Hormones-Introduction

by OptimalBody

I can’t tell you how often I have had clients come in and explain to me they can’t lose weight because of hormones (typically women……okay I’ve never had a male client say this).

I’ll often ask them what are hormones?  And they’ll say you know estrogen and thyroid hormone.  Hormones.  I’ll press a little bit more.  Yes, those are types of hormones.  But, what are hormones?

And usually they don’t know.  It’s an interesting situation when you stop and think about.  They are convinced something (hormones) are stopping them from losing weight when they don’t even know what they are.

All too often I see clients getting into the “hormone blame game.”  They quickly brush off any challenges with losing weight on hormones.

Instead what we encourage clients to do is think of hormones as being a factor in the equation instead of ruining the whole equation.

Calories In vs. Calories Out and Hormones

You still have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.  A lot of people have some confusion around this.  If hormones are creating problems for you with weight loss it’s because they’re changing the energy out side of the equation.

And in fact, they can be changing the calories in side of the equation too.  Which people often don’t think about.

For example, prolonged releases of cortisol (your stress hormone) will increase appetite and motivation to eat.

So What is a Hormone?​​​​​

I’m going to keep the science to a minimum and keep things very practical.  Hormones are essential chemicals that your body releases to regulate different tasks throughout the body.  For example, thyroid hormones are released and your metabolism increases. 

Another important thing to understand is that your hormones impact one and other.  Generally speaking increasing one hormone will decrease or increase other hormones.  Your body has systems that work together and impact on and other.

For example, when your body signals to release more stress hormone it typically decreases how much thyroid hormone it releases.

When you have imbalances in hormones it can start to change how your body is functioning.

Can You Change Your Hormones to Help with Belly Fat?

There are many things you can do to change which hormones you’re releasing.  Obviously, I’m not a medical doctor.  If you have a serious hormone imbalance you should seek the help of a medical professional.

On the other hand, if you’re finding you’re having a tougher time losing weight and you want practical things that deliver results.  I can help you with that.

There are many things you can do with exercise, nutrition and your lifestyle to start boosting your metabolism and start tipping the scales to the energy out side of the equation and start losing weight.

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