We all hate that annoying bloat and I’m going to give you another reason to hate it…
It may be the reason you aren’t losing weight…
Bloating could happen for a number of reasons but the most common are…
- Food intolerance or overeating- Gut health
- Constipation or gas- Gut health
- Stress- Hormone health
- Estrogen dominance- Hormone health
- Carbonated drinks, sugar alcohols and processed junk- both, gut & hormone health
So as you can see, these issues all come down to 2 root issues… gut and hormone health. I preach this un-sexy topic all the time. Most people think weight loss and they want a list of foods to watch out for, crazy long workouts and it’s just not that simple. That’s why so many of us get caught on the constantly starting over game.
If you want long term success, we have to focus on gut & hormone health. Your gut and liver are what breakdown your hormones to put them to good use. So if your gut health is off, your hormones just go haywire! That’s when we run into more bloating, water retention and weight loss plateaus. Anddd none of us want that.
So how do we fix that?
For gut health, I don’t recommend jumping straight into a probiotic like most people do. The reason being is, if you have too much bad bacteria, a probiotic won’t fix that. It will actually create more bad bacteria… leading to more bloating and sugar cravings. I always say it is kind of like throwing fertilizer on grass with weeds in it… the grass and weeds will both grow. Just like the bad and good bacteria when we add probiotics in.
So first step, remove the probiotics.
Take 3 days, to focus on healing the gut with Whole Foods. An overall balanced diet of Whole Foods can help drastically. Pay attention to the foods you eat, make sure they aren’t causing an uncomfortable bloat, that could be a food intolerance. For the best results, I do recommend adding in some intermittent fasting, push yourself for however long you can go. Stay on top of your water, add some apple cider vinegar and lemon in it to help with gut health then add in your probiotics.
Once we do that, we want to focus on balancing out your hormones.
The main hormone we need to decrease will be cortisol. Cortisol gets a bad rep but it is actually good, it is also known as the energy (aka stress) hormone. When it is at a good level you will have better blood sugar levels, regulates immune system and inflammatory response. When it is high, low blood sugar= more cravings/hunger, moodiness due to low progesterone (this is when estrogen can become dominate), decrease clarity and can team up with insulin making it easier to store belly fat. Once Cortisol and insulin team up, you are in some trouble. These 2 together can relocate fat cells, increase the size of fat cells and cause more carb cravings. Turning this into a crazy cycle of gaining weight.
The way to balance cortisol is to boost your serotonin levels so doing things, that bring you more joy. When serotonin is boosted, cortisol decreases. So trying to laugh with loved ones more, play with kids, get in touch with nature or even have that glass of wine! You can keep insulin in check by ending the mindless grazing and allow yourself to feel hungry before actually eating. When insulin is in check, glucagon can do its job of increasing fat burning. So that’s why I tell people, the more you eat aka spike your insulin, the more you pull yourself out of fat burning mode. You can also increase your glucagon by 2000x after a 24 hour fast!
As these hormones come into balance, they also allow the hunger hormone to come into balance so you will notice that your cravings aren’t as intense and you won’t be so “hangry” all the time.
If you need help customizing this then book your free zoom call with me. We will dive into your goals, the best and easiest approach for you so you can get results in an effortless way!
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