Do you know the obvious hormone imbalance symptoms in women?  If you are trying to lose weight and can’t – know the signs.

True Story:

This story is about Kathryn, a very dear client of mine and she allowed me to tell her story.

Kathryn came to me about 1 year ago eager to lose weight for her upcoming wedding.  She’s young, beautiful and she also happened to be a ballerina.  I never worked with a ballerina before but she proved to have an amazing work ethic and was dedicated to every training session we had.  She worked hard and gave 110% in every workout. 

But as with every new client I get I am more interested in their diet history rather than making a current diet plan.  I wanted to know why she was here – why she needed a trainer.

Some people need the structure and the discipline of a trainer and others need guidance.  And a few special ones CANNOT LOSE WEIGHT no matter what they do. 

Kathryn had a history of going long bouts without food, working long hours, lacking sleep, depriving herself of food to maintain the physique expected of ballerinas and rarely fed herself enough to fuel 2 hours of her day never-mind her typical 12-14 hour days.  She had multiple broken bones, fractures, etc. and dark circles under her eyes.  She was often terribly exhausted and lacked energy and she was losing muscle tone while having an overall puffy appearance.  But she had a positive attitude and willingness to work hard.

We spent a couple months cleaning up her diet by adding more protein as well as healthy calories.  We created clear meals and snacks and learned to fuel her body for the demands of her day.  We did an elimination diet to find any possible food allergies and played around with a high calorie intake and low calorie intakes as well as changes to her macronutrients.

Nothing changed.  Maybe a pound or 2 lost here and there……but nothing like what I would expect from someone as dedicated as Kathryn.  

She was doing EVERYTHING right.  If I asked her to eat 40 grams of protein per meal – she did.

If I asked her to cut out the sugar and processed carbs – she did.

If I asked her to run 30-45min. per day – she did.

Nothing changed.  Not enough really…..not for the effort she was putting in.

Know the causes for weight gain

If this sounds like you…..then listen up because the inability to lose weight with normal diet and exercise is one of the most common hormone imbalance symptoms in women.

I started specializing in the “difficult cases” of women who could not lose fat because I was coming across way too many women who were doing all the right things and MAYBE a pound or two would come off.  Then 3 pounds would come back on…..then 2 would come off again. 

Just like Kathryn, they did everything I asked them to do and could not really make any great changes on the scale.  They kept bouncing around the same 4-6 pound range.

So what happened with Kathryn? 

We started talking about adrenal issues, gut health and being malnourished and what that does to your body.  You see, Kathryn had lived a life that set her up for metabolic chaos and none of her systems were really working properly. 

With her history of long work hours, little sleep and little food she was primed for adrenal dysfunction.  This is a key factor in the ability to lose weight.

After some testing she discovered she was  deficient in Vitamin D  – another factor that will make weight loss difficult.

She also has adrenal fatigue or dysfunction – a big factor in the inability to lose weight.

She also had a high fasting glucose count of 104 – blood sugar instability is another cause for weight loss resistance.

Lastly, she also found out she has Hashimoto’s – an autoimmune thyroid condition which makes weight loss pretty much impossible.

Kathryn has FOUR factors working against her making her weight loss resistant.  No matter what her body will not release fat until these issues are addressed.

So what will happen to Kathryn?

Well, it’s not going to be a case of rapid fat loss.  Her body is going to have to heal and most likely other little imbalances will pop up because when one system is off……so is another….and another.  It will take time to get her body back in balance but at least she can stop beating herself up and thinking that she is failing at “dieting”.  In time as she addresses the adrenal fatigue, Vitamin D deficiency, Hashimoto’s and blood sugar regulation issues she will begin to lose weight – slowly.  But the weight will come off with a good diet and reasonable exercise program suited to HER needs.

Recognizing hormone imbalance symptoms in women:

Most likely you have an imbalance if:

1.       You are following a good diet plan and exercise plan and cannot lose weight.

2.       You are tired all the time even though you had a good night’s rest.

3.       You complain that you are bloated, puffy and/or swollen.

4.       You are cravings sweets and can’t control yourself even though you know you need to.

5.       You are losing strength/muscle mass and getting weaker.

6.       Your diet hasn’t changed and you are gaining weight fast.

7.       You irritable, cranky, unmotivated and just “don’t feel like yourself”.

8.       You are often constipated or have IBS type symptoms.

9.       You have no libido.

10.   You sweat a lot…..a lot more than you should be.

These are just SOME of the signs of hormone imbalance symptoms in women.  Every woman I have trained who has had some of these symptoms has had some sort of a hormonal imbalance that has made them unable to lose weight.

The top 10 imbalances that can go wrong which will make fat loss difficult if not IMPOSSIBLE are:

• Insulin
• Cortisol
• Gut issues
• Thyroid issues
• Sex hormone imbalances
• Toxicity issues
• Immune system
• Neurotransmitter imbalances
• Cellular dysfunction (anemia, vitamin D deficiency, etc.)
• Mind/Body Issues

The take home message is…….if you are doing EVERYTHING RIGHT (and be honest about this now) and you cannot make the scale move then it is time to look at the hormone imbalance symptoms in women to find the root cause of why you cannot lose weight. 

It should not take Herculean efforts to shed fat.

Remember…..the definition of INSANITY is doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different result.  

Hormone imbalance symptoms in women are not “in your head”.  Understanding how your body works and knowing what is working against you can make this journey of weight loss much easier.

Fat Loss happens when your systems are in balance.  Calories in/out DO NOT APPLY if you have any of these issues.

Feel free to contact me for a brief 30 minute consultation to discuss your possible hormone imbalance or weight loss resistance.  At the very least…..at least you will know that you are not crazy and this stuff is real!!!!!