Intermittent Fasting for Women - Good Fit for You? Q & A

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September 29, 2021 - Episode #78 - Intermittent Fasting for Women - Good Fit for You? Q & A

Ah the confusing world of Intermittent Fasting.  What should you do based on your body and your life?  Should men and women fast differently? Is there a difference how you should fast for pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women? How do you know if fasting is right for you?  I’m giving you the low down and answering your questions about IF today on Healthy Harmony. 

The podcast is chock full of info on fasting and nutrition.  The last two weeks we heard from health coach, Laurie Lewis as she discussed fasting.  This conversation was more geared for menopausal women.  I've had many clients say that IF did not work for them.  It leads me to the question of WHY??

So, in this episode, I review the benefits of fasting but also provide insight to the downside of intermittent fasting.  There is little research on IF and 80% of that research studies men.  I'm giving you some things to consider if you want to adopt fasting as part of your health regimen.  In addition, I'm answering these listener's questions.........

Do I have to do the exact same fasting schedule every single day?
What if I have a breakfast meeting one day? 
What is the best way to break a fast?
At what hour do you hit autophagy?  
If you are fasting, are you still able to get in the proper nutrition you need each day? 
If I tend to eat “whole 30”, how do I stay full enough in my fasting window? 
Is there a difference in how a pre-menopausal woman should be fasting and how a post-menopausal woman should be fasting? 
Should men and women fast differently?
 
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FULL TRANSCRIPT

September 29, 2021 - Episode #78 - Intermittent Fasting for Women - Good Fit for You? Q & A

 
Ah, the confusing world of intermittent fasting. What should you do based on your body and your life? Should men and women fast differently? Is there a difference in how you should fast for pre-menopausal versus post-menopausal women? I'm answering your questions about intermittent fasting today on healthy harmony. Welcome to the healthy harmony podcast. I'm Jennifer Pickett, dietitan turned functional medicine, health coach. I help spiraling moms overcome the overwhelm, through functional wellness coaching for the body, mind, and soul that they can transform their health and live a deeply fulfilled life of freedom and harmony let's get real when it comes to your health, you know what to do. I strongly believe that to make the shift from mellowing to doing you must supply mindfulness, listen to your body address. What's really driving that behavior. Be intentional and finally practice some self-compassion. The last 24 years of experience have taught me that the absolute last thing a woman needs is a lecture about self care and another unrealistic diet plan.
 
I recognize the importance of compassionate and intentional health practices. So you can feel good because guess what? When you feel good, you are more likely to make better decisions for your health. If you're ready to take control of your complete health, address the obstacles standing in your way and live a life of freedom and harmony you, my friend are in the right place.
 
 I absolutely love being a resource to you. I'm going to tell you these podcasts take up some time. It's always funny because I think, oh, I'm going to whip this out real quick. And then the research takes me a lot longer than I thought. So the research is extensive. What goes into this podcast is extensive, but I know that this is the best way that I can support you to take all of that confusing and often conflicting information out there and break it down to where it is simple and easy to understand.
 
So as a way of saying, thanks. Well, you did me a big favor. Will you please leave a rating and a review at the healthy harmony podcast on iTunes. So go to this show page, and then you scroll down until you see, leave a rating and review. I would appreciate that so much. It really helps with the visibility of the podcast. So let me read you a recent review from green at mama of three, she wrote, “I enjoy each episode so much, always the most practical tips in my effort to live a healthier and happier lifestyle. I literally leave each episode with notes on something new to trap. I look forward to new episodes each week.”  green mama of three. Thank you so much for this all send that review. I appreciate it. And you know what? That just keeps me going when I know that I'm helping you guys leave excuse me, live a healthier and happier lifestyle. So please leave a rating and a review, and I might feature your review on the helping harmony podcast.
 
So today's episode is answering your questions. As you've heard the past two weeks, we had a guest Laurie Lewis, who talked about intermittent fasting, and this was really specifically more towards women who are in menopause or past menopause or post-menopausal. So today I want to recap some benefits and some of the downside of intermittent fasting. And I'm going to answer your questions. So I think you'll get a lot out of this. So as you heard last week, there are a lot of benefits to intermittent fasting. It can improve and really boost your fat burn. It improves your insulin sensitivity. It lowers your cholesterol. It can reduce inflammation. It delays at those markers of aging. It can support the immune system, improve your skin, increase your concentration, and improve your sleep. Okay, that's the upside. And there can be a lot of benefits here that the reality is that many of you have tried intermittent fasting and it didn't work for you.
 
So why is that? First of all, everybody is different. And part of this podcast is simply to guide you. So you can kind of start to understand what you need to do differently, how you need to experiment most importantly, how you can learn about your body. So there is never, ever a one size fits all. So when I have a guest, when I'm doing a podcast, please understand that you are an individual. You are unique. There is not a one size fits all. And we've got to get rid of that mentality, that there is this set of rules. And if we follow the rules and we're going to have the same results as someone else, but instead taking that information, understanding it, applying it to your body and your life and trying some experiments to see how your body responds. Because let me tell you, when we're talking about intermittent fasting, and again, intermittent fasting is using a period of time where you are fasting.
 
You are without food, and then having a window of time where you're eating, that's where you're concentrating all of your nutrition. And so there is a downside to intermittent fasting. And I want to cover that real quick. So one of the downsides to intermittent fasting is that it really just focuses on when you ate, not necessarily what you ate. And if you've heard me say this before, please hear me loud and clear. Now you have to focus on optimizing nutrition. You have to focus on what you're putting in your body. It's time to clean it up, sister. Okay. The reality is that we are, we are overfed and we're under nourished. So the dangers of intermittent fasting, it can reduce your thyroid production. If you cut calories too dramatically, there's going to be less thyroid hormones that are produced. And there's also a danger of having an increase in eating disorder behavior.
 
If you have a history of an eating disorder, intermittent fasting is probably not for you. Okay? it also can be a result of overall reduced intake of nutrients, which is not good. You're not getting what you need. It can cause an increase in your stress, hormones and a change in your mood. It can increase your risk of hypoglycemia. And also it can really, you know, affect that hypothalamus the part of the brain that regulates the body's hormones. So it can call some hormone dysregulation. Now one of the experts out there that's very outspoken about this is Dr. Stacy Sims. And one of her specialties is really working with women who are athletes and who exercise. And, but she's very outspoken about intermittent fasting and how women need to be very cautious with this. So if you want to, you know, review some of her stuff, I think that's, that's a good place to be right there.
 
Just so you're very aware, but also with intermittent fasting, it can increase your hunger, but also increase your obsession with food. What are we turning to, to numb the pain, if we're obsessed with food, okay, here's my rules. I can't eat right now, but when I eat, I'm just going to, I mean, we're so hungry, we're so ready. And we're completely like blowing it because we've done without food for a while. And now we're just going to blow it. We're going to eat whatever we want to. That is the downside to intermittent fasting. And remember when we're doing this, we're constantly restricting. And then we're bingeing that really leads to overeating overall and those feelings of guilt and shame. And as women, I find that so often we are stuck in this spiral of guilt and shame and y'all, that keeps us from moving forward in our health journey.
 
Okay. It really impacts our physical health, but most importantly, our mental, our emotional and our spiritual health. Okay. So we don't want to live in, in that reality of of restricting and then bingeing and then the guilt and the shame. It is such an awful, awful spiral. So there is not a one size fits all, not at all. So I want to answer your questions today and I'm going to start with Renee. Renee asks, do I have to do the exact same thing every single day? So Renee is wondering, okay, what are the rules here? And do I need to do the same thing every day? You know, sometimes some of us were a little bit more type a like, we want to follow the rules. Okay. Tell me what to do. And I think this is what my friend did.
 
So surely it will work for me. And we had this mentality of, I have to do this same thing every day. First of all, your body doesn't work that way. There's going to be some days, even if you're practicing intermittent fasting, there will be some days your body gives you an indication. You know what? Today's not the day today. I'm stressed out and I'm honestly hungry and I need to be fed. Okay. So listening to your body is always a very first skill that I teach, listen to your body, practice, that mindfulness. And when it comes to doing the exact same thing every day, no, you do not have to follow the exact same thing every day. Now there are some definite benefits to having some rhythm and some routine but having this unrealistic set of rules that stresses you out is very, very unhealthy.
 
So we've got to get rid of this like ridiculous set of rules in our mind. And we've got to find a rhythm and a routine that works for us. And then there's some days that that rhythm and routine is completely blown. No, you don't have to do the exact same thing every day. And there is something called alternate day fasting. And this is something you can easily experiment with and see if it works for you. It's one day you're eating completely. Normally you're eating your calories normally throughout the day. And then the next day you're going to severely restrict your calories. Either not eat or keep it to 500 calories or less. That is alternate day fasting. Again, it's something you can play with that may not be for you. But again, we can find a lot of benefit when we have some rhythm and routine to our days.
 
But also when we shake things up a little bit and we surprise our body and again, it's all about mindfulness and listening to your body and getting rid of the roles. Christie asked the question. What if I have a breakfast meeting one day like, well, and I'm intermittent fasting. What do I do? Then? That's a day that you're going to go to your breakfast meeting and ate something. Okay. If it's a, you know, it, unless this is a regular meeting and this is really interfering with your fasting schedule, then I want you to understand there's no hard and fast rules here. And again, sometimes when we're sticking to those rules, it's stressing us out. Meaning it is increasing that stress, hormone, cortisol. And guess what? Ladies we're shooting ourselves in the foot. So if you have a breakfast meeting that day, go to your breakfast meeting, eat some breakfast, but hear me loud and clear.
 
Look at what you're eating. And this is where I really want to emphasize how you break your fast. You break your fast by food, combining protein, fiber, and fat. Always, always, always have protein, fiber, and fat. At every meal you ate, every snack you eat. And by the way, we don't need to be eating like all day. We don't need three meals and three snacks. Okay. That's a lot of food. So we got to get rid of that mentality. But when you do break that fast, so often we're breaking that with carbs and that's it. And then that sets you up for a full day of a blood sugar roller coaster ride. You don't feel good. You're not, you're not clearheaded. You've got a headache. Your energy is lagging. There's no mental clarity. It is a disaster. So when you have that overnight fast breakfast is break the fast, right?
 
And you want to do that with protein, fiber, and fat. So if you get to that breakfast meeting, make sure you've got some eggs. You put some veggies in those eggs. And you've got some good, healthy fat, okay. So healthy, fat, healthy protein, and fiber, which we get from fruits and vegetables. Okay. So that's a great way to break the fast. And Christie also asked at what hour do you hit autophagy's now? [inaudible] I hope I'm saying that right. Y'all but you know, there's a good chance. I'm not autophagy is something that happens when we fast or something that can happen when you're in a state of ketosis and it is a cellular cleanup or repair as we look at how amazing the body is and how it tries to heal itself and repair itself. It's kind of hard to do that when it's busy digesting food.
 
So autophagy is just a, just think of it as a cellular cleanup, a cellular repair. Now I'm not going to get into all the science. That's what you need to know. And she's wondering at what hour do you hit that? Well, Christie, there are no clear answers on this. In fact, it looks like it is highly, highly individualized. Now research shows that that can maybe happen around 12 hours of fasting. So it can be anywhere from 12 to 22 hours of fasting, according to some research, but everybody is going to be very different when the body starts at autophagy process, the cellular cleanup and repair, and y'all not just about food. So it is also about your physical activity, your exercise it's about your stress. It's about your sleep. It's about your hydration. It's about your blood sugar. It's, there's so many aspects here when it comes to that cellular cleanup and repair.
 
So again, there's no hard and fast rules and there's really no clear-cut answers on this Christie. So it's very, very interesting though. So just kind of keep that in mind that fasting anywhere from, you know, 10 to 12 hours at that 12-hour mark is probably where we start to enter in some of that.  Doing an occasional longer fast can, can be beneficial. Of course, there are some women's health experts that don't really promote that. So it really depends on the expert that you're listening to, but just know that doing some fasting can definitely promote some cellular cleanup and repair.
 
Elizabeth. Our next question comes from Elizabeth and she asked if you are fasting, are you still able to get in the proper nutrition you need each day? Oh, Elizabeth, thank you for asking this question. I'm going to say, no, I'm going to say no right off the bat. You know why? Because so many of us women, we are so focused on freaking calories because we've been sold this bunch of bull - theses lies our whole life. That if you want to lose weight, it's all about calories and calories out. So we have this very, very restricted mindset. So what a lot of people do is that not only do they fast, then they cut calories dramatically and they're not focused on nutrition. They're focused on this weird number called calories. Not all calories are created equal. So this is where I'm going to emphasize. Again, it is so important that we optimize nutrition. If you're doing intermittent fasting, what are you putting in your mouth in that eating window? How can you optimize nutrition? Number one, you're going to optimize nutrition by getting enough protein. Protein is broken down to amino acids, amino acids, rebuild healthy cells and plays such a very important role in our hormones. As women, we're not getting enough protein men don't have this problem. Women, we're not getting enough protein and we're getting way too many refined and processed carbs. So we're on a blood sugar, sugar roller coaster, and our hormones are all out of balance. And then we shoot ourselves in the foot in the foot and we tried to do something like intermittent fasting, and we wonder why it doesn't work as you optimize nutrition, be sure and get in plenty of protein and plenty of plants. Do you like that? Pop plenty of plants, girls. Okay. Lots of vegetables and some fruit like let's do this, all the colors. Look at all of that variety right there. Let's get a full variety of plants of fruits and vegetables.
 
And that is how we can optimize nutrition. We've got to get rid of this caloric mindset because not all calories are created equal, and y'all know I can go on a soapbox about that, but this podcast is not about that. So thank you for asking that question, Elizabeth. It is, it can be difficult to get into property nutrition you need each day. So if you're doing some at fasting doing some intermittent fasting, you're doing that eating window. Make sure you maximize your nutrition during that eating window. How can you nourish your body that day with those good for you? Foods that make you feel good. I love that expression, that expression eat the foods that you love and that love you back. Y'all, you know, there's some things that you love that they taste good, but they don't love you back. Like you feel it afterwards, you feel it moving on to Francine another nutrition type question.
 
Francine said, if I tend to eat whole 30 how do I stay full enough in my fasting window? So just to give a brief definition, whole 30 is a very clean way of eating. It eliminates a lot of these inflammatory foods like gluten and grains and dairy, and a lot of these pro all the process and the junk foods that are full of chemicals and toxins, and whole 30 is very focused on clean protein, vegetables, and fruit. So a very clean way of eating. And she's wondering if I tend to eat whole 30, how do I stay full enough in a fasting window? That is an excellent question because sometimes we kind of fast forward. We're like, okay, I'm going to eat right now, but when I'm fasting and I'm not going to start starving, is this going to be really difficult? So again, I'm going to go back to that food combining always food combined in your eating window, always food combined, because it really satisfies you and it helps with your blood sugar.
 
So remember food combining is protein, fiber and fat. So here's my, my quick example. If I'm going to have a salad, for instance, I'm going to put some good protein on that salad. I love to use chicken thighs for instance and have some good protein on that salad. It's going to stay with me. I'm getting a lot of, I'm getting a lot of greens. I'm getting a lot of color from vegetables. I put on my salad. I'm getting some healthy fat from the very clean salad dressing I'm using. Primal kitchen and testimonies are two of my favorites by the way, side note for salad dressings. Cause I don't want to pour chemicals on my salad. Okay. And then I'm going to add chicken thighs to my salad because I'm getting some protein and some healthy fat, and guess what it stays with me. It is satisfying. It tastes good. That's so important when we are just focusing on carbs, guess what happens? Your blood sugar skyrockets. And then what goes up must come down. When that blood sugar falls, you feel very, very hungry and you're craving carbs, you're craving sweets. So we've got to avoid the blood sugar roller coaster and we need to food combined protein, fiber, and fat. Another example of this is an apple and almond butter. Okay. Instead of just having the apple by itself, having the apple and the almond butter, because again, you're getting protein, fiber and fat with that little healthy snack. And then the other thing I would say Francine is eat for right now, you're in that eating window eat for right now. Don't fast forward and think, okay, I'm going to get hungry. I'm going to get hungry. So I need to kind of store up.
 
We're not squirrels. So you know, just kinda eat for right now, eat slow down while you're eating, eat until you're satisfied. And you're like, okay, that's good. I'm good. I'm full, I'm satisfied. And then stop. And so we don't want to try to store up for when we're fasting, like eat until you're satisfied. Enjoy, keep up with that very clean way at eating like you're doing the whole 30 is excellent. An excellent choice. And and then have your fasting window and then break the fast accordingly with protein, fiber and fat. Okay. the next question is from Marie and Marie said, should men and women fast differently? Oh yes, they should. Here's another soapbox of mine. You are not a man. You're a woman. Men and women are different. I don't care what they're saying out there. Men and women are different from every single aspect. God created us differently. Physically, mentally, emotionally, everything is different. And so what makes sense for your husband will not make sense for you. Your body will respond completely differently. My husband can do a much longer, fast than I can and be just fine. And I'm literally on the floor. I'm like done you. Okay. So we have to understand that we are all individually, individually, biologically unique men are different from women. Men can do a longer, fast, and they do just fine women. If they try to do a longer, fast, oftentimes find they are not doing very good. So again, look at yourself as an individual at work. And what's interesting is that it looks like with men, it can like intermittent fasting can really help to boost metabolism, intermittent fasting. When not done correctly with a woman is going to inhibit metabolism. Y'all, it's like a cruel joke, but again, we have to look at men and women as differently.
 
This is where individual coaching really comes into play. Someone helping you, guiding you to finding a strategy that works for you for your own body, for your life, for your own unique biochemical makeup. So men and women are very, very different. In fact, it's very interesting. All the research is very conflicting and there's not a whole lot of research out there. The research that is out there, 80% of that research is done on men. Y'all 80% of the research is done on men. So there's a lot, we're still learning about women's health and I follow some fantastic women's health experts. We're learning more and more and more each day. Okay. And we are just very, very unique and different from men. So what works for your husband may not work for you. So please keep that in mind, Marie, I appreciate that question. And the, the last question that I have is from Stacy, Stacy said, is there a difference in how a premenopausal woman should be fasting and how a post-menopausal woman to be fasting?
 
Okay. Here's, what's interesting. This is what took me the, the vast majority of my research here the most time. There is a difference now you heard Laurie Lewis, the past couple of weeks talk about her experience and tremendous experience. Very, very knowledgeable as she talked about menopausal women and how they should fast. There is definitely a difference in how pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women should be fasting. So premenopausal women we have something called kisspeptin, which is a hormone and it releases the follicle, stimulating hormone, the luteinizing hormone. It really kisspeptin promotes normal endocrine balance. So the problem is that when you go too long with fasting, when you're going longer than 12 hours, 14 hours kisspeptin is downregulated. And that can lead to endocrine dysfunction, low energy, low libido, and the inability to put on muscle and the inability to lose fat. And honestly, you don't feel very well. So it looks like for a premenopausal woman, someone who has not yet entered menopause, the fasting window that you should be considering is fasting anywhere from 10 to 14 hours, okay. 10 to 12 hours. But again, you have to play and see what works for you. There's some women, if you're going from like 8:00 PM at night, and you're going all the way to 12 noon the next day, that might be a little bit too long of a fast as I've listened to another one of my favorite experts. And she has a ton of experts on her podcast, JJ Virgin. She has said many times the biggest mistake that she sees with women is at, we're just skipping breakfast and we're shooting ourselves in the foot like we're skipping breakfast and we're calling it intermittent, fasting, and calling it a day.
And that's very, very dangerous. So consider what time you're breaking that fast. So if you go from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM, that's 12 hours right there. Now, if you want to stretch it to 14 hours, that would be breaking the fast at 10:00 AM. So keep in mind that you've got to experiment and find what works for you. If something works for you, that's not necessarily working for somebody else. It's okay. You're unique and different, but we've got to listen to our body and y'all, I'm learning this. I love to do experiments on myself. So last week I tried to do a 24 hour fast and I went from lunch on Sunday and I went all the way to, it was a little bit longer than 24 hours, all the way to two o'clock the next day on Monday. Let me just tell you, by the time I ate, I was a mess. Like my body did not feel good. Okay. My body was like, ah, this is not working, Jennifer. I had a horrible, horrible headache. I really couldn't think straight, which is very difficult when you're trying to work on something. And I had no energy. I was hungry. I just, I was like completely depleted. That was too much for me. It was just too much. And I think sometimes as women, we think in terms of extremes, we hear about someone's weight loss story. And we're like, okay, that's what I'm going to do. I can, I can do a, you know, 23 hour fast, one day. I can do a I can do a very dramatic, you know fast and it's going to work for me. It really depends on where you're at with menopause. And then other factors that make you unique, how much sleep you're getting, is your body having a chance to rest and restore and recover if you're not sleeping well. And you're trying to intermittent fast, let me tell you, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Y'all it's not gonna work. So again, this is where coaching comes in, because we can look at all of this with you as a unique individual. So premenopausal women stick to about, you know, I don't know, 10 to 14 hours at that mid-range, right? There is 12 hours. And that seems to be the sweet spot for you. Make sure you have a good, healthy breakfast. When you do break that fast, you got to have some protein sister, you gotta have some protein.
 
And then post-menopausal women. It's different. Post-Menopausal women seem to do much better with a longer fast. So in, you know, a 16 hour fast, an 18 hour fast. So post-menopausal women are different because that kisspeptin is not as much of a factor in a post-menopausal woman. So a longer, fast has been shown to be very, very beneficial in post-menopausal women or women who are in menopause. So kind of keep that in mind, there is a different with, there is a difference with women, how they should be fasting. And again, this is something that takes some research and some, and looking at yourself as a unique individual. So just to kind of recap some very important things that you need to keep in mind. Here's the basics. Here's the absolute basics. You don't want to eat within two to three hours before going to bed. When you are busy digesting food, you're not going to get that good, deep restorative sleep that you need. So the basics is kind of, don't eat within two to three hours before going to bed and don't eat within an hour of waking up, give yourself an hour before you start eating.
 
Okay. some hormone experts like Dr. Amy Shaw says that 12 hours is the minimum for best results. If you're intermittent fasting, 12 hours is the minimum that remember what I said, that's 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM. That's what 12 hours is. Cause that overnight fast y'all, that counts when you're sleeping. So that's how, that's an easy way to think about that. And practice food, combining protein, fiber, and fat, always, you've got to be getting some good, clean, healthy sources of protein. If you are waking up in the morning and you are loading up that coffee with creamer and sugar and syrups and all the yada yada yada, or you're having a breakfast bar, or you're having milk and cereal, y'all, you're setting yourself up for failure that day. You're going to feel it. You're going to feel it. We've got to clean up our breakfast. We've got a food, combined, get some veggies, get some protein, get some healthy fat. You're going to feel so much better. You're going to be productive. You're going to be clearheaded. So it's so important to break the fast well and really optimize nutrition during your eating window.
 
Another, another quick tip here, practice self-compassion practice, self-compassion as women. We're very, very, very hard on ourselves. We're comparing ourselves to everybody else and y'all our body does not respond negative thoughts, negative body practice. Self-Compassion you cannot go back to last week. Last month, last year, give yourself some grace, forgive yourself, snap out of that spiral of guilt and shame. So you can move forward. How can you be intentional this week? How can you make sure not eating too close to bedtime? How can you make sure that when you're eating, you're optimizing nutrition, let go of this ridiculous set of rules that is stressing you out? It is not worth it.
 
And learn to listen to your body. That's another quick tip for success. Learn to listen to your body. You know, there's something called intuitive fasting, and this is where you're listening to your body. You're responding to what your body needs. Again, you might have it in your mind. I, Hey, today, I'm going to do a 14 hour fast and I'm not going to eat until 10 o'clock and at eight o'clock your body's like, no, I really need something. Okay. Listen to your body but eat well. Okay. Give yourself that veggie scramble. That is good so listen to your body. We've got to be more intuitive women. We're really good at listening to others. We got to listen to ourselves.
 
Another tip, get some coaching. It's hard to do this on your own. Just a quick note here.I never fully grasped the importance of coaching. Coaching is not someone telling you what to do. It's a brainstorming process. And I really experienced this for a full year. Now. I've had coaching before this and after this, I have a health coach. And I have folks that I will refer to, to get help with my own health. Even though this is what I do for a living that when I was in my functional medicine training, and that was a full year of training, of course, we had the modules, and we had all the assignments and that was self-paced that each and every week and met with a cohort and we would practice coaching. That meant I was coaching someone every week, but also, I was getting coached. Now, typically they wouldn't say something that I was like, oh, okay. I didn't know that. No, a lot of it was just emphasizing something that maybe I already knew, but I hadn't implemented it. And it was encouraging me with some very simple strategies that made sense for my life. So that is the benefit of coaching. It's a brainstorming process. It's a positive process. And that's why I'm such a big fan of it because I've been coached by some amazing people, both business coaches and health coaches. And it was such a positive experience. And it kinda made me feel like, okay, I can do this. I now have a specific, specific strategy for my health in my life.
 
Another quick tip as we wrap things up when you fast do a clean fast, okay. If you're if you're like, quote unquote fasting, but you've got this loaded down coffee full of everything that is not a claim fast. Excuse me. So make sure to do a clean fast when you fast. So that is water or black coffee. Personally, I put just a tiny bit of MCT oil in my coffee and I blend it. And, that's it, yeah, there's nothing else in there. Again, this is somewhere you kind of need to play around and see what works for your body. And again, at the same time you're playing around with, when you're going to break that fast and begin your eating window, and you're going to be smart when you do that. So this was fun today. I hope you enjoyed this. I answered your questions. I was a little bit more off the cuff today. I had my notes, but I was a little more off the cuff. So I hope you enjoyed this. I love being able to answer your questions, to be a resource for you.
 
Again, be smart. Listen to your body, show yourself some grace and optimize nutrition. My friend, you've got to take care of yourself. So if you hear anything else I'm giving you permission to take care of yourself. You have people depending on you. It's hard to take care of them when you're not taking care of yourself. Now join me next week. And we will be having y'all next week is one of my, I know I said this before. She is such an excellent guest. One of my favorite podcasts. Her name is Kristen Bowen, and we're having a fantastic conversation about magnesium and overcoming the overwhelm. So first of all, magnesium is this amazing miracle mineral that's needed for over a thousand different processes in the body, 1000. Okay. So this is one. If you're a woman and you are worried about your health, you're concerned about your health. You want to optimize your health. You have got to hear this about magnesium, but also it's the kindness and then, in our conversation about overcoming the overwhelm. And then y'all her story is going to have you like laid out in the floor, like it's, it's crazy. So Kristen Bowen with living the good life naturally is joining me next week. Do not miss it!
 
In the meantime. If you need me, I'm here. If you have a question, if you need some coaching, let me know, just go to inspire healthy harmony.com. I love being here for you and you know that girls we're in this together. I'll see you soon.