Did you know that over 80% of women suffer from hormonal imbalances? Do you know what comes hand in hand with hormonal imbalance? Hormonal weight gain! And losing hormonal weight gain can feel next to impossible UNTIL you learn the secrets I am sharing in this post! I will share exactly how I was able to naturally heal my hormones, drop over 50 pounds, and feel amazing again.
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What is Hormone Imbalance
First let’s start with the root of most women’s problems, especially women who are around or over the age of 40! Hormonal imbalance. To keep it simple, hormonal imbalance is when our bodies are either not producing the right amount of hormones, this could be in the form of an overproduction of hormones known as hyperthyroidism, or not receiving the hormones being produced due to endocrine disruptors blocking them.
It is said that over 80% of women in the US suffer from hormonal imbalances throughout their lifetime. Yes, you heard that right 80% of women! Now you might be able to see why the diet industry is a multi-Billion dollar industry if women are trying to diet the weight away instead of fixing the root of the weight gain problem – hormonal imbalance!
The most common reasons triggering hormonal imbalance are menopause, premenopause, pregnancy or post-pregnancy, obesity, and chronic stress or trauma.
Of course, most of us suffer needlessly having a handful if not all of the symptoms listed below and if this goes on too long before it is corrected it turns into a full-on autoimmune disease. For more on Hormonal Imbalance in women and how to fix it read 15 Signs Of Hormone Imbalance That Most Women Ignore.
Understanding how our hormones work helps us to see how delicate that balance is and why we should be focused on keeping it from getting all out of wack!
A Woman’s Guide to Intuitive Eating
In today’s post, we will be discussing women over 40’s guide to intuitive eating, and in the following post, we will deep dive into balancing hormones, especially in women over 40, and how to have transformative sex that is sure to keep you looking and feeling younger. I like to think of orgasms as Mother natures’ fountain of youth gift to women!
Let me start this post by saying IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!! We have been lied to, drugged, and daily try to live up to this “wonder woman” do it all in heels with a smile cultural persona. That extra 10 or 15 (maybe 20-40 pounds) starting to pile on around your hips, thighs, and tummy is NOT your fault! The sleep-deprived bags under your eyes that no lotion or potion is going to remedy for you…. Is not your fault!
Though this list could go on for hours the point I want to make before we even start talking about food is IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! Like “Big Pharma” there is another arche enemy most of us are not as familiar with I like to call Big Food. Big Food controls the narrative when it comes to marketing and what sells in the US. They also use chemists to create these frankin foods to make sure you and your family are addicted to them.
Don’t believe me?
Just look at the famous chip slogans they boast the addiction proudly, “once you pop you just can’t stop” or “You can never eat just one”.
But I bet you did not know these Big Food companies hired a professional chemist to add ingredients that trigger areas of the brain that are the same areas caused by drug and alcohol additions. They run test groups to see what color, size, and portion caused people to want to eat more to ensure you will become a lifelong customer.
Pretty sick right?
Becoming aware of Big Foods drugs, and the marketing they use to suck you in. Coca-Cola is the numero uno, BEST in the world, at feel-good marketing that works like a charm every time! Pair that with the highly addictive ingredients and there it is no wonder they are #1.
Paying experts in marketing and “product development” aka getting that just right addiction recipe added into every bright red bottle of Coke.
You see if you are not aware of the drugs they have been pumping into you and the sneaky marketing to ensure they hook you into craving and buying more of their foods then it will be hard to change course. Once you see what is “going on behind the curtain” for all my Wizard of Oz fans, it is only then can you make better choices.
What is Intuitive Eating?
According to WebMD intuitive eating is a simple idea. It means that you make peace with all types of food. Unlike traditional diets that restrict or ban certain foods, intuitive eating requires you to stop looking at food as “good” or “bad.” Instead, you listen to your body and eat what feels right for you.
You might think this means you just eat whatever you want, anytime you want. That’s not the case. Experts say intuitive eating means tapping into your body’s natural ability to tell you when you’re hungry or satisfied.
When you eat intuitively, you also let go of the idea that you need to lose or gain weight so you can look a certain way. The idea is to help you focus on foods that work best for your overall physical and mental health.
Simply put intuitive eating means fixing our mindset about food. I hate using the word “diet” because the multi-billion dollar weight loss industry has brainwashed us that diet means a start date, end date, cheat days, falling off the wagon and beating ourselves up, starvation diest often referred to as calorie restriction diets, eating foods that are not real and taste like cardboard, boomerang or yoyo diets where the weight you lose comes back and brings some friends with it.
We have also been told for decades now the reason we gain weight is our fault due to eating too much and all one must do to lose weight is simply eat less and work out more….. WRONG! And in women’s case WRONG and it will cause our hormones to get even more out of wack thus putting on even MORE weight!!
Noooooo! How could they?!?
Women Over 40 and Perimenopause
Women around the age of 40 start easing into something called the perimenopausal stage of life. What the heck does that mean? That doesn’t sound fun. It is nothing to worry about and the better you understand your hormones the slower and more pleasant this process can be for you.
However, on the flip side if you are not aware of this you are most likely frantically searching for the answer to questions like, “Why am I gaining so much weight”, and “Why is my hair thinning?”, or “Why am I getting adult hormonal acne all of a sudden?”
There are so many other hormonal imbalance symptoms you can find in this post next if already finding yourself saying YES YES YES…. help me! Check out this post next to see what other commonly overlooked symptoms are tail tell signs of a hormonal imbalance 15 Signs Of Hormone Imbalance That Most Women Ignore.
Also, here is a great, cheap, at-home test kit on Amazon that can help:
At-Home Hormonal Imbalance Test
Where to Start Looking First – The Thyroid Hormones
Unlike “normal” weight gain that comes from eating a crapy diet, hormonal weight gain is a whole nother beast. When trying to fix a hormonal weight gain problem the ol’ “eat less work out more” advice simply will not work! Actually, it most likely will make matters worse.
Let me share a personal example with you.
Two years after having my youngest son, who is now 11 years old, my thyroid was all out of wack! Doctors and specialists did what they do best and put me on medication and sent me on my way. I love Dr. Mark Hyman’s way of putting it, “diagnose and adios”. They tell you what your problem is, give you medication, then send you on your way.
The problem with this approach is they did not fix the problem, they simply gave us a bandaid to put over it to (hopefully) stop it from getting worse.
So, here I am trying every diet under the sun, actually working out (for the first time in my life, lol) the good ol’ days of being a size 4 and eating whatever I wanted and never working out were long gone and I did not lose a single pound.
Then I did a 7-day water and vegetable juice only fast…… I DID NOT LOSE A SINGLE POUND!! My stepdad on the other hand did it for 3 days and lost a pant size (grrrrr…. I mean good for him). This is what trying to lose weight with hormonal imbalance looks like my friends, if you are struggling I have been there I know how frustrating it is.
The first place to start is when you know there is a hormonal issue, whether that be a hormonal imbalance or hormonal disorder for me it was hypothyroidism, is with food.
Eating the Wrong Foods Will Make You Fat
Odds are pretty good that if you have gained weight and not been able to easily lose it, or have been overweight for more than a year then there is a hormonal imbalance involved. Regarding the question of whether being overweight or obese causes a hormonal imbalance or does hormonal imbalance cause obesity the simple answer is yes!
It doesn’t really matter which came first if you have one the other is soon to follow.
The best diet for hormonal weight gain in my own personal experience, and in helping so many heal their hormones as well is hands down the Clean Keto Diet.
Clean Keto is essentially the keto diet minus the dairy and avoiding highly refined processed foods I like to call Frankin’ Foods. Foods that are not real, are cooked up in a lab somewhere using God only knows what, and they are made to last on the shelf for years and be highly addicting so that you buy more.
When I started Keto almost six years ago now it was the school of hard knocks for me. I spent months researching and meal planning trying to figure it all out myself. Now, I can recommend to you the Custom Keto Meal Planner for weight loss as the big red easy button to start Keto.
Custom Keto Meal Planner quizzes you on your taste buds and weight loss goals and then formulates the perfect done-for-you meal plan to fit your needs. It even emails you the weekly shopping list for less than a dinner out with friends (it’s under $40 per month).
Hormonal Harmony Supplement
If you are really serious about hormonal weight loss you can combine the keto diet with the right supplements to give you a boost right out of the gate. With so much of our food being grown on overplanted soil (aka completely void of all nutrients), factory-farmed, and genetically modified there is absolutely no way to get all of the vitamins in our daily foods anymore.
Supplements are key. Without many of the materials and vitamins we need our bodies cannot even process food as they should. I love vitamins that pack a big punch combining vitamins ultimately saving us both time and money.
Hormonal Harmony HB-5 is an all-in-one supplement to support resetting your hormones. Formulated with all-natural ingredients and is essentially a multivitamin for your hormones.
For my full review and in-depth research on this supplement check out this post next Hormonal Harmony Supplement Review.
Conclusion
Having a hormonal imbalance is frustrating until you discover the root cause. When you identify what is causing the problem it gives you the power to correct course and fix it. It took me personally several years of patience and consistency but I was able to heal my autoimmune system by following the steps outlined in this post and working with my doctors who closely monitored and helped me wean off of the Hypothyroid medication because my body healing and becoming able to produce all it needed itself agin.
Again, I am not a medical professional. This post and blog are my way of sharing my own personal experience in my healing journey, as a normal everyday person just like you, who has spent the last 6 plus years researching and applying what I learned to heal my body.
My hope is that the information I provide can help guide you and save you the time it took me in navigating your own healing journey.
XOXO,
K’Lee
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