The Fastest Way To Lose Belly Fat (Based on Science) | Dr. Mindy Pelz

What causes your body to gain weight? Your body, if it could talk to you, was. like, you just had a lot of extra stuff. you've been giving me and I didn't know. where to put it, so I started in your. belly and I'm putting it there to save. your life. Women's health expert, podcast host, Dr. Mindy Pelz. What is the worst. mistake someone can make while fasting. that will make them gain weight? Doing the same fast the same way every. single day. This is the part that I want. to scream from the rooftop.

We're thrilled to announce that we've. reached 3 million subscribers. We're. incredibly grateful for each and every. one of you. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to hit that subscribe. button so you never miss out on any of. our new releases. We're dedicated to. bringing you the content you love. Our. team carefully analyzes what resonates. most with you to bring on board the best. experts and storytellers to help you. improve your life. Some of your favorite. topics are sleep science, weight loss, physical fitness, navigating breakups,

habit building, and understanding toxic. relationships. Upcoming episodes include. one of the biggest names in health and. science. World-renowned relationship. therapist and your favorite. manifestation expert is back to drop new. findings. Hit subscribe to not miss any. of these episodes. If you think of. someone who would love this episode, send it to them to make their day. The. number one health and wellness podcast, Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. The one, the. only Jay Shetty.

Hey everyone, welcome back to On. Purpose, the place you come to to become. a happier, healthier, and more healed. Today's guest is going to help us do. just that from the inside out. Dr. Mindy. Pelz is a women's health expert, podcast. host, and best-selling author of Fast. Like a Girl, The Menopause Reset, and. her new book Eat Like a Girl. With a. mission to empower women by helping them. understand their bodies, Dr. Pelz has. become a leading voice in the fields of.

hormones, fasting, and healthy living. Dr. Mindy's work provides invaluable. guidance for women navigating the. complexities of hormones, metabolic. health, and nutrition. Please welcome to. On Purpose Dr. Mindy Pelz. Mindy, it's. great to see you and thank you for being. here. Oh, I'm excited. I'm super happy to be. here and have this conversation with. you. I just want to point out how. amazing you are because you're actually. here on your birthday, which shows how. much you value and deeply believe in the.

work you're doing to be spending your. birthday with us. So, I feel even more. lucky and grateful to be with you. Yeah. You know, I'm sure it's like your. work, you know, it is it's just oozes. out of me. So, it's not like I I had to. sacrifice to be here on my birthday. It. was more of a joy to be here. So, thank. you for having me on my birthday. I love. it. Well, let's get right into it. I. wanted to start off with a big question. When when we knew you were coming on the. show, we asked our audience for things. that they would love to learn from you, things they'd love to know about you. And one of the biggest ones that came up. is what is the worst mistake someone can.

make while fasting that will make them. gain weight? Ooh, this this was the. biggest question? Okay, this is really. great because there's not a one-sentence. answer. So, the biggest mistake for. starters is doing the same fast the same. way every single day over and over and. over again. We were meant to vary Men and women were. meant to vary our fasts. And here's the. way you look at it is that the human.

body will adapt to what we call a. hormetic stress. A little tiny stressor. that puts it into uh forced adaptation. So, you go without food, all of a sudden. you're like your body's like, "Wait a. second. We're No food's coming in. We're. going to need to go find that food that. we stored years ago." And so, it will go. to the fat storage and burn that fat. If you do that same style of fasting, maybe it's one meal a day, over and over.

and over again, the body gets really. smart and it's like, wait, no food's. coming in, I only get a little bit of. food every single day, I'm going to slow. my metabolism down. So the biggest mistake that people make. is that they've got to vary their fast, vary the length, you don't fast every. day, it's what we call feast famine. cycling and it's how the human body was. designed to be. I was not expecting that. answer. Excellent. Because I feel. I feel like everything we're ever told.

is like, here's the hours, here's what. it is, do it five days in a row, maybe. you can take a couple of days off a week. or a month or whatever it may be. How do. you know then how to structure it to. give yourself some sort of system to. follow so that you're not just, I guess, completely out of sync as well. Yeah, so first I want to say is if it. makes logical sense if you go back and. you think about the hunter gatherers. Like they came out of the cave and. sometimes they had a meal left over from. a kill they made the night before, sometimes they had a lot of food and.

then sometimes they had no food. So our. body is used to that feast famine. cycling because that's how we were. primally designed. So I want to point. that out. Second thing, the way that I. see this is that every day you have a. fasting window and you have an eating. window. And your eating window you get to vary. and it should vary for most people based. off your lifestyle. So let's use the example of the soccer. mom.

because that was sort of a big part of. my practice was all these, I call them. the mama bears. And what we found is. that they want, the most important meal. for them was dinner with the family. So. they needed to skip breakfast and start. their eating window somewhere around. 12:00, 1:00 so that they can finish that. eating window at 7:00 8:00. So, Monday. through Friday, they would make their. eating window in the afternoon evening. But, then on the weekends, like a lot of. families want to have brunch on Sunday,

or maybe they'll go to the farmers. market, or or maybe they'll go out to. breakfast on Saturday morning. So, then. they would move their eating window up. in earlier in the day. Right. So, I. think you should base it off your. lifestyle, and then of course base it. off of women should base it off their. cycle, which is what Fast Like a Girl is. about. Yeah, so I'm someone who loves. systems and routines. Yeah. So, I end up. eating I'm a three meals per day kind of. person. I have to eat three meals a day. My body reacts in whether it's cramps or.

fatigue or whatever if I don't. Yeah. So, if I try and miss breakfast or. have a late breakfast, I'm feeling that. Yeah. Um if I'm skipping a meal in the. middle of the day, I'm I'm feeling that. Like my body wants it. So, Yeah. I generally end up eating a day. pretty much at the same time every day. Is that bad? Am I doing that wrong? Well, I mean it dep- I always say it. depends on your intention. So, what's. your intention for your health? My intention right now is to gain. strength and muscle as I've been. training and trying to eat enough.

protein as someone who follows a. plant-based diet. And then you are doing. when you're working out in the morning? Yes, in the morning. Yeah, so for you, cuz you're trying to. up muscle, you're going to want to make. sure that you eat before your workout, and you're going to want to make sure. you eat after your workout. the before. Yeah. Yeah. So, then what will end up. So, you go in fueled, you're breaking. that muscle down while you're working. out, and then you're refueling. afterwards. That would be like the. perfect way to stack protein. But, then. where does the fasting window fit in? So, the fasting window would probably be.

more towards the end of the day. And one. of the things that I just try to make. this simple for everybody is the best. thing you can do is always eat in the. the. The minute we start eating in the dark, like at the end of the day, we've got. melatonin coming into our body, and. melatonin causes us to be more insulin. resistant. So, if you were working out. at 9:00 in the morning, I'd want you to. have a meal, maybe a small little. protein shake at 8:00. You do your. workout, then you follow it up with a.

recovery meal. Yeah, I would do Yeah, I. would just enough to kind of fuel you. Yeah, you wouldn't need a huge amount. And then, 5:00, 6:00 at night, depending on the. time of year, you shut it down. Mhm. And. then, now, if you're done eating at. 6:00, you would go, you know, 6:00 to. 6:00 all the way till 8:00, that's a. 14-hour fast every day, and that's. pretty good. Yeah, so that's pretty much. what I do fasting wise. I still being at. like 6:30. We always have an early. dinner. Yeah. But I guess yeah, that. means no no none of those late night.

snacks that if if I end up being out. till late, if I have to, got to stop. those late night snacks. Yeah, that's the challenge. Eating in the light. Yeah. So, eat in the light, and then. what a lot of people do because of that. night snacking, what a lot of people. decide is, you know what? I'd rather. delay my breakfast so that I can eat a. little bit later cuz I maybe sit down. with a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie. at night, and so they'll they'll make. their first meal noon. But this is the. whole point of what I'm trying to teach. is all of this is customizable. So, you.

But you should customize it to your. intention and your goals and your. lifestyle. And and if you can do it that. way, it's a health habit that becomes. effortless over time, as opposed to what. we typically do, which is I'm going to. get healthy, I'm going to get fit. I'm. going to I'll just discipline myself. into this new body I want, right? And. then after a while, we lose the. discipline, and we boomerang back into. our old habits. Yeah. Well, you've. already given me something I'm going to. start. having that bite to eat before my.

workouts now. I think that'll make a. huge difference for me, for sure. No, I. love that. The second thing that. everyone asked about, which is the big. one, which is what is the fastest, most. effective way for people to lose their. belly fat? Everybody wants to know about. belly fat. Everyone Everyone's obsessed with belly. fat. Everybody is obsessed with belly fat. Okay, I want to start with this. understanding. What causes your body to. gain weight? And that's a better question to ask. yourself than how do I get this weight. off? Because you need to know the. mechanism. Here's what the body does is whenever.

there is excess, excess glucose, excess. hormones, excess toxins, the body is so. well designed that it knows I can't put. all these this excess around your heart. and lungs. I probably shouldn't put this. around your liver. I'm not going to go. over here and put it around your spleen. I'm going to store it somewhere that. will keep you alive. So, it stores it first around your. belly.

No way. So, it This is the thing that. I'm like trying to free women from is. Then you look in the mirror and you're. like, "Wait a second. I'm I hate that. belly fat." And you shame yourself, you. guilt your way into the next diet, when. your body, if it could talk to you, was. like, "Okay, listen. You just had a lot. of extra stuff you've been giving me and. I didn't know where to put it, so I. started in your belly, then I put it in. your booty, then I put it around your. face in the back of your arms, and for. women, sometimes it goes in the chest,

and I'm putting it there to save your. life.". So, I think the first step to losing. menopausal belly fat is is getting in. alignment with the body and. That's a great answer, yeah. and thank. the body for what it's doing because. it's trying to save you. Great answer, yeah. So, now we have that. understanding, we go, "Okay, well, belly in general, can we know. cortisol?" So, we are a. cortisol-saturated world right now, and. so we got to do something to help with. cortisol. Well, there are there are.

things to help with cortisol other than, you know, uh becoming a monk. There are other things you can do other. than sitting somewhere and just. meditating like. easy things. A stressful event hits you, the worst thing you can do is sit. Get. up and move. Cortisol was meant to make. you move. It's It's that hormone that. gives you up get up and go cuz you're. running from a tiger. So, if you're sitting at your desk, boss. walks in and is like, "Hey, I need this. by the end of the day." And you're like,

"There's no way I can get it." And. you're all upset, the worst thing you. can do is stay seated. Go move your. body. So, constantly walking will help. bring that cortisol down. Getting out in. nature more, bringing cortisol down. Hanging out with positive people so that. you're not in in environment where. negative people are throwing cortisol. bombs at you all day long where your. thinking starts to become one that's. intrinsic that you're starting to like. think everything is a threat and you're. not safe and cortisol is high. That all.

relates to belly fat. This is why I'm. like going into the detail on this. because. Please do. people want the quick fix. But I with the belly fat, the first. thing I want people to ask themselves is. what is the stress level of my life? And. how can I bring that stress level down? And how can I start to work with. cortisol? Walking being the biggest one, hanging out in nature, and then getting. a your body in the right environments.

Then you can look at toxins. So, we. started this conversation before we. recorded about toxicity. We live in the most toxic time in human. history. Women are putting over 200. toxic carcinogenic chemicals on their. skin every single day. The brilliant body is like, "I don't. know what to do with all this, so I'm. going to put it around your belly and. your chest.". And again, then we look in the mirror. and we're mad at ourselves cuz we. weren't disciplined enough. So, go and.

look at your toxic load. What toxic. chemicals are constantly coming into. your body? Start looking into different. detoxes because we got to bring your. toxic load down. I really believe if you. want to be healthy, you don't need. motivation, you need momentum. I can't. overcome my sugar addiction. No, you. should rephrase that and you should say, I've trained my body to crave sugar. And. you're double downing on dieting and. you're double downing on working out and.

you don't even realize that it's. actually this chemical load that has. completely reprogrammed your body. What. are the most common places that people. are putting toxins into their body? Well, skin is is a big one. Um, food is. horrible. I put a whole thing in in eat. like a girl and I was so depressed after. I wrote it all about obesogens. So, obesogens are chemicals that are in our. food. So, BPA plastics are what our food are.

wrapped around. That's an obesogen. Um, pesticides are an obesogen. I the. whole there's a long list in the book. Like artificial colorings and. flavorings, BHT, BHA, all of these. synthetic ingredients, what they do, and. this is the part that I'm like want to. scream from the rooftops, is what they. do is they literally those chemicals go. into stem cells and they reprogram those. stem cells to actually make fat cells.

And one of the places we're seeing this. is in the UK right now because kids have. low have lots of stem cells. And as we. get older, we have less. And so, what. we're seeing is that the stem cells that. were supposed to make bone are now. making fat. And so, kids are become. their heights is smaller and shorter. than ever before and they're bigger and. bigger than ever before. So, these chemicals are totally changing. our fat distribution and the belly fat.

is one of them. So, what you put on your. body and what you're putting in your. mouth, start there. Mhm. Yeah, that's. it's so terrifying. It's terrifying. It's terrifying because it feels like. everything you turn over these days, every pack is labeled with a million. different things. Yeah. And if you're not conscious and. aware and checking, pretty much. everything you pick up is going to have. one of those things in it. That's right. Yeah. And and the best thing you can do. is eat food without a label. Mhm. Like.

go to your farmers market, get, you. know, healthy fruits and vegetables. If. you eat meat, you know, know who your. butcher is and like know where that meat. came from. Make sure it wasn't packed. with chemicals. Like I think we used to. think it was like woo-woo and people who. ate organic were hippies. And I would. say at this particular moment in in. history, you should know an ingredient. label. You should know those chemicals. that are going into your food because. they are reprogramming your body and one.

of the things they're reprogramming our. stem cells to make these these you know, fat cells and you're double downing on. dieting and you're double downing on. working out and you don't even realize. that it's actually this chemical load. that has completely reprogrammed your. body. And so they're conscious of it. Oh, yeah. Oh, well, so the chemicals are are. are there for two reasons in food. One. is shelf life. So, you know, much easier. for these food companies to make sure.

that their food if it sits on a shelf is. going to last a very long time. The. second one is that they are hijacking. your taste buds. So, that you're. addicted to it. Let me give you an. example. Years ago in the LA Times, this. was like 15 years ago, this three-spread. page spread comes out in the LA Times, like huge, about what lay It was Lay's. specifically, potato chips, what they. were doing what the the company was. looking at was what kind of chemicals.

can we spray on the potato chip so that. it hits all the dopamine receptor sites. in the brain, but we got to keep that. that that chip light enough that it when. it hits the. stomach, it doesn't stimu-. uh trigger a reaction in the brain to. kill hunger. So, it needs to be light, it has to be. salty, it has to hit the have a little. bit of sweetness in it so it can hit. those dopamine sites, but we can't let.

the person fill up on it. So, think. about that. How many people open a bag. of potato chips and It does just that. It does that. You can't just eat one. You're like, the whole bag's gone. And then the next thing you know, you're. like, I need more food. And that is what. all this western processed food is doing. is it's hijacking our taste buds. So, now we don't even have control over our. taste buds. It's so hard when you know. that you're being manipulated and. programmed, and it's been hardwired.

since such a young age. Yeah. that the habit that we have of. grabbing that bag of chips or the. chocolate bar or whatever else it may. be, it feels like that is us. Yeah. Almost like, oh, but that's who I. am. I just I just love that type of food. or. Right. that's what I'm used to, and. we're trying to go against this deep. long-term conditioning, it feels like. Yes. And so, breaking that habit is a. lot harder. than it seems. Yeah, and and again, I'm always looking.

at things through the slant of women's. health because what I think women do is. that when they don't know this. information is that they start to think. they can't lose weight because there's. something wrong with them. And they have. no idea that the chemicals they've been. eating in their diet food that was low. fat and they bought because they wanted. the the lower sugar version actually had. a chemical in it that reprogram stem. cells to make fat cells and and hijack.

their taste buds so that they're. addicted to these foods over and over. again. But the But the woman doesn't. know that. She's like, "Oh God, I can. never lose weight. It must be my my. fault." She goes into the doctor's. office. The doctor's like, "Your BMI is. really high." And so now all of a sudden. he's, you know, the doctor's like, "You. got to lose weight." She doesn't know. what to do. So she's like doubling down. on on eating less. She's doubling down. on exercise. She's doubling down on. shaming herself. And it She didn't. realize that it was actually the food.

industry that changed her whole body and. she needs to unhook from that food. system in order to get the results she. wants. A lot of people when they're in. that position or something they do is. people count calories. Do they matter? So this question comes up all the time. So I'm so happy that you asked it. Um. because. based off of research, yes, calories. matter. But based off of human behavior, calories don't matter. So this is why in Eat Like a Girl I have.

a statement that blood sugar matters, calories don't. And the reason that I. say that is that every single woman I. sat with in my clinic and every all the. feedback we're getting on our socials. from women who are fasting is that they. don't know how many calories they eat in. a day and they don't know how many. calories is their output in a day. So. nobody can actually succeed at calories. in calories out. But I can take a a CGM and I can put it.

on the back of a woman's arm and I could. say, "Just eat.". And then she can see real time what that. blood sugar spikes, how many does she. have over and over and over again. And. from that visual, she can start to make. better choices about her health that. affects her her blood sugar better, and. so that she can start to keep her blood. sugar low. I'll give you an example. I. had a patient a couple years ago that. was plant-based and um.

not wanting to change plant-based. I was. in honor of her choice, but when we put. a CGM on her, she had about 10 spikes of. these really high spikes of glucose. every single day. And I asked her, I was like, how do you. like what do your moods follow these. spikes? And she's like, yeah, I'm like. up, I'm down. I'm hungry and then I'm. not hungry. Like I feel like I'm on a. roller coaster all day long. So what I. did is we worked with, okay, how about. if we add a little bit of fat? How about. if we add a little bit of fiber? What if.

we take some of these things like oat. milk and let's sort of switch oat milk. or or maybe if you love your oat milk, let's make sure it's really clean oat. milk and let's add a little MCT oil in. your coffee. And we started to change. how a meal was put together and she went. down to about four spikes a day. She. didn't and she didn't change really. anything she ate. She changed the way. that she put a meal together and then. the blood sugar changed and then her. moods changed and then her weight. changed because we because I taught her.

blood sugar. That doesn't happen with. calories. How many spikes today is okay? I don't know if there's an average spike. amount, but let's let's say that when. you get a glucose spike, the most. important thing is that it comes down to. its pre-glucose. amount, pre-meal amount within 90. minutes. So textbook is 2 hours, but I. like to say if we can do like an hour. and a half where you have a blood sugar. spike and within hour and a half your.

blood sugar's right where it was before. you ate that meal, that you're pretty. insulin sensitive. If it's taking more than two hours for. your body to be able to integrate that. glucose, now we may have a little bit. metabolically resistant, insulin. resistant body. So it's your recovery. from the meal that matters more than. anything else. Interesting. Oh, right. Okay. So 90. minutes is what we should be aiming. I That's my personal standard. Right.

And like what most doctors will say is. two hours. But I I like it to be a. little quicker than that. Got it. So. that's what we should be measuring. That's what we should be looking at. And. then the other thing is one of the. greatest studies done on fasting is 16:8. and Satchin Panda was the leader of that. in that study. And what he found is that. if you ate all your food in an 8-hour. eating window, leaving 16 hours for rest. and recovery, that you basically became. metabolically immune from the harsh.

metabolic consequences of a processed. diet. So what that meant was I can take all. the bad food and I can put it in an. 8-hour eating window and if I get my. give my body 16 hours to rest, then the. metabolic system rebooted itself and was. able to continue forward without seeing. insulin go up and hemoglobin A1C go up. and inflammatory markers like CRP go up. So when I look at the spikes,

I want to see the recovery of the spike. and then I want to see that part of the. day there's you're just not eating. anything, that there's no spikes. Right. Does that make sense? makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot. of sense. One of the things that I found. fascinating that you talk about in Eat. Like a Girl is you talk about eating for. your microbes, not your taste buds. Yeah. And I find this to be the constant. kind of challenge that people in my life. have when I'm talking about healthy. eating or healthy habits when it comes. to food. We generally eat for our taste.

buds or eat for our emotions. Yes. Talk to me before we talk about. eating for your microbes, talk to me. about how our patterns of our taste buds. have changed over time. Yeah. Because I feel again we're not aware of. the root of where this started. Yeah. And this is a The reason I put. that as a real foundational rule is. again, I'm trying to free women and help. women have a better relationship with. food. And there's so many women that. just find it like let's use.

carbohydrates or sugar or alcohol. They'll say, "I just crave it. I can't I. can't uncrave it. I just it's like the. tub of ice cream just calls me.". Well, if you actually look, there can be. microbes and there can be fungus that. lives in your gut that is doing the. calling. So, those are the ones that are. sending a signal to the brain, "Feed. me." So, we have trillions of bacteria. in our gut and they all want to stay. alive. And so, they send signals to the. brain and they tell the brain, "Feed me.

this. Don't feed me that." So that it. can stay alive. And then on top of that. we add this dopamine response we're. getting from the chemical food. We We're. actually not really in control of our. food choices when you look through that. lens. So, let's go to your friends. Your. friends who are like, "I I have no. willpower. I don't know how to get over. my sugar addiction." Well, the first. thing is make sure you're eating. chemical-free. Get back to nature's food.

cuz nature didn't create food that made. you addicted. So, get off those. processed foods. And then let's look at. feeding your microbes. Let's give your. microbes more food. Like what I found in. my clinic is people were eating the same. foods over and over and over again. Like. the same 20 foods. And now when I opened. it up their whole food window and said, "Hey, how about instead of iceberg. lettuce every night, what if we try a. spring mix with a little parsley and. maybe some dandelion greens so we can.

support your liver." Like all of a. sudden we just opened up the foods they. were eating and the microbes changed. And if you mix that with fasting, the. greatest study that I love, one of the. greatest that was done on fasting was. the every other day diet. And what a a. researcher did is she took a group of. people that were metabolically. challenged, had food addiction, and had. cardiovascular challenges, and said, "You can eat anything you want one day.

and then the next day you don't eat. And. the next day eat whatever you want, next. day don't eat." And what she found was. that and then you had they had to do it. over a course of a year. By the end of. the year, everybody's metabolic markers. improved, everybody lost weight, which. is what she thought would happen, but. what surprised her was that everybody's. choice of food, what they were craving, changed. Mhm. So, when I look at those people. struggling with like, "I can't get over.

my cravings," we've got to change your. microbiome and we've got to put you in. some fasted states so we can have you. can have start to have a different. experience with these cravings and and. it's it's a combination of those things. How do we detox the bacteria that's. calling out for the sugar or calling out. for the fats or carbs or whatever it is? How do we How do we detox those because. out. Really? That's the only way? Yeah, you start starving them out. Wow. Um and that's why it mean I I've.

spent a lot of time. really asking myself like, "Why did Fast. Like a Girl connect with people? What. was it that was in there?" I mean, we. have crossed all the audio and the ebook. and the hard copy over 800,000. versions of Fast Like a Girl was. purchased and. I think. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you. I. think what happened is that people. finally were able to take a break from. food and they saw the result and they.

started to starve out the microbes and. they started to go after all these. places that the body stored excess and. they started to see a result. And I. really believe if you want to be. healthy, you don't need motivation, you. need momentum. And once you have. momentum, the motivation comes. Yeah. So, one of the things that we do when. you're looking at these microbes that. are controlling your taste buds is let's. just start tacking on some, you know,

fasting windows every day where you just. give the microbes a break and they will. start to die off. Mhm. And and the. longer you fast, the more they die off. and your food choices will change, which. is what happened in that study. I've. experienced that personally. I always. talk about how my wife trained me off of. sugar because when I met her, I was. addicted for sure. I was that friend. And and it's I can empathize with it. because I know how strong it was for me. because I grew up eating four chocolate. products a day. Yeah. And now I'll have.

one dessert a week. Amazing. And it's. taken me or like one refined sugar. product a week. Yeah. And uh and then I'll only eat. natural sugars like fruits and things. for for the rest of the week. And I. think it's it's been such a journey for. me, but you're so right that it had to. be starved, had to be substituted and. then eventually. I eventually I started realizing how. many other things were impacting my. desire for sugar. I it was a lack of. workout, it was poor sleep, it was uh a.

lack of the right vitamins and. supplements, which means my body had low. energy, so it turned to what I thought. gave me energy. And. so you started realizing how. interconnected all those things were. rather than it actually being about my. addiction to sugar. That's right. Yeah. That's right. When. like when people are like I like I've. had so many over the years people are. like I could never fast. And I'm always. like, "Oh, actually sit with me for a. hot moment." Because there hasn't been a. person I haven't been able to train to. fast. You just trained your body to eat. And you could look at the same thing.

with the food you're eating. When you're. like, "I can't I can't overcome my sugar. addiction." No, you should rephrase. that. And you should say, "I've trained. my body to crave sugar. I would like to. train it to crave something different.". Yes. And that's your what you did is you. found out what we would call a. multi-therapeutic approach. A lot of. different things came into play so that. you could literally train your body to. crave something different. The worst. thing you could do is have pasta with.

red sauce and no protein. Can we start. looking at food as hormonal medicine? Food isn't just pleasure. Food isn't. just, you know, energy. Food is actually. feeding these hormones before you go to. the weight loss drug. Ask yourself, "Have I dialed in my lifestyle?" There's. another thing that you brought up, which. you talk about protein being the hero. macro ingredient. Yeah. And right now I feel like protein's like. the hot It's having its moment.

It's having its moment for sure. I wanted to ask you about, you know, no. one seems to be getting the amount of. protein that everyone says you should be. getting. So, how much protein should we. be getting? Yeah. And how do we actually get there? Well, to me the protein is very much like when. we were counting carbs or when we were. counting calories. Like they're fun to. do in a in a moment and then nobody. sustains it over time. So, I I'm in. alignment with everybody what. everybody's saying, which is 1 g of. protein for every pound of body weight.

Like I think that's a good measurement. for you to look at. I've heard some. people even say you need, you know, 2 g. of protein for every pound of body. weight if you're trying to to to grow. muscle. So, I think in theory that's. great. And then we have things like, make sure you have 30 g of protein per. meal so that you can open up amino acid. receptor sites to to grow muscle. I. think that's all great. Now, let's talk let's talk to the woman. in the Midwest. Let's talk to the single. mom in the Midwest that's working two.

jobs and she's like, I'm just trying to. stay afloat. And now you want me to. count how many grams of protein I eat. every day so that I can be optimally. healthy. This is why I put in there what. I want her to know is just know. protein's the hero macronutrient, has. amino acids in it, and amino acids are. going to make you hormones and. neurotransmitters. So, at every single. meal, I want you to look at the protein. source first and how do you get as much.

protein in that meal and then build the. carbohydrates around it and build the. the vegetables and everything around it. Don't skimp on the protein. Every meal. has to have a protein. That is a more doable like language and. for a woman who is or and man who is. like so busy because again, I don't know. what if people are successfully counting. this day in and day out unless they're. really making a priority. Yeah, I don't. my appetite wouldn't even allow me to.

eat that much protein. Like I I struggle. with two things. One is I don't think I. can eat that much protein I've tried. Yeah. And second of all, it's hard heavy. on my gut. It's hard on my gut. Like. that much protein just my my gut can't. process it. So, how do how do you work. out those two things? this actually came up in another. interview and I and I explained that. this February of this year, I decided to. try the protein theory and I was working. out with a trainer. I was lifting heavy. weights. I'm 50 at 50 55 as of today.

Um I was 54 at the time. I'm. post-menopausal, and I was like, "Okay, let me experiment. with this protein thing." In January, I. was still with the trainer. I was still. tacking on my fasting window, and I was. really doing what I could talk about in. the book where I would have keto days, and I would have hormone feasting days, but I wasn't as focused on protein. In. January, I lost weight, and I built. muscle. In February, I'm same thing. I. just upped my protein to 1 g per pound.

of body weight. By the end of February, I had put on more fat than if I had been. doing none of that. And I was like, "This isn't working for me. This is too. much protein for my body." And I and I. went back to just protein with every. meal. Mindy, stop trying to get it to a. certain amount. That was my experience. Mhm. Now, other people will say, "Oh, I've built so much muscle with it.". Amazing, but I talk about this in the.

book that we have to go back to N of 1. N of 1 means you can hear us talk about. protein, and now your job is to figure. out if it works for you. Mhm. Didn't work so It was hard for you, it. sounds like. It was hard for me. right now. I've been trying to. I've been practicing with it for like 3. months, maybe. Yeah. Experimenting. So, it it was hard. for me, whereas other people are like, "This works perfectly for me." Which is. great. So, I just think protein with. every meal we have to prioritize. protein, and then you've got to find.

what pattern of the amount is going to. be best for you. Mhm. Yeah, the point is. to remember it's the hero ingredient. That's right. And and then and and then. build around it. That's right. And and don't worry if you're not. getting 30 g per meal or 40 g or even. depending on your body weight, 50, 60 g. per meal. It's a lot. Do you remember. the Zone diet? I do. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so the the Barry Sears, this was. back in when like when I was in. university. So, this was back in the. '90s, he was the first one to say when.

you put a meal together, and he used. pasta as an example, he was like, "The. worst thing you could do is have pasta. with red sauce and no protein because. that is all glucose and you'll get this. incredible glucose spike." But actually, if you put a meatball in there and you. drizzle some olive oil on it, now the. the metabolic cost to you will be much. less and you will lose weight and his. whole thing was like, "Stay in the zone. You got to stay in the zone.". So, the protein conversation to me, I.

feel like needs to evolve to protein at. every meal. and let's make sure we're putting it. there with fat and some nature some of. nature's carbs and some fiber and how. you put that meal together has a bigger. is going to have a bigger effect on you. than just the protein amount. Mhm. Yeah, that's very helpful. Yeah. That's very helpful and and I hope. everyone is listening and watching kind. of, you know, eases up on it or or finds. a way that it works for you. I think. that's Yeah, that's the point. Where.

Where does, you know, I think we've been. talking a lot about belly fat and fat in. general, when does fat make you fat? That's a great question. Okay, so toxic. fat makes you fat. What is a toxic fat? So, our canola oils, our cottonseed, corn oils, soybean oils, partially. hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils, uh. highly processed sunflower and safflower. oils. Those are the biggies. Those are toxins. So, let's go back to. what what what is fat? Fat is a storage.

place for things your body doesn't know. what to do with. Those oils, your body doesn't know what. to do with. So, it's putting it around. your belly, it's putting it in fat. So, stop giving it to your body because when. you give it to your body, the the body's. so smart, it's like, "I'm just going to. go store it over here.". If I come over and I do now avocado oil, olive oil, olive oil is like the hero. oil. Um even some MCT oil or even some.

of the the nut oils like um walnut oil. or seed some some seed oils like sesame. seed oil, your body knows what to do with that. It. knows how to integrate that. It doesn't. cause cellular inflammation. And so, it'll kill hunger. It's going to help. nourish your brain. It's going to. stabilize your blood sugar. It's you. need these oils to make hormones. So, totally different beasts. One makes you. fat and and the other one actually will.

make you healthy and can actually help. you lose weight because it kills hunger. Mhm. When we're also talking about our fat. intake, is there a time of day that's. better for us to be eating fat versus. other foods or is it something that. needs to be spread out across the day? I. think of fat as like a blood sugar. break. So, let's use today as an example. It's. like what? 3:00 in the afternoon. And. so, I had my first meal I I worked out. in the morning on an empty stomach. It. was just where I would decide to go. today. I had some collagen powder in my.

coffee and a little bit of raw cream. And then I went out and worked out. And. then I had my first meal around 11:00. And one of the things that I made sure I. did is get a lot of protein and a lot of. fat because I knew I wasn't going to eat. again until tonight and I was coming. here for this podcast. So, I didn't want. my blood sugar to spike at 1:00 or 2:00. and then show up in your chair and have. brain fog and and be unable to focus and.

my energy low. So, I made sure I had. extra fat on my breakfast and extra. protein so that my my glucose stayed. very steady. So, I like fat when you are. not trying to get you're really trying. to minimize a glucose spike. So, performance is what I just explained. Or. um I don't want to be hungry in 2 more. hours, I should use some fat. Or I don't. want to crave that chocolate at 10:00 at.

night, so I should have some more fat. with my dinner because all of that. stabilizes blood sugar and then those. cravings and those brain fog and that. lack of energy doesn't show up. Mhm. That's that's really helpful. because I think. again, it comes to if we have the time. and energy to be that mindful with what. we can plan. Yeah. But, especially when. it comes to. big events, big moments, big meetings, big high-performance moments in our. life, it seems like that's.

that's something good to be mindful at. those times. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's why I love olive. oil. Just start drizzling it on on your. meal and you will be shocked at how it. kills hunger and you'll be shocked at. how you're not hungry for hours. afterwards and your brain power is. completely online and focused. It's it's. the easiest thing to add. Yeah, me and my wife were joking about. how often what I happens is you end up. eating smaller meals, but then you end. up eating junk afterwards. Yeah, right. And and that happens so often because. we're like, "Oh, no, I want to be.

mindful of my portion size or whatever. it is." And then at 10:00 p.m. you want. a dessert, but the idea of sprinkling. something simple as olive oil onto your. meals. Yeah. to help curb a craving later on. And then you know olive oils are high in. polyphenols and polyphenols feed the. good microbes. So, when you're drizzling. olive oil on your meal, you're. stabilizing blood sugar and you're. feeding the good microbes. So, those. good microbes are going to keep giving. you signals to to crave good food. So, it it really is multifactorial.

Um but, let's go back just so we don't. confuse people, let's go back to the. calorie in calorie out because some. people are like, "Wait a second, if I. put too much olive oil on top of my. food, that's a lot of calories. But I'm back at. does the calorie in calorie out is it. working for you? I'm more interested in. you feeding your body through the lens. of metabolic health so that your blood. sugar can be stable. I'm interested in. food being a performance enhancer for.

you, and I care a lot about your. microbes because not only do they. control your cravings, but they control. your immune system, your. neurotransmitters like they are the. thing that is driving your health if you. actually look into it. So, olive oil, you drizzled it on your meal. and like. magic happened in your body. In In Eat Like a Girl, your new book, you talk about how we. need to eat to make hormones, especially. for women. Walk me through the.

importance of that because I don't think. I'd ever heard that before. Yeah. So, this came kind of out of my. frustration with women feeling like if I. have low hormones, then I just need to. take an exogenous form of hormone and. put it into my body. And what I wanted. women I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just wanted to say, can we have a. conversation first before you start to. feel like the challenge with your female. body is you don't have enough hormones?

Can we look at your food behaviors. and ask ourselves, are you getting. enough nutrients in to be able to. actually make hormones? So, I look at it like if you were making. bread. You have to have a certain amount of. ingredients. You've got to have flour, you've probably have to have yeast, you. have to have some baking soda. Like. there are certain ingredients that need. to go into bread in order for it to rise. and for it to be able to be bread. Same.

thing with hormones. And what I did in. the book is I spent a lot of time. researching, well, what are those. nutrients that we need? And I came up. with what I call the key 24. You need. these 24 nutrients every single day. to be able to even make a hormone. And when you look at those 24. ingredients, like nine of them are amino. acids, which takes us back to protein. And you got proteins where you're. getting amino acids from. And one of the. major one is omega-3 fatty acids, which.

takes us back to olive oil. So, if I'm a. woman who is like, let's just talk. about, I'm sure this is going to come up. because it keeps coming up. Let's talk. about the weight loss drugs. Mhm. Let's say I'm taking a shot that. kills my hunger, so I'm not eating very. much, and I'm losing weight, but if I'm. not getting food in with enough. nutrients into my body, I don't have. enough of these vitamins and minerals.

and fatty acids and amino acids to make. hormones. So, down the road, something's. going to give from my lack of uh. intention around a diverse meal. So, that's why I put it in there was like, can we start looking at food as hormonal. medicine? Food isn't just pleasure. Food. isn't just, you know, energy. Food is. actually feeding these hormones, but. you've got to get a good variety of food. in order to do that. Is there any.

indication to women's health at age 20, 30, 40, 50 where different hormones and. different foods are more of a priority. in the different decades? Yeah. Well, in the younger years, I. mean, again, what we're talking about is. gold and um Fast Like a Girl introduced. something I called the fasting cycle, which is where the front half of your. cycle, you're going to keep your glucose. low, and then the back half of your. cycle, you want to bring your glucose. up. So, and I showed that through the. lens of fasting. In this book, I'm.

really, in Eat Like a Girl, I really. want women to see front half of your. cycle, you're really catering to. estrogen. And estrogen likes glucose to. be low. So, the keto diet, the low-carb. diets that you were on, they'll work in. that front half of the cycle. Um just. again, keep diversifying your food. choices. Whereas the back half of your. cycle, progesterone's showing up, and. progesterone actually wants you to keep.

glucose higher. This is why every single. woman craves carbohydrates or chocolate. or something sugary the week before her. period because her body is so. intelligent. It's like, I need you to. bring up glucose so I can make. progesterone so that the uterine lining. can shed and you can have a cycle. So, for those women 20 and 30, this is the. message they need to know. Front half of. the cycle, lower carb, back half of the. cycle, higher carb. That's as simple as.

I can make it. There's more detailed in. the book. Now, let's go into. perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen goes is going away. And when. estrogen goes away, that woman becomes. more insulin resistant. So, I can't tell. you how many women will tell me, "I. haven't I haven't done anything. I'm 43. years old. I haven't done anything. different and I am gaining weight.". That's because you're losing estradiol. And estradiol kept you insulin. sensitive.

And so now, you have to find other ways. to keep yourself insulin sensitive. And. fasting is one of the best ways that I. know to keep yourself insulin sensitive. And then you're probably going to need, again, as you move through. perimenopause, you're going to need a. little lower carbohydrate diet mixed. with splashes of a higher carbohydrate. diet. So, this is why in the book, I'm. like, "Here's your I call it. ketobiotic." Is when we want to go lower. carb but keep enough fiber in there. And.

then hormone feasting is when we want to. go higher carb so we can cater to. progesterone. It sounds confusing. No, no, not at all. Yeah. But it's think of it like gas. pedal, brake. Like, you know, there's a. rhythm to a female body. So you're just. going to understand the rhythm of your. hormones so you can match the foods and. the fast according to that. What are our. greatest misunderstandings of the female. body. and and in what decades are we so Yeah.

confused about or uneducated about that. you'd like to point out? Oh, thank you for asking me that. The. female body is highly complex. It is. highly rhythmic, so it's constantly. having. ups and downs to it. If you look at our. hormones, there is we are meant to have. moments of where we're in complete joy, and then there are moments where we're. crying, and there are moments that we. were rushing to the gym and we're so. excited to go work out, and then there's. other moments that we can't get off the.

couch. And. that's all because you live in a female. body that is driven by different. hormones. So the first thing I want. women to know is you your your hormonal. system makes you highly complex. And a male's body isn't that complex. This is the way I've been saying it, and. I always say like, you know, no offense. to men, but like you guys are like a a. ukulele and we're like a violin.

Like, it's just we are a very our body. is a very sophisticated instrument. And. because of our sex hormones, we are we. require more rest and recovery. We we we. don't do as well with toxicity. Um, when we become insulin resistant, we. start to become infertile, and we start. to get things like PCOS, polycystic. ovarian syndrome, and our menopause. symptoms will be off the chart, like. crazy.

So, that doesn't happen so much to men. So, we're just a more sophisticated body. we're living in. What are some of the. things you would encourage people to be. mindful of. at different stages to spot those signs. early and to respond, because it seems. like we we don't really talk about the. difference that clearly, and we expect. the same things in the same eras or. decades of life. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think the thing that we. have to look at is that lifestyle. impacts both men and women.

But, for women, really, we've got to. dial in a lifestyle for women. Um, that's like, go to lifestyle first. before you go to the antidepressant, before you go to the hormone. replacement, before you go to the weight. loss drug. Ask yourself, have I dialed. in my lifestyle? And what that means is. there needs to be a rhythm of where I'm. maybe working out a lot, and then I'm. recovering. I'm maybe going low carb, and then I'm I'm I'm feasting on healthy. foods. So, we need to have a rhythmic.

lifestyle, and that's that's like new. conversation that's just coming up in in. the last couple of years. Mhm. Whereas, men don't have to worry about that as. much. You guys are a lot more resilient. You have one hormone to think about, which is testosterone. You have You. operate off a 24-hour cycle. We opera. operate off a 28-day cycle. So, we're. just a lot more complicated, but that's. why lifestyle is so important for women. And this is like This is like my rally.

cry. Like, oh my gosh, when we look at. autoimmune problems, when we look at the. menopause symptoms, like, please, can we. have a conversation about lifestyle as. being the first line of treatment for. women before we start medicating the. out of us? No, I love the rally cry. and I and I think it's so important. I. I'm so glad that you're you're sharing. it so passionately here because. I I couldn't agree with you more. I've. I've heard so many women recently when. I've been at events or listening to.

panels or I've been hearing so many. women talk about perimenopause, menopause and and and what I found so. fascinating when I was listening was. that I was obviously I was like, okay, I. knew I had no clue. Right. But a lot of. the women in the audience were like, oh. my gosh, we didn't know either what we. were going through. And so I think. there's such a need for it because there. seems to be either misinformation or to. be honest, no information. And so we're just turning towards. pharmaceuticals. Right. So on that.

conversation, when I first started. teaching this cycling of fasting and. food on my YouTube channel, nobody. talked about menopause. And then I. started getting people pouring in and. asking me like, well, what how do I do. this for perimenopause and menopause? At. that time I was like mid-40s. And so I. just shared, hey, here's what I'm doing. I actually put it in a book. It's called. the Menopause Reset. I was like, here. are the lifestyle changes that I've made. and they've worked really well for me. during perimenopause. Okay, fast forward.

to today. We've gone from a cultural. hush around menopause where we're like, oh, she's a little irritable. Let's not. let's not like poke the bear and get her. all upset because she might be. menopausal, but we don't want to say. that to our face to cultural chaos where. women are like finally like the. conversation of menopause is emerging. And and that part is amazing. Like. there's been a lot of authors, there's. been a lot of influencers, there's a lot.

of people that are cracking that. conversation open, which is so good. But what we have turned the conversation. to now is you are suffering in the. perimenopausal experience, and so you. need to think about hormone replacement. therapy. I'm not opposed to that, but every woman who goes on hormone. replacement therapy has a different path. to it. And that's because alongside hormone. replacement, whether it's HRT direct or.

bioidenticals, needs to be a lifestyle. change. And the diet you had at 35. doesn't work for you at 45. And the stress load you were able to do. or handle at 35, you're going to need. some breaks and some new tools at 45. So, there's a lifestyle that I'm just. still trying to bring in. Like, "Hello, the answers isn't isn't in the patch. The answer's not in the pill." Those are. Those are good support systems, but.

let's make lifestyle the change that. happens once you go into those. perimenopausal years. What would you say are the top three. lifestyle changes that changed. everything for you or were positive for. you? Yeah. So, in The Menopause Reset I wrote. five. Um I started fasting. That was a big. one. I started varying my foods, which. is what I teach in Eat Like a Girl. I. went low-carb, high-carb. I started. feeding my microbes. So, how do I. support cuz the microbes break down. estrogen. So, I wanted to be able to.

increase the diversity of my microbes so. they could break down estrogen, the the. less estrogen I was getting. Um I did a. massive detox. I detoxed my whole house. Um I started detoxing myself throughout. my whole 40s. Detox became my my. obsession. And then the last one is something. called the Rushing Woman Syndrome, which. was actually coined by a woman, uh Dr. Libby Weaver, who showed biologically. why women that are constantly in a state.

of stress end up having hormonal. problems. So, I started saying no to. more things. Um I'm a competitive. athlete. I was a competitive tennis. player in my early 20s and I started. learning how to do more yoga. I started. learning how to walk more. I started. getting out of that mentality of I've. got to push my body and so I just. started looking at how I could recover a. little bit more and those were the five. I changed and it was like gold. It's so.

refreshing to hear that they're all. interconnected as well with eat like a. girl and and fast like a girl and it. seems that. it seems that what we need to do is. simple but it's so hard. Yeah. because of our wiring Yeah. because of. society's expectations. Yeah. because of our maybe our own. pressure on ourselves. Yeah. What what. gave you the permission to just say, you. know what? I'm I'm I'm going to. unsubscribe from all of this and I'm. going to find a way. What was that for. you? Because I feel people are really. looking for that breakthrough and you.

said it's not motivation, it's momentum. but it's almost like how do you give. that stone or that rock a push down the. hill so that it gains momentum? The best. door in is fasting. Mhm. This is why I. started with fast like a girl. Like that. is the quickest If you want an a totally. different experience with your body, learn how to create an eating window and. a fasting window. And it's interesting. because my practice was built by what I. call the mama bears. There were like. these women who would bring their.

families to me and who would come in to. learn about detox and hormones and food. education and lifestyle. My clinic was. built was like a lifestyle clinic. teaching people how to live a lifestyle. to build health. And it was the mama. bears that I got to experiment on, you. know, I'll put that in like, you know, a. loving way. I got to to take these. principles that I was studying and using. on myself and try it on them. Mhm. And I. remember what with weight loss, one of.

the things that blew me away is once I. started teaching women how to fast, maybe 2 weeks would go by and I didn't. see them and they walk into my clinic. and it looked like a fat coat had been. taken off of them in 2 weeks. And I was. like, "Oh my god. Like fasting got you. that in 2 weeks?" So, I think it that's is why I'm a I'm like. the evangelist for fasting. Is there. anyone who should never fast or. shouldn't fast? question. Um I always say uh if you're.

pregnant or nursing, it's a no. That's. not your tool. So, um and I write about. that in both books. Uh if you have a. eating disorder, you need to be working. with somebody who who can work alongside. you um because there's little tricks. that you can do that to line yourself up. for that. Um certain cancers don't do. well with fasting and certain cancers do. incredibly well with fasting. So, going. to a specialist that knows that. Outside. of that, everybody else fasts can fast.

The one you I just want to point out the. person I didn't didn't point out who. couldn't fast is the diabetic. Mhm. This. is the one that shocks everybody is the. type 1 and type 2 diabetic when done. right and done with doctor supervision, actually does really well with fasting. Interesting. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that is. surprising. Right? You wouldn't expect that. No. There's a trend right now of women. eating meatballs in order to lose. weight. What's your take on that? Have. you.

Is that all they're eating? Well, at. least a big a a big part of it, yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, they're just trying to to. dose up protein. So, what I would say is. if you're going to dose up protein, make. sure it's a clean protein. What would. you define as a clean protein? hormone-free, antibiotic, not pumped. with antibiotics, not pumped with. hormones, um grass-fed if you're going. beef and you really want grass-fed cuz. it has higher omega-3s. So, it needs to. be a clean source of protein. I'm also a.

real fan for women specifically of fiber. cuz fiber feeds those microbes that. break hormones down. So, if you're only. going meat, you're missing out on the. vegetables. We need more fiber. But, from a metabolic standpoint, from blood. sugar standpoint, meatballs, if you. didn't have a lot of fillers and stuff, then I'm could be really good. Yeah. Are. they losing weight? It's meat balls. Yeah, that's what I. said. Balls, yeah, meat balls, sorry, not balls. It's my accent. It's my accent. Yeah, yeah, meat balls,

yeah. My accent, meat balls. Okay, meat balls. Balls, yeah. Like b o. w l s? Okay. sorry. It's my accent. No, no, yeah, it's You say it better. than. Oh my god. So, um. what what kind of meat is it a variety. meat in there? I believe so. I mean It's. so basically just it's I mean there is. more than balls that you are having that. just like are ground beef essentially. Like good grass-fed beef, but it's like. the main thing that they're Yeah. eating like lunch and dinner and Yeah.

and breakfast. Are they eating any fiber. at all or they're just eating that? it's like very minimal like carb. Okay. Okay, this is interesting and. let's dive into the mechanics on this. So, protein stabilizes your blood sugar. So, if I'm only eating a meat bowl all. day long, then what ends up happening is. I'm really not those blood sugar spikes. we talked about, I'm not getting very. many of them. So, that's good. If you. don't have a lot of blood sugar spikes, you're not asking your body to make a. ton of insulin. So, from a from a.

metabolic standpoint, that is really. fascinating. Right. From a gut microbiome standpoint, and this this is really controversial. and I still stay by this to this day, is. the carnivore diet. The carnivore diet kind of had its. moment and then people are like, "This. is crazy." and it went away. Well, what. we saw in my community and in my clinic. and in the research that I dove into is. that when all you do is eat meat, you. actually can stimulate a a immune cell.

in your gut called your T regulatory. cells. And your T regulatory cells make sure. that your immune system isn't too low. and your immune system isn't too high. So, in my clinic, I would do something. called carnivore fasting which would be. like like a therapeutic process for a. patient who had an autoimmune condition. for like 2 to 3 weeks. They would just. eat meat and they would fast about 17. hours every day and the rest of the time.

all they did is eat meat. And what I was trying to do is calm the. immune system down and help them drop. weight because they're spike they. weren't spiking the their glucose. It worked. It absolutely worked. But. especially for things like SIBO, small. intestinal bacteria overgrowth, like it. was phenomenal. And so, you got the. benefit of fasting and you got it the. benefit of meat. It's just not something. you sustain. Right. I would do it 2 to 3 weeks to balance. the immune system with my autoimmune.

patients and then we would go back into. fiber cuz we need that fiber to be able. to break those hormones down. So, it. became a therapeutic tool. Interesting. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's it's I. love what you do by actually explaining. what is going on behind the scenes. Yeah. because to me that's the part. which A makes it click and then it's not. just a hack. Yeah. It's like oh, I I actually. understand how my body's working and why. it's doing what it's doing. Yeah. And therefore now when I'm having. that feeling or that experience or that. craving, Yeah. I can actually talk. myself through it.

That's right. If that makes sense. Yeah. I mean, so here's the this is like. like another big pet peeve and rally cry. for me is that you should learn how to. do health from your health. professionals. Whether it's your doctor, your fitness trainer, your the the your. favorite health influencer. But, if we. go into this place where we're like eat. this, don't eat that, but we don't know. why, we're never empowered. You. Doctor means to teach. So, what you. know, a rally cry to all the doctors out.

there, are you teaching your patients or. are you just prescribing your patient to. your patients? You have to teach to them. how the body works and why if. prescriptions your path, why. prescriptions work, why food works it. cuz now you have an empowered human. Mhm. And big pharma is not going to like. us empowered and big food doesn't like. us empowered. But, that's what we should. create as empowered humans. The only way. we can do that is by teaching people how. their body works. Yeah. For for people who talking about, you know, giving making people feel. empowered, for people who don't have.

access to expensive technology and want. to know their muscle fat percentage, body fat percentage, etc. Like how how. do they get that information in a way. that's affordable and accessible? Because it seems that so much of that. data and that insight you need to be. empowered is expensive. So, you know, all the wearables are. really exciting right now, the CGMs and. all that, the continuous glucose. monitors really exciting, but they are. expensive. So, in the book I put a list.

of of symptoms you would experience if. you nailed your your meal. If you got. your meal right, if your lifestyle was. working for you, this is are some of the. symptoms and I'll I'll I'll share with. you some of them. After you eat a meal, you should be energized. You shouldn't. be sleepy. If you're sleepy, we got to. go back and look at the makeup of that. meal. After a meal, you should have. better brain clarity. You should feel. uplifted. It should it should be like.

something that puts you into a enhanced. performance state. You also it's not. normal to be hungry every two to three. hours. So, So things become really. important. The other piece is that you. should be able to control your cravings. You should be able to be like, hey, I. like I'll give use me as an example. I. used to have a sugar addiction, too. And um I had a moment where when in the. height of my sugar addiction. where if I looked at a piece of sugar,

I couldn't control myself. I remember that, yeah. Yeah, and it was like, I know I'm not. supposed to eat that, but I'm going to eat it anyways. Once I. started doing fasting and eating doing. fasting and eating windows, like that craving went away. So I now. have a better relationship to food. I. don't feel like I'm eating food because. I can't control myself. So there are. symptoms we can look at. And all the. biometric wearables are great, but I.

want to help the woman in in in the. south, you know, that's working two. jobs. I um. the story I tell a lot is that in during. the pandemic, I had a high school. principal in South Carolina reach out to. me. She was watching my YouTube channel, and she said, my high school teachers. are about to come back to school, and. they're super scared about their immune. system and and COVID. And so, can you. give us some ideas on how we can keep.

our immune system high? Well, I come. from a family of teachers, and I was. like, oh, yeah, can I give back to the. teachers and teach them? This is really. exciting. So I pop on this call with. about 100 teachers at this high school, and I go into all, you should take this. supplement, you should eat this oil, and. you should do all these things. And I get to the end of of the. presentation, it was all done on Zoom, and this really brave man raises his. hand, and he's like, um I hear what.

you're saying, but if I'm at the. supermarket. and I'm looking at nut butter, the the. nut butter with the right oil in it is. $8 more than the one with the wrong oil. I don't I don't have that $8. And then. another woman raised her hand and said, "I'm up at 4:00 in the morning. and I drive to to get my classroom set. up at 5:00. I don't take a lunch break. and by a 3:34. I'm driving home exhausted and the only.

place I want to go is through the. drive-thru at fast food. Okay, we will. never ever get our country healthy until. we help those people. because they're on a limited income. and they are trying to be healthy, but. everything in front of them is leading. them towards chronic disease. This is why fasting became my tool cuz. everybody can afford it and everybody, even the busiest person, can do it and. people it works for the majority of. people. And then they have that.

momentum. So, that's what I you know, the fast food lady. just okay, so let's eat your fast food. in a compressed eating window. The nut. butter guy, it was like, okay, well, maybe nut butter isn't your go-to. Like, let's figure out how you can look at. maybe some getting some oils from food. that you're getting up in your omega-3. and other oils. Like, we just found. lateral changes. Yeah, how do you How do. you train someone to not eat for a. period of time because.

I think we've talked about fasting, but. actually it's really hard when someone. has to do it. How do How do How do How. does someone train themselves to do. that? Yeah, so you start by pushing your. breakfast back. That's what I typically. do. You can push your dinner up if you. want, but most people I start with. breakfast. So, I tell people push your. breakfast back an hour. Most people will say, "Well, can I have. my coffee?" Yes, you can have your. coffee, but but not your creamer like if. you're putting like some kind of uh. sugared creamer in there or you're. putting oat milk or almond milk in.

there, those tend to spike your blood. sugar a little bit too high. So, cow's. dairy, goat's dairy does a little bit. better. So, you just make sure or black. Have your coffee black. Push your your. your breakfast back an hour. It's going. to be uncomfortable. That's the first. thing. It's like this is that moment. you're going to be like, "Why did I. listen to Jay Shetty's podcast where. that crazy lady came on and told me to. push my breakfast back an hour? Now all.

I want to do is yell and scream because. I'm angry. I'm hangry.". But if they say if they stay with that. the next day and then the next day by. the third or fourth day that hour is. going to feel like nothing. So, when it starts to get easy now. you're going to push it back another. hour. So, now you're 2 hours back and. then maybe a couple you go a couple days. with that and then you're going to push. it back another hour. And everybody that. I've done with this within 2 weeks they. are effortlessly fasting somewhere.

between 13 to 15 hours. You're just taking all that food and. you're just compressing it into an. eating window. But you're gently moving. your body into that place. You're not. I've had people just out of nowhere go. on a 3-day water fast, but it that's a. lot more suffering involved. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Is there anyone who. should eat as soon as they wake up? There's a lot of theories on this. Um like Satchin Panda who is the. premier, you know, researcher on.

circadian rhythm. He came on my podcast. and he likes that you wait an hour after. you wake up if you're going to try to. get into the proper circadian rhythm. Meaning your melatonin and your cortisol. are are being secreted at the right. moment. So, he would prefer that you. would wait an hour. Dr. Stacy Sims who is an expert and one. of the leading experts in exercise and. menopause came on my podcast and she. strongly feels you need some kind of. nutrients coming in the minute you wake.

up, the first half hour you wake up, to. trigger the hypothalamus to start. hormonal production. When I broke that down with her, she's. also plant-based, when I broke that down. with her, she said, I put collagen. powder in my coffee every morning and a. splash of vegan collagen powder. Yeah. Yeah. Vegan po- go Yeah, so she probably. uses a vegan vegan one or maybe a marine. one. I didn't ask her if through the. vegan lens if she did if she did.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and then she does MCT oil and then. she does a plant-based cream. And she. puts she does like a loaded coffee and. that on some mornings that's her the how. she triggers this hypothalamus. Mhm. So, I tell you all that to say that here. we have two leading experts. One says. wait a half hour, the other one says you. need some nutrients in very quickly. I. think everybody's got to be their own. man of one. Yeah, yeah, definitely. What works for you? Yeah, it's it's hard. to know and I think that's why so much.

of this is also being able to listen to. our bodies and not our minds cuz I think. so much of our food habits are driven by. our minds not our bodies. I mean. mentally crave something, emotionally. crave something. Yeah. Whereas when you actually listen. to your body, kind of like what I was. saying to you earlier that when I'm. listening to my body, I'm like this. amount of protein just doesn't feel. right. Yeah. Right, even if I'm trying. On that, I. just want to point out because again, I'm always going to be the um the voice. of women's empowerment. Yeah. What I'm discovering in women is. we are massly massively disconnected.

from our bodies. Yeah. So, we look at Instagram, we look. at magazines and we're like, I want to. look a certain way, so then I will. manipulate my body to look that way. We. are we are not clued in to the rhythms. and cycles of our body. And often you could end up looking that. way, but because the internal setup isn't. right. Like we often think it's also oh, I don't have self-worth or self-esteem, but it's completely chemical. That's. right. Right? Like it's just a hormonal.

imbalance. It's not even It's not this. mental idea that. oh, I don't believe in myself or I don't. love myself. It's like, well, of course, if I've been shifting my body and diet. and everything to look this certain way, it could be that my hormones and. nutrients and everything are so. imbalanced that I can't sustain a. healthy mood. Yeah. Something I've deeply thought. about is that when we look at the woman. who's size two or the woman who's a size. four or a size zero, like we look at that, we say, that's.

what I'm supposed to look like because. the magazines, Instagram, everybody says. I should look like that. But actually, if you look at what estrogen does to the. to the female body, is it makes us it's. what I call a little more padded. It. gives us a little more of a of a cushion. of fat on us. And that might be what's. normal for us. We just have this skewed. view based off of what we're seeing on. social media that we're supposed to look.

that way, but if you Have you ever. stopped like for the women listening and. asked yourself, is that the healthy way? I mean, one of the things that came out. of Fast Like a Girl that really. disturbed me and motivated me to write. Eat Like a Girl was how many. 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds don't have. a menstrual cycle. And they don't have a menstrual cycle. because they've been manipulating their. diet, their diet's too low calorie, their weight is too low because they're. trying to look a certain way that the. culture says you this is beautiful, and.

when you're beautiful, you're worthy. But actually, is it possible that the. female body is meant to have more fat on. it? And and trying to be the skinniest. version of you is actually making you. sick and destroying your hormones. And. And I think it would be really. interesting if we had better. conversations around that. So, what do. they do in that scenario when they've. ended up creating that situation with. themselves? Well, the first thing is we're back at. the calories is let's make sure you're.

eating enough calories for the thyroid. You have to have 1,200 calories a day. consistently. So, if you're eating 900, 800 calories a day, you're you're. causing thyroid challenges. And that. could be a hyperactive thyroid, that. could be I mean so you're you could end. up with a faster metabolism which would. eventually lead to a. hypo thyroid situation. So, let's get. the calorie in that person who's in. deprivation. Let's That would be the one. spot I would say let's make sure we're.

above 1,200. So, that would be the first. thing. The second thing is I think it's. really interesting. I don't even for you. and men in general is like. when we eat and we're hungry, do we ask. ourselves like am I hungry or am I. bored? Am I hungry or am I sad? Am I hungry or do I need energy? Like. make sure we're seeing that the food and. the emotional response like we're. pulling those apart.

Um so, I think I think that's a really. important one because people eat and. don't eat for a lot of different. reasons. And then that leads to the last thing. with this person who might be a little. bit thin is I think for a lot of women. it's control. Like if I can control my. body a certain way, then you know, my. life will be in control. And as you know, control is an illusion. And maybe there's something else you can. control. This is why I like the.

continuous glucose monitor. Control your. blood sugar. And then you'll that'll. lead you down the path of health. Control your symptoms after you eat. Control the amount of sleep you get. Like there's other things to control. But if you're trying to control your. weight, you're raising cortisol and. you're leading yourself into this. dysfunctional relationship with your. body. Mhm. So well said. How do How do. you manage fasting and. working out? Like how do you fit it in. and when should you be fasting and. working out? Do they happen at the same.

time or do they need to be stacked? Yeah, I I again, I'm going to go back to. what's your intention. Do you remember. the um the book Body for Life? I don't, no. Okay, that book came out when I was. again, when I was in college. No, it was. after it must have come in in like the. late '90s, early 2000s. And this it was. a fitness trainer and he offered up a. million dollars to the person who could. lose the quickest weight, the most. weight in the quickest period of time. And he had a whole formula. And the.

number one formula that he said is you. never work out at after you've eaten. because his whole theory was when you. eat, you've brought glucose up and then. you go to work out, the body uses that. glucose. Whereas if you work out when. the glucose is not spiked, your body has. to go find the glucose it stored years. ago in fat, so it's actually going to. burn fat more quickly. This is This was how we worked out for. years. I think it's I taught people in. my women and men both in my clinic all.

the time this strategy. It is an. incredible way to lose weight. Here's the challenge is that it can. break down muscle. And muscle right now is like we said is. in vogue, it's the thing we're talking. about. So, when we are looking at do you fast. and exercise in a fasted state, I think. you have to ask yourself what your. objective is. If you're trying to lose. weight, yeah, I think it's a great idea, especially on the days, not your weight.

lifting days, but the days you're doing. cardio, yeah, and yoga and yoga and we. don't eat two year two hours before a. yoga session. Those are great times to. go in in a fasted state. But when you're. trying to build muscle on the days. you're strength training, let's have a. little protein before and let's have. some protein afterwards. So just. different days, different workouts, different things you're trying to. accomplish. Great. Dr. Mindy Pelz, it's been such a.

joy talking to you today. You've. given so much valuable insight. Uh this. is one of those episodes that I feel I'm. going to recommend to all my friends. I'm going to be encouraging a lot of. people to listen to it together and I. think everyone who's been listening and. watching, I hope you pass it on to a. friend. I hope you listen to it with a. friend because. I just think it's at the heart of so. many of our issues today is how we eat, how we think about our bodies, how. connected we are to our bodies, and I. just love how structured, thoughtful,

and methodical all your advice is. So. thank you so much for writing this. incredible book and bringing so much. value to our community. Yeah. Uh we end every On Purpose episode. with a final five or a fast five. Okay. Uh and no pun intended. And uh and. uh we'd love you to answer each of these. questions in one word to one sentence. maximum. Okay. So, Dr. Mindy Pelz, these are your. fast five. The first question is what is. the best health advice you've ever heard. or received or given?

Mm. Don't eat in the dark. Mm. I love that one. Mm. Only eat in the light. It it balances. almost every hormone. I love that. Uh second question, what is. the worst health advice you've ever. heard or received or given? Uh low-fat, low-calorie foods are going to help you. lose weight. Wait, let's let's dive into. that tiny bit. I think we covered it, but I just want to make sure for anyone. who's choosing low-fat, low-calorie food. thinking they're going to lose weight,

what are they getting wrong? Uh let's. use uh a diet drink. It has aspartame in. it. Aspartame is an obesogen and it. stimulates appetite. So, you're you. chose the the low-sugar, you know, I don't want to use brand. names, but you you the diet soda, you. chose that thinking it's going to save. you help you lose weight, but actually. what it did is it's an obesogen that is. making you gain weight and spiking your. appetite. Got it. Gosh. Crazy, right?

It's absolutely crazy. It's like like. this is why you like conversations like. this need to be had because there's. people out there thinking they're doing. it all wrong. Totally. Totally. And you're doing all. of that and you're going, "Why?" and. you're looking in the mirror and you're. so mad at yourself. Yeah. Yeah, and then you turn on. yourself. Yeah. Yeah. Meanwhile, big food is doing it to you. Yeah. Why are we not being protected? Yeah. Like why why is it why are we allowed to. put obesogens into our body and why are. we allowed to put all these toxins, plastics into our body? I think it's a really good question and.

it starts with the FDA. Um, the Food and Drug Administra-. Administration and I have some quotes in. there in the Eat Like a Girl that are. really important. And for starters, why. do we have food and drugs in the same. administration? We should have a food. administration and we should have a drug. And then in within the FDA, there's a. category of food called GRAS, generally. recognized as safe. And what that means. is that if they're going to put a new. food product, a synthetic food product.

into the food system, they're going to. assume it's innocent until proven. guilty. Mhm. It takes a lot of money to prove. that these ingredients are harmful and. carcinogenic. One of the ones that I. love to call to point out is partially. hydrogenated oils. About 20 years ago, they identified that partially. hydrogenated oils fell into this GRAS. category, that it was generally. recognized as safe, but they hadn't.

really seen research telling them it. wasn't safe. And then the research. showed up. And the research said that. these partially hydrogenated oils were. actually contributing a major. contributor to heart disease and should. be taken out of our food system. So, what the FDA did is they say, "Okay, food industry or food companies, you. have 20 years." It was like 20 to 25. years to get this carcinogenic heart. challenged food out of our food system.

And it was by 2025, which is next year, that will be out of our system. But why. did they give them 20 years? How many. people died in those 20 years that when. they discovered that this food was. causing cardiovascular problems? That kind of goes on in the FDA. all the time. They care about profits. They do not care about our health. End. of story. Mhm. So so worrying and so sad. And that's.

why we have to do it from the bottom up. That's why you have to be, you know, responsible. I I always say, and I. really want people to take this to their. to heart. Where you sit with your. health, if it's not what you like today, and you're hearing this podcast, and. you're like, "Whoa, nobody told me all. this." It yes, your poor health, your. trouble losing weight is not your fault. But now that you've heard this, it is. your responsibility. Your health is your.

responsibility. And in this day and age, if you're doing nothing, you're not. reading ingredient labels, you're not. waking up to conversations like this, you you are choosing chronic disease. I promise you. You are The statistics. are showing that if you're just eating. with a blind eye, you are choosing. chronic disease because the FDA cares. more about making profits than your. well-being. Mhm. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. Uh question number three, how would you.

define your current purpose? It's been. the purpose I've had for a while and. it's to reconnect women to their bodies. and fall in love with their bodies. again. Um I'll I'll share a story on. that one. I was running around my. neighborhood a few years ago and this. little lady, like 70-year-old lady with. this cute little hat and a little and. she's walking her dog and she had a. cane. Um I kept running past her. and on the third time I ran past her, she waved me down. And she said to me,

"I bet it's amazing to live in your. body.". And it was like to have a 70-year-old. woman. reflect that back to me made me realize. that there's only one goal with a. health, specifically for both men and. women, but especially for women is I. want women to love living in their. bodies. I want women to have a really. positive relationship with food. I want. women to feel empowered when they go. into their doctor's office so that. they're not gaslit and told that they,

you know, their BMI is so high, they. better go get on some low-calorie foods. Like I want women to understand what the. gift they're living in and love it. That's my purpose. Mhm. I love that. Uh. question number four, you say in the. book, "When women heal, the world. heals." Why? Thank you for pointing that. out. We are the nurturers, we're the. community builders, we are the leaders. of of our family and their health. I. mean, it's very even though we have a.

lot of men staying at home now, women in. general are the ones that make the. health decisions. And we are also the. over-givers. When you take amazing care. of us, we can turn around and take. amazing care of you. So, when women. heal, then all of a sudden the family. heals. And when the family heals, now. the community heals. And when the. community heals, then the state heals. And it just keeps going out. But if that. woman is sick,

now it's a house of cards. And actually. Marianne Williamson's a dear friend of. mine, and she sent me a message and with. that quote, and she said this is what. you're doing. And I was so grateful for. that, and I That's why I put it in the. book. It's like, we need to heal women. now. We're half of the planet, and it is. we are sick, and we're struggling, and. we're reaching out, and we need to heal. women so that we can turn around and. heal everyone else. Absolutely. Couldn't. agree more. Uh,

fifth and final question, if you could. create one law that everyone in the. world had to follow, what would it be? Oh, eat real food. Re- eat real food, nature's food. Food. without chemicals. That would That would solve everything. Without packaging. Without packaging. If everybody was. forced to eat a potato versus a potato. chip, things like that would be so much. better. But eat real food. End of story. Love it. The book is. called Eat Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy.

Pelz. If you don't follow Dr. Mindy. already, please subscribe to our. podcast, follow her across social media, and of course grab a copy of Eat Like a. Girl. I could not recommend this book. more. I promise you there are so many. great insights, tactics, tips inside of. the book, and I really, really hope that. you take charge and accountability of. your own health after listening to this. Please send this episode to a friend. I. know there's someone in your life who'll. benefit massively from listening to Dr. Mindy Pelz's advice. And Dr. Mindy,

thank you again, honestly, for coming on. the show. I hope you'll become a friend. of the show and come back soon. love to. Because I just feel there's so much. value that you're giving to the world, and I'm grateful to to have you be a. part of our platform, so thank you so. much. Yeah, and thank you. I mean, I should. have probably started off and telling. tell you like I I listened to your. podcast for years. And and I love the. way you show up and the guests you bring. and the authentic voice you give us all. an opportunity to live in that. authenticity. And it's just really.

enjoyable, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mhm. If this year you're trying to live. longer, live happier, live healthier, go. and check out my conversation with the. world's biggest longevity doctor, Peter. Attia, on how to slow down aging and why. your emotional health is directly. impacting your physical health. Acknowledge that there is surprisingly. little known about the relationship. between nutrition and health. And people. are going to be shocked to hear that, cuz I think most people think the exact.

opposite.