The fasting world is filled with contradictory advice. One expert says women should never fast. Another swears by it. Meanwhile, you’re left confused, frustrated, and wondering if you’re doing everything wrong. The truth? Most fasting advice completely misses the feminine blueprint.

When I first encountered the heated debates around women and fasting, I noticed something profound: almost no one was talking about the spiritual and emotional dimensions of hunger. Instead, the conversation remained trapped in a binary of “fasting is good” versus “fasting is bad for women.”

What if I told you that both sides are missing the deeper truth?

Get the secrets to natural hormonal balance to begin reversing these patterns.

Here’s what the experts aren’t telling you: most mainstream fasting research is based on populations experiencing metabolic dysfunction, obesity, anxiety disorders, or chronic stress. These studies aren’t examining resilient, hormonally balanced women who live attuned to their bodies.

This creates a fundamental problem. When someone says “women shouldn’t fast,” they’re often referring to women who are already depleted, anxious, or metabolically compromised. But what about the woman who wakes up grounded, emotionally regulated, and energetically stable?

The baseline matters deeply. Take the common advice to “eat within 30 minutes of waking to reduce cortisol spikes.” This might serve a woman experiencing burnout or adrenal fatigue — her nervous system needs that early fuel as temporary support. But for a well-regulated woman with emotional awareness and spiritual connection, this advice can actually disrupt her natural cortisol rhythm and interfere with her intuitive relationship with hunger.

The deeper healing always comes from addressing the emotional and energetic roots of dysregulation, not constantly medicating symptoms through food.

Complete this 2-minute quiz to discover your hormonal imbalance pattern.

One of the biggest misunderstandings in the fasting world comes from conflating general fasting with training in a fasted state without proper fueling. This confusion has created unnecessary controversy, even among experts.

Dr. Stacy Sims once said about women’s fasting research: “I read Fast Like a Girl and I cringed. Fasting research on women says it’s not beneficial. Women end up worse off.” But later, in a joint interview with Dr. Mindy Pelz, she clarified: “Oh, we are just talking about different populations. You are referring to sedentary women, and I’m talking to athletes.”

This shift reveals the heart of the issue: it’s not fasting itself that’s problematic — it’s stacking stressors.

Exercise is already a major physiological stressor. When you add emotional stress, hormone imbalances, or inadequate recovery, fasting can push your body into overwhelm. But this doesn’t mean fasting is inherently harmful to women.

Your experience with fasting depends on several key factors:

• Your emotional and nervous system state upon waking

• The nature of your activities during the fast

• The timing and intensity of your physical training

• What you consume post-fasting to re-nourish

Here’s a practical example: You wake at 5am in a grounded state and begin with calming practices like journaling or breathwork. You can comfortably wait until 9am for a light pre-workout meal, train at 10am, then eat your main meal at 11am when the sun is at its peak and digestion is strongest. Your final meal comes around 4–5pm. You’ve maintained a 15-hour fasting window while properly fueling for exercise.

Should you train fasted? Yes, but with discernment:

• Under 40 with stable energy: Fasted workouts can work beautifully

• Over 40 or experiencing adrenal depletion: Opt for 13–14 hour fasting windows and eat at least one hour before training

You can fast and fuel. They’re not mutually exclusive.

My approach draws from the Essenes, a spiritually advanced community who ate only twice daily — once when the sun peaked, and again at sunset. This wasn’t convenience or dogma, but harmony with Earth’s natural energy cycles.

We don’t biologically require three meals a day. This modern norm emerged during the industrial era when people performed physically demanding labor. But today, most women engage in cognitive work. If your day revolves around a laptop, your metabolic demands are dramatically different.

Let’s be practical: unless you have full-time kitchen help, preparing, eating, and cleaning up after three daily meals is unnecessarily time-consuming. Simplifying to two intentional meals supports not just digestion and energy — but your time, focus, and nervous system.

The human body is remarkably adaptable. Once stabilized into a two-meal rhythm, suddenly increasing meal frequency often feels unaligned and forced. You might adjust food types for emotional or hormonal needs, but not necessarily meal frequency.

Complete this 2-minute quiz to find out your hormonal imbalance pattern.

Here’s where conventional nutrition misses the mark entirely. Cravings — especially for sugar and carbs — aren’t biological requirements. They’re spiritual messengers.

In metaphysical understanding, sugar symbolizes love. This is why women experience intense sugar cravings during emotional lows or in the luteal phase. What appears as an energy need is often a deeper longing:

• To be loved without earning it

• To feel nurtured, accepted, and emotionally safe

• To soften and rest rather than stay in control

Most experts frame midlife hormonal shifts as: “Women need to eat more, especially carbs.” But this only addresses symptoms, not causes.

Complete this 2-minute quiz to find out your hormonal imbalance pattern.

Underneath sugar cravings often lies:

• Distorted self-love or worthiness

• Self-doubt and diminished willpower

• Suppressed vulnerability in relationships

• Depletion in yin (receptive, soft) energy

The luteal phase intensifies a woman’s need for connection, comfort, and emotional attunement. When she’s disconnected or living in masculine overdrive, this need redirects into overeating, sugar cravings, or compulsive snacking.

Complete this 2-minute quiz to find out your hormonal imbalance pattern.

• Sugar = Sweetness = Emotional Nurturing

• When life lacks sweetness, we seek it externally

• No amount of chocolate can replace missing self-love or intimacy

• Cravings speak the language of unmet feminine needs

• Your body is simply trying to feel safe again

Before you reach for sugar, pause and ask: “What sweetness am I truly craving in my life right now?”

Get the secrets to natural hormonal balance to begin reversing these patterns.

If you crave sugar before your period, explore:

• Am I feeling emotionally seen, safe, and soft?

• Am I trying to control instead of connect?

• Am I rejecting rest, softness, or self-expression?

• What part of me feels unloved or invisible?

A balanced woman can:

• Fast with ease because she’s emotionally nourished

• Eat only two aligned meals daily without feeling restricted

• Fuel her body before strenuous activity while maintaining nervous system calm

• Understand that true cravings arise from the soul, not just the stomach

As women transition into perimenopause or navigate stressful life periods, some flexibility helps. If you plan high-stress workouts, your body might benefit from a light, grounding bite 30–60 minutes beforehand — not a full meal, but something that signals safety to your nervous system. This isn’t caving to cravings; it’s wise, intuitive adjustment based on your current energetic bandwidth.

Healing isn’t about suppressing hunger — it’s about restoring vibrational harmony.

You can fast. You can eat only two meals daily. You must fuel before intense workouts. But none of it works if you’re emotionally starved.

Spiritual nutrition is the root. Physical food is just the expression.

When you heal the inner hunger, the cravings dissolve. When you honor both your feminine rhythms and your body’s practical needs, fasting becomes not a restriction, but a return to your natural state of balance.

The next time someone tells you that women can’t fast, remember: they’re probably talking about women who haven’t yet learned to nourish their souls.