The Fasting Method Podcast

When stress is already high, pushing harder may be exactly the wrong response. Episode #282 🎙️ Coach Terri Lance and Megan Ramos explore how chronic stress affects the body, hunger and fasting, and why a demanding season may call for dialing fasting down rather than turning the intensity up. Megan explains what happens physiologically when cortisol remains elevated and why trying to force an aggressive fasting schedule during a highly stressful period can feel like climbing Mount Everest against your own hormones. Instead, she and Terri look at ways to keep moving forward with shorter, more flexible fasts, movement, meal structure and other behaviors that offer a meaningful return without adding another major stressor. They also discuss the difference between intentional flexibility and simply drifting away from supportive habits, why "good enough" can be a powerful long-term strategy, and how to navigate busy periods without arriving at January feeling that you need to compensate for the previous two months. 👉 What you'll learn • How prolonged stress and elevated cortisol can affect glucose, insulin and hunger • Why intense fasting can become harder when your body is already under stress • Why struggling to fast during stressful periods isn't simply a willpower problem • When dialing fasting down may be more useful than pushing harder • Why 24-hour fasts can offer useful flexibility during busy periods • How movement after meals can support both metabolic health and stress management • Why "good enough" behaviors can have a surprisingly large return • How time-restricted eating can help create structure without demanding perfection • Why being intentionally flexible is different from drifting back into old habits • How to keep making conscious choices without postponing self-care until January 📝 Read the Transcript You can read the transcript and explore more episodes of The Fasting Method Podcast here: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/ 🎁 Holiday Workshop Bundle Three practical, coach-led workshops, six live sessions and two months inside the TFM Community for $99 USD. The bundle includes: • Enjoy the Holidays, Maintain Your Progress with Coach Amy Medling • Fat Fasting Made Simple with Coach Heather Shuker • Making Sense of Your CGM with Coach Lisa Chance Each workshop includes two live sessions, giving you time to learn, experiment and return with your experiences and questions. Community access begins as soon as you purchase, and the workshops begin Monday, November 16. Explore the Holiday Workshop Bundle: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/workshops/ 📣 Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@TheFastingMethod 🤝 Join The Fasting Method Community Build your fasting knowledge, learn from experienced coaches and connect with people who understand the journey: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Make sure your body is up for the plan 00:16 When life gets busy and stressful 01:16 Why this isn't the time for diet panic 02:22 What prolonged stress does physiologically 03:07 Cortisol, glucose and insulin 04:02 When positive stress still affects the body 05:16 What can you do when the stress won't disappear? 06:12 Supporting your body during a stressful season 06:39 Don't demand 40 pounds of weight loss by January 07:38 When fasting becomes the one thing you try to control 08:03 Why this isn't a willpower problem 08:36 The five-day fast versus climbing Mount Everest 09:23 Why a 24-hour fast may make more sense 09:52 Does your body agree with the plan in your head? 10:06 Dial down the fasting instead of intensifying it 10:52 Movement as another high-return tool 11:36 Movement doesn't need to be intense 13:17 When dinner is simply what works for your family 14:25 Finding what is "good enough" 15:18 Time-restricted eating during stressful periods 16:01 Why 24-hour fasts are underestimated 17:16 Consistency matters more than rigid fasting patterns 18:17 Keep food to meals during the holiday season 18:40 Is cream in your coffee becoming a bigger factor than you realize? 20:29 Terri's heavy-cream confession 21:54 Finding comfort without automatically adding more food 24:37 Intentional flexibility versus drifting 25:47 Support inside the TFM Community 26:40 Holiday workshops with Amy, Lisa and Heather 27:47 The goal isn't a perfect holiday season 28:31 Enjoying food without abandoning your goals ⚠️ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only, and it is not to substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professionals before doing any fasting, changing your diet in any way, taking or adjusting any medications or supplements, or adopting any treatment plan for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Any information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The holidays don't have to become a choice between perfect restriction and giving up until January. Episode #281 🎙️ In this solo episode, Coach Amy Medling looks at what happens when "sugar season" begins and food, celebrations, traditions and expectations start showing up everywhere. Rather than offering another set of holiday food rules, Amy explores a more discerning approach. How do you tell the difference between something you genuinely want and something you're eating simply because it's there? What have you already learned about the foods that are difficult for you to negotiate with? And which traditions really are worth your yes? Through stories about Halloween candy, Christmas fudge and her grandmother's Thanksgiving dressing, Amy explores how to enjoy meaningful foods without turning the entire holiday season into an all-or-nothing struggle. She also widens the conversation beyond food, asking what else deserves your time, energy and attention during a season that can easily become overloaded. 👉 What you'll learn • Why sugar season often begins long before the big holiday meals • How to distinguish between "I want this" and "it's just here" • Why you don't need to keep testing something you already know about yourself • How one thoughtful decision can reduce repeated battles with willpower • Why making something less available can feel different from restriction • How the "good" versus "bad" mindset can turn one choice into weeks of shame • What Amy means by having "discriminating tastes" • Why some meaningful holiday foods may genuinely be worth your yes • How to think about whether a choice is bringing you closer to what actually matters • Why food can be part of a rich holiday season without being responsible for making the season rich 📝 Read the Transcript You can read the transcript and explore more episodes of The Fasting Method Podcast here: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/ 📣 Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@TheFastingMethod 🤝 Join The Fasting Method Community Build your fasting knowledge, learn from experienced coaches and connect with people who understand the journey: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Not everything deserves your yes 00:19 Welcome and why Amy calls it "sugar season" 01:39 How sugar season quietly begins 02:43 This is not a sugar-free challenge 03:20 Finding the middle between restriction and giving up 03:41 Do I actually want this, or is it just here? 04:34 Amy's Christmas fudge problem 06:25 Why keep asking yourself to do something that isn't working? 07:10 Changing the method without losing the meaning 07:25 When you already have enough data about yourself 08:13 Knowing which foods are difficult for you to negotiate with 09:27 Letting something special stay special 10:24 The trap of trying to "be good" through the holidays 11:18 How good becomes bad, shame and "I'll start again in January" 12:00 Discerning instead of being good 12:38 Why Amy's grandmother's Thanksgiving dressing gets a yes 14:12 Meaningful food versus food that happens to be there 14:33 Is this worth my yes? 14:47 Is this choice bringing me closer to my goal? 15:32 Sugar season is about more than sugar 16:27 Arriving at January with something left for yourself 16:52 What else is worth your yes this season? 17:55 What are you really hungry for? 18:11 Food doesn't have to make the season rich 18:33 Three questions to carry into sugar season 19:27 There's no failure, only feedback 20:18 Creating a plan for the holiday season you'll actually live 21:19 Maintaining your progress is progress too 21:48 Thanksgiving isn't the test, it's the practice 22:22 Learning from what happened and adjusting 22:51 Participate in the holidays without abandoning yourself ⚠️ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only, and it is not to substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professionals before doing any fasting, changing your diet in any way, taking or adjusting any medications or supplements, or adopting any treatment plan for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Any information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

When experts disagree, how do you decide what information deserves your trust? Episode #280 🎙️ Coach Terri Lance joins Dr. Jason Fung for a conversation about health information, expertise and the challenge of making decisions when credible-sounding sources tell us completely different things. Dr. Fung explains why changing evidence is part of medicine, why even established advice can later turn out to be wrong, and why he tries to stay open-minded rather than becoming overly attached to one position. He also shares the lens he uses when considering new treatments, supplements and health claims: what are the potential benefits, and what are the risks? The conversation explores online health information, unlicensed peptides, emerging drugs, conflicting medical opinions, podcast claims and what it means to be an informed participant in your own healthcare without assuming you need to become your own doctor. 👉 What you'll learn • Why access to more health information can make decisions harder, not easier • Why expert advice can change dramatically over time • How Dr. Fung thinks about evidence without becoming overly dogmatic • Why risk versus benefit is central when evaluating a new treatment or supplement • Why unlicensed injectable peptides raise very different safety concerns • What to consider when your own research conflicts with your doctor's advice • Why the source of a health claim matters • How financial incentives can complicate health information • Why repeating a claim widely doesn't necessarily make the evidence stronger • What it means to stay curious and involved in your own healthcare decisions 📝 Read the Transcript You can read the transcript and explore more episodes of The Fasting Method Podcast here: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/ 📣 Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@TheFastingMethod 🤝 Join The Fasting Method Community Build your fasting knowledge, learn from experienced coaches and connect with people who understand the journey: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 When even the experts don't know 00:14 How do you know which health advice to trust? 01:39 Dr. Google, AI and becoming an informed patient 02:37 When experts completely disagree 03:26 Why accepted medical advice changes over time 04:01 Why Dr. Fung tries to keep an open mind 06:28 Looking at risk versus benefit 06:33 The problem with unlicensed peptides 08:44 Could legalization make peptides safer? 09:15 What we still don't know about emerging drugs 12:30 What happens when your research conflicts with your doctor? 14:22 Why you ultimately have to make your own decisions 14:42 Can you trust the source of the information? 15:52 Dogmatism, cholesterol and conflicting medical opinions 17:10 Can patients bring useful information to their doctors? 18:14 Creatine and claims that outpace the evidence 19:24 Health podcasts, Lp(a) and the echo-chamber problem 20:15 Staying informed without outsourcing your thinking ⚠️ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only, and it is not to substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professionals before doing any fasting, changing your diet in any way, taking or adjusting any medications or supplements, or adopting any treatment plan for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Any information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

How you lose the weight has to prepare you to keep it off. Episode #279 🎙️ Coaches Terri Lance and Heather Shuker explore what sustainable weight loss actually asks of us, and why reaching a goal weight is not the point where the work ends. Heather explains why maintenance begins with the first pound lost. The behaviors that help you lose weight also need to become part of how you live, even though their intensity may change over time. Terri and Heather discuss the difference between an on/off approach and learning to adjust the dial, why consistency matters more than perfection, and what happens when we keep waiting for the point where we can finally "relax." They also explore identity, vacations, food rules, setbacks and experimentation, including Heather's own experience of learning over several years which choices genuinely make her feel better. 👉 What you'll learn • Why reaching your goal weight doesn't mean you're finished • What it means for maintenance to begin with the first pound lost • Why sustainable change needs a dial rather than an on/off switch • How the behaviors used for weight loss may change in intensity during maintenance • Why self-care continues long after active weight loss • What perfectionism can do to consistency • Why the scale shouldn't be your only measure of success • What people often really mean when they say they need a "break" • Why lasting change involves identity as well as behavior • How experimentation helps you discover what works for you over time 📝 Read the Transcript You can read the transcript and explore more episodes of The Fasting Method Podcast here: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/ 📌 Make It Stick with Coach Heather Shuker If losing weight is only part of the challenge, Make It Stick is about what comes next: building the consistency, habits and skills that help you protect your progress and reduce the risk of regain. Make It Stick starts Thursday, October 22. Heather's free webinar, Avoiding Regain: Why the Weight Comes Back and How to Prevent It, takes place Thursday, October 15. Register for the live webinar here: https://thefastingmethod.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MrBihTaNTryeOdfbx65cHA Can't make it live? The replay will be available afterward via the Make It Stick website page. Learn more and join Make It Stick: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/make-it-stick/   📣 Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Join our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork 🤝 Join The Fasting Method Community Build your fasting knowledge, learn from experienced coaches and connect with people who understand the journey: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 There is no on/off switch 00:22 Terri and Heather introduce sustainable weight loss 01:29 Why we fixate on reaching a goal weight 03:05 What happens after you reach the number? 04:10 Maintenance begins with the first pound lost 06:20 When rapid weight loss creates unrealistic expectations 07:29 Think of intensity as a dial, not a switch 09:15 The self-care journey lasts forever 11:29 Weight loss is about how you live 12:36 When healthy behaviors stop feeling new and exciting 15:00 Why healthy living doesn't need to be entertaining 18:55 What matters when you don't follow the plan perfectly 20:26 If you're white-knuckling your way to goal, what happens next? 21:09 What does "taking a break" really mean? 23:14 Why permanent change involves identity 24:44 You're not starting over, you're continuing 25:35 Using experiments and food rules to learn what works 27:24 Why experience teaches what information alone cannot 29:00 Becoming a healthy person who makes healthy choices ⚠️ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only, and it is not to substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professionals before doing any fasting, changing your diet in any way, taking or adjusting any medications or supplements, or adopting any treatment plan for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Any information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Knowing what to do doesn't always make an old pattern disappear. Episode #278 🎙️ In this solo episode, Coach Terri Lance explores why old eating and coping patterns can return even when we understand them, dislike their consequences and genuinely want to change. Terri explains why behaviors that now feel frustrating may once have helped us manage stress, seek comfort, feel safe or create a sense of control. Rather than simply asking, "Why am I still doing this?", she offers a more useful question: what is this pattern still helping me manage, avoid or obtain? She also looks at the difference between self-compassion and excusing a behavior, why removing an old coping strategy without replacing its function can leave us struggling, and how new patterns become stronger through repetition. 👉 What you'll learn • Why old patterns can persist even when you know better • How problematic behaviors may still be meeting an immediate need • Why our brains favor immediate rewards over long-term consequences • How shame and self-criticism can reinforce the very pattern we want to stop • Why self-compassion still needs to include accountability • What can happen when you remove a coping strategy without replacing it • The question Terri uses to uncover what a behavior is really doing for you • How to build a more supportive response to the same underlying need • Why old patterns often reappear during stress, exhaustion or social pressure • How repetition helps strengthen newer, more useful patterns 📝 Read the Transcript You can read the transcript and explore more episodes of The Fasting Method Podcast here: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/ 🧠 Ready to Go Beyond Knowing? Beyond Knowing is for people who already know how to fast and what nutrition choices support them, but still struggle to follow through consistently. Led by Coach Terri Lance, the program digs deeper into patterns, emotional eating, self-sabotage, shame, identity and the internal work that can help knowledge translate into lasting change. Starts October 13 Learn more and join: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/beyond-knowing/ Want to hear more first? Watch Terri's webinar: I Know What to Do, So Why Can't I Stick With It? https://youtu.be/_XzjvaDgqF8 📣 Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Join our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork 🤝 Join The Fasting Method Community Build your fasting knowledge, learn from experienced coaches and connect with people who understand the journey: https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Why our behaviors make sense 00:35 Terri introduces Beyond Knowing and today's topic 02:35 Why old patterns are so hard to let go 03:19 Stop judging the pattern and understand its purpose 03:46 Why behaviors persist even when they cause problems 05:14 Where old eating patterns may have started 06:21 When an old solution starts creating new problems 07:42 The immediate reward we often overlook 09:00 How self-criticism can reinforce the cycle 09:37 Self-compassion without excusing the behavior 10:35 Why coping strategies need replacing, not simply removing 12:03 What need is the behavior still meeting? 13:02 A better question than "Why am I still doing this?" 14:05 The 3pm vending-machine example 17:16 Why old patterns return under stress 19:10 Using setbacks to strengthen new coping strategies 20:37 How to examine the patterns you're struggling to release 21:31 Beyond Knowing and the webinar replay ⚠️ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only, and it is not to substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professionals before doing any fasting, changing your diet in any way, taking or adjusting any medications or supplements, or adopting any treatment plan for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Any information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.