I see it all the time…..women logging religiously in their My Fitness Pal apps counting every morsel and crumb they put in their mouths. Yet,
THEY’RE STILL NOT LOSING WEIGHT.
Enter frustration. I get it, when we try we want results and we’ve heard over and over that the only method to weight loss is to burn more than we intake. Okay, I get that and I do agree, but only to a certain extent.
I remember when I was training religiously 2-3 hours 5-6 days a week and felt strong and solid yet my body looked swollen, I was retaining water and my mood was far from enjoyable. I often would snap at the drop of a hat, get annoyed at the smallest things and couldn’t understand why my jeans were no longer going over my thighs.
At the time, what I didn’t know was how much my hormones were fighting against me. It didn’t matter how clean I ate, how much I was training and if my calories were in a deficit.
I WAS GAINING WEIGHT.
Plain and simple. To be honest, it wasn’t until I got injured, had to take a few months off and really dialed in on my stress reduction and nutrition did I really start noticing some shifts in my body. I was less bloated, I didn’t crave mounds of salt on my food and for the first time in a while, my mood felt stable. I actually felt happy and calm. No more of this up and down crap, running around with my head cut off stressing about the silly stuff.
I was actually okay not working out as much and my body was too.
Okay, so I’m sure you’re wondering, “how do I know if MY hormones are off?”
To me, our body tells us everything, it’s just a matter of paying attention and choosing to opt for the decision that’s in our best interest.
Here’s my top 5 ways to detect if your hormones are wonky.
- You’re eating more than normal. Of course we’ll be hungry the more we exercise, but if we’re not careful those extra steps on the step mill can backfire. In my video the other day, I joked about how I would come home after a training session, eat dinner then eat for the next 2 hours until bed time. I would raid the pantry and destroy protein bars, cereal with milk, peanut butter with cookies and so on. For the life of me, I could not get enough food and I would still go to bed hungry. Pay attention to this because if we’re eating more, that’s a clear sign our body is under too much stress.
- You’re wired, yet tired. Feeling stressed and exhausted, yet can’t sleep? This side effect is another one to make note of. You’ll know this feeling when you’re experiencing it because all you’ll want to do is sleep, yet you’re feeling so jacked up (as if you had 3 cups of coffee) you can’t simmer down. This is a great time to throw in those adaptogen herbs such as Rhodiola.and Adrenotone. Another biggie too, I know during this time it’s ridiculously hard to sleep, especially quality sleep without waking up every hour so my absolute favorite for a good night’s sleep is Cortisol Manager. I find this one to be so much more effective than Melatonin (which has actually been proven to not work as a powerful sleeping agent as we once thought)
- Your mood has gone haywire. I get as women we have our moments, especially around that time of the month, around menopause and sometimes when the kids piss us off. However, if you’re feeling all over the place with your mood: one minute you’re laughing and the next you feel like you’re about to have a nervous breakdown probably not the best. I often tell my clients, it’s like:
YOUR BODY’S CONSTANT DEFAULT MODE IS TO BE STRESSED, EVEN WHEN EVERYTHING IS OKAY.
Think of it this way, let’s say we’re sitting in traffic on the way to work: someone cuts us off, we get annoyed, maybe give them the bird but we get over it. Think about being that way 24/7, just annoyed constantly and so on edge all you want to do is either scream or cry. There you go.
4. You can’t go poop. Constipation is a big one and no pun intended. When we can’t drop the kids off at the pool, and I’m not just talking about one day, I mean everyday, that’s something to really pay attention to. Many times my clients that have consistent bathroom problems their gut and digestive issues, their hormones are off. Usually constipation is a sign of low thyroid so pay attention to that. Without enough thyroid hormones many of our body’s functions begin slow down. Muscles line the digestive tract, including the small and large intestines and theses muscles contract to move the stool through the intestine to the rectum. Hypothyroidism can weaken the contraction of these muscles causing the stool to move too slowly. Aside from getting our thyroid checked, other ways to help constipation can be a magnesium supplement, a probiotic and eating fiber rich foods.
5. We can’t remember our best friend’s name. Okay, that comment might be a little extreme, but seriously, have you ever forgotten a close friends name? Not just one time, but for the life of you, you cannot remember people’s names? It’s like a major brain fog and it’s just not popping up in your brain? Think full on brain fog, like the one that your pregnant friend calls “pregnancy brain” even when we’re not pregnant? Brain fog is a biggie too, if you find yourself super forgetful, constantly saying to yourself, “ummm…what did I need to get again?” or putting your purse in the fridge, make mental notes about that. Wait, not mental because you might forget, write them down. :).
So quick recap, shall we? If we’re eating a ton, feeling on edge and can’t sleep while sitting on the pot unable to poop and chatting on the phone with our friend (who’s name we already forgot) well, I would say, “Houston, we’ve got a problem.”
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