Losing weight can be an uphill battle if you don’t have your hormones on board with you. Your hormones regulate your entire body!
Your hormones regulate your stress levels, how fast your metabolism runs, they tell your body if it should store fat or lose it, they control your mood, and so much more. In order to live a healthy lifestyle you have to find a balance between all of these hormones for success.
In this article I will share 4 tips with you that will help you balance your hormones more efficiently. Start using these tips each day starting today!
1. Keep Cravings at Bay
A hormone named leptin controls your appetite. It tells your body when to be hungry. The more fat cells you have the more leptin your body produces. High levels of leptin have been linked to high blood pressure, stroke, heart problems, and imbalanced blood sugar levels. The production of too much leptin leads to leptin resistance, which prevents leptin from working property.
Start balancing your leptin hormone so you can fight cravings. This can be accomplished by eating 4 meals each day that avoid fructose and starchy foods. Eating healthy fats and lots of high quality proteins will help fight leptin resistance and get rid of cravings. Avoid snacking all day long and make sure you give your body a 3 hour break in between meals.
2. Straighten Out Your Metabolism
Your thyroid is a powerful hormone, which tells your body how many calories it should burn, even when you’re sitting on the couch. If your thyroid is not functioning properly it can slow down your metabolism and cause a spike in weight gain. Eating food (beans, tomato sauce) from cans that are lined with BPA can affect your endocrine disruptions, which suppresses your thyroids function.
If you gain weight very quickly, have thinning hair, and have low energy levels, you may want to have your doctor test your thyroid to make sure your thyroid isn’t iodine or selenium deficient. Your thyroid is an important component to living a long and healthy lifestyle.
3. Build Fat Burning Muscle
Building muscle is really important for weight loss. As I mentioned, the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn doing virtually nothing. Testosterone is the hormone that helps you build lean muscle mass. Increasing your testosterone levels requires you to perform weight lifting exercises.
Low levels of testosterone lead to insulin resistance and weight gain since you’ll store more calories as fat on your body. Perform exercises that use weights heavy enough that you can do 5-10 reps max with good form.
4. Eat Low Glycemic Foods
Eating foods that are low on the glycemic index cause a modest spike in insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that helps balance your blood sugar levels. If you eat high glycemic foods like milk chocolate, your blood sugar levels will spike too high. Then your insulin hormone will be released to help lower your high blood sugar levels.
Avoid sugary and processed foods. Stick to eating healthy whole foods instead. Avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, quinoa, eggs, chicken, grass-fed beef, and wild caught salmon are great options. ')}
