Overweight woman with tape is measuring fat on belly – Everything Guide to Hormones and Weight Gain | BodylogicMD
The excess fat clinging to your midsection is notoriously difficult to get rid of. People spend billions of dollars every year trying to lose weight.
Diet and exercise isn’t the whole story. A lot of people don’t realize that hormones and weight gain are connected.
If you’re struggling to lose weight, there’s a good chance that your hormone levels are imbalanced.
Too much cortisol can cause you to crave greasy, fatty food. Hyperthyroidism can cause you to gain weight. Hormones help determine how your body functions.
Symptoms of a Hormone Imbalance
Our brains are constantly flooded with signals from our bodies. If a crucial hormone isn’t being produced correctly, there are often warning signs that you can pay attention to.
Learning to recognize the signs of a hormonal imbalance is critical for your health. You can experience problems losing weight if the problem is left untreated.
If you suspect that your hormone levels are imbalanced, take our hormone imbalance quiz.
Here are some symptoms you should watch out for:
- You feel sluggish.
- You’re irritable.
- You crave sugar.
- You’re not sleeping well.
- Your skin is dry
Hormones And Weight Gain: How They’re Connected
Losing weight is hard, especially when you’re past 40. Following a healthy diet and exercise plan only does so much.
People with a lot of stubborn fat on their bodies should check to see if they have a hormonal imbalance. Hormones are your body’s messengers. Each one sends messages to your organs.
That means that your hormones play a huge role in how your body functions. Hormones and weight gain are intertwined. Too much or too little of the right hormone and you might find it difficult to lose weight.
Here are the hormonal culprits you should watch out for if you have extra fat that you can’t rid of:
Hyperthyroidism
If your body doesn’t have enough thyroid hormone to operate, it’ll slow down like a car running out of fuel.
If you suffer from hyperthyroidism, you might have trouble feeling energized. You’ll likely sleep a lot and gain weight. You might experience:
- Dry skin
- Brain fog
- Brittle nails
- Depression
- Trouble losing weight
Excess Insulin
Insulin is essential for life. The hormone processes the sugar in your bloodstream and delivers it your cells. Stress, poor eating habits, and genetic conditions can cause excess insulin.
Sugar-laden, carb-rich food tastes amazing, but it can cause your insulin levels to spike. One of the reasons hormones and weight gain go hand in hand is because so many people struggle with having too much insulin.
High insulin symptoms are similar to those of hyperthyroidism. When you’re stressed and trapped in a brain fog, it’s easy to start mindlessly eating junk food.
Cortisol
Cortisol floods your body during stressful situations. It doesn’t matter if you’re running away from a pack of lions on the savannah or preparing to give a presentation to your boss. Your body reacts the same way.
When you’re stressed, you want to be soothed. This causes you to crave fatty, calorie-dense food. There’s a reason it’s called “comfort” food.
Too much cortisol encourages the body to hold on to weight around the abdomen. This type of fat can be very dangerous for your health.
Leptin
Leptin is produced by your body’s fat cells. The hormone helps your body figure out if it’s full. If you’re suffering from leptin resistance, it can be really hard to tell if you’re hungry or not.
Without cues from your body that you’ve eaten enough, you can easily consume thousands of extra calories and not notice until your pants no longer fit.
If your leptin levels are abnormal, it’s common to experience:
- Trouble losing weight
- Noticeable weight gain
- Constant hunger
Extra Estrogen
Too much estrogen can have a huge effect on your weight. The female sex hormone is directly related to fat storage in women. Obese women usually have significantly higher estrogen levels than normal weight or slim women.
Men and women both need the hormone to survive and experience negative consequences if they don’t produce the right amount.
You can accumulate too much estrogen naturally or by being exposed to it.
Low Testosterone
Testosterone boosts the libido, improves bone density and muscle mass, and has fat burning benefits. Men and women both require the hormone to thrive.
If your body doesn’t have enough testosterone, you might lose muscle tone and gain weight. Testosterone levels naturally drop with age, but stress and obesity can also contribute.
What Should You Do If You’re Experiencing a Hormonal Imbalance?
There are a lot of things you can do to help return your hormones to a baseline level. Lifestyle changes can have a huge effect. You can also see a physician for hormone therapy treatment.
If you want your body to get in the habit of normal hormone production, you need to make sure that you lead a healthy lifestyle.
Make sure you always get enough sleep. Lack of sleep destroys your mood and increases junk food cravings. You also need to ensure that you’re eating nourishing food.
Here are some great natural ways to balance your hormones.
- Eat more protein. It stimulates the hormone that helps you feel full.
- Exercise. High insulin has been linked to carrying too much body fat.
- Manage your stress.
Sometimes, however, you need more assistance. If your hormone levels are severely out of proportion, you might need to see a doctor before you can get back to normal.
How to Reset Unbalanced Hormones With Therapy
During our lifetimes we’re slammed with a cocktail of dietary and environmental toxins. An unhealthy lifestyle or even just the natural aging process can throw your body’s hormone levels off balance.
Hormones and weight gain are intimately related. Spending hours at the gym and counting calories can’t correct a severe hormone imbalance. Weight loss may seem impossible.
If this happens to you, don’t panic. We can help. Doctors in the BodyLogicMD network are highly skilled in bioidentical hormone therapy.
Contact one of our physicians today to get started. We have over 48 locations nationwide to help you find bioidentical hormone treatment easily in your area.
