Meet Your Hormones

You are doing everything right- in spite of “eating clean”, “working out daily”, “even taking medications”....yet you struggle with weight gain, mood swings, bloating, irregular cycles, sugar craving.

And just to make your situation worse people claim- you lack willpower…you lack discipline…..you are being dramatic etc.

We can understand how frustrating it is to deal with these titles. You must be wondering what could be the reason for this chaos.

The answer is - hormonal imbalance.

Hormones are chemical messengers in our body responsible for all kinds of metabolic processes. From growth, reproduction, metabolism to our mood and energy levels- everything is regulated by our hormones.

With respect to female hormonal health, there are three 5 major hormones that constantly affect your energy, mood, menstrual cycles and weight

Insulin
Thyroid
Estrogen & Progesterone
Cortisol

Here's a breakdown of our 5 Major Hormones:

Insulin– produced in our pancreas, this hormone is responsible for glucose transportation in our body and lowering our blood sugars. Apart from this, insulin also helps in balancing your energy levels, fat storing in our body, cravings, and ovary function. When insulin is high- you body tends to store more fat, your sugar cravings increase, this condition further leads to delayed/irregular menstrual cycles.
Thyroid- the thyroid hormones (T3, T4, TSH), are basically your body’s speed controller, they help to regulate- your metabolism, body temperature, gut health, energy levels, menstrual cycle. When your thyroid hormones are low, you may experience fatigue, constipation, hair fall, brain fog, weight gain (in spite of eating less). Your thyroid hormones are basically acting like a traffic signal, if the red signal has a longer duration and green signal has a shorter duration , it may end up creating a traffic jam and slowing the traffic flow overall. Similarly, if your metabolism slows down that means your food takes longer to digest, your body easily stores fat,ovulation weakens and insulin resistance increases. Women suffering from PCOS often struggle with thyroid dysfunction.
Estrogen and Progesterone- these 2 female sex hormones are responsible for the regulation of the menstrual cycle. From the day one of your periods till the 15th day your estrogen levels peak, you may feel energetic, may experience intense emotions, increased cravings, from 16th day onwards your progesterone levels peak- in this phase you may be calm, have stable energy levels, and a regulated sleep cycle. The balance between these 2 hormones ensures a regulated menstrual cycle, controlled PMS (pre menstrual symptoms), and a stable mood. Imbalance between these 2 hormones leads to increased/intense PMS, anxiety before periods, painful and/or heavy menses, irregular/missed periods. This impacts your energy levels overall and may have an impact on your performance.
Cortisol- AKA the stress hormone. Whenever your body is under stress (short term/long term) cortisol levels rise. Apart from this it also helps in regulating insulin levels in your body, regulating inflammation etc.. Increased cortisol levels leads to increased sugar cravings, increased body fat storage and increased blood pressure. All of this may eventually lead to poor gut health, poor energy levels and disrupted sleep cycle.

Your body is not stubborn, it is protective….In order to truly heal yourself from within, you need to “meet your hormones”.