I Stopped Fasting for a Year - Here's What It Taught Me (& Other Habits I'm Giving Up)

About this episode

Dr. Mindy Pelz shares her personal journey of stopping fasting for a year and the health habits she is giving up in 2026.

After 30 years in health, Dr. Mindy is calling time on the rules. This solo episode is one of the most personal things she's shared on this podcast. It covers two big ideas: the science and story behind why she stopped fasting for most of the past year and the five health habits she's deliberately walking away from in 2026. First, flex fasting. When cortisol is high from grief, trauma, illness, perimenopause, or chronic stress rigidly pushing through long fasting windows doesn't support the body. It depletes it. Dr. Mindy shares what happened when she lost a close friend and found herself in an acute stress state, what the research says about prolonged fasting and the HPA axis, and how she developed a new approach she's calling flex fasting: a more intuitive, body-led way to use fasting as a tool without turning it into a rule. Then the five things she's giving up: counting (macros, biometrics, followers, all of it), the gym, other people's urgency, productivity over health, and information overconsumption. Each one is a direct response to what the wellness industry has quietly done to us — turned health into a full-time job with a performance review. RESOURCES MENTIONED: Fast…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Mindy Pelz

Topics covered

• fasting
• health habits
• stress management
• wellness industry
• personal growth

Keywords

• fasting
• health habits
• flex fasting
• wellness
• stress
• personal development

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Carb Manager App, The Movement Diet

Books & works: Fast Like a Girl, Age Like a Girl

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• The Hidden History of Motherhood Nobody Taught You (And Why That Was Deliberate) with Elinor Cleghorn · May 6, 2026 · 1h 17m
• Tapping for Perimenopause: How to Stop Anxious Thoughts, Break Self-Sabotage, and Rewire Your Nervous System with Jessica Ortner · April 28, 2026 · 1h 19m