topics like gut health, enjoy new creativity in nutrition, and discover the health effects of various food choices. She tries to make each meal worthy of the fasting time she invested to get to it. Bonnie enjoys the fasting community. She loves learning from and sharing ideas and encouragement with fellow travellers on the IF journey.
Jim Peeler lives in Hickory, a small city in North Carolina's foothills. He and his wife, Diana, have two adult children who both live in the mountains of western NC, and one grandson. Jim is a financial controller for a logistics company. Jim passed his two-year anniversary of fasting on February 1, 2026. This past year, Jim has completed his first year and a half of maintenance and offers great insight in this episode. Jim has struggled with weight issues at least since the 5th grade of elementary school, at the age of ten. He has lost hundreds of pounds over the years, using various methods, but has always regained even more once the diet ended. The hope is that intermittent fasting will hold the key to finally losing significant weight for good. Looking back, Jim realises that over his life he had reached a tipping point roughly every 10 years that prompted him to start a serious weight-loss attempt, with numerous attempts in between that never lasted very long. Jim was successful at losing weight in these serious attempts, shedding more and more pounds each time, but the diet rollercoaster led him to heavier weights with each try until he reached a maximum weight of 245 pounds in late 2018. And at only 5 feet, 4 inches, he was seriously morbidly obese. Through 2019 and 2020, he successfully reached150 pounds through calorie reduction and walking, but by 2024, he had once again risen to 215 pounds following a job change and the loss of his mother, among other stressful situations. He had heard of intermittent fasting some time before, but had never seriously considered it until he decided to give it a try in February 2024. Since then, he has lived a fasting lifestyle and is on the path to long-term maintenance, thanks to intermittent fasting.