What actually happens during a 40 day water fast?

In this episode, Lizzie sits down with Reggie Mckiver after he completed a 40 day water fast and lost 47 pounds. But this conversation is not about weight loss alone.

It’s about what surfaced when food was removed.

During the fast, anger resurfaced. Generational trauma surfaced. Fear surfaced. And something unexpected happened. Every time deep emotional release occurred, the scale moved.

This episode explores the connection between weight loss resistance and unresolved emotional patterns. It challenges the idea that fat loss is purely physical and asks a deeper question. What if fat is protecting something?

If you are struggling with weight loss resistance, fear of food, chronic under-eating, or feeling stuck despite doing everything “right,” this episode will expand your perspective.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. What a 40 day water fast revealed about trauma and fat storage
2. How anger and suppressed emotion can affect weight loss
3. Why fat may hold stored stress and memory
4. The link between generational trauma and physical health
5. Why the scale stalled during emotional suppression
6. How emotional release influenced fat loss
7. Why chronic under-eating damages metabolism
8. How increasing calories improved sleep and strength
9. The difference between weight loss and healing
10. Why transformation requires internal work

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Intro
2. 02:00 Why Reggie chose a 40 day water fast
3. 05:00 Weight loss versus emotional transformation
4. 07:30 Facing anger during fasting
5. 09:45 The day 38 breakthrough
6. 12:30 Fat holding trauma and stored memory
7. 15:00 Emotional release and sudden weight drops
8. 18:15 Pride, fear, and physical pain patterns
9. 24:00 Suppressed voice and emotional health
10. 26:30 Fear of food and chronic under-eating
11. 29:00 Eating 3,000+ calories and restoring sleep
12. 31:30 Strength, recovery, and metabolic healing
13. 34:00 Healing before sustainable weight loss

Connect with Reggie

1. Facebook:

If you’re eating well, moving your body, prioritizing sleep, managing stress, and still watching the scale refuse to move, this episode is for you.

Lizzie breaks down why weight loss resistance is rarely about willpower or calories, and almost always about what’s happening beneath the surface. From chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation to inflammation, insulin resistance, gut health, and emotional identity tied to the scale, Lizzie explains why your body may not feel safe enough to release weight.

You’ll learn how living in constant fight-or-flight blocks fat loss, why parasympathetic healing is essential, and how unresolved trauma, internal pressure, and metabolic dysfunction can keep the scale stuck, even when habits look “perfect” on paper.

Lizzie also dives into overlooked contributors like insulin resistance, lymphatic congestion, heavy metals, parasites, gut imbalances, and why functional testing can uncover what diet culture never addresses. This episode reframes weight loss as a healing process, not a punishment, and offers a grounded, compassionate path forward for women who are tired of blaming themselves.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why the scale not moving is often a stress and inflammation issue
2. How chronic fight-or-flight blocks fat loss
3. The role of cortisol in weight loss resistance
4. Why nervous system regulation matters more than restriction
5. How sleep quality impacts detox and metabolism
6. When the scale becomes an identity, not a tool
7. Why deep emotional healing can unlock physical change
8. How insulin resistance fuels inflammation and stalled weight loss
9. When strategic medical support can help reset the system
10. The connection between toxins, gut health, and metabolism
11. Why lymphatic health is critical for fat loss
12. How functional blood work and GI mapping reveal root causes
13. Why what worked in your 20s and 30s often fails in your 40s
14. How to stop fighting your body and start working with it

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Why the scale feels defeating when you’re doing everything right
2. 01:15 Stress, cortisol, and why the body won’t feel safe to lose weight
3. 02:40 Sympathetic vs parasympathetic and healing capacity
4. 04:10 Sleep, detox, and metabolic repair
5. 05:35 The emotional relationship with the scale
6. 07:10 Why identity and self-worth get tied to weight

If you’re struggling to get pregnant, have experienced miscarriages, or feel like fertility treatment keeps skipping over the real issues, this episode will change how you understand fertility.

In this conversation on The Lizzie Ens Show, Lizzie sits down with Dr. Marina, a board-certified OB-GYN with over 30 years of experience who transitioned into functional and root-cause medicine after witnessing the limitations of conventional fertility care.

Dr. Marina explains why fertility is often treated as a checklist of tests and procedures, while the most important factors, egg quality, sperm health, lifestyle, nutrition, toxin exposure, stress, and metabolic health, are overlooked.

You’ll learn why sperm quality plays a critical role in placental development and early pregnancy, why fertility challenges must be addressed as a shared responsibility between partners, and how endocrine-disrupting chemicals have contributed to dramatic declines in sperm count and morphology over the last two generations.

This episode also dives into PCOS, hormone testing gaps, AMH misconceptions, birth control masking symptoms, nutrigenomics, and why improving health before IVF dramatically increases success rates, and in many cases, leads to natural conception.

Whether you’re trying to conceive naturally, preparing for IVF, or want to protect your fertility for the future, this conversation offers clarity, empowerment, and practical direction.

1. Why fertility struggles aren’t just about ovulation timing or procedures
2. How egg quality and sperm quality affect conception and miscarriage risk
3. Why sperm health is essential for placental development
4. The alarming decline in sperm count and morphology
5. How endocrine-disrupting chemicals impact fertility in men and women
6. Why fertility should be approached as a couple, not a single patient
7. What conventional fertility testing often misses
8. Why AMH is not predictive of natural conception
9. How PCOS, insulin resistance, and inflammation affect fertility
10. Why birth control often masks underlying hormonal dysfunction
11. How lifestyle, nutrition, sleep, and stress influence reproductive health
12. The role of micronutrients like vitamin D, B12, omega-3s, and inositol
13. Why improving health before IVF improves outcomes and reduces risk
14. How nutrigenomic testing supports personalized fertility care

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Why fertility treatment often misses key factors
2. 01:45 Dr. Marina’s background and shift into functional medicine
3. 03:30 Egg quality, stress, and...