Could hormones be causing your weight gain and sabotaging your weight loss By Deon Hall Garriques

The word hormone is derived from the Greek word messenger. There are more than 100 hormones in your body and they are always communicating and sending messages to each other in a type of orchestral symphony. These hormones need to be balanced so your body can achieve homeostasis; the same is true for every instrument in an orchestra to achieve the desired harmony and sound. If one instrument is out of balance or off-key, it creates a cascade and affects the entire orchestra. The same is true for your hormones, if one hormone is out of balance, it creates a hormonal cascading effect, which results in various problems and multiple symptoms.

Many women, particularly those in perimenopausal and menopausal stages struggle and become frustrated when they are taking all the right steps to lose weight and be healthy such as eating a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep and exercising regularly instead of losing weight they are gaining. One of the key reasons for not being able to lose weight could be related to hormonal imbalance, which healthcare providers often ignore.

The main hormones that tend to impact weight include:

Cortisol and adrenaline - these stress hormones are produced by the adrenal gland and are activated when you encounter any emotional or physical threat or challenge. Bad stress increases cortisol which affects blood sugar and can create a host of other problems. Research shows that the majority of hormonal issues are rooted in cortisol. Therefore managing and reducing your stress levels is critical to achieving hormonal balance and a healthy weight.
Insulin, produced by the pancreas and helps to move blood sugar into your cells for energy.
Thyroid - The thyroid hormones regulate metabolic function and are very important in maintaining a healthy weight, and hypothyroid (low thyroid function, where the thyroid does not produce enough hormones).
Sex or reproductive hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone). The most common way that your sex hormones become imbalanced occurs when your body produces too much estrogen about progesterone. A healthy balance occurs when both estrogen and progesterone are in balance.

What can you do

It will be difficult to lose weight if you do not re-balance your hormones no matter how little you eat and how much you exercise. Here are a few things that you can start doing to start re-balancing your hormones and stop weight gain and start losing weight:

Make self-care a priority a- Take time to reboot and care for yourself by doing the things that make you feel good inside.
Test your hormone levels - Have your medical provider test your hormone levels so you can know which hormones to focus on
A good diet helps with hormonal balance - eliminate sugars and sweet foods from your diet, increase healthy fats and proteins, and reduce the number of carbs you consume
Incorporate high-quality supplements - multivitamins, omega fatty acids, vitamin D)
Reduce toxic load - stop using plastics in your microwave, and eliminate or reduce using conventional health and beauty aid products such as hair products, cosmetics, body lotions, etc. Most people are unaware of how toxic impacts cellular function particularly when there is a build-up of years of consistent exposure to toxins.
Incorporate natural solutions such as essential oils to re-balance your hormones. Essentials can be used to manage stress, the root cause of most hormonal imbalances, improve cellular functions, weight management, etc.