While the research is clear that fasting is indeed a powerful healing tool, what most people, including practitioners, fail to realize is that women need to fast differently than men. Here I’ll be sharing my top 5 fasting hacks for women!

#1 Fasting hack for women: Stabilize your blood sugar with good fats

The key here is increasing good fats, lowering bad fats. Good fats are things like avocado, ghee, grass fed butters, raw nuts and nut butters. Whereas anything that comes in a bag, box, restaurant or is fried and processed is highly likely to contain “bad” fats–trans fats, hydrogenated fats, polyunsaturated fats and commercially processed vegetables oils.

Good fats will help you stabilize blood sugar, improve insulin resistance and prevent hunger hormones.

One way to stabilize blood sugar is by adding healthy oils into your meal, like Andreas Seed oils (Use code PELZ for discount). Unlike commercial seed oils which you definitely want to avoid, Andreas Seeds oils are produced using a patented cold press technology and maintains the nutritional integrity and benefits of the seeds.

Another way to stabilize blood sugar and break your fast with good fats is with Keto Cups, which come in a variety of yummy flavors. I find that leaning into good fats will not only stabilize my blood sugar but make fasting easier in the days that follow.  

#2 Fasting hack for women: Consider your hormonal needs

You want to make sure you are fasting at the right time of your cycle and continuing to vary your fasting even if you don’t have a cycle, are menopausal or postmenopausal. Please keep in mind that the hormonal conversation can be quite nuanced and very personal, you can learn more about fasting and your hormones. Here are some general guidelines.

• For women under 40, Day 1-14 is ideal for fasting, however you will likely want to avoid fasting during the second half of your monthly cycle.
• For perimenopausal women between the ages of 40-55, you’ll also want to be very mindful of varying your fasting to support progesterone, as progesterone begins to noticeably decline during this time. Therefore I recommend tracking your cycle, so that you know when your progesterone peaks occur. Progesterone peaks are times you will want to avoid fasting. Another thing to consider is that stress (aka high cortisol levels) is the #1 killer of progesterone. So if you are stressed, you will want to avoid the added stress of longer fasts during these times. You will want to look for the days you are not under stress and make these your longer days of fasting.
• For women over 55, you will also want to mind your progesterone, stepping out of a fasted state at least one day a week, adding hormone building days and incorporating different eating and fasting styles. I highly recommend all women over 55 also do a DUTCH Hormone test to really understand their unique hormones and personalize diet and fasting accordingly.

#3 Fasting Hack for women: Power up your coffee.

I love my coffee, and share my favorite morning coffee recipe here. It has a unique blend of supplements and of course organic coffee that gives me sustainable energy and curbs hunger throughout the day. 

In the afternoon, I rely on a second energy boosting drink that is a blended mix of Bulletproof Brain Octane MCT oil and inulin, found in a product called FBR. You can blend this with coffee if it’s not too late in the day or with water, to make a frothy smoothie. Inulin is a fiber in the gut that will help manage blood sugar and stabilize hunger.

I learned this hack on my Resetter Podcast episode with Bulletproof founder Dave Aprey. It’s a great listen for many other fasting hacks as well!

#4 Fasting Hack for women: Drink your nutrients

Leaning into added minerals and nutrients is an essential way to make fasting easier. Minerals frequently become depleted during fasting, so adding minerals back into your body can frequently relieve many of the unpleasant side effects of fasting, while keeping cells and body nourished. 

I use a mineral supplement called LMNT, it’s one of the better tasting minerals out there and this product will not break your fast! It’s a blend of magnesium, sodium and potassium–the three minerals most depleted during fasting.

Pique Teas makes a whole line of fasting-friendly teas like Cinnamon, Ginger Green Tea, Bergamot Black and Match Green. These teas can help to increase satiety and promote calm, as well as supporting blood sugar balance. They are free of preservatives, sugar and artificial sweeteners and best of all, they are triple toxin screened for pesticides, heavy metals and toxic mold. (Use code PELZ for discount)

You can hear more about the power of Pique Teas in my Resetter Podcast episode with Simon Cheng. 

The second nutrient I like to use while fasting is called Fastonic, which brings hydrogen into the cells, mobilizes toxins, giving cells energy and accelerating the healing process. It can be used as a little afternoon “snack” for those doing longer 36-48 hour fasts, as most Resetters report that it gives them a nice boost of energy when they need it most.

#5 Fasting Hack for women: Monitor your progress

I’m going to talk about fasting tools here, as I am a fan of measuring progress at every step of the fasting journey. This gives me concrete metrics by which to understand how fasting is affecting my body and how I can improve my fasting results. 

The Keto Mojo (Europe orders) is of course the most essential fasting tool, as it measures blood sugar and ketones, to let you know when you have made the transition into ketosis. Here’s a video on how to interpret your blood sugar and ketone levels while fasting, as there are 4 levels of ketosis you will want to know about.

For those of you who want even more insight into your blood sugar, I recommend trying NutriSense, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). This is a small device that stays on the back of your arm and measures your glucose values 24/7. Insertion is painless, and the device can be worn in the shower, while working out, and while doing any of your normal daily activities. I wore this for a month and found it incredibly helpful in getting real-time feedback, helping guide my meals and timing of meals, workout, sleep and daily habits. 

The final tool I’ve been loving is the Whoop band fitness tracker. If you are looking to uplevel your health efforts, track your sleep, performance, HRV, recovery rate and more, the WHOOP band is what my staff and I have been using. In fact, use my link to purchase and get a free strap and one month free.

Once your band arrives, join my accountability group, Resetter Whoop Team using code COMM-9189B8!