Rachel and Ashleigh both ran a short fast in the same week, Ashleigh for 36 hours and Rachel for 24, and this conversation is what came out of it. They cover why they each wanted to do it, how Ashleigh cycled the calories from her fasting day across the rest of her week instead of erasing them, and where fasting sits as one tool among many rather than a rule. The first stretch is a coaching conversation about Ashleigh's 12-week cut, how to decide whether to extend a fat loss phase, and why Rachel treats the reverse diet as the part that matters most. Later on, Rachel walks through how she uses a protein sparing modified fast day inside a weekly calorie budget, and both hosts talk about who fasting may not suit.
CHAPTERS
00:13 Welcome
02:25 Ashleigh's 12-week cut and how it has actually felt
03:24 Extend the fat loss phase or start reversing out of it
05:47 Why Rachel treats the reverse diet as the part that matters most
07:29 Why hunger often goes up when you start eating more
09:47 Ashleigh's planned diet break, and never having reverse dieted with a coach
12:02 Coming back to structure after a diet break
13:31 Thinking about calories wzeekly and monthly instead of daily
15:48 Have a plan, without turning it into a numbers game
16:37 How the 36-hour fast came about
16:53 Rachel's fasting history and fasting as a tool in the toolbox
19:47 Resilience as Ashleigh's reason for short fasts
21:55 Rachel stopping at 24 hours, and changing the plan without calling it a failure
23:13 Ashleigh's 36 hours, and cycling the calories around the fasting day
27:41 Hunger during the fast, and hunger in a fat loss phase
30:22 Going to bed hungry, protecting sleep, and what Rachel eats before bed
33:26 Calorie cycling, autophagy, and who fasting may not suit
37:18 Getting enough protein inside a restricted eating window
39:17 PSMF explained, and what a PSMF day looks like in a week
44:23 Protein-forward resets, and why there is no one right way
46:15 Adherence as the deciding factor, and trying things for yourself
47:49 Wrap up, and where to send questions
TAKEAWAYS
• Rachel's approach to extending a fat loss phase is to commit two weeks at a time rather than another four, and to keep going only if sleep, hunger and energy are still holding up.
• Rachel says the reverse diet is more important than the end of the diet, because hunger usually goes up as food increases, so the first two to three weeks are where the structure has to hold.
• Ashleigh fasted 36 hours and Rachel stopped at 24 because she was subbing for a football game that night and fighting a cold, which both hosts framed as changing the plan for a reason rather than failing it. Ashleigh, already in a deficit, redistributed the fasting day's calories across the rest of the week rather than erasing them, eating more in the days before and after.
• Rachel's PSMF day is roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight with the rest filled by fiber and fat to around 1,000 calories, usually placed on a rest day, with the remaining calories spread over the other six days.
• Both hosts hedged the whole topic: fasting is a tool with benefits and drawbacks, it may not suit someone with a history of restrictive or disordered eating, someone pregnant or breastfeeding, or someone whose focus is building muscle, and nobody has to do it.
PROGRAMS
Muscle Science For Women, 12-week strength program: https://rgfit.com/msw
Grow Your Glutes, 8 weeks: https://rgfit.com/glutes
Strong and Sculpted Shoulders, 8 weeks: https://rgfit.com/shoulders
Fit Pregnancy Program: https://rgfit.com/fit-pregnancy
Dopamine Reset Challenge, 10 days: https://rgfit.com/offers/BAQj63ya
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TfdglZPRGqY
Newsletter: https://substack.com/@musclescienceforwomen
Ashleigh VanHouten: https://ashleighvanhouten.com (Instagram @themusclemaven)
Rachel Gregory: https://rgfit.com (Instagram @rachelgregory.cns)
