"I Can’t Fast" and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves (The Fasting Series: Part 1)

Let’s get real for a second. If I told you the best medicine for your body was completely free, available right now, and required you to do absolutely nothing, you’d probably tell me I’ve gone bonkers.

And you’d be right. But that’s where the magic happens.

We are starting a new series on Fasting. I can feel the panic rising through the screen. I hear you because I was you. “Allison, I love food. Food is my friend. Are you telling me to starve?”

Hell no.

I am telling you to give your body a vacation.

We live in a world that screams at us to eat 24/7. But here is the truth I discovered on my journey from cancer diagnosis to radical remission: Your body cannot heal while it is busy digesting.

If you are constantly asking your gut to process food, you never give your body a chance to switch gears from "growth mode" to "repair mode."

I know the objections swirling in your head right now. I had them too. So, before we get into the "how," let’s crush the four biggest myths that are stopping you from reclaiming your health.

Myth #1: "I’m a grazer! I need 6 small meals a day to keep my metabolism 'stoked'."

The Bonkers Truth: You aren’t stoking the fire; you are flooding the engine.

Somewhere along the way, we were told to eat like cows grazing in a pasture. But you aren’t a cow. You are a primal human designed to feast and fast.

Here is the science without the boredom: Every time you eat, your body releases insulin. Insulin is a storage hormone. When insulin is high, your body is in "storage mode." It is physically impossible to burn fat when insulin is high.

If you are grazing all day, your insulin never drops. You are keeping your body in a constant state of stress and storage. By closing the kitchen, you finally let insulin baseline, and that is when the magic begins.

Myth #2: "I literally cannot go more than 2 hours without food. I get shaky and hangry."

The Bonkers Truth: You aren’t hungry; you are addicted.

That shaky, irritable, "I’m going to kill someone for a bagel" feeling? That isn't true hunger. That is a chemical withdrawal.

It means you are a Sugar Burner. Your body is so used to quick fuel (glucose/carbs) that it has forgotten how to burn its own fat (ketones). When the sugar (converted from carbs) runs out, your body throws a tantrum because it’s too lazy to unlock the freezer and burn the fat stored on your hips.

Fasting is the training camp that forces your body to remember how to do its job. It’s called Metabolic Flexibility. The "shakes" are temporary. They pass. And on the other side? Unlimited energy.

Myth #3: "I have kids/a crazy job. I need food for energy."

The Bonkers Truth: Digestion is the biggest energy vampire in your body.

Think about how you feel after Thanksgiving dinner. Do you feel ready to run a marathon? No. You want a nap. That’s because digesting food takes a massive amount of energy.

When you are constantly eating, your body is constantly working. When you stop eating, that energy is freed up. It goes to your brain. It goes to your muscles.

When your body switches from burning sugar for fuel to burning fat, your brain lights up. You don't lose energy; you gain a clarity that feels like a superpower. You become the CEO of your body, not a slave to the fridge and snack drawer.

Myth #4: "I tried it once, and I got a headache and my skin broke out. It made me sick."

The Bonkers Truth: That means it’s working.

If you start cleaning out a garage that hasn't been touched in 20 years, is it going to look pretty? No. Dust is going to fly. Ideally, you’ll want to wear a mask. It’s going to get messy before it gets clean.

When you fast, your body finally has the time to do a deep clean (a process we will talk about next week called Autophagy). It dumps toxins into your bloodstream to get them out. The headache? That’s the dust flying.

A Note for the Ladies: If you’ve tried fasting and "failed," it might not be your fault—it might be your timing. As Dr. Stacey Sims says and Dr. Mindy Pelz teaches in Fast Like a Girl and Eat Like a Girl, women are not small men. We have a hormonal symphony that men don’t have. There are times in your cycle to push, and times to rest and feast. If you try to power through a fast when your body is screaming for progesterone, you will crash. We do this with our bodies, not against them. *menopausal women can follow the moon cycle!

Your Assignment

I’m not asking you to fast today. I’m not asking you to skip lunch.

I am just asking you to change your mind’s operating system.

Stop looking at fasting as "starvation” and a hardship. Start looking at it as a "vacation" for your hardworking internal organs and fuel for your natural killer cells.

In the next blog in the series, we will dive into the "Janitors"—the incredible cleaning crew that lives inside your cells—and I’ll share the specific app I use to track my own "food vacation time."

Until then, stay Bonkers.