The one thing sabotaging your hormones

Hormones are a hot topic, as they should be. They can make the difference between brain fog and clarity, weight gain and loss, drive and passion versus brain fog and fatigue, and so much more. The question becomes, why do so many people suffer from hormonal imbalance and how do we make it right?

We’re diving into hormones on today’s podcast along with a few other topics like birth control, menopause and how men and women can use their hormones to connect at a deeper level.

Today I interview Dr. Patrick Flynn. Dr. Patrick is the founder and director of The Wellness Way Clinics with wellness centers spread all throughout the U.S. serving individuals with numerous health conditions. He is also the author of his latest book, The Hormone Connection.

On today’s podcast I’ll be asking Dr. Patrick about:

• Hormonal testing for men and women.
• How to manage your hormones without supplements.
• What to use for natural birth control methods.
• What women should know about menopause?
• And so much more!

Make sure to check out the podcast and then follow along in the blog post to learn the one thing that is sabotaging our hormones {one for men and one for women}.

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men vs. women

There’s a lot of talk about woman’s hormones but not quite as much about men’s. Not because they don’t have any, oh they do, and it’s becoming more common. However, the main difference is men either cover it up and pretend like nothing is wrong, are nieve to the problem or too embarrassed and private to talk about it.

Either way, I’m going to bring to light the one thing that is sabotaging men’s hormones and the one thing that is harming woman’s. Surprisingly they are not the same thing.

men’s hormones

While both men and women have the same hormones running through their bodies, they do come in different concentrations making men, men, and women, women. The defining hormone for men is testosterone.

Testosterone causes physical changes, gives men energy, muscle development, makes him motivated, driven, single-task oriented {yes, yes it does} and of course gives him the intense sex drive.

In men, testosterone and other hormones are cycling based on a 24-hour cycle with testosterone being highest in the morning hours. Knowing all of this, you can see that men’s hormonal patterns are relatively easy to work with and they are often quick to see changes and results.

Ladies, we hate this, am I right? The quick weight loss, the muscle definition, the ability to eat a lot and not gain a pound.  It’s all so frustrating, but it is just what it is. In all fairness though, men can’t carry babies and for a good reason. Their bodies are not equipped for that miracle.

the one thing men need to stop

There is one big factor that is sabotaging men’s hormones. That is sugar. Yes, excess amounts of sugar are wrecking testosterone production in men. What happens is when you feed your body excess sugar, insulin is released via your pancreas. In the short term, men can handle this, but over time their bodies can become insensitive to insulin which tells the body to turn on fat storage.

Fat storage mode {called lipogensis} takes that sugar and converts it into body fat often depositing it in the abdomen region. This abdominal fat then signals to turn the testosterone to estrogens creating a “softening” in men. Excess estrogen in men leads to disease, a lack of drive, energy, fatigue, cancers, heart disease, mental health problems and so much more.

The bottom line, men while you can handle a large amount of stress you can’t handle sugar. The best way to increase your hormones and keep your T flowing is to limit your sugar intake, stop snacking, practice intermittent fasting, exercise and eat more whole foods.

overcome sugar

As I mentioned, there are some simple practices you could incorporate into your everyday life to help you reduce your reliance on sugar and increase your testosterone levels fixing your hormones. Here are a few of the top tips I could give you:

• Focus on protein and fat at meals rather than carbs – This means skipping the plate of pasta for a big serving of protein and some veggies, or bacon and eggs in the morning rather than donuts and cereal.
• Stop snacking – This is sabotaging you because often the snacks we consume are loaded with sugar and nothing more. Not to mention, men’s bodies were never designed to consume food regularly throughout the day. Being more adept to handle stress, you should only be eating in a rested state, and for most men, this happens two maybe three times a day.
• Practice intermittent fasting – Intermittent fasting allows testosterone to stay elevated keeping you in the “man zone” longer throughout the day. Try consuming all of your food in a 10-12 hour window allowing the remainder of the day for rest.
• Complete a monthly fast – Men may also benefit from a longer monthly fast. If you feel like you’re in a rut or lacking energy, try omitting from food for 24-48 hour period to boost your testosterone production.
• Exercise Daily – It doesn’t have to be intense but choosing to work your muscles will also help boost your testosterone levels. Men need to stay active that stress is very powerful in healing men’s hormones. Find a way to move, lift or stay active daily.

Women on the other hand

Women, on the other side, are an entirely different beast. I say that in the most gentle of ways. Just like men, women have the same hormones but a different distribution of them. Estrogen is the dominant hormone in women giving us all the glorious features.

Speaking of estrogen, women don’t just have one estrogen but ten different forms contributing to multiple functions that allow a woman to grow a child, multi-task, care, care some more and get stuff done.

The problem with women is that we’re more difficult to figure out because we don’t run hormones cyclically in a 24-hour span of time. A woman cycles through four different phases roughly every 28-32 days. Of course, this is dependent on each stage and what a woman’s encountered, how the other hormones in the cycle are performing and so many other factors.

I mean having four phases in one cycle that happens over the course of days gets a lot more complicated. Given this, it is also harder for a woman to see results, at least quickly, but it’s not impossible. This is assuming we understand the number one influencer of woman’s hormones.

the one thing sabotaging woman’s hormones

Stress, stress, stress. Yes, stress is the number one culprit affecting woman’s health, and if I’m guessing you encounter a lot of it. I get it. Women are under a lot of pressure today, especially in a society that has fought for gender equality {which I’m a total proponent}. But the demands of trying to juggle home life, kids, full-time jobs, school work, appointments and everything in between creates a damper on our hormone flow.

Can’t you feel it? When you’re stressed, you become exhausted, worn out, burnt out and sick.

The more aware I’ve become of this, the more I can feel it affecting everything in my body. But that’s what we need to know; stress is not something that we’re adapted to handle. Sure in small loads, but in the loads, woman are receiving it today, it is ruining us.

As Dr. Patrick states, “Some would indicate that even if you’re doing everything right – eating well, detoxing well – getting adjusted – exercising – that stress is 10x more influential than diet and exercise alone. This goes to show that we need to put real effort into stress reduction practices or at least stress management.”

The truth, as long as you’re stressed you’ll never see results.

You have to deal with that hurdle, and then everything else will come.

Remember in women; stress hormones are directly linked to estrogen production. Also why we tend to be more emotional and have more feelings than men. Their hormones are not connected to stress hormones and thus why stress doesn’t seem to affect them in the same way.

fix your stress

Given that woman’s hormones are most influenced by stress we have to work on ways to practice stress management. The first step would be in understanding what your most significant stressors are? Is it your kids, men, your weight, job, home life? What are your stressors and then start to look at ways to resolve these?

Next, implement stress-relieving practices into your own life. Here are my top four ways to manage stress.

1. Pray and journal daily – Quiet time is one of the best ways for a woman to ground herself back into truth. It’s easy to let the chores and needs of others overtake your day, but you can’t serve out of an empty vessel. Fill yourself up first thing in the morning.
2. Practice cycle-syncing – That means getting acquainted with where you are in your cycle and eat and live accordingly. Click here to learn more about cycle-syncing.
3. Schedule time to rest and relax – Your schedule is often over-committed. Rather than letting every commitment fall on you set clear and defined boundaries of time just for you. Maybe you shut your devices off a few hours before bed, dig into a good book, take a hot bath or take a nice long walk. Find something you enjoy and do more of that.
4. Nourish your relationships – Relationships are one of the top stressors of a woman. We are naturally feelers and rely on healthy relationships. If you have a toxic relationship, look for ways to heal that or let go of that. Practice communication with your spouse, spend quality time with your kids, reach out to a friend you cherish, talk kindly to yourself. Work on those relationships that fill you up.

want to balance your hormones?

Whether you are male or female, we can all get our hormone cycle on a negative spiral. Sometimes all we need is to refocus, regroup and reset our hormones.

Five days, the right environment, a healthy mindset and a winning plan is all your body needs to get back on track. To end the viscous sugar cravings, cut back on caffeine, regulate your cycle, increase your libido, awaken your brain and put more joy in your soul.

This 5-day system will teach you how to incorporate healing practices into your every day, what foods jump-start your hormones and help create healthy habits that last a lifetime. Not to mention, the meal plan is family friendly and delicious.

Make sure to check out my 5-Day Hormonal Reset Program. The perfect guide to understanding how to nourish your body, provide the right environment for change. All with a healthy mindset. It makes the how-to simple and easy!

Not to mention, the recipes are delicious! You can check out a one-day sample below!

Make the investment in your health here and reset your hormones in just five days!

resources

• The Wellness Way Clinics
• The Hormone Connection
• 5 Natural Ways to Balance Hormones
• Menopause: The Seven Facts Every Woman Needs to Know
• Men’s Health and Achieving Optimal Performance

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