Feeling Stressed? How To Balance Hormones and Kickstart Your Results
It’s no secret that our lives can be stressful. Between managing our career, schedule, family, and health journey, there are a lot of moving parts. Not to mention the stress that the modern day world can bring into our lives. It’s so important to understand how stress impacts our hormones and bodies, because it can have a real effect on our weight loss results and overall well being. To better understand what stress really does to our bodies and to learn how to balance hormones and continue getting results, I sat down with Dr. Terrie Van Alstyne, a naturopathic doctor, as we talk all about stress and its impact on our bodies. Read on to learn the key points that Terrie shares and how to stabilize your own stress hormones.
What Does Stress Do To Our Bodies?
When our body enters into a stressed state, it affects our hormone levels and causes our bodies to secrete adrenaline and cortisol. Of course it’s nearly impossible to avoid all stress, and short-term stress is not a real problem. We actually do want our bodies to experience some level of “fight or flight” response, because it prepares our bodies to fight or run from danger in the event that is necessary. However, long-term stress is where the real concern begins.
Staying stressed for long periods of time causes our body to produce too much adrenaline and cortisol. This can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, and nervousness. The overproduction of these two stress hormones damages our glands, organs, and tissues over time. Plus, it can also cause us to age quicker, which is not the goal for anyone!
What Are The Signs Of Stress?
There are many physical signs of stress, some we may not even recognize as stress and some we might be able to pinpoint immediately. If you are feeling stressed, you may experience frequent headaches, insomnia, depression, fatigue, digestive issues, and irritability.
Did you know that even over exercising can be too stressful on our bodies and deplete our energy levels? It’s true! That’s why it’s so important to stick to a healthy exercise routine, like our Total Body Transformation workout plan, that takes into account the stressors on your body to ensure you can keep your hormones stabilized.
The overproduction of adrenaline and cortisol can also cause weight gain, particularly around our mid-section. When we are feeling stressed, our bodies then begin to release the “feel good hormones” of serotonin and dopamine. If you’ve ever wondered why you find yourself craving carbs, sugar, chocolate, wine, or other unhealthy foods during a time of high stress, this is why! Over time, these hormone surges can lead to long-term health issues. It can also suppress our immune system, making us more susceptible to infections and illnesses (which only add more stress to our lives!).
How To Balance Hormones From Stress
With all of this in mind, it’s clear how crucial it is to learn how to balance hormones from stress. There are several things we can do to take extra care of ourselves and lower our adrenaline and cortisol levels. Check out these tips for stabilizing your stress hormones so you can continue to see weight loss results and feel great!
Identify the cause of the stress and eliminate it if possible or aim to reduce it.
If it’s not possible to eliminate the stressor, we must CHANGE our mindset! We CAN control our thoughts and beliefs around something.
Identify negative coping patterns and replace them with positive ones.
Do relaxation and/or breathing exercises twice a day.
Exercise daily.
Work on improving your communication. Let your partner and family know what you need in terms of self care so they can support you.
Eliminate caffeine, alcohol, and refined carbs.
Increase your potassium and eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Avoid processed foods!
Eat planned meals in a relaxed environment.
If you want to learn more about how to stabilize your hormones so you can continue to achieve weight loss results, check out this video where I talk with Dr. Terri Van Alstyne all about stress, hormones, and the foods and vitamins we need to be consuming to support our adrenal glands and help lower stress hormones.
If you’re ready to learn the skills and get the exact tools you need to live a healthier, more balanced lifestyle, check out the Total Body Transformation program, where you’ll get everything you need to lose weight, keep it off, and feel great!
I’d love to know your biggest takeaways from this blog post, so comment below and let me know what you learned about stress, hormones, and your results!