Fast Like a Girl: How Dr. Mindy Pelz’s Groundbreaking Book Can Transform Your Health
- Katie Bateman
- Sep 1, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: May 2
In this post, I dive into Dr. Mindy Pelz’s revolutionary book, Fast Like a Girl, and explore how women can harness the power of fasting to enhance their health, balance hormones, and transform their well-being. This book significantly levelled up my own fasting game and i'm beyond chuffed to share with you the science, benefits, and life-changing potential of fasting like a girl as taught by Dr Mindy Pelz.
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My Fasting Journey: A Decade of Experimentation
Fasting has been a regular part of my health toolkit for nearly ten years, starting when I embraced a mostly Paleo lifestyle back in 2014. As a self-proclaimed “snacker,” I’ve always found fasting challenging. While I loved the energy boost and notable improvements in my gut health that intermittent fasting brought, I struggled with fasting for more than 24 hours. 16-18 hour fasts were manageable, but anything beyond that left me hangry and sometimes in serious discomfort.
Recently, I discovered Dr. Mindy Pelz’s book Fast Like a Girl. Initially, I was skeptical—what more could I possibly learn after fasting for so long? It turns out, I had a lot to learn. This book has not only revolutionised the way I fast and positively impacted my health, but it’s also deepened my connection with and respect for my body.
I’ve summarised the key points of the book in this blog, but I highly recommend getting your own copy and diving into it yourself. Mindy does an incredible job explaining the science behind fasting, how our hormones work, and exactly how to fast like a girl to achieve amazing health results.
Key components of Fast Like a Girl
The book goes into detail about:
The Why - Including science behind fasting in general and fasting like a girl.
The How - What fasting like a girl looks like on a practical day to day level.
Recipes - Recipes to support you through the various phases of your hormonal cycles and that will set you up for fasting success as well as overall health and well being.
In this blog I summarise the why and how of fasting like a girl.
The basic science of Fasting.
When you fast your body goes through a series of chemical changes that activate powerful healing processes in your body. The two main processes that Dr Mindy references are Ketosis and Autophogy.
Some of the key health benefits you’re likely to experience when switching on these two processes are:
Reduced body fat percentage
Reduced visceral fat
Reduced waist circumference
Lower blood pressure
Decreased LDL Cholesterol
Decreased hemoglobin A1C - This is a blood test that shows what your average blood sugar (glucose) level was over the past two to three months.
What is Ketosis?
Your body has two basic fuel systems. Sugar and fat. The sugar system get’s activated when you eat. When you stop eating your blood sugar drops, the slow reduction of glucose in your blood triggers your cells to switch over to the second energy system - Burning fat. Mindy likens the switch over to a hybrid car. Switching between alternative fuels sources.
When you fast you trigger your cells to switch to the fat burning system.
“Ketones are an organic compound the liver makes when your blood sugar drops. Ketones are an alternate fuel source for your cells when glucose is not readily available. A hallmark sign that your body is burning energy from fat is the presence of ketones” - Fast like A Girl
Nutritional Ketosis occurs when your blood ketone level is 0.5-3mmol/L. This can only be accurately measured through testing your blood with a device like the life smart blood glucose monitor, using ketone test strips. It’s possible to get into ketosis within 24hrs of fasting but it varies significantly from person to person, and that is why the blood glucose monitor is helpful if you’re really looking to see when you’re in ketosis.
Being in ketosis is a great way to burn excess body fat but the healing benefits go far beyond just weight loss.
“Ketones are reparative, meaning they will go to certain tissues in your body and regenerate them. Specifically, they repair nervous tissue.” - Fast Like Girl
Being in ketosis can support healthy brain function and give you increased focus and mental clarity.
“The rise in ketones also triggers the release of a calming neurotransmitter called GABA. This neurotransmitter has an anti-anxiety effect on your brain, leaving you feeling more relaxed despite not eating any food.” - Fast Like Girl
Ketosis, is the empowering process where your body transitions from burning sugar to burning fat, unlocking not just weight loss but also sharper brain function and tissue repair. Embracing ketosis through fasting can be a transformative step toward better health, helping you feel more focused, calm, and rejuvenated.
Autophogy.
Another key Healing process that results from fasting is Autophogy. Dr Mindy explains how Autophagy is your body’s natural way of spring cleaning at the cellular level, kicking in when blood sugar drops. This process detoxes, repairs, and clears out damaged cells, which is crucial for staying healthy in the long run. It even targets and destroys malfunctioning cells before they can turn into something more serious, like cancer.
In Fast like a girl, Dr Mindy makes a compelling case for fasting as a way to activate Ketosis and Autophogy for significant overall health and wellness.
Other incredible health benefits of fasting.
Decrease in Glycogen and Insulin stores - This has the overall impact of improving the health and function of your liver as well as reducing insulin resistance-Two things we should all be prioritising for our health and longevity.
Increase in growth hormone production - Growth hormone helps you burn fat and build muscle.
Reset dopamine pathways - A lot of your food cravings are driven by your bodies desire for dopamine. Our overly processed, sugar and chemical laden foods are designed to stimulate that dopamine response. When you fast you can reset your dopamine baseline, making healthier choice's significantly easier.
Repairs the immune System - In longer fasts your body releases stem cells into the bloodstream. These stem cells “identify worn-down white blood cells and make new ones to replace them” - Fast like A Girl
Improves your Microbiome - “Microbes have a hand in everything from how hungry you get to the foods you crave. The more microbial diversity you have the lower your appetite will be…….Fasting brings back the health of these microbes” - Fast like A Girl
Reducing the occurrence of cancer - Fasting reduces inflammation and blood sugar levels two key components of avoiding serious illnesses.
Why women need to fast differently than men.
Understanding why women should approach fasting differently than men involves recognising the unique interplay between our sex hormones and the hormones insulin and cortisol. Through understanding this, you can grasp why fasting can feel nearly impossible at certain times of the month, while at other times it feels effortless.
This distinction is due to the continuous cycle of three major sex hormones in women: estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. These hormones interact with insulin and cortisol in varying ways throughout a typical 28-day cycle (though this can vary among individuals). In contrast, men generally experience only one major sex hormone fluctuation—testosterone—on a daily 24-hour cycle. This makes it far easier for men to fast consistently without haveing to make changes to length or timing of fasts throughout the month
By timing your fasts and adjusting their durations according to the fluctuations in your sex hormones, you can achieve greater health benefits. As I’ve experienced, this approach makes it significantly easier to meet your fasting goals, regardless of their length.
The interplay between insulin, cortisol, and the three sex hormones during each phase of your cycle is outlined below:
Power Phase: Day 1-10
During this phase, your body is producing estrogen. When insulin levels are high, estrogen decreases. This phase is crucial for producing sufficient estrogen in preparation for your ovaries signaling egg release. To support this process, longer fasts and a ketobiotic diet are recommended. These strategies help keep insulin levels low, which in turn supports the natural production of estrogen.
Manifestation Phase: Day 11-16
During this phase, all your sex hormones peak. The focus shifts from hormone production to hormone metabolism. Shorter fasting periods and a hormone-feasting style of eating are best during this time.
Second Power Phase: Day 16-19
This is a period when your sex hormones naturally dip, making it another ideal time for longer fasts and a ketobiotic diet.
Nurture Phase: Day 20 - Bleed
Progesterone is the key hormone during this phase. Progesterone has a calming effect, signalling that everything is going to be okay. During this time, it's best to skip fasting altogether and focus on a hormone-feasting style of eating. This is because cortisol impacts progesterone production—the higher the cortisol, the lower the progesterone. Stress on the body, including heavy workouts and long fasts, can negatively affect your natural hormonal process. Embrace this time to take things slower and truly “nurture” yourself.
Here’s an example of Dr Mindy’s Fasting Cycle.
Different styles of eating for different phases of your hormonal cycle.
In addition to timing your fasts and adjusting them in accordance with your hormonal fluctuations Mindy recommends eating in two distinctly different ways depending on where you are in your cycle. You can see above in the image the terms “Ketobiotic” and “Hormone Feasting.” These two different styles of eating all support your body thriving in conjunction with your fasts.
Ketobiotic is a term Dr Mindy coined to explain a style of keto eating that is specifically designed to support women. Concerned with the lack of fruit and vegetables in a typical keto diet and the impact that has on our gut biome, Dr Mindy specified the Ketobiotic style of eating as:
Consume no more that 50 grammes of net carbs per day
Focus on natural carbs such as vegetables and greens.
Consume no more than. 75 grammes of clean protein per day.
Greater than 60 percent of your food should come from good fat.
Hormone Feasting is a style of eating that Dr Mindy developed when she experienced her own struggles with a Keto diet. Essentially it allows for higher quality carbohydrate intake to support progesterone production and having the overall impact of side stepping any unwanted negative impact from permanently living a super low carb lifestyle.
The rules for Hormone Feasting days are:
Consume no more that 150 grammes of net carbs per day
Focus on natures carbohydrates such as root vegetables and fruits.
Consume no more than 50 grammes of protein per day
Consume healthy fats as desired.
When you combine these two styles of eating with your fasting cycle your ticking an overwhelming number of key health and wellness goals.
Different Fasts to match your Goals:
Here’s a quick guide from Dr. Mindy Pelz on different fast lengths and their benefits:
13-15 hrs: Reduced inflammation, fat-burning begins, improved energy and focus.
17 hrs: Cellular detox, repair, and immune boost.
24 hrs: Gut reset, brain healing, autoimmune healing.
36 hrs: Increased fat-burning, detoxification, anti-aging benefits.
48 hrs: Reset dopamine receptors, reduced anxiety & depression, antioxidant production.
72 hrs: Stem cell regeneration, relief from chronic conditions, accelerated healing.
Results from Fasting like A Girl
I’m currently in my second month of using Dr. Mindy’s "Fasting Like a Girl" method, and I’ve already noticed significant improvements in my overall health and well-being.
Mental Health - One area where I’ve seen remarkable change is my mental health. Achieving mental clarity through ketosis during my longer fasts has been a game-changer. Additionally, by syncing my fasting schedule with my hormonal cycle—especially avoiding fasting during days 20-28 of my cycle—I’ve experienced a substantial reduction in inner criticism. I’m also feeling proud of my progress, as I’m having fewer “failed” fasts and successfully meeting my goals.
Weight Loss -While I’ve lost 4 kilograms so far, I’m happy with this progress particularly because i'm already in A healthy weight range. My long term goal is to lean out by dropping more fat and building more muscle through a combination of Fasting like a girl and my normal mix of heavy strength training, LISS and Cardio. I plan to include more detailed results to this blog, including body composition data once I have a longer-term dataset.
Gut Health - My gut health has been exceptional. For the entire month, I’ve experienced no bloating, which is quite unusual for me. Although my gut health is generally good, significant bloating is common in the week leading up to my period. Last month, however, I did not experience any bloating at all.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. This review only scratches the surface of the wisdom it contains and it's benefits, but I hope it conveys how valuable it can be for you and your loved ones.
I’d love to hear about your fasting experiences. Sharing our stories can be incredibly empowering, and I’m excited to support you on your health journey.
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