Can Losing Weight Change Your Hormones

Nothing is more frustrating than making lifestyle changes to support your health and lose a little weight, only to find that nothing changes despite your efforts. Everywhere you look, a new fad diet or workout regimen seems to bring about dramatic transformations. So why won't it work for you?

The dirty little secret of the billion-dollar weight loss industry is that despite what you've heard, eating less and moving more isn't always the key to weight loss success. And a lot of the time, the more you try to restrict or over-exercise, the worse things can get. While it’s true that some people’s weight loss does require a caloric deficit, achieving it is much easier said than done, especially when hormones are out of balance.

If this sounds familiar, it's time to look at the possibility that a hormonal imbalance is contributing to your weight loss resistance. And it is certainly time for the arm chair (or weight bench) medical experts to calm down with their shame and blame tactics because when it comes to women’s metabolic health and body composition—hormones are everything.

Hormones And Weight Loss: How To Balance Your Hormones Naturally

Note: We’re going to talk about weight loss in this article because that is some people’s goals. If that’s not your goal, that’s ok. But round here, we aren’t going to shame anybody’s goal or any body. And if you struggle with an eating disorder and feel this might be triggering, please feel free to head to any of our other articles instead.

Hormones are your body's chemical messengers that help regulate everything from metabolism and appetite to fertility and mood. When hormones are out of balance, they can wreak havoc on your entire system—including your weight.

Hormones are like the gas pedal and the brakes of your metabolism. When they're in balance, your metabolism runs smoothly. But when they're out of balance, your metabolism can grind to a halt. So bringing this back into balance is crucial if you want to feel better in your body.

The Role Of Hormones

But make no mistake, the hormone influences metabolism shifts are by design. You, being very sensitive to environmental shifts because the intention was that you’d create life in your body, are not flawed. Your body is made to survive in the wake of serious stress, which means shifting hormones and storing energy (that’s what fat cells are for) to endure.

Multiple hormones can affect your weight, but here are the ones that I address most often in my practice (and in many cases, the imbalance includes more than one hormone because they all work together synergistically). And as an important note, as a board-certified naturopathic endocrinologist, what I most commonly see is that weight is a symptom of a greater issue.

Estrogen is produced by the ovaries and is responsible for developing and regulating the female reproductive system. It's also essential for bones, brain, and heart health. But too much (or when it's not in balance with progesterone), called estrogen excess or more commonly estrogen dominance, might make it hard to lose weight.

Do Hormones Make You Fat?

Estrogen dominance can lead to weight gain, water retention, painful breasts, irregular periods, and other health issues. Estrogen dominance, at least in part, can be related to factors such as high environmental estrogen levels, stress, or poor gut health.

Weight loss with estrogen dominance can be challenging because fat tissues can actually make more estrogen, so it becomes a vicious cycle. In addition, adipose tissue or fat cells can also lead to increased inflammation, which not only can be a culprit in weight loss resistance, but can also contribute to more estrogen in the body.

The tricky thing about estrogen is that it can contribute to weight gain when it drops, as seen with menopause. So both too much and too little can be a problem because estrogen helps regulate fat tissue in your body.

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If you’re experiencing weight gain around the butt, hips and thighs, that may be a clue your estrogen is in need of support.

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that produces hormones to regulate metabolism, heart rate, and body temperature. Thyroid hormone can affect weight because your thyroid regulates how your body uses energy.

A major symptom of an under-active thyroid (hypothyroidism) is weight gain or weight loss resistance because it slows your metabolism. This can make it difficult to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

How To Balance These 5 Hormones Responsible For Weight Loss!

Stress, nutrient deficiencies, certain medications, and diet all play an essential role in your thyroid health. While medication may be needed to correct thyroid dysfunction, lifestyle can't be ignored.

Metabolic syndrome is a condition that includes a group of risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. These risk factors include high blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol levels, and excess body fat around the waist.

Metabolic syndrome is closely tied to insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body use glucose (sugar) for energy. When the body becomes resistant to insulin, it can't use glucose effectively. This increases blood sugar levels, and too much glucose in the blood is eventually stored as fat.

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But contrary to popular thought, insulin itself doesn’t make you fat. So before you get scared away from eating that next piece of juicy fruit or sweet potato, please know that the glucose causing elevated insulin levels is a product of insulin resistance and not the root cause. Meaning, it’s not the carbohydrate leading to fat storage but the underlying insulin resistance at a cellular level that’s the cause. And the root cause of that is due to many factors—mainly an ongoing diet composed of too many processed foods and not enough real food.

Insulin resistance is usually linked with type 2 diabetes, but you can have insulin resistance for years before developing diabetes without knowing it (and struggling to lose weight the whole time).

Insulin resistance is present in the majority of people with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Keep reading for more on this complex condition.

Hormonal Imbalance In Women: 9 Signs To Look For

Like other hormones, too little testosterone is a problem too. Since testosterone can influence metabolic rate (how many calories you burn), women with lower than usual testosterone levels can have difficulty losing weight (plus experience other not-so-fun symptoms like fatigue, lack of motivation, feelings of sadness, or low libido).

There is a significant relationship between testosterone levels and weight in women, as women need testosterone in the right amount. Specifically, women with high testosterone can struggle with weight loss because testosterone could increase insulin resistance in some people. But higher than normal insulin levels could stimulate the body to make more testosterone. This is most commonly seen in PCOS, as we will discuss in a minute.

And if you’ve got too much testosterone to begin with, but are also experiencing elevations in inflammatory proteins, well that can kick up the estrogen levels in the body.

Possible Weight Loss Effects

There are a lot more studies on men than women on testosterone (surprise, surprise), but here are a few healthy lifestyle tips for balancing testosterone:

Leptin resistance is a condition in which the body becomes resistant to the effects of the hormone leptin. Leptin is responsible for suppressing appetite and regulating metabolism. Just like insulin resistance, leptin resistance means the body isn't responding as it should, so you always feel hungry.

One reason is that the person may carry too much fat tissue since leptin is produced by fat cells. Another reason is that the person's cells may not respond appropriately to leptin signals, preventing the hormone from doing its job correctly. Whatever the reason, leptin resistance can make it very difficult for women to lose weight.

Ghrelin, The “go” Hormone

Leptin resistance is tricky and takes a multifaceted approach. You can address your hunger and satiety hormones with healthy lifestyle habits like healthy eating and exercise. Still, sleep, stress, and addressing inflammation causes are all important too.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine-based condition caused by an imbalance in hormones like testosterone, insulin, and progesterone. Testosterone and insulin are often elevated in those with PCOS, making weight loss difficult.

Because of inflammation and insulin resistance, PCOS can make it harder to lose weight and contribute to increased weight gain. Studies have shown that women with PCOS have higher levels of inflammation, possibly due to insulin resistance. Not every woman with PCOS has insulin resistance, but the majority do.

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High androgens like testosterone also play a role, as mentioned above. Weight loss with PCOS takes a specialized approach, including diet, exercise, supplements, and more, to address root causes.

But know, weight gain is a symptom of PCOS, not the cause. And you cannot cure PCOS by losing weight, but in many instances, it can help symptoms. Addressing weight issues in people with PCOS is never a calories in/ calories out conversation. It is important to educate on the multiple ways this condition can impact the body and focus on the nutrition, lifestyle, and sometimes medication strategies that can help bring balance.

If you experience rapid weight gain or loss (like 10 lbs or more in a 6 month period of time) it is time to see your provider. Because weight changes are often a symptom, this one could point to a serious

Hormones And Weight Loss: The Relation Of Weight Loss And Hormones