You have been putting hours in the gym, eating relatively well, but your weight is not budging? It’s time to look at balancing your hormones for better health and weight management.

Get friendly with your weight loss hormones:

• Estrogen Hormone
• Testosterone Hormone
• Thyroid Hormone
• Time to get labs done.

Estrogen Hormone

The main sex hormone in women.

Made in part in most part in your ovaries. But your fat cells, liver, breast can make and convert estrogen to one of the three types we make: estrone, E1, estradiol, E2, estriol E3.

Estrogen is important for your heart health, bones, mood and cholesterol levels.

However, too high or too low estrogen will contribute to weight gain.

My high estrogen patients complain of bloating, weight gain, breast tenderness, severe PMS, mood swings and headaches. With that, my low estrogen patients worry about their skipped cycles, hot flashes, low libido, memory and mood issues and vaginal dryness.

Depending on where you fall on the spectrum. Specific herbs will help you balance it out.

My Motto is: don't guess, test!

Estrogen dominant patients benefit from having a more balanced diet, high in fibers which help with more regular bowel movements. If you suffer from chronic constipation and hormone imbalance let’s talk. Healthy bowels daily will aid in decreasing your body’s ability to recirculate your hormones. Another favorite supplement of mine is DIM, an acronym for 3’,3’ Diindolylmethane this complex of cruciferous veggies(kale, broccoli, cabbage) taken as a capsule is a wonderful supplement to support estrogen detoxification. It’s not a magic pill, liver detoxification, increased exercise, decreasing toxic burden in your foods by choosing organic, local produce and removing xenoestrogens (pesticides, additives, etc) is key to reduce your overall body’s load of inflammation and thus decreasing your weight.

Testosterone Hormone

Say it with me ladies, testosterone is key for us as well.

It is the main sex hormone in men but yes women have testosterone as well in the same way men have a little bit of estrogen. Yes you men have estrogen too if you did not know this.

Testosterone is extremely important to help build muscles and decrease body fat.

By the time we reach our 30s ladies we lose half of our testosterone. Men lose it by the same amount in their 40s. So no your pregnancies did not cause you to feel tired, overwhelmed and under motivated. That drop in hormone which happens really early is also the culprit.

How do I boost my body’s production of T? Increasing sleep, weight training, decreasing alcohol and marijuana intake, keeping a whole food anti-inflammatory diet are all steps you can start taking today. Adding nutrients like zinc, vitamin D, DHEA and herbs like Maca(I love maca), ashwaganda for adrenal support, fenugreek, etc will all help your body’s testosterone production.

Too much T or not enough T, where do you think you fall?

Thyroid Hormone

Did you know the thyroid organ weighs less than 20 gram? With that it releases a hormone which controls how your baby grows in the womb, the speed of your heart rate, your body temperature and yes… your metabolism.

It is one of the key hormones I test when patient come to see me for weight loss. Fatigue, weight gain, feeling cold all the time, constipation, hair hair loss heavy periods and even how moody or anxious you are feeling, may all be attributed it all to the function of your thyroid. First, get a licensed provider to test your hormones. I talk about what you should ask your provider in the testing section below. If labs come back with signs of low thyroid or even autoimmune thyroid like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, your doctor may suggest medication.

In my practice we look at nutrition as well. My patients know I don’t recommend a diet change unless they need it. My Hashimoto patients know they have to be on a gluten-free diet to help lower their antibodies and their inflammation. As well we talk about antioxidants like selenium, key to any thyroid patient. Iron, Vitamin B, C, D are a must to optimize your thyroid function. I won’t touch too much on iodine. While it is key nutrient to help underfunctioning thyroid it can also cause some significant issues in other patients.

With your thyroid better optimized you can lose up to 10% of your body weight. It’s wild like the kids say. What do your thyroid numbers say?

Time to get labs done!

Advocate for yourself!!

Time and time again I encounter men and women who either due to lack of knowledge or access to healthcare come to my office with me being their last resort.

For the different hormones mentioned above I run more than the basic labs most conventional clinicians work.

For thyroid hormone we need the TSH, Total T4, Free T4, FT3, Reverse T3 and the antibodies Anti-TPO, Anti-TGB and TSI. This full panel allows us to see how much thyroid hormone you are making, are you able to convert the inactive T4 to the more active T3, is there an autoimmune condition like Hashimoto’s or Graves disease.

For estrogen and testosterone assessment. I tell women who are still menstruating to get labs in the luteal phase, that is the second half of their cycle. If on birth control or having irregular cycles, that specific phase does not matter as much.

For men there is no specific time to run hormones. FSH, LH, estradiol, estrone, free and total testosterone, SHBG, DHEA-s is part of a basic hormone panel for men and women. This allows us to see any imbalance whether an excess or a lack of hormones and start to create a plan.

More on hormones and weight loss to come!! If you want to know more please reach out. Ask your provider to test your hormones if you have never had them tested. Or reach out to schedule your free 15min consult with our provider.