The Essential Guide to Intermittent Fasting for Women: Balance Your Hormones to Lose Weight, Lower Stress, and Optimize Health

EXPERT TIP • Plan activities for your fasting days ahead of time so that you always have a plan of action before you get into a funk or feel hungry during your fast. If you’re always hungry at 6 p.m., for example, then hit the gym or a fitness class during that time. If you’re feeling stressed about work, go for a walk instead of eating. Take an Ep

Calorie-restriction diets ignore the biological principle of homeostasis, which is the body’s ability to adapt to changing environments. These diets do not address the root cause of obesity.

two weeks learning to cut out snacks, and then two more weeks on dropping one meal.

Even if you are only snacking on nuts, seeds, cheese, and olives, and choosing healthy fats at mealtimes, you are still having a nonstop insulin response throughout the day.

During fasting, we first burn the glycogen stored in the liver. When that store is finished, we use body fat. Since there is plenty of fuel for most women in our body fat stores, there’s no reason for our RMR to drop. We’re not starving when we fast; we’re fueling off our body fat. And that’s the difference between long-term weight loss and a lifet

Fasting is not an excuse to eat poorly. During nonfasting days, stick to a nutritious diet low in sugars and refined carbohydrates for best results. Remember your healing mindset: you are healing and rebuilding. Choose nourishing foods.

Your eyes adjust whether you are in a dark room or bright sunlight. Your ears adjust if you are in a loud airport or a quiet house. The same applies to weight loss. Your body adapts to a constant diet by slowing its metabolism. Successful dieting requires an intermittent strategy, not a constant one. Restricting some foods all the time (portion con

Ride the waves. Remember that hunger comes in waves; it’s not continuous. Hunger does not keep going up and up until you eat. It peaks and then comes down. When you’re hungry, think to yourself, I’m not hungry, I’m thirsty. Drink a glass of water or a cup of plain coffee or tea. That small action will help you move on.

If we ask how insulin lowers our blood glucose levels, we start to discover the complexities of this hormone. Insulin lowers our blood glucose levels by binding to the insulin receptor on a cell. It’s like a key that fits snugly into a lock. When insulin opens up the lock on the cell, glucose can get in to provide the energy the cell needs. Glucose