Are willpower and self-control the real solution to low energy and weight gain when that midlife button Is pushed?
Maybe not.
It may very well be your powerful hormones.
And we’re not just talking about sex hormones here. We’re talking about the hormones that directly affect your blood sugar, metabolism, and appetite – the ones that control your energy and weight.
There’s so much information and even misinformation circulating about midlife, menopause, hormones, weight gain and low energy. Let’s set some of the myths and misunderstandings straight and delve a little deeper into this common dilemma.
Women experiencing the perimenopause and menopause phase frequently want to know why they can’t lose weight and why they’re always tired, even when their regular routines haven’t varied from what they’ve been doing all their lives.
Here’s the very first thing to consider: we’re simply not the same people in our 40s and 50s that we were in our 20s and 30s. Our body goes through phases and what it needs in midlife to be healthy is not the same as what it needed during our youthful years.
Let’s go over a few of the critical links between your hormones, and how they affect your energy and weight. These links may be stronger than you think.
What Are Hormones?
Today, having healthy, happy hormones is commonly discussed on the “health waves.” And that’s a good thing. Years ago, when our mothers and grandmothers were going through this, menopause and hormones were taboo subjects. It just wasn’t discussed, so there was little for us to learn about this phase of life.
It turns out that your hormones are part of the master control system of your entire body.
Biologically speaking, hormones are compounds made by one part of the body that are used to communicate with another part.
For example, insulin is made in the pancreas. When your blood sugar gets too high, insulin is released into the bloodstream. Then, it goes to your muscles and other cells to tell them to absorb the excess sugar out of the blood. If there is still too much blood sugar, your body is signaled to store it as fat.
Not only do your hormones control your blood sugar, your metabolism and appetite are among a host of other things they play a significant role in. Having healthy blood sugar, metabolism and appetite is a foundation for you to be able to maintain a healthy weight and enjoy abundant energy.
This brings us to the important questions: how do your hormones get out of whack to zap your energy and pile up the pounds? What can be done about it?
Common Hormonal Imbalances
When you’re in optimal health, your hormones work great, you have ample energy and it’s relatively easy to maintain a healthy weight.
But often there are problems with this whole setup.
One common issue is that there may be too much or too little hormone released into the body to have the desired effect. This is known as hypothyroidism (too little) or hyperthyroidism (too much).
Another common issue occurs when the right amount of hormone is released but the cells they communicate with start ignoring them. This is known as hormone “resistance” such as insulin resistance.
Since your hormones have such critical jobs to do, like controlling blood sugar, regulating metabolism and your appetite, when they’re not doing their job effectively, it’ll cause issues with your energy levels and weight management.
Of course, no one wants to continually battle metabolism issues, weight gain and suffer from ongoing fatigue, and there is hope. There are steps you can take to reduce ongoing symptoms.
Hormones and Energy
Your metabolism is a key for controlling your energy levels.
Your metabolism is the rate of energy, or calories, your body burns.
One of the primary players in this process is your thyroid hormones.
Your thyroid releases hormones that affect the metabolism of all the cells in your body. If it’s too low, and your metabolism goes down (hypothyroid) and you may feel cold, hungry and tired. If it’s too high, and your metabolism is too fast (hyperthyroid) and you may feel hot, jittery and lose weight.
What you want is an ideal metabolism.
Ideal energy use, ideal temperature, and an ideal weight – all controlled by thyroid hormones.
Hormones and Weight
Your weight may be controlled by hormones more than you think.
Insulin controls your blood sugar, and determines whether that sugar is stored as fat or not. When your blood sugar is too low, you may start craving sugar and carbs – adding more sugar into your blood stream.
You also have hormones that control your appetite. How hungry or how full you feel is controlled by the hormones, ghrelin & leptin. When those get out of whack, you may want to eat more because your body thinks you’re hungry and not satisfied…even if that’s not true and even if your body doesn’t need more.
Craving food, especially sugary treats, and not feeling full drives you to overeat – setting up a vicious cycle of fat accumulation.
There’s also the stress hormone, cortisol, that comes into play when your blood sugar is too high for too long. Cortisol tells your body to store fat. And not just any fat – belly fat!
What Can You Do?
Your body is a very complex machine. It uses hormones to control a huge number of functions directly affecting how much energy you feel, how much you weigh, and even where your body fat is stored.
Here are a few “hormone stabilizing” tips that put you in more control with your weight management and energy levels through perimenopause and menopause:
- Get regular exercise to use up excess blood sugar before your insulin has your body store it as fat
- Try stress-relieving activities like deep breathing, meditation or even coloring to reduce belly-fat inducing cortisol levels
- Support your thyroid with iodine-containing sea vegetables, fish, legumes, or even an egg
- Balance your blood sugar with extra fiber from raspberries, avocados, or flax seeds
- Reduce blood sugar spikes by replacing your juice or soda with fruit-infused water
If you’d like some further information about balancing your hormones, reducing or maintaining a healthy weight, and increasing your energy – or if you’d like some extra strategies to navigate midlife with fewer debilitating symptoms, I’d love to chat.
Contact me via email at lwadsworth@verizon.net to schedule your FREE Healthy Hormone Breakthrough Call. By the end of the call, you’ll have a customized Action Plan with simple steps to move forward confidently and with fewer symptoms and some resources to help.
