I recently watched the movie Rodante starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. What can I say but, thank goodness I had the good sense to watch it alone because there I was, a total mess, ugly bawling—hiccups and all.
I am in a conversation with my 11-year-old, and for the life of me, I cannot comprehend why she is unable to see a correction as a good thing. And so it turns into a very stressful situation, and I am the one stressed out.
I am constantly tired. I notice the inches slowly but steadily and decidedly adding to my once svelte waistline.
MOOD SWINGS, WEIGHT GAIN, IRRITABILITY, FATIGUE… and so much more…Is this you? Let us talk about it.
As we get older, we cannot avoid the body changes that accompany us in getting wiser. Hormone Balance is vital to maintaining our spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It affects our relationships and interactions with people and situations. With balanced hormones, our appetite, weight, and our mood are all in check, but with it out of whack, we experience a myriad of issues that no woman should have to deal with, such as the onset of autoimmune diseases. With all that we deal with in the world today, they may soon consider hormone imbalance to be a condition that requires medical intervention, but we can help ourselves.
Here are six simple ways that we can use to correct Hormone Imbalance and take charge of our lives.
It is amazing what having a consistent sleep pattern can do:
Do you wonder why you are often irritable when you burn the midnight oil or why your hunger pangs are more intense after only a few hours of sleep? Well, our research revealed two types of hormones that go out of whack due to lack of sleep. According to hormone.org—Leptin, sometimes called the satiety hormone, helps inhibit hunger and regulate energy balance, so the body does not trigger hunger responses when it does not need energy. However, when levels of the hormone fall, which happens when an individual loses weight, the lower levels can trigger huge increases in appetite and food cravings. This, in turn, can make weight loss more difficult. The other is Ghrelin or hunger hormone produced in the gut. It travels through your bloodstream and to your brain, where it tells your brain to become hungry and seek out food. Leptin, and Ghrelin hormones, increase when you do not sleep well. One of the ways to balance out these hormones and take control of our hormone imbalance is to prioritize sleep. Poor sleep increases your levels and is linked to increased hunger and weight gain according to healthline.com. See both articles here and here for further reading.
Consume more foods rich in protein:
To help balance hormones, daily meals should include carbs, quality protein, and good fats according to Lifestyle Coach Luke Coutinho. Healthline.com reports that “protein influences the release of hormones that control appetite and food intake. Research has shown that eating protein decreases levels of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin and stimulates the production of hormones that help you feel full“.
Exercise regularly
See our post on Women, The Benefit Of Strength Training, And How It Mirrors Our Life. Aside from this post, we will add the following found in our research. Healthline.com also suggests that being physically active help boost levels of muscle-maintaining hormones that decline with age, such as testosterone. If you are not into strenuous exercise, regular walking is a good alternative. Walking may increase (testosterone) hormone levels that may improve physical endurance and strength. With an improvement in your physical endurance, you may experience an improved quality of life and improved hormone levels. Although a combination of resistance and aerobic training seems to provide the best results, engaging in any type of physical activity regularly is beneficial, reports healthline.com.
Stop the fluctuation in your eating habits:
Starving yourself to achieve quick weight loss or overeating to fulfill your greed can be destructive for your health and may result in hormonal imbalance says Lifestyle Coach Luke Coutinho. Eat consistently and never overeat. Consider eating more meals in smaller quantities. We hear that works to keep our weight in check.
Try green tea:
Studies have suggested 2-3 cups of green tea daily may help with weight loss and belly fat reduction, two things we must address when trying to balance our hormones. According to ecowatch.com in an article where they listed superfoods to help balance hormones—Green Tea has numerous benefits that suggest it can boost metabolism because it contains theanine, a compound that reduces the release of cortisol (a stress hormone). It also has antioxidants that reduce inflammation and lower the risk of disease. See the full article here.
Manage your stress:
As women, we believe that we must be superheroes. Where did that come from? Some of us are people pleasers, and some of us are forced into roles as mothers to people who take more than they give. At some point, our thoughts turn against us unconsciously, and we no longer like who we have become and where we are. The resultant effect is that our thoughts affect us and become “issues in our tissues” Read the full article.
We must be aware of the things that negatively affect us such as hormone imbalance, then take control by either removing ourselves or resolving the issue directly. Here are the facts— the hormones affected by stress are adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline is the fight-or-flight hormone that allows us to respond to immediate danger, and cortisol helps our body cope with stress over long periods. And while we mainly attribute stress to people and situations, we now can include our busy, on-the-go, and overwhelming lifestyle. Maybe we should take a break once in a while to help us.
There you have it, six ways to help women balance their hormones. However, there are many other ways to balance our hormone levels, manage ourselves and experience a more satisfying lifestyle as women. Many of us are overworked, stressed out from relationship issues or challenges with the children, or just overwhelmed. We are the ones that the world looks to for balance if you think about it. It is therefore imperative that we are experiencing a balanced and wholesome lifestyle. Not a lifestyle where we are in a constant battle to stay sane and calm because our hormones are out of whack. We cannot give what we do not have for ourselves.
Hormone imbalance can be debilitating and so make achieving and maintaining a balanced hormone a priority.
Information for this article was taken from the following resource: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/balance-hormones#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5
https://www.ndtv.com/health/restore-hormonal-balance-naturally-with-these-8-tips-by-lifestyle-coach-luke-coutinho-2044794
Disclaimer: This article aims to provide general information about hormonal imbalance and is not intended to replace sound medical and professional advice. Please consult your physician or healthcare provider if you have a medical concern. Our opinions and views expressed in this article do not represent any of the experts quoted or have no relation to those of any academic, hospital, health practice, or other institution.
