I’ve been thinking a lot about fasting lately. Partly because Plexus offered their 3-day RESET nutritionally supported fast for free last month, but also because when I think about January, new beginnings, and goals, my mind naturally goes to what I want to leave behind. One great way to figure out whether something has a hold on you is to intentionally step away from it for a time.

Have you ever fasted from food? Or shopping? Drinking? Social media?

When my kids were younger, I used to feel overwhelmed by the cost of Christmas. Since I’m a bit of a bookkeeping nerd, I could clearly see that a huge portion of our monthly budget went toward groceries. One year, I decided to fast from grocery shopping for the entire month of January. Before anyone thinks I starved my children, the plan was to eat from our pantry, fridge, and freezer. (Keep in mind, we had a big garden, I canned a lot of food, and we bought half a beef each year.)

It turned out to be a great way to use up food that had been shoved aside or forgotten. It was also a discipline for me—resisting the urge to run to the small grocery store uptown when I felt unmotivated to prepare food. We did still buy bananas and milk at Kwik Trip, but honestly, fresh produce in Minnesota in January is a little sad anyway. Instead, we used frozen fruit for smoothies.

By the end of the month, I had saved over $500 that helped cover Christmas expenses, and we used up food that otherwise might have gone to waste. If I were ever on a cooking show, I’d want it to be one where they give you random ingredients and see what you can make. This fast fed that creative, problem-solving side of my brain too. We did this for multiple years, and I’m ready to do it again this January.

I recently heard about a friend who made a goal to abstain from shopping for herself for an entire year. Except for emergencies, she could buy for others, just not herself. Another friend and I were talking about how much our shopping habits depend on return policies. What if you fasted from returning anything to Amazon for a month? Would that change how much you buy?

Anyone who has fasted and prayed for spiritual reasons knows how much fasting is a discipline of the mind as well as the body. It’s the conscious, ongoing decision to stick to your plan and focus on higher thoughts instead of a grumbling stomach. It helps create new thought patterns and reveals how often we use food to buffer our feelings.

As I’ve researched fasting for physical health, I’ve learned that on the first day your body transitions into burning stored carbohydrates. On the second day, it becomes more efficient at burning stored fat and shifts into ketosis. Your body begins using ketones instead of glucose, often resulting in increased mental clarity and energy. Around this time, autophagy begins—a powerful process God designed to help our bodies clean up damaged cells and regenerate new ones. By the third day, fat burning and cellular renewal are at their peak.

I can’t help but see the connection between the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of fasting. Out with the old and in with the new—doesn’t that sound like how many of us approach the New Year? I know many of my mom friends are thinking about cleaning out closets and resetting their homes.

So why not plan an intentional fast? What is something you could fast from in January—or even all of 2026? (suggestions: sugar, shopping, social media, buffering, spending, screen time, alcohol, criticism, negativity, wasting time, etc.)

If you’re interested in a 3-day nutritionally supported fast called RESET, please message me.