10 Ways to Stop Hormonal Weight Gain

fitness food Aug 04, 2020

10 Ways to Stop Hormonal Weight Gain

(Press play above to listen to this Strong. Confident. His Podcast episode, or enjoy reading the blog below.)

Okay, today is real talk for women. We’re talking hormones and weight gain, and what we can do to beat it!

This has been a very tough struggle for me, so I want to share everything I’ve learned to overcome it.

I believe God wants to be involved in every detail of our lives, so here’s His word to stand strong and confident on:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. – Psalm 32:8

Let’s just all agree that weight loss is not simply one calorie in one calorie out.

Calories do matter, the food that’s making up your calories matters a lot, but hormones matter more!

Our hormones are driving the weight loss process! Especially as you get into perimenopause and menopause.

Our world just thinks of weight loss as diet and workout, but the emotional, mental, social, and spiritual factors may be even more important.

Consider this...A daily battle with the bathroom scale can cause shame, judgment, suffering, and obsession with weight—making it harder and harder to lose weight.

And stress brought on by extreme diets and extreme exercise can undermine them entirely—and actually cause weight gain.

Here’s the thing I’ve lived and learned.

There are things we can do and we need to give lifestyle modifications an honest go.

Most diets don’t work for women, because they fail to address the hormonal root causes that are the most common reasons for weight loss resistance, like excess cortisol, insulin and/or leptin blockage, estrogen dominance, thyroid issues, low testosterone, and problems with the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) control system.

Research shows that 90% of the time cortisol is what’s causing the issue and ends up disrupting other hormones too. High cortisol is linked to depression, food addiction, and sugar cravings.

How do we fix this? What can we do?

Our goal is to lower our cortisol and fix insulin and leptin resistance.

10 Ways to Stop Hormonal Weight Gain

Pray and meditate on the word of God. Inhaling His peace and exhaling stress every day for 10 minutes. Put an alert on your phone.
Eat 20-30 grams of protein at every meal to protect against insulin resistance and overeating. Combine them with fiber-rich foods: veggies, fruits, and whole grains. Eat starchy carbohydrates in the morning, and then switch to fibrous sources in the late afternoon and evening.
Eat high-quality God-made fats with every meal, think avocados, and olive oil, they reduce cravings, insulin resistance, and satisfy your hunger.
Avoid man-made food: think sugar and refined carbs. Limit processed and packaged food. Everything God made is better for you.
Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages, it may be one of the best things you can do to improve your hormone balance.
Avoid overeating and undereating: Overeating is shown to increase insulin levels and reduce insulin sensitivity, On the other hand, cutting your calorie intake too much can increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is known to promote weight gain when it's elevated.
Take Omegas or eat fatty fish two or more times a week to help hormonal health, including reducing levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. If you’re deficient, take B vitamins.
Move your body daily. Find an activity that brings you joy. Learn to love how God made you and see your body as His vessel to accomplish His perfect plan.
Limit alcohol and coffee and switch to good old God-made green tea. Avoid caffeine altogether at night or in the late afternoon.
Keep a regular sleep/wake cycle. Avoid blue light before bed, phones, computers, and tv, and make a nightly routine to quiet your mind and prepare yourself for sleep.

If these do not work, get a full blood panel done with an integrative Dr. who supports health and fitness lifestyle modifications.

Now, if you want to know more about cortisol, insulin, and leptin. Here’s a quick review and their effect on weight loss:

Cortisol: Is nature’s built-in alarm system. It’s your body’s main stress hormone.

Manages how your body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins
Keeps inflammation down
Regulates your blood pressure
Increases your blood sugar (glucose)
Controls your sleep/wake cycle
Boosts energy so you can handle stress and restores balance afterward

Insulin: Is a fat-storage hormone. Insulin resistance means your cells can’t absorb the extra blood glucose your body generates from the food you eat—when that happens, your liver converts the glucose into fat. Insulin resistance usually causes weight gain and sugar addiction.

Leptin: Regulates appetite and food intake. Leptin tells the brain that there's enough fat in storage and no more is needed, which helps prevent overeating. Leptin resistance occurs from chronically elevated insulin levels.

God made our bodies to be such intricate machines.

What you eat and how you take care of yourself matters!

Dear God,

The pain we suffer from in this area brings me to my knees in prayer. In you we don’t have to be pitiful, we can be powerful. Lord, Help us trade the overwhelming frustration of hormonal weight gain for peace and fill us with the power to change what we can.

While there is a place for medicine, help us be wise to listen to our bodies and own our part first.

In this moment, help each woman know that she is worth taking care of, worth the effort, and is priceless to you. Today we stand up for ourselves and fight for the very best version of ourselves for your glory!

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Faith Fuel:

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. – Psalm 51:6

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12

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Until next time...

From my heart to yours,

God bless,