In this rich and practical conversation, Edwina is joined by Rachael Pole—ex-nurse, dietitian, yoga and breathwork teacher, and Fast Like a Girl coach trained with Dr. Mindy Pelz—to explore how women can harness the power of fasting and lifestyle shifts to support their hormones in perimenopause and beyond.
✨ A Personal Hormone Journey
Rachael shares her story of navigating late-onset menstruation, long-term contraceptive use, post-pill amenorrhea, PCOS, miscarriages, and eventually finding balance again in her 40s through functional nutrition and fasting. Her lived experience brings a depth of understanding to her work with women.
✨ Cortisol, Stress & the “Bucket” Analogy
We discuss the impact of stress hormones on women’s health, why cortisol must be regulated before anything else, and simple tools—from breathwork and short walks to oxytocin-boosting hugs—that release pressure from the stress bucket and restore balance.
✨ Fasting for Women
Rachael unpacks how fasting is not about deprivation, but about rhythm, rest, and repair. She explains the two energy systems (sugar-burning and fat-burning), why women need to fast differently at different stages of their cycle, and how to start gently with an overnight fast.
✨ Detox & Gut Health
From leafy greens to liver support, bowel health, and toxin awareness, Rachael highlights how detox pathways and gut health underpin hormone balance. She introduces Mindy Pelz’s “3 Ps” approach—probiotics, prebiotics, and polyphenols—and shares practical ways to weave them into daily meals.
✨ The Six Types of Fasts
Rachael walks us through different fasting styles—from a gentle 13-hour overnight fast to 17-hour autophagy fasts, 24-hour gut resets, and extended 36–72 hour fasts that support fat burning, anti-aging, dopamine resets, and immune regeneration.
✨ Living in Flow
The conversation closes with reflections on working with nature’s rhythms—sleep, eating windows, and cycles—so that perimenopause becomes not a battle to be managed, but a rite of passage into deeper vitality, clarity, and power.
🌿 What You’ll Learn
Why balancing cortisol is the first step in hormone health
How fasting supports hormonal balance when done cyclically and safely
Practical detox and gut-healing tools for midlife women
The role of joy, oxytocin, and micro-moments of self-care
How to view perimenopause as a transformative, empowering stage of life
This episode is an invitation to simplify, return to your body’s wisdom, and embrace the free, powerful practices that can bring more energy, ease, and clarity in midlife.