How your hormones connected to your waistline?
Updated: Jul 1
Getting to the root cause of weight gain is top of my priority when working one to one with a client. Weight gain can be a complex little critter (especially with PCOS), so let’s look at some common drivers that I see in my clinic:
1. Insulin resistance - riding the blood sugar roller coaster? This is the one roller coaster that you don’t want a fast pass to! If we continue to spike our glucose levels through diet (and lifestyle) insulin is not able to store glucose in the short term in the muscles… so insulin stores that glucose in the fat cells which causes weight gain. 👀 Look for clinical signs of insulin resistance (see previous post). This is a particular prevalent driver for PCOS weight gain (and symptoms).
2. Thyroid - looking into your thyroid function is very useful via a blood panel - this could shine a light on what is driving weight gain e.g an under active thyroid. Why? Well, our thyroid hormones keep our metabolism in check. 👀 Looking into TSH, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies can be key!
4. Oestrogen - if your levels of oestrogen are elevated we can see a resistance to weight loss. 👀 Things to look our for - PMS, high emotional state, sore boobs before a period, weight gain around the booty. On the opposite end of the spectrum, when these levels drop alongside progesterone as we age (peri & menopause) so does our energy expenditure, which can also mean weight gain as we need less fuel in the tank to get the same job done.
3. Stress - our stress hormone cortisol is imperative to our existence - however if it is overstimulated and we are in a state of stress or ‘fight or flight’ mode we can hold onto excess weight around the middle. Plus it can interfere with how our cells talk to one another when it comes to moving glucose out of the blood and into the cells via insulin. 👀 look out for your work / life balance, feeling on high alert and anxiety.
The priority should never be placed on calories in versus calories out or fad diets or the scales… it must always be on your wellbeing and wellness. That’s why I created The Positive Method Club. Want to know more? Head over to www.thepositivemethodclub.com to start your journey to a happier and healthier you without counting calories...