Is Fasting Making You Fat & Stressed?
March 18, 2025 | by emily | Posted in healthy eating, Holistic Health, hormone balancing, Womens Health
For years, I thought I was doing everything right, skipping breakfast, pushing through fasted workouts, and believing I was torching fat in the process. But instead of feeling leaner and stronger, I found myself exhausted, stressed, and holding onto stubborn belly fat. Sound familiar?
The Hidden Truth About Fasting for Women
While fasting can work wonders for men, for women, it’s a different story entirely. Research by Dr. Stacy Sims shows that fasting and fasted workouts can actually backfire for women, particularly those in their 30s, 40s, and beyond. Here’s why:
Increased Cortisol = More Belly Fat
Fasting is a stressor. For women, prolonged fasting triggers a surge in cortisol—the stress hormone—which signals the body to hold onto fat, especially around the belly. Instead of burning fat, your body clings to it for survival.
Your Body Burns Muscle Instead of Fat
When women fast, the body doesn’t just tap into fat stores—it starts breaking down lean muscle for energy instead. And here’s the kicker: muscle is already harder for women to build and maintain. So when you do a fasted workout, thinking you’re burning fat, you’re actually losing muscle, slowing your metabolism, and making long-term fat loss even harder.
Hormones & Fasting Don’t Mix
Women’s bodies are wired for survival and reproduction, meaning any signal of stress (like fasting) can disrupt hormones, throw off metabolism, and lead to weight gain instead of weight loss. Unlike men, who can fast and function optimally, women need to eat in sync with their hormones to thrive.
But What About the Benefits of Fasting?
It’s important to note that fasting can be beneficial for some women, particularly those who lead a more sedentary lifestyle and need an easy way to reduce caloric intake. Short, well-timed fasting windows may help regulate blood sugar and improve metabolic flexibility in certain cases.
Fasting also triggers autophagy, a cellular cleanup process that helps remove damaged cells and regenerate new ones. While autophagy is often cited as a major benefit of fasting, it’s important to know that exercise also stimulates autophagy—so you don’t have to fast to get these benefits. In fact, strength training and movement provide many of the same cellular repair mechanisms without the potential downsides of prolonged fasting for women.
The Solution: Fuel Your Body, Not Fight It
If you’ve been fasting, pushing through low-energy workouts, and wondering why you’re still struggling with fatigue and weight gain, it’s time for a different approach. Your body isn’t broken—it’s just asking for the right fuel.
That’s exactly why I created Karma Being’s 100-Day Transformation—a fully guided program designed for women who want to break free from stress, weight gain, and exhaustion. You’ll learn exactly how to eat, train, and live in alignment with your body’s natural rhythms so you can finally feel energised, strong, and confident in your skin.
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Lots of love,
