Every diet you've ever tried has failed you for one reason: it never told you when to eat. Your body runs on two energy systems. One burns sugar. The other burns fat. Most people never spend a single day in the second one. Around eight to ten hours without food, the switch flips. Ketones flood your brain. Hunger quiets. Mental clarity hits. Healing turns on. This is what fasting expert Dr. Mindy Pelz has been teaching for over 25 years, and what her book Fast Like a Girl made impossible to ignore. For women, timing is everything. Day 1 to 10, fast longer and lift heavier. Day 11 to 15, testosterone surges and libido climbs. Day 16 to 19 is for deeper fasts. After day 20, progesterone needs you to back off and rest. Fast like a man during the back half of your cycle and you'll tank the very hormones keeping you calm and regular. Underneath all of it sits the hormonal hierarchy. Oxytocin at the top. Cortisol below it. Then insulin. Then sex hormones. When you feel safe and connected, the whole stack works. When you don't, nothing else matters. Connection isn't optional for women. It's biology. Dr. Mindy’s books: Age Like a Girl How Menopause Rewires Your Brain for Mental Clarity, Increased Confidence, and Renewed Energy Eat Like a Girl: 100+ Delicious Recipes to Balance Hormones, Boost Energy, and Burn Fat Fast Like a Girl: A Woman's Guide to Using the Healing Power of Fasting to Burn Fat, Boost Energy, and Balance Hormones The Menopause Reset: Get Rid of Your Symptoms and Feel Like Your Younger Self Again The Reset Factor Kitchen: 101 Tasty Recipes to Eat Your Way to Wellness,Burn Belly Fat, and Maximize Your Energy The Reset Factor: 45 Days to TransformingYour Health by Repairing Your Gut In this episode you will: Learn the fasting cycle for women, Dr. Mindy's day-by-day framework that syncs your fasting window, workout intensity, and food choices to your menstrual cycle Uncover why your menstrual cycle is a monthly detox rather than a burden, and what an irregular or absent cycle is actually telling you about your body Discover why timing your eating matters more than what you eat, and how the ketogenic energy system unlocks fat burning, mental clarity, and steady energy Understand the hormonal hierarchy, how oxytocin, cortisol, insulin, and sex hormones stack on each other, and why female community and connection function as biological medicine Find out what long-term birth control does to the gut microbiome and the brain-ovary connection, and why so many women struggle with hormonal imbalances after coming off the pill For more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1928 For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960 Follow The Daily Motivation for essential highlights from The School of Greatness More SOG episodes we think you’ll love: Glucose Goddess Dr. Mary Claire Haver Dr. Mark Hyman TOPICS Dr. Mindy Pelz, intermittent fasting, ketogenic energy system, fasting cycle for women, hormonal hierarchy, menstrual cycle nutrition, cortisol and stress, birth control and microbiome, oxytocin and women's health, Fast Like a Girl Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on Spotify Text Lewis AI YouTube Instagram Website Tiktok Facebook X Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
