Can’t lose weight? Let’s get the food- and fat-shaming out of the way and talk about what’s really going on with your body. Our culture overly emphasizes the connection between the number of calories we consume and the number of calories that we burn. So much so that you start to feel like you are broken and will never lose weight if that approach to weight loss isn’t working for you.
It turns out that, although this belief is so prevalent in our culture, the calorie-in/calorie-out concept has been disproven and is a common misconception. The key to losing unwanted belly fat and increasing energy, clarity, and a better mood lies with your hormones. We’re not saying that calories don’t matter: what we are saying is that hormones matter more because hormones control how efficiently your body burns calories.
Why don’t diets work for weight loss?
Dieting doesn’t always work for women because diets fail to address the hormonal root causes that are common for weight loss resistance. Hormone imbalances like estrogen dominance, excess cortisol, low testosterone, insulin and/or leptin blockage, a problematic thyroid, and problems with the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) control system can all contribute to weight gain and weight loss resistance.
It turns out that cortisol is the biggest culprit when it comes to the inability to lose weight. Your body produces cortisol in response to stress. Since most of us run around stressed out all the time, our cortisol levels are out of whack. High cortisol levels can wreak havoc. They can deplete your serotonin levels, rob you of sleep, and cause you to store fat—especially belly fat. High cortisol is linked to depression, food addiction, and sugar cravings.
Typically, the root cause of cortisol imbalance is a dysregulated HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. The HPA is the boss of all of your hormones. High cortisol can result in lower testosterone. When the HPA is not functioning correctly, your body makes too much cortisol, and you end up racing from task to task, feeling exhausted and wired at the same time, quick to anger, and have a muffin top blooming over your jeans.
There is a trend that shows lower cortisol ratios during testosterone replacement, thus suggesting that testosterone reduces the adrenal response to cortisol. If your cortisol levels and testosterone levels are not treated appropriately, you will likely have low stamina, cling to a negative point of view, catch frequent colds, and can even experience thyroid problems. Once the HPA, cortisol, and testosterone are back in balance, you will find relief from all of these symptoms.
What can you do to fix this?
Want to get your hormones back on track and get back to a healthy weight? You need to change the way you eat, move, think, and supplement. In most cases, you also need to start on bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). BHRT uses bio-identical – or human identical – hormones, which are derived from natural, plant-based hormones to bring your hormone levels back into balance.
If you are ready to stop the shaming and blaming and get real results, get in touch for an appointment! We’ll work with you to find the underlying problem and start you on a customized plan that will get you back on track in no time!
