Whether it’s sudden weight gain or weight you’ve tried to lose for years, but just gain more instead, you may be overweight due to a hormone imbalance. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be overweight for the rest of your life. You just need to make some changes in what you eat and how you workout and will be back on track in no time.
Most people identify hormonal imbalances with sex hormones, testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen.
Hormones are messengers, giving your body information to help it run properly. Sex hormones do determine how fat is distributed, but other hormones also play a role. Your thyroid hormones, insulin, stress hormones, and ghrelin and leptin—two hormones that control hunger and satiety—play important roles in weight gain, too. Some imbalances require help from a doctor, like those that come from illness or health conditions. However, many can be rebalanced by taking action on your own. You can reset your hormones and lose those extra pounds for good. The simple act of getting adequate sleep can reset the balance between ghrelin and leptin, so you won’t constantly be hungry.
Insulin helps control blood sugar levels.
Insulin is a hormone that alerts the cells to open and take in the glucose in the blood for energy. When you have insulin resistance, the cells fail to open, which causes the body to send more insulin and it spirals out of control until you develop type 2 diabetes. High levels of insulin from insulin resistance can cause weight gain. Ironically, excess fat can cause insulin resistance. Again, the body is stuck in a loop. How do you end the loop? Cut out food with added sugar first. Do high intensity interval training—HIIT. You alternate between high intensity and recovery, triggering glucose uptake by muscles.
Stress can cause weight gain, particularly around the middle.
If you have visceral fat—belly fat—it may come from the stress you face. Stress causes the fight or flight response that sends out hormones to prepare the body for running or fighting. When you run or fight, those hormones burn off, but if you don’t, your body remains in a constant state of alert, which causes the metabolism to slow and the body to store more fat with much of it belly fat. You can combat stress by using meditation and other techniques like deep breathing to calm yourself, which also prevents stress in the first place. Exercise is the second way to reset your hormones back to normal.
- Sex hormones also can cause weight gain. Not only do you gain weight due to estrogen dominance, but it also affects where it’s distributed on the body. Exercise, drinking more water, and eating more fiber can help.
- Don’t forget to include healthy fat in your diet. Adding healthy fat to a diet has been shown to increase weight loss. Healthy fat includes olive oil, walnuts, and ghee. Like a keto diet, it can help train the body to burn fat.
- HIIT workouts increase HGH—human growth hormone. The more HGH you have, the easier it is to build muscle and lose weight.
- Make sure your diet includes omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, vitamin C and B vitamins, plus get extra sunshine for increased vitamin D. All these vitamins are necessary for balancing hormones.
For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym