Episode 239: Demystifying and Overcoming Hormonal Weight Gain Part 2

Last week we started an important conversation about hormonal weight which inevitably sent us down a rabbit hole, talking about mistakes, misconceptions, and important nuances. 

We touched on the first hormone impacting your weight loss: cortisol. So I highly recommend you go back and take a listen since everyone is impacted by stress. Click here to do that now. 

If you're already caught up, you're ready to jump into today's episode where we're going through the rest of the core weight-management hormones: estrogen, testosterone, insulin, ghrelin, leptin, and the thyroid. 

But before we do that... I have a pretty big, exciting announcement that will affect all podcast listeners. 

This week on Instagram I announced the launch of The Club - my new online membership - AKA the best offer I have literally ever put out into the world.

How can I say that so confidently? Because it is literally the release of every program I have in one place - plus a hell of a lot more - all for a ridiculously low price point. I actually kind of can't believe I'm doing this but here we go. 

Inside not only are you going to gain immediate access to these incredible programs:

• Follow Your Gut: Optimize your gut to lose weight more easily while tackling common challenges like all-or-nothing thinking, stress-eating, and cravings. 

• Unleash Your Transformation: Get back to the basics with your nutrition while working through common roadblocks to consistency via my UNLEASH method: Unlock your motivation, Nail your productivity, Let go of the problem children (people pleasing, perfectionism, and procrastination), Experience abundant energy, Achieve balance, Shape your environment, and Hone your battle plan. 

•  The Hormone Belly Blueprint (with a bonus thyroid edition): Discover why typical weight loss advice is actually putting the breaks on your progress and then follow a simple, step-by-step plan to finally conquer that stubborn hormonal weight. 

•  The Diet-Free Weight Loss Masterclass: Hot take! You can reach your weight loss goals without having to restrict, starve, or track every morsel you eat. Find out how in this 60-minute masterclass.

• Coach Kat's Cooking Course: Work your way through 5 cooking demos of my favorite, go-to recipes where I teach you the game-changing hacks I've picked up over the years to make cooking faster, easier, and more enjoyable.

• The Fad Diet Detox: A 7-day guide perfect for transitioning out of the world of dieting and into the world of lifelong health. In just one week we work on reframing your mindset around food and movement, simplifying your approach to nutrition, and working from a place of self love instead of body hate. 

You're also going to be part of a vibrant community of fellow wellness warriors who get you. You can reach out to them and me as your coach on our community message board any time you need support or accountability whether you want help navigating obstacles or celebrating wins.

We also will be doing 1-2 live challenges and masterclasses each year, serving as the perfect jumpstart for new members who want some quick wins, or veteran members who need to infuse some fresh energy and motivation back in their wellness journey. 

I'll be sharing all my favorite recipes inside - in fact that's now the only place you'll be able to access my recipes - along with some cooking demos to help you out in the kitchen.

AND (and this is where it affects you dear reader) the podcast will now be hosted in The Club each week. Expect to see more specific action steps to help you implement what you learn in each episode. Don't worry, I'll still be sharing clips on the public podcast, but all of the juicy details will now be inside the membership. 

This is where I might be insane... if you add all of this together it's a $2082 value, and I'm sharing it with you for $29/month!! 

OR if you join the waitlist before I officially open doors this week, you can get in at just $25 a month!! 

If you're too late on that and we've already launched, click here for more info and to sign up and get immediate entry into this stellar community. 

If you have any question don't hesitate to email me at [email protected]. With that, let's get into the episode...

Estrogen Dominance

This is one of the most common hormonal imbalances out there and can affect you even post-menopause because it isn't about the total amount of estrogen you produce, it's about the ratio between estrogen and progesterone. 

Think about it like this, estrogen has proliferative effects (this is where we see acne, breast fullness, heavy periods, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, water retention, weight gain, and even some estrogen-driven cancers), while progesterone counteracts these effects. 

If there's too much estrogen for progesterone to balance out, you'll see those common estrogen-dominant symptoms listed above. 

When it comes to estrogen-driven weight gain, here's what's going on. It...

• Prevents the breakdown of fat in adipose tissue. Ironically, the more adipose tissue (fat tissue) you have, the more this drives estrogen dominance since fat causes aromatization (the conversion of testosterone into more estrogen). So it's easy to get caught in a vicious cycle.
• Can push the pancreas to release excess insulin driving insulin resistance and greater hunger/cravings due to the drastic drop in blood sugar.
• Increases fluid retention and bloating which leads to the appearance of weight gain. 

Low Testosterone

While testosterone is generally talked about as a primarily male hormone, we all have it and we all need it.

Testosterone is one of the reasons it's so much easier for men to keep weight off. It drive metabolism, helps regulate insulin production and glucose levels, and is really important for growing and maintaining metabolism-boosting and blood-sugar-balancing muscle.

Again, keep in mind that excess adipose tissue can drive low testosterone since it converts it into estrogen through aromatization. 

Insulin

We've talked at length about insulin on this podcast. It's produced by the pancreas and is responsible for not only balancing blood sugar but directing the glucose in our blood to be stored as fat or used as energy.

This is why one of the habits I preach is even just 5 minutes of movement after meals - it helps your insulin send the sugar in your blood to your muscles for energy instead of being stored as fat.

When you produce too little insulin or experience insulin resistance (where your body more or less becomes desensitized to it and has to release more insulin for the same effect) it can...

• Lead to intense sugar and carb cravings as your body is trying to make up for the blood sugar drop that happens when insulin pulls too much glucose out of the blood too quickly. 

• Stimulate the release of cortisol. When your blood sugar drops, cortisol will come to the rescue by breaking down the body to release stored glucose. 
• Lead to increases in hunger and perceived pleasantness of sweet taste causing an increase in food intake. 
• Cause sugar to be stored as fat instead of being sent to the liver or muscles. 
• Encourage fat storage around the belly.

Ghrelin and Leptin

Not only do these hormones regulate hunger (ghrelin) and satiety (leptin), they directly impact your metabolism. So they tend to drive weight gain both physically and behaviorally. 

When behaving appropriately, ghrelin is highest right before eating and remains low for about 3 hours after eating. But being overweight can drive higher levels of ghrelin, intensifying the desire to overeat. 

Leptin is produced by fat cells and signals the body to reduce appetite and burn more calories. One of the reasons that fast fat loss is a bad idea is because when you lose weight rapidly, it's like your body has an emergency switch. Your body will decrease leptin in order to drive hunger up and satiety and metabolism down, protecting you from a famine. 

Similar to how when we produce too much insulin we can become insulin resistant, we can become leptin resistant too. This is something largely driven by excess body fat (remember, leptin is produced in fat cells), making it harder to register fullness and more difficult to rev your metabolism. 

Ghrelin and leptin levels are impacted by sleep (less than 8 hours of sleep increase ghrelin), physical activity, stress, eating habits (frequent snacking, nighttime eating, avoiding breakfast, and high sugar/low fiber diets contribute to imbalances), and body fat.

Thyroid

There is a thyroid receptor on every single cell in the body which means there isn't any part of your body that can't be impacted by a poorly functioning thyroid. That means every hormone we've talked about today can be impacted by the thyroid, our gut and liver are impacted by the thyroid (2 other essential organs for maintaining weight), and our metabolism as a whole is affected by the thyroid. 

In fact, hypothyroidism can lower your basal metabolic rate (how many calories you burn at rest) by up to 40%!! This explains why it can feel like you have to starve yourself if you want to lose weight with hypothyroidism.

(You don't, I'm living proof - but that's a whole episode unto itself. If you are hypothyroid and struggling with your weight, feel free to book a free consultation with me here so we can chat about it.) 

Hypothyroidism can not only drive an increase in body fat due to its effects on our metabolism, it also causes us to retain more salt and water (read: water weight). 

Now plenty of weight loss coaches out there will tell you to ignore all of this and ‘just eat in a calorie deficit’. 

And yeah, you can say that. Or you can support people’s hormones so that eating in a calorie deficit is easier (both physically and psychologically). 

But how? What do you do to optimize your hormones to make weight loss easier when it all feels so overwhelming?

I share the simple but effective action steps you need to follow to lose hormonal weight in my Hormone Belly Blueprint. 

Here's what you can expect inside:

• A clear explanation of why the strategies that used to work gangbusters are leaving you stuck and frustrated.
• The 3 essential steps for hormone balance and sustainable weight loss that most diets barely touch on (if at all).
• The biggest non-food-or-exercise obstacle that's sabotaging your weight loss goals. 
• An in-depth, step-by-step program that will tell you exactly what to eat, how to improve your sleep, what exercises you should do (and not do), what supplements will actually make a difference, and how to realistically manage stress in order to optimize your hormones for easier weight loss. 
• A guide on how to implement all your new habits to ensure long-term results and to prevent overwhelm.
• Ways to incorporate treats without disrupting your hormones and slowing down your progress. 
• Mouth-watering, throw-together recipes that will support your hormone health, reduce cravings, boost your energy, and leave you feeling satisfied for hours, minimizing the need to snack.
• A list of the top 10 hormone-disrupting chemicals, where to find them, and how to clean up your personal care, home, and cleaning products to avoid exposure.

This is my most affordable program at only $27, click here for the OG version (perfect if you struggle with hormone weight due to stress, peri/post-menopause, PCOS, chronic dieting and the like), or here if you want the version I wrote specifically for my fellow hypothyroid warriors. 

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Products and Programs!

The Hormone Belly Blueprint: $27

An e-book and step-by-step program to help you overcome stubborn hormonal weight be it stress weight, peri/post-menopause belly, or PCOS or hypothyroid-induced resistant weight loss. Click here to learn more and buy!

Diet-Free Weight Loss Masterclass: $27

Embrace the diet rebel within as I reveal the secrets to losing weight without counting calories, giving up your favorite foods, or following fad diets in the jam-packed 1-hour video masterclass! Click here to learn more and buy!

Follow Your Gut Course: 2 payments of $150

My 60-day signature course where we optimize your gut to help you lose weight, reduce cravings, and tackle emotional eating. Click here to learn more and apply!

1:1 Functional Nutrition Coaching: $150-250/session

Finally get to the root of your health issues and experience relief from stubborn symptoms with functional lab work and customized protocols designed to optimize your gut, hormones, and metabolism. Click here to learn more and apply! 

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