Mid-life weight gain. It can be quite complex and often the root cause can be traced back to an underlying imbalance in hormones.
So, what’s a girl to do when her hormonal tribe is out of balance and she’s experiencing mid-life weight gain?
That’s easy… You support your tribe with food. Once you learn how to do that, weight can fall off easily.
Here’s what I mean.
Let’s say you’ve gained weight all over your body, your hair is brittle and falling out and you are tired all the time. This might be a tap on the should from your thyroid hormones.
To balance things off you might want to start with a gentle whole food liver cleanse.
Why a liver cleanse? Much of the conversion of your key thyroid hormones happens in your liver. If you are feeling tired, chubby all over and maybe a little depressed, your liver needs a little support.
What if you’ve gained weight around the middle and your noticing your face is somewhat rounder? This quite possibly is from an over production of the hormone cortisol.
It means you would benefit from dialing down your stress. Stress is tripping your fight or flight response causing you to release cortisol and cortisol tells your body to hang onto fat, especially in the middle.
To support your adrenals so you can lose weight, I would suggest you stop dieting and over exercising. Start drinking bone broth to support your adrenal glands and start eating healthy whole food meals that include quality protein, healthy fat, lots of veggies and a SMALL portion of healthy carbohydrate.
I would also suggest you reduce your wine, alcohol and caffeine intake and add in a few small stress busters like simple deep breathing, getting more natural light or focusing on what you are grateful for.
And then there’s the booty betrayal. This is where mid-life weight gain is all in your hips and thighs and it might be from an over production of estrogen.
To level out your hormones choose high-quality, hormone free meats and eggs, wild-caught fish, healthy fats, and lots of veggies with every meal. Veggies are key here because they keep your digestion moving so you can get rid of extra estrogen. That way your endocrine system can even things out.
Keep in mind, when something’s off your body has ways of letting you know. Tune into your body’s rhythms, make changes from there and you will be managing your hormones naturally.
If you have a specific menopause symptom that you would like me to address, just reply to this email and let me know.
Until next time,
