One thing, I have really gotten vocal on the past few years is the effect that hormones have on your weight loss journey.
Today, I want to dive a little deeper and talk about how to identify if you have an imbalance, which hormones are out of balance and how to balance them out in 3 easy ways! So let’s start with how to tell if your hormones are out of balance.
How to tell if you hormones are out of balance…
- If you find yourself gaining weight, especially around your belly area, back of the arms or inner thighs. There are 2 types of weight gain, that can happen with hormonal imbalance. First, water retention which obviously is easier to get rid of and second would be actual increase in fat cells. This weight gain usually happens when the thyroid is off or you have too much estrogen floating around your body.
- Digestive issues believe it or not, your sex hormones play a pretty big part in your digestive track so experiencing things like painful bloating, gas or irregular bowel movements. This can be from low sex hormones, thyroid health or gut health and when gut health is off, it throws off your sex hormones.
- Skin issues and hair loss/excess.. such as puffy skin, rashes and acne can all be from excess estrogen or too much testosterone. If you have PCOS, you will probably experience some of these things due to high testosterone.
- Mood or sleep issues. Do you find yourself getting depressed out of no where? Or anxiety flaring up out of no where? Can’t fall asleep or stay asleep? This can happen from low progesterone.
- Intense PMS symptoms that will leave you feeling completely wiped out. Doctors want to say this is normal but this is not normal by any means and huge sign that your hormones need some TLC. Taking birth control can mask some of these symptoms but does not get to the root issue so when you get off birth control, you can find your symptoms getting worse.
These are the most common signs, I see in my clients when we first start their weight loss journey. You can pinpoint exactly where your hormones are at by doing a dutch test (linked here)
Taking this test, results can vary depending on where you are in your hormonal cycle. So I don’t force my clients to take them, instead, I take time to really understand where my client is and how to help her exact needs at that moment. I find a lot of people will make excuses to not start their weight loss journey because they need this test, that test… stop making excuses and just get started.
I am usually catering to the busy working mom who barely has time for herself, she’s gaining weight, losing confidence, feeling anxious and sometimes depressed, can’t sleep through the night and deals with intense PMS symptoms every month. So here is how, I help them…
- Tame your stress by being social, venting, journaling, get in nature, meditating or turning on binaural beats while you work. Let go of what you can’t control and trust that you will always be taken care of. I know this is easier said than done but once you start becoming mindful and working on it, it becomes easier.
- Focus on healthy habits. Instead of stressing yourself out and trying to do some insane lifestyle change. Start switching up simple things in your every day life. The one we all hear, use the stairs instead of the elevator. Eat a piece of steak instead of a protein bar. More lemon water instead of sparkling water. Simple little changes can help bring your hormones back into harmony. I know most people think sparkling water is healthy but it can cause bloating and disrupt your gut health causing more issues with hormonal imbalance.
- You guys hear me talk about this all the time but I won’t stop talking about it until every woman understands it… syncing your fasting, meals, workouts, supplements, social and work schedule to your hormonal cycle. This is number one thing that has changed my life for forever and not only my life but my clients as well which is truly the most rewarding gift.
Let me get real honest here though… Although, I have this knowledge, I still fall off at times. We all do… I fell off pretty hard this a few Holiday Seasons ago… too much wine, too much processed food, break up and lots of added stress on my body which threw off my gut health and eventually my progesterone started to decline…
I’m already a pretty high strung individual filled with anxiety and a dash of depression. I am a busy single mom, juggling my fitness business along with flipping homes. I love leaving anything I come into contact with in better shape than when I found it so my passion runs deep in both of my businesses but when your hormones start to impact your mental health, it makes it very challenging.
Leaving me feeling hopeless, gaining weight, no motivation and very low self esteem. I felt very lost in my everyday life and this kept me up lots of nights leading me to this vicious cycle of unhealthy habits… For comfort, I would eat all the overly processed carbs and usually some wine. These always disrupted my sleep cycle so I would wake up hungry, tired, anxiety filled and the cycle continued until I decided to add structure back into my life.
Following exactly what I put in the Happy, Healthy Hormone Academy…
We start off with a gut reset and go into working with your hormones VS against them so you can feel happy, healthy and lose weight in an easier manner. This is what I do every month…a gut reset then syncing my cycle with my fasting, meals, workouts, supplements, social and work events. I finally started to feel fulfilled again, my creativity and joy were back, I started loving my body again and my anxiety and depression were under control. The only thing out of control was my libido. haha jk it was healthy.
It was a rough few months but it was a beautiful journey and I feel more connected going through it all once again. I think in order to teacher others, you have to go through it… not just once either, multiple times so you can truly connect and understand where your clients are coming from.
I’ve always had the internet trolls tell me, my baby weight would all come back after pregnancy and I’m not going to lie… I thought they were finally right a few Holiday Seasons ago but luckily, I know how to bring my body back into balance.
If you are ready to dial in your gut and hormone health for easier weight loss, toning and endless energy then get your spot in The Happy, Healthy Hormone Academy.
Spots are limited so get yours while you can. No more guesswork, just real results.
