I Decided to Revisit Fasting…Here’s Why

I’ve said that too long of fasts can be problematic when hormones are in flux. But what exactly is too long of a fast? Gurus say 10 am to 6 pm eating windows are ideal for peri-menopausal women, but will that work for you? Others are fans of 4-6 hour windows and one meal a day plans. The truth is—the best fasting plan is the one that works for you.

I recently interviewed Laurie Lewis, the founder of Fast Forward Wellness, on my podcast, and I drilled her on all the burning questions I get and wonder about fasting myself. Honestly, I wasn’t going to have another fasting person on, but when I listened to Laurie speak and heard her story, I decided she had some great points I’d like her to share.

Here’s the thing—I used to fast for years, but it turned into a disordered pattern where I stopped meal planning, cooking, and lost interest in food altogether. I used fasting as an excuse to plug more work into my schedule. My husband, likely out of starvation, took over the cooking, and I found myself not eating until he’d make something at 6 PM or later. When I would eat, I found myself justifying seconds because of not eating all day and needing to get in my protein. Can you relate?

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The combination of stress, not sleeping well, and eating late caused me to gain 20 pounds over the course of a few years. Sure, I could also blame peri-menopause hormone shifts driving me to eat more bread, butter, and cheese, but is it all the hormones? Getting real with myself and my choices led me to use the Lumen device for the last two years, which helped me figure out what to eat and when. It helped me dial in my macros and eat on a consistent basis again.

But my physique still wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be. Even with using a fitness coach to guide me, my frustration was building. Just like many of the women I see in my practice, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted with my efforts to lose weight and transform my body. I wasn’t thinking I’d go back to fasting, but after drilling Laurie and her challenging me to rethink fasting, I went for it again. In three weeks, I lost four pounds when I had been struggling to get a pound off for months.

What was it that got me to revisit fasting for myself? The concept of insulin resistance. While I hadn’t tested my fasting insulin for a while, I knew my cholesterol had gone up, and my diet had changed to incorporate more wheat. I found a farmer in Wisconsin who grew organic non-hybridized forms of wheat flour, and it was the only wheat that didn’t bug my gut. I was excited to make all my favorite things!

Knowing that the turnover of hormones from ovaries to adrenal glands causes the ovaries to make more testosterone, boosting blood sugar levels, I figured it was possible I was becoming insulin resistant. That, combined with a conversation about fiber with a client of mine, had me thinking—what if I am following the traditional pathway of insulin resistance? And does anyone really escape it? What would it hurt to go back to fasting—on my terms?

As Laurie says, fasting has to feel good, work for your lifestyle, and get you results. Perfect—how can I do that? I found a 10-11 am to 4-5 pm eating window worked best for my lifestyle and work schedule, and it got me results. That’s me. You have to do you. This is where I like Laurie’s message. She’s all about fasting on your terms.

Because I was traveling and sailing quite a bit around the time between our two podcasts, I couldn’t test my insulin, but I do wonder if it went down. I’ll be re-testing how fast I’m aging this month, and there’s a part in there on blood sugar. So stay tuned for that podcast in November where I reveal what happened. Till then, I do think there’s something to giving my body more time between dinner and my first meal to see if it can help me drop a bit more fat.

Like anything in the health journey, there are always adjustments needed to keep your body on track. The Lumen worked to provide me with insight, but I needed to tweak things a bit more. Fasting is so much easier than using a device and an app to help guide you; thus, it’s a great place to start and why I use it in my metabolic reset plans.

With so much noise out there on the best way to keep your weight in check as you get older, I think it’s important to go back to using your own intuition. You may say you have no idea what to do with food, meal prep, or diet anymore. And you may say you can’t trust your intuition when it comes to food. What if that’s because you haven’t slowed down to listen to what your body is saying?

Laurie Lewis talks all about how to do fasting so it feels good, fits your lifestyle, and gets you results. So I ask you—what time frames of eating would feel best to you? When are you first hungry in the morning? Do certain foods or combinations of foods have you feeling gassy, bloated, or blah? Feel like you’re collecting food sensitivities? Does not eating prevent brain fog?

Perhaps a delayed time of eating, a little estradiol, and some digestive enzymes may be in order. Either way, your body has clues as to what it likes to eat and when. Slow down for a week and observe. If you know you can’t or won’t slow down to assess, get a coach. Laurie is offering a program that starts before the holidays to help you not gain weight over the holidays using fasting. Check Laurie out HERE and listen in to our two-part podcast series, episodes 510 and 511.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, where I’ll dive into insulin resistance a bit more! Here’s to your metabolic health! – Dr. J

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