If you’ve tried intermittent fasting hoping to shed a few pounds, but found the scale creeping up instead of down, you’re not alone—and you’re not crazy. Many of my patients walk into my office frustrated, confused, and ready to give up because intermittent fasting, which helped their friend lose 20 pounds, seems to be sabotaging their progress.
So what’s going on? Why would a supposedly fat-burning, metabolism-boosting practice lead to weight gain?
Let’s break it down—and more importantly, let’s get your body working with you again, not against you.
Intermittent Fasting: The Theory vs. The Reality
In theory, intermittent fasting (IF) is a metabolic hack. By restricting your eating window (often to 8 hours or less), your body is supposed to switch from burning sugar to burning fat—a state called ketosis. You produce less insulin, reduce inflammation, and give your digestive system time to rest and repair. Sounds ideal, right?
Well, like most things in medicine, what works on paper doesn’t always play out in real life—especially when your body isn’t ready for it.
Reason #1: Stress Hormones Sabotage Your Metabolism
When you fast too aggressively—especially if you’re already under chronic stress, not sleeping well, or eating poorly—you activate your body’s stress response system. This triggers a surge in cortisol, the stress hormone.
Cortisol, in small amounts, is necessary for survival. But elevated cortisol over time does three things:
- Increases belly fat storage
- Makes your cells more insulin-resistant
- Insulin resistance raises your blood sugar levels (even when you’re not eating)
The bottom line: You could be storing fat even while fasting. Especially around your midsection.
Fasting can put a stress on your body—a small stress that builds your body’s resistance against disease. But if your “stress cup” is already full, fasting stress will over-flood the system, backfiring instead of benefiting.
Reason #2: You’re Under-Eating… Then Your Overeating
Intermittent fasting can turn into a binge-and-restrict cycle:
- You fast during the time you scheduled and run on your willpower, and you push through hunger.
- Then, when the eating window opens, your ghrelin (hunger hormone) gets elevated sky high, and your leptin (fullness hormone) shuts down.
- You end up eating more calories than your body needs in a short window—especially if you’re choosing “carbs from hell” refined carbs like white bread, pastries, and processed snacks.
That’s not “smart eating”—that’s “reactive eating.”
Reason #3: Fasting Worsens Blood Sugar in Some People
This might shock you, but not everyone responds to fasting with better blood sugar.
For some individuals—especially women with hormone imbalances, people with thyroid issues, or those with adrenal fatigue—fasting can cause the liver to dump extra sugar into the bloodstream as a survival measure.
This results in:
- Midday or late-night food cravings
- Blood sugar crashes
- Poor sleep patterns
- More fat storage
You think you’re burning fat, but your body is actually releasing sugar and hoarding fat because it thinks you’re in a famine.
Reason #4: Fasting Can Mess Up Your Sleep—Which Messes With Your Weight
When you fast too long or eat too late in your personalized fasting window, your melatonin (sleep hormone) and insulin (blood sugar hormone) fight each other. The result? You wake up tired with brain fog, with inflammation in your joints, organs and body systems —and yes—hungrier.
And poor sleep leads to:
Increased cravings (especially for sugar and junk food)
- Lower insulin sensitivity and more sugar in your bloodstream
- Sluggish metabolism
- More belly fat
In The Supernatural Morning course, I emphasize the importance of deep, restorative sleep as one of the pillars of optimal wellness and balanced appetite control.
Reason #5: Fasting Without Fueling
If you don’t support your body with the right nutrients during your eating window—especially high fiber foods, phytochemicals (healing compounds found in whole food, plant foods) adequate protein and healthy fats—you can lose muscle mass instead of fat. That’s a one-way ticket to a slower metabolism and weight gain.
Here’s what I recommend for breaking your fast:
- Carbs from heaven: whole food complex carbs found in unrefined grains, fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds.
- Clean protein: wild-caught fish, organic eggs, grass fed-chicken or turkey, or clean plant-based protein sources
- Healthy fats: extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, wild caught cold water fish. Don’t just eat less—eat smarter.
So, Should You Stop Intermittent Fasting?
Not necessarily. But you should stop doing it the way that’s hurting you. Here’s how to make it work for you, not against you:
- Shorten the fast: Try 12–14 hours instead of 16–18, especially if you’re a woman, under chronic stress, or struggling with hormone imbalances.
- Fuel the fast: Try a Superfood Power Drink with spirulina, greens, and minerals in the morning. It can support your fast without triggering a metabolic backlash.
- Fix your gut: If your gut is inflamed and you have a “ leaky gut” or your microbiome is out of balance, fasting will backfire. Follow the Gut 911 Protocol to heal and strengthen your digestion. Join my Gut 911 Rx community for details and the support of others who are on the same journey
- Listen to your body: Tired, wired, moody, or hungry all the time? Your body is telling you something. Tune into the resources I provide in my blogs and in my Gut 911 Rx community before you tune out.
Final Word
Like a scalpel in the hands of a skilled surgeon, intermittent fasting must be used with skill, timing, and care. If it’s causing weight gain, your body is waving a red flag—not waving the white flag of surrender.
It’s time to work with your body’s healing power, not against it.
✨ Want to fast the right way—for your body? I’d be happy to design a personalized fasting or fueling plan based on your symptoms, goals, and metabolism. Schedule a $79 consultation with me now! (Put link here)
Remember: You’re not failing at fasting. Fasting is failing to fit you.
Let’s fix that—together.