So you’ve cleaned up your diet & increased exercise but it’s not working.
There’s a combination of things that are likely going on.
The key problem is cortisol.
This stress hormone is produced for various reasons; regulate the sleep-wake cycle, release sugar stores when blood glucose dips, increase energy levels...
It's produced in response to ongoing stress; emotional, psychological or physical (pain, over-exercising, famine)
Your body perceives and responds to all these stressors in the same way; high cortisol.
Think about that for a second. Your body responds, in the same way, to work pressure as it does to starvation…
During a famine, cortisol stimulates the release of glucose from the liver & muscles for fuel. High glucose increases insulin, which moves sugar into the cells for energy. HOWEVER, there’s not a famine is there? You already have plenty of glucose, so you instead store the excess glucose away as fat.
So undereating & over-exercising can make you fatter thanks to cortisol.
When you’re peri-menopausal, you're ultra-sensitive to stressors because your stress glands (adrenals) not only produce your stress hormones, but they’re also taking over the production of sex hormones from the ovaries as they shut down.
And because it’s far more important to your body to have ample stress hormones to respond appropriately to danger & keep you alive, the glands will prioritise the production of stress hormones over sex hormones; worsening menopausal symptoms and making you fatter.
Stress management should be at the top of your to-do list if you’re serious about getting back into your favourite clothes.
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