Why I’m Learning to Fast With My Body — Not Against It
I’ll be honest — fasting was confusing to me at first.
I kept hearing how powerful it was for weight loss, energy, inflammation, and even hormones. But every time I tried to apply what I was hearing, something felt off. Some days it felt great… and other days it felt hard, stressful, or just wrong.
What I didn’t understand back then is this:
Women don’t have the same body every day.
Our hormones shift throughout the month, and those shifts change how our bodies respond to food, fasting, stress, and exercise. Once I started learning this — especially through the work of Dr. Mindy Pelz — fasting finally started to make sense.
Not as a rule.
Not as a rigid schedule.
But as a tool.
Why We Fast (the Gentle Version)
Fasting isn’t about eating less or pushing through hunger.
At its core, fasting gives the body a break — from constant digestion, constant insulin spikes, and constant demand. When used correctly, it can help with:
Blood sugar balance
Fat burning
Cellular cleanup
Gut and hormone health
But here’s the part that changed everything for me:
👉 Fasting only helps when your body is in a phase that can handle it.
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When we fast at the wrong time, it can actually increase stress hormones, mess with sleep, and make hormone symptoms worse — especially for women in perimenopause or menopause.
Why We Don’t Fast During Hormone Feasting Phases
This was a big “aha” moment for me.
There are parts of your cycle when your body is actively building hormones, especially progesterone. During these phases, your body needs carbs and protein to:
Support mood and sleep
Calm cortisol
Keep metabolism steady
Prevent cravings and burnout
Fasting during these hormone-feasting phases can feel like:
Anxiety or irritability
Poor sleep
Energy crashes
Feeling like fasting “used to work, but doesn’t anymore”
And that’s not a willpower issue — it’s a timing issue.
I’m learning that if my body is building, it’s not the time to take food away.
The Different Types of Fasting
This part felt overwhelming at first, so I’m going to keep it simple — because that’s how I’m learning it too.
Intermittent fasting (12–15 hours)
This is the most gentle form. It gives digestion a rest and helps stabilize blood sugar. This is where most women should start, and for many, this is enough most days.
Autophagy fasting (16–18 hours)
Autophagy is your body’s cleanup mode — clearing out old or damaged cells and supporting detox pathways. This type of fasting works best during stronger, lower-stress phases of your cycle and is not meant to be done all the time.
Gut reset fasting (around 24 hours)
This one confused me at first, because it’s not the same as autophagy. A gut reset fast is focused on giving the digestive system time to heal and rebalance bacteria. It’s more about the gut than fat burning — and it’s something to use occasionally, not weekly or randomly.
The biggest takeaway for me?
👉 Longer fasts are tools, not requirements.
So How Often Should We Fast?
This was freeing to learn:
There is no perfect fasting schedule.
Instead:
Short fasts happen more often
Longer fasts happen occasionally
Some phases require no fasting at all
Fasting should feel supportive — not stressful.
If it feels hard, draining, or anxiety-producing, that’s information. Not failure.
What I’m Still Learning (and Why I’m Inviting You In)
I’m still learning how powerful it is to:
Eat differently across the month
Fast differently across the month
Move differently across the month
And instead of trying to figure it all out alone, I realized something important:
This is easier when we do it together.
That’s why I created a mini challenge — so you can simply try one meal and one short workout and see how your body responds. No pressure. No perfection.
And if it clicks?
We invite you into our 30-day Live in Sync: Hormones group, where we walk through this rhythm together — food, fasting, movement, and real life. If this is you, use my chat feature on the website and let me know you want to join the 30-day program!
Not extreme.
Not isolating.
Just learning to work with our bodies instead of fighting them.
If this sparked curiosity, I’d love for you to join us. 💛
— Erin
