Let’s talk hormones. Just for a few minutes, and just in terms of hormones and body fat. ‘Cause let’s face it – as much as we know hormones are relevant to all aspects of health including mental and emotional wellness, what we are MOST curious about; what really grabs our attention, is how the darn things impact your booty size. And the rest of you.
Am I right?
There are two hormones that I want to teach you about today. They are the two which are generally most relevant to gals who can’t get results despite eating well and exercising often. I’m going to give you a quick overview of how each of these hormones can impact body fat and then a tip on how to take back control.
Insulin is a hormone that is released (otherwise known as ‘secreted’) by your pancreas. This happens when you have high levels of glucose present in your blood, a state that occurs largely due your food choices. There are many ways in which certain lifestyle habits can affect also blood sugar and insulin resistance or sensitivity, regardless of your food choices.
The job of insulin is to transport glucose from your blood into cells within your body. In a healthy body, that glucose would be sent to cells such as your muscle and brain cells, and stored until such time as its needed to create energy or day to day function.
Insulin has a bit of a name as a ‘bad hormone’ because many people associate it with Type 2 (previously known as Adult Onset) diabetes and Syndrome X (excess fat storage around the mid-section). The truth is that it doesn’t take much insulin to fill your muscle and organ cells. It’s quite easy to achieve just by eating a typical ‘healthy’ western diet. When your muscle and organ cells are full, they ‘shut their doors’ and insulin can no longer deliver the glucose it is transporting. This results in a number of unwelcome outcomes:
- Increased hunger (insulin also signals you to eat)
- Low blood sugar levels resulting in mood swings, shakiness, irritability
- The glucose has to go somewhere, and so it is stored in your fat cells (Diabetes Type 2 occurs when even the fat cells have had enough, and shut their doors – resulting in constantly high blood sugar)
- Strong carbohydrate cravings, resulting in a vicious cycle of repeatedly elevated blood glucose, insulin secretion, and fat storage – and back to carb cravings
- Other possible health concerns, such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- A speeding up of all ageing processes. Another term often used for insulin is ‘the ageing hormone’
The best approach? Eat a diet low in processed and starchy carbohydrates. After weight training you can include complex carbs. This is where you’ll find my preferred approach to good nutrition. Aside from making the right food choices, it is also important to move every day, to sweat at least 3 times each week, and to eat regularly. Skipping meals really wreaks havoc with insulin!
Estrogen is another hormone that, when present in ideal quantities, is essential for female health. The problem is that many chemicals mimic real estrogen in your body. These are called ‘xeno’ (synthetic) estrogens. Exposure to xeno-estrogens will increase your butt size, as there are many estrogen cell receptor sites in your lower body.
- Until you detoxify your body of estrogen you may find it very hard to lose weight
- A good way to begin this process is to reduce your exposure to xeno-estrogens. Key offenders are pesticides on non-organic food, household and workplace chemicals, and make-up, haircare and skincare products. Plastics are another common source – use Pyrex containers for your food and BPA free plastic or stainless steel for your water.
- Diet and exercise alone will not rid your body of nasty estrogens, although it’s a great start. In particular, the cruciferous vegetable family contain properties which help to detoxify stored estrogen. These include broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage and kale. Make a green smoothie a day if you can’t be bothered chowing through them all with your meals!
- Repetitive cardio exercise may burn the calories in theory, but it’s not very effective at helping you to lean down your lower body – or the rest of you. Aim to lift weights 2-4 days per week and do a small amount of interval based cardio or circuit style training 1-2 days per week. In the Woman Incredible VIP Platinum Mentoring and Gold Membership programs you’ll receive video based workouts up to 7 days a week entailing exactly that! Kickboxing or other forms of martial arts are also very effective.
find out more
In the Woman Incredible VIP Platinum Mentoring and Gold Membership you’ll learn all about insulin and estrogen as well as other hormones relevant to fat loss and energy. Over the course of 12 months you will be educated on everything you need to understand about how to make your body work for you.
The idea is to figure out once and for all how to eat, train and live in order to look and feel your very very best – for life. So that you can stop worrying about it all and focus your energy on time on other fun stuff!
And remember –