Last week we told you about 4 hormones that are absolutely crucial to balance if you want to lose fat (if you missed our email on Friday you can access it here). Hopefully you now understand a little more about why hormone health plays such a big role in your weight.
Now you’re probably asking, “so how the heck do I balance these hormones?”
So today we’re going to give you a couple easy tips for balancing each of these 4 hormones. Remember, it’s all about progress, not perfection. Consistently making small changes can lead to really big results.
Let’s dive right in…
Estrogen. Your best bet for combating estrogen dominance (too much estrogen in comparison to progesterone) is eliminating chemicals where possible. A couple easy ways to do this include:
– Not heating food in plastic containers. While BPA (a known hormone disrupting chemical) is no longer used in manufacturing food grade plastics, BPA has been replaced by two other chemicals (BPF & BPS) that scientists think may be just as dangerous as BPA.
– Switch to safer skincare products. Many skincare products are filled with hormone disruptors, many of which mimic estrogen and lead to estrogen dominance. Just a few of these ingredients that might be on your skincare product labels are parabens, phthalates, triclosan, oxybenzone, and formaldehyde. Yuck! Those chemicals go on your skin and are absorbed into your body creating all kinds of havoc! If you need help finding products that are free of these chemicals checkout our Beautycounter page here.
There is no way for us to avoid nasty chemicals all together so we suggest helping your body detox by starting your morning with a glass of warm water and lemon and eating a diet high in fiber (think lots of fruits & veggies).
Insulin. The #1 thing you can do to promote good blood sugar balance and reduce your risk of insulin resistance is reduce the amount of processed and/or sugary foods you eat. Not only will this help bring your blood sugar in balance it will also likely reduce your calorie and fat intake resulting in even more weight loss. BONUS!
Making sure to eat at regular intervals will also do wonders for balancing your blood sugar. Make sure your meals and snacks include fiber, lean protein, and healthy fats.
Leptin. As with insulin, the best way to beat leptin resistance is through eliminating processed and/or sugary foods. Leptin is also affected by sleep so you want to make sure you are getting your 7-8 hours every night. Lastly, increase your Omega-3s by incorporating fish (You have to be careful of the type and source or you’ll get a bunch of toxins and make everything even worse. That’s a whole other email though.), or nuts and seeds (especially walnuts and chia seeds).
Cortisol. Liked we talked about on Friday; cortisol is your stress hormone. So it makes sense that you would reduce your cortisol levels by reducing your stress level. We know, we know…easier said than done. So while you can’t always reduce the amount of stress in your life, you can find ways to de-stress. Here are a few suggestions:
– SLEEP! This one just seems to keep coming up. 🙂 Seriously, consistently getting 7-8 hours a night will do wonders for your mind and body.
– Try meditating or yoga. Even 15 minutes a day of either activity has an amazing ability to lower cortisol levels.
– Take some much needed “you” time. Soak in a warm bath, enjoy a book, go for a walk. We know how hard these moments are to come by, but YOU need to be a priority to YOU.
We know these are a lot of suggestions and would never expect you to implement everything all at once. A simple way to start making progress today is to pick the one hormone you think is the most out of whack for you right now (if you’re not sure just pick one you would like to start with) and pick one of the suggestions we made for rebalancing that hormone and start practicing that one thing everyday. Once that becomes habit you can pick another. Remember, it’s progress, not perfection!
