I’m humbled by my client’s courage, honesty, and vulnerability.
A woman once said to me: “I didn’t think my butt could get any bigger…then I started menopause. Now I look in the mirror and it reminds me of the trunk on my grandfather’s Cadillac.”
Though her vulnerability and pain were masked in humor, it took courage for her to reach out for help and share her feelings.
When I explained to her that an imbalance in hormones might be causing her body to hold on to weight in certain areas and that changing her diet and lifestyle might help her regain control, she began to cry.
I’m here to tell you, changes can be made and things can get easier.
When my client took my hormone assessment, it indicated that her primary hormonal imbalance was estrogen.
Estrogen is the hormone of female characteristics. And curves are a very female characteristic.
Weight loss can be very challenging when there’s too much estrogen because fat tissues can make estrogen. Increased fat cells also lead to increased inflammation, which contributes to weight loss resistance and can lead to even more estrogen in the body.
The following symptoms may indicate an estrogen imbalance:
· weight gain, especially around the butt, hips, and thighs
· difficulty losing weight
· bloating and digestive upset
· acne
· low libido
· irregular periods
· tender, swollen, or fibrocystic breasts
· headaches
· hot flashes
· endometriosis
· fibroids
· mood swings
So what can we do? We can educate ourselves and make a few lifestyle changes.
Your best tool to counter act this imbalance is food. Eating hormone balancing meals is the first place to start. We want to add in more high-fiber whole foods to create good digestion. High-fiber foods like nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, and vegetables help keep estrogen balanced by keeping our bowels moving regularly to excrete extra estrogen. Then we want to keep our liver happy and detoxified with adequate quality protein.
Reducing alcohol and caffeine helps balance hormones since these can burden our liver and disrupt estrogen metabolism.
Hormone fluctuations influence us our entire life. Rather than just pushing through every day, it can feel incredibly empowering to get them on track naturally with just a few lifestyle tweaks.
Cheers,
PS: Whenever you’re ready there are 3 ways I can help: