If you know me or you’ve worked with me, you’ve probably heard me rave about Dr. Mindy Pelz’s Fast Like a Girl principles. That’s because the eating styles she teaches – the ketobiotic eating and hormone eating – have completely transformed the way I nourish my body and how I guide my clients through metabolic healing and hormonal balance.
I’ve lived this. I’ve applied it. And I’ve watched what happens when women start syncing their food choices with their biology: energy returns, sleep deepens, brain fog lifts, and weight begins to stabilize – without restriction or burnout.
I’ve learned that what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat can profoundly impact your hormones and metabolism. The real goal? Adding life to your years, not just years to your life. I want more women to love the way they feel – strong, energized, and fully in charge of their health.
Ketobiotic is Dr. Pelz’s term for a cleaner, more gut-friendly version of keto. It’s a low-carb, healthy-fat approach that also includes clean proteins and probiotic-rich and prebiotic foods to support gut health and hormone metabolism (producing, using, breaking down, and eliminating hormones).
Ketobiotic eating focuses on foods like:
• 20+ plant varieties each week for gut diversity
• Fermented foods like kimchi, coconut yogurt, or sauerkraut for beneficial microbes
• Low-glycemic vegetables and herbs to keep insulin and cortisol balanced
• Healthy fats like MCT oil, olive oil, and avocado to stabilize blood sugar and fuel mitochondria
• Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and arugula to support estrogen detox pathways through the liver
Your gut is more than just your digestion center. It’s a powerful hormonal and immune organ that communicates with your brain, regulates inflammation, and helps detoxify used hormones like estrogen. When your gut is imbalanced (also called dysbiosis), it can interfere with everything from mood and metabolism to skin and sleep.
That’s why gut health is central to hormone health and why ketobiotic eating is so effective.
The ketobiotic style focuses on low-carb, healthy-fat meals combined with fermented and fiber-rich foods that feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut. This helps create the ideal conditions for:
• Improved digestion and regularity
• Stronger intestinal lining (less bloating, fewer food sensitivities)
• Better estrogen metabolism
• Reduced systemic inflammation
By nourishing the gut, ketobiotic eating supports your body’s natural detox systems and helps balance the hormones that drive everything from energy and mood to appetite and metabolism.
As women, we often focus on making hormones, but what’s equally important is how we break them down and clear them from the body. This is the work of hormone metabolism, a process that involves the liver, gut, and detox pathways.
When hormone metabolism is working well, your body maintains hormonal balance with ease. But when it's sluggish due to factors like poor liver function, gut dysbiosis, chronic stress, or nutrient deficiencies, hormones like estrogen can accumulate or become imbalanced. This can lead to symptoms such as:
• Bloating
• Breast tenderness
• Mood swings
• Heavy or irregular periods
• PMS or PMDD
• Weight gain or difficulty losing fat
Women who embrace ketobiotic eating often notice better brain clarity, fewer cravings, improved digestion, and more stable energy throughout the day because they’re finally working with their hormone metabolism instead of against it.
Hormone eating is about knowing when your body needs more carbohydrates and which types of carbs actually support hormone production, especially progesterone.
During certain times of the month your body naturally becomes more insulin-resistant. This is not a flaw; it’s biology. To support this, switching to hormone eating adds back natural, whole-food carbs like sweet potatoes, quinoa, berries, squash, and beets.
These foods help support the production of key hormones, reduce cortisol, and stabilize your nervous system. For women struggling with PMS, anxiety, insomnia, or burnout, this style of eating can make a dramatic difference.
The best part? You’re not “breaking keto,” you’re cycling with your hormones.
Dr. Pelz’s 4-phase framework helps women apply ketobiotic and hormone eating in a rhythm that mirrors their natural hormonal shifts. Whether you're still cycling or not, your body thrives on rhythm.
This framework guides women through a monthly rhythm that transitions between ketobiotic and hormone eating styles – each aligned with specific hormonal needs.
The goal of ketobiotic eating is to train your body to burn fat for fuel while nourishing the gut microbiome, which plays a key role in estrogen metabolism, detoxification, and inflammation control.
The goal of hormone eating is to provide your body with clean, natural carbohydrates and targeted nutrients that support progesterone production, lower cortisol, and help stabilize the nervous system.
When ready, women can combine these eating styles with intermittent fasting to deepen the benefits. This combination helps increase fat adaptation, stabilize blood sugar, and activate key longevity pathways such as autophagy and mitochondrial repair.
1. Power I Phase: Focus on ketobiotic eating (and when ready, longer fasts) to support rising estrogen, improve insulin sensitivity, and strengthen gut and liver health.
2. Manifestation Phase: Shift to hormone eating (and shorter fasts) to support ovulation, estrogen, and testosterone peak, and prepare for rising progesterone.
3. Power II Phase: Return to ketobiotic eating (and shorter fasts) to support hormone detoxification as estrogen and testosterone decline.
4. Nurture Phase: Focus on hormone eating (and no fasting) to support progesterone, reduce stress, and promote rest and recovery.
Our female brain and body benefit from rhythmic fasting and feasting.
These two eating styles speak to what so many women crave: a deeper connection with their bodies. Not punishment. Not perfection. Just biological alignment.
This framework is grounded in how a woman’s body is designed to function. Most advice has been developed based on a man’s physiology and ignores the fact that female hormones shift week to week, especially estrogen, progesterone, and insulin sensitivity. The beauty of ketobiotic and hormone eating is that they honor this reality.
And let me tell you, this approach works for women who feel like they’ve “tried everything.” It’s rooted in real science, not fads. When women begin supporting their metabolic and hormonal systems this way, I often hear:
• “My energy is finally consistent.”
• “I don’t get hangry anymore.”
• “I’m sleeping better.”
• “I’m thinking more clearly.”
That’s why I use it, and why I teach it. It’s about rebuilding trust with your body – one phase, one plate, one rhythm at a time.
Whether you're just getting started or ready for a deeper transformation, we offer three levels of support to meet you where you are:
The New Moon 30-Day Reset Guide – Need a reset you can start today? Download our New Moon 30-Day Reset Guide, a color-coded resource that helps you align and track your eating (Level I) and your fasting (Level II) with your hormone cycles – no guesswork, no overwhelm. Perfect for women who want a self-paced structure.
Wellness Check-In – This is a focused, one-time (or bundled) consultation to help you troubleshoot, clarify next steps, and feel confident you're on the right path. A perfect in-between for women who need quick clarity without a long-term commitment.
1:1 Coaching – This is an immersive (3-6 month), personalized experience tailored to your goals. Together, we build a plan that aligns with your biology, your lifestyle, and your vision for lasting health. This is for the woman who wants expert guidance, accountability, and results.
• Pelz, M. (2024). Eat like a girl: A 21-day plan to reclaim your health and lose weight, the biohacking way. Hay House.
• Pelz, M. (2022). Fast like a girl: A woman's guide to using the healing power of fasting to burn fat, boost energy, and balance hormones. Hay House.
