She Lost 85 Pounds on the Air Fryer Diet—and Still Eats Fried Chicken and Fries!
The best part? 'Woman's World' reader Janet Penwell said she never felt deprived
After struggling for years to lose weight, Janet Penwell, 71, felt like she’d truly tried it all. But with an upcoming knee replacement surgery looming, she knew she needed to slim down in order to ease her recovery. That’s when she stumbled upon an air fryer diet for weight loss. See her inspiring story, and how eating healthy—and delicious!—versions of her favorite comfort foods helped Janet lose 85 pounds.
Reaching her breaking point
“We can get you some relief, but how well you recover depends on how much weight you lose before the surgery,” said Janet’s doctor as they discussed her upcoming knee replacement. Janet nodded, trying not to let her smile fall. The doctor continued speaking, but the Ohio grandmother couldn’t focus.
I’ve already tried every diet in existence and nothing has worked, she thought, panic rising in her chest. How much weight can I possibly lose? Am I going to be stuck using a cane or wheelchair forever? “Any questions, Janet?” asked the doctor, touching her arm. Janet shook her head, but her mind was screaming: What am I going to do?
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Later, as Janet’s husband, Mark, pushed her wheelchair through a country fair, all she could think about was her health. Knee trouble ran in her family, plus she’d torn her meniscus and developed life-threatening blood clots in her legs. Her weight made it all worse, of course. She kept meaning to diet, but lately comfort food felt irresistible. If I can’t get myself mobile again, I’ll have to quit my job, she realized. She already couldn’t keep up with her grandkids. It wasn’t the life she wanted.
She started eating more whole foods
In the days that followed, Janet began to poke around the internet for help. Past failures told her plans like Atkins and Weight Watchers were not for her. I need something that doesn’t feel so hard, she thought. An article about eating to ease joint pain caught her eye. As she read, her jaw dropped. Almost everything I eat is processed and very inflammatory. Janet’s “comfort food” was making her discomfort worse. The more she read, the more determined she became to make changes.
“It tastes like cheating even though it’s good for us.” —Janet Penwell
After a grocery run, Janet began swapping whole foods into her meals. Nuts instead of croutons, sweet potatoes instead of a boxed side, homemade burgers instead of fast food. Using a tip from the internet, she tried to wait for a hunger pang before she sat down to a meal, and she tried to take her plate to the sink as soon as she felt a little full. She had to focus, but it felt right. After a week, she was down 5 pounds!
The air fryer diet was a game changer
Janet noticed that as she ate more whole foods, her appetite shrank and her cravings were gone. At first, she kept things simple—baked or grilled protein, salad or steamed veggies, healthy starch or fruit. She was losing steadily. Life was good. Wasn’t it?
Honestly, the food is getting a little boring, she admitted to herself. Could she really keep up her progress? She wasn’t sure. Then she heard people raving about their air fryers—how they added crunchy, crispy goodness to healthy food. Her mouth watered just thinking about it. “You know I’ve always liked fried foods,” she said to Mark with a wink. Soon after, he was handing her a wrapped box.
Janet started her air fryer diet with fish, dipping cod in egg and healthy breadcrumbs. She misted on some olive oil and popped it in the fryer basket. In 12 minutes, it looked perfect.“It’s like regular fish and chips,” said Mark, digging in. Janet took a satisfying bite.
She kept experimenting with turkey, sweet potato fries, even air-fried apples with butter and cinnamon. “It tastes like cheating even though it’s good for us,” she said to Mark of her new air fryer diet. Plus, meals that normally took 45 minutes to make were ready in 15 minutes.
How Janet lost 85 lbs. on the air fryer diet
Raised on her mom’s Southern cooking, Janet found she could make guilt-free versions of childhood favorites: fried chicken, fried veggies, spiced pecans. As she shed 20, 30, 40 pounds on the air fryer diet, she was especially surprised by how flat her belly seemed.
“My waist had gotten thicker as I got older and I figured it would stay that way,” Janet says. “But I’ve learned eating less processed junk helps bring down blood sugar and insulin, allowing your body to burn abdominal fat. It was amazing to see it happen.”
Also amazing: Janet lost 60 pounds before her surgery and enjoyed a speedy recovery. Even better, her pre-op blood work was also the best it’s been in over a decade. All told, she’s now down 85 pounds.
Today, as Janet tucks into a scrumptious air-fried shrimp dinner or sets out for a walk, “I feel like it’s just normal life, not a diet. That’s exactly how it should be. I do things that make my body feel good,” she says, smiling. “I went from broken down to lifted up!”
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