Have you heard about fasting, and the popular practice of intermittent fasting?

Women I talk to and work with in my functional medicine and health coaching practice are telling me about their fasting practices. And, I hear it at networking groups, social events and on social media.

Do you Fast?

Fasting has been around as long as humans have. It’s been used to promote health, heal disease, and for many other reasons such as religious and spiritual practices.

When animals get sick, they fast. But for humans, we have gotten off track, and tend to eat on and off all day, snacking, grazing, overeating, and never giving our digestive system and body a rest.

That’s what fasting is, a rest for your body.

Think about our paleolithic ancestors, they lived a life as hunter-gatherers, and feast and famine was their lifestyle. Genetically we are designed to fast, and go without food for periods of time, and then go through periods when food is more abundant.

It’s a bit hard now, with food everywhere, and available at all times of the day and night. Plus, stress promotes eating to soothe and feel better.

I started intermittent fasting around 4 years ago, and now I regularly fast 14 to 18 hours daily. I do feel a benefit and I want you to know the benefits too!

What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

  • IF is when you have an “eating window” and a “fasting window”. For example, if you stop eating dinner at 6pm and you eat the day at 10am, this is a 16 hour “fasting window”. Or, you can see it as an 8 hour “eating window”. This will also be called a 16/8 fast.
  • Ideal fasting times are generally a fast lasting over 14 hours. Then you can “train” yourself to go up from there, to 15, 16, 17 or 18 hours of fasting.
  • IF is NOT when you do a 24 hour or 3 day fast, that is different, but these fast can be very beneficial as well.
  • IF is something you can do everyday, with little inconvenience (you just have to plan ahead).

How to Fast

  • It’s pretty simple, you stop eating at one time and start eating when you are ready, say 14 or 16 hours later. When you eat, you have broken your fast.
  • You can drink water (add lemon or cucumber slices), tea (black, green, herbal), and coffee. If you add cream or sugar or anything to your coffee or tea, it’s not really a fast, as you are adding in calories. That also goes for the “bulletproof coffee”, which is fat such as MCT oil or butter put in your coffee.

Benefits to your Health and Hormones

  • IF improves and can heal your blood sugar and insulin hormones. If you have high A1C on your blood tests, have pre-diabetes or are insulin resistant, or have hypoglycemia (blood sugar highs and lows), this means your insulin hormone mechanism is broken down. The GOOD NEWS is that it can be fixed, and IF is part of that!
  • Not eating 3 hours before bed can promote healthy digestion and improve sleep. Have your ever gone to bed on a full stomach? It can be a cause of acid reflux, heartburn, or poor sleep, especially if there were refined carbs in the meal or snack.
  • Can help with WEIGHT LOSS. Eating less frequently (not necessarily less food) allows your insulin hormone to lower, and this helps weight lower as insulin is your “fat storing” hormone.
  • There are ways to work with your HORMONES, if you are a cycling women, in peri-menopause or postmenopausal you can learn to feel your best with IF.  I recommend Dr. Mindy Pelz’s book “Fast Like A Girl” for more info, OR you can talk to me in a free call HERE

I LOVE intermittent fasting!

It’s something you do yourself, it’s free, and you can play around with fasting times to see how you feel best. It gives YOU more control over your blood sugar, insulin and your hormones even!

It’s one more TOOL in your natural health toolbox.

Do you want help getting started with Intermittent Fasting, or your health and hormones?

If you’re tired of guesswork and want personalized guidance to optimize your health, schedule a Free Healthy Hormone Call with me today. Let’s see what ideas I may have for you to take a step towards your desired health!

Plus, Here’s my free Guide on “5 Steps for Women to Have More Energy” download your copy HERE