6 signs your hormones are making you gain weight + how to get rid of a hormonal belly
Are you someone who has “tried everything” and still can’t seem to get rid of that stubborn belly bulge?
And I’m NOT referring to belly bulges as it relates to getting “bikini ready” for summer…all bodies are bikini bodies. I’m talking about the frustrating belly bulge while doing all the right things.
The answer? I can always bring this back to gut health, but a HORMONAL IMBALANCE could also be the culprit!
Your hormones play a big role in regulating metabolism, satiation (leptin and CCK), your growling belly (ghrelin), fullness (Glucagon-like Peptide-1), and sugar cravings (Neuropeptide Y) energy. They form a tangled web of communication to keep your body regulated, so when one is off everything can feel off.
Outside of specific conditions, general hormone imbalances, can be exacerbated by the result of obesity, environmental triggers and toxins, chronic stress, or medications, may also be at the root of your resistant hormonal belly fat.
Here are a couple of hormone-related conditions that can cause abdominal weight gain: an underactive thyroid, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), high cortisol or menopause.
Still not sure? Here are a couple signs to look out for:
1. LACK OF SATIATION:
Does your usual Sweet Green order (that used to fill you up) now suddenly leaves you wanting more?? This could be a sign that your your sex hormones (Estrogen and testosterone) are indirectly impacting your metabolism-regulating hormones.
This is because of the impact of low estrogen on your satiety hormone. Leptin (satiety hormone) is released by circulating fat tissue and tells your brain that you’ve had enough to eat.
This is one reason why my postmenopausal clients (whose estrogen levels are lower) come to me initially complaining about their weight gain and muscle loss.
Similarly, testosterone (the main sex hormone found in men) has the opposite effect on leptin concentration. This means that as testosterone levels rise, leptin decreases. In women, elevated testosterone (due to everything from regularly missed periods, PCOS, or chronic stress) can cause a steep uptick in hunger and subsequent weight gain.
What to do about it:
If you’re dealing with low estrogen and a hormonal belly, try incorporating: flax seeds, cruciferous veggies, and fermented foods in toure diet. Why?
+Flax seeds are rich in lignans, a group of chemical compounds that functions as phytoestrogens.
+Cruciferous vegetables like brussels sprouts, kale, collards, broccoli, and cabbage also contain DIM (Di-Indolyl Methane), a compound that helps the body process estrogen.
+Fermented foods support a set of gut bacteria (called the estrobolome) that is specific to estrogen and produces an essential enzyme that helps metabolize estrogen.
Takeaway: These estrogen balancing foods can also have a positive effect on lowering testosterone, helping downstream to increase your leptin levels and decrease your appetite.
2. YOU’RE ALWAYS STRESSED:
Your adrenal glands pump out cortisol to help your body act fast and can be helpful in flight or fight situations (like when you need to run out of the busy street quickly). However, chronic stress is harmful because your adrenals don’t realize they’re releasing way more cortisol than you ever need on a daily basis. This increases heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar which highly correlated with abdominal fat.
Your gameplan:
I’ve had a lot of clients who go away on vacation and actually lose weight because they’re less stressed and when they get back to “normal life” the pounds creep back. Research shows regular meditation dramatically lowers cortisol levels in the blood, reducing stress and inflammation, while increasing weight loss.
3. YOUR WEIGHT GAIN IS MAINLY IN YOUR BELLY:
Outside of menopause, as mentioned above, low estrogen levels can be due to excessive exercise, disordered eating patterns, or pituitary gland issues. Decreased estrogen levels can change the fat distribution of your body, causing you to gain more in the belly as opposed to the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Estrogen deficiency can also impair the action of insulin, making it harder to regulate blood sugar which leads to increased hormonal belly fat.
Your gameplan:
Melt away hormonal belly fat caused by low estrogen and insulin resistance by adopting a low carb eating plan. I help clients adopt this in a manageable way without feeling depleted. Between protein, fat and carbohydrates, carbs have the biggest impact on raising blood sugar and insulin levels. Reducing high-carbohydrate foods such as refined sugars, breads, cookies, crackers, and pasta and boosting less insulin-stimulating foods rich in fiber, protein, and healthy fat can have a significant impact on your waistline.
However if your carb consumption dips too low, it can suppress your leptin levels and interfere with leptin’s ability to regulate your reproductive hormones so it’s important to keep some complex carbohydrates like starchy vegetables, low glycemic fruits, and gluten free whole grains. A lot of women struggle with this balance, which is one of the pillars I go over in my 3-,month gut healing and hormone healing individualized program.
4. YOU CAN’T GET ENOUGH SUGAR:
Insulin resistance might be the reason you’re craving sweets. It prevents your cells from properly absorbing sugar from the bloodstream—leaving your cells starved for carbs and craving that quick fix energy. It can also have a secondary effect on leptin, causing your body to secrete more leptin, which if you remember from above, won’t make you feel full.
SO it’s a double whammy - elevated levels of leptin, just like consistently elevated insulin levels, will make your cells resistant to the hormone’s effects. If both are out of whack, regulatory hormones aren’t able to recognize it’s time to stop eating and you’ll continue to crave sugar, adding onto your hormonal belly fat.
Your gameplan:
One way to increase your leptin sensitivity is by engaging in high-intensity interval training. How does this work? This type of exercise will increase the number of leptin receptors on fat cells. Increasing your leptin sensitivity will help your body recognize when leptin is secreted and make sure it does its job to let you know when you’re full. But remember balance is key! 2-3 times max a week, and not on back to back days.
5. YOU’RE HUNGRY ALL THE TIME:
Let’s talk about ghrelin - the “hunger hormone. Ghrelin tells you when it’s time to eat and has a significant impact on the size of your appetite. If you decided to fast for a day, your body would surely send you signs by releasing ghrelin and making your stomach growl. On the other hand, if you suddenly began to binge on candy, your stomach would quickly recognize this overconsumption and cut back on ghrelin secretion. Pretty cool right?
Unfortunately unhealthy weight gain can result in dysregulated ghrelin secretion. In fact, obese individuals tend to have elevated circulating levels of leptin and decreased levels of ghrelin. Having elevated leptin levels, despite what you may expect, does not always mean you are more likely to stop eating. When you have consistently elevated leptin levels this can lead to dysfunction of leptin receptors which means your brain will not receive the message you’re full. This hormonal confusion throws your hunger cues out of whack and you do the opposite of what leptin is designed to do, so you continue to eat without ever receiving the signal to stop, resulting in the undesirable hormonal belly.
Your gameplan:
PROPER SLEEP! Sleep ensures ghrelin secretion is properly regulated. Did you know people are likely to eat 200-300 calories more a day when getting less than 7 hours a sleep/night? Creating an individualized sleep routine is something I help many clients - we to set boundaries more than ever with the work from home life!
6.NOTICEABLE HAIR LOSS:
Noticing lower belly fat increase accompanied by hair loss? Your hormones may be the culprit. Did you know thyroid hormones help regulate body weight as well as your hair growth?
The most simple explanation is that when your thyroid isn’t producing enough hormones, your metabolic rate slows down, reducing the number of calories your body burns on a daily basis, and often contributing to weight gain, particularly around your midsection.
However it’s not just your thyroid…thyroid hormones are so connected with a number of other hormones, proteins, receptors, and chemical messengers in the body that can also cause fatigue, constipation, low libido, etc.
Your gameplan:
Sign up to work 1:1 with me and I’ll help you get a comprehensive lab panel for your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), Free T4, Total T4, Free T3, Total T3, Reverse T3, Anti-thyroglobulin and anti-TPO antibodies, inflammatory markers, Vitamin D and other nutrient deficiencies. Most doctors will only order tests for your TSH and free T4 levels, but we want to look at ALL of these markers because of how they work synergistically with one another.
If you do in fact have an underlying thyroid condition, I’ll help you optimize your nutrition and lifestyle to help support your thyroid.
To go deeper on this topic with me 1:1, book a free consult call to sign up for my waitlist! My next 3-month program starts May 1st.
I’ll help you work smarter, not harder, to reach your health goals.
Did you find this helpful? Let me know in the comments!