Healing your Hormones with Nutrition and Lifestyle Changes
There is no one size fits all when it comes to healing your hormones. While there are certainly some standard things that every person should do in order to heal their hormones and manage their symptoms (which I’ll detail for you below) but we shouldn’t all be doing the same exact things.
Why?
Genetically speaking we are all different and often need different protocols to heal our bodies. Even if you have the “same issue” as someone else, it’s very likely that your body will need something different to heal.
It’s shockingly common to see people guessing at what they need either because they haven’t had complete blood work done, or because they are doing what worked for their mom, sister, neighbors, or cousin.
Finding an Individual Solution
As an example, two people could have hypothyroidism, with many of the same symptoms, but the cause of their hypothyroidism is entirely different.
Just checking the thyroid (or TSH) is rarely enough. The thyroid can look completely fine but other hormones like DHEA (which acts as your battery) can be off. Pregnenolone is another one that rarely gets checked yet many times is low in women. This hormone sort of acts like the mother of all hormones so you can imagine if it’s low this is why you’re tired all the time
Figuring out what is behind your imbalances is the key to healing your hormones. It’s a unique situation for each person, so it’s really important that you work with someone who is well-versed in hormones to get to the root cause of your hormonal imbalance or deficiency.
What you can do
That being said, everyone who struggles with hormonal imbalances can benefit from some basic nutrition and lifestyle changes to support healing their hormones. Your nutrition MATTERS. You simply cannot expect your body to heal by only giving it supplements and medication, you also need to give it fuel so it can thrive. Your lifestyle choices can drastically affect your bodies ability to heal as well. So while I may not be able to give you a quick answer for how to heal your hormonal imbalances, I can tell you some things that will help you feel better.
5 Things You can Do to Help your Body Heal:
1. Eat Lean (Quality) Protein
Protein is your best friend.
Most women undereat protein, so however much protein you are eating, you probably need to up it.
Protein helps with muscle synthesis, insulin management, gut health, energy levels, sleep, satiety, hormone functions, weight loss etc. If your body is not getting enough protein you are asking it to do all of these things without the fuel it needs.
Use your palm as a tool of measurement and at each meal you make sure you eat a palm size of protein. Some good examples for protein are
- Organic Grilled Chicken
- Organic grass fed beef (I love Butcher Box)
- Ground or Whole Turkey (Organic, obvi)
- Wild Caught Salmon
- Organic Free Range Eggs
- Pea Protein (I like this brand https://liveowyn.com and so do my clients)
2.Don’t forget your fruits & veggies
You might be thinking “DUH” but its shocking how few fruits and veggies most people eat these days. Do you honestly get 5 servings of each daily?
If you are not eating enough colorful fruits & veggies, you are missing out on the most wholesome vitamins, minerals and fiber you can get. Getting our vitamins and minerals in should always come from food first and then supplement (if you need to).
Food is the most absorbable form of these vital nutrients – which means it’s easier for your body to use them. When you are asking your body to heal, you want to make it as easy as possible, right? #eatyourveggies!
3. Sleep
Getting enough sleep (RESTFUL sleep) is extremely important when it comes to your health and hormones.
There’s a difference between getting 8 hours of sleep and waking up feeling refreshed vs. getting 8 hours of sleep and not feeling rested in the morning. If you are not feeling rested after 8 hours it might mean you are not getting enough REM sleep which can be caused by hormonal issues or simply not having a good bedtime routine. Are you on your phone scrolling right before bed or watching TV right before bed? Put the phone away an hour before you want to go to bed to allow your mind and body to get ready for sleep.
When you sleep your body goes to work to restore and heal. Your sleep schedule needs to be consistent. Going to bed every night around the same time and getting up around the same time. This helps your body and hormones regulate themselves. 8 hours a night is ideal for most people. If you are really struggling with energy, planning some rest time during the day can help as well (hello, nap time!)
4. Exercise
You know I’m a huge proponent of movement, but it’s extremely important to do it correctly, especially when you are dealing with hormonal imbalances.
If you have hypothyroidism or hormones that need healing you have no business doing HIIT and/or lots of cardio. This type of exercise will really fatigue your adrenals and make things worse. Trust me on this.
If you are someone that loves this type of exercise just know once the body is healed and you’re feeling good again you can probably add it back in. But taking a break will allow your body to restore its proper hormone levels. And if you think you can’t lose weight without doing cardio, you haven’t been following me on Instagram long enough. LOL. This is a myth.
On the other hand, if you are not doing any exercise at all you do need to start doing something, so start with walking everyday. From there slowly add other exercise like strength training.
Strength training is your best friend here. A few strength training workouts each week can be very beneficial for your health and hormone healing. No matter which end of the spectrum you are currently on (cardio junkie or sedentary), I can help you create a customized workout plan that will support your healing instead of hurting it. You can also join my Strength Training program here.
5. Address your stress and trauma
In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated and under discussed topics around hormone health.
Many autoimmune and hypothyroidism diseases are triggered by trauma and start within the nervous system and travel to the gut from there. Trauma means a stressful period in life (such as a divorce, moving, changing jobs, or becoming a mom), trauma can also be childbirth, or a wedding, work stress or pretty much anything that stresses your body.
It is essential to heal from trauma if you want to heal the hormones. This will look different for each individual. For some it is getting a therapist, others it’s a life coach, others it’s opening up to their spiritual leaders or any mentor that you feel safe and comfortable opening up and sharing. There are other trauma healing modalities such as Red Light Therapy and Infrared, or Ice Plunges that help heal the nervous system and re-create new neural pathways.
Don’t overlook this step. It’s crucial or you will keep coming back to the same place over and over.
You are not alone
While this list is a good place to start, figuring out hormonal imbalances on your own can feel impossible.
Between fatigue, brain fog and other hormonal swings, it can be hard to put the pieces of the puzzle together alone.
If you are struggling with a hormone imbalance, or suspect you might be, I highly recommend you find support.
Start by downloading my free Thyroid E- Guide here.
Then set up a call with me so we can set up a plan to help you heal.
Welcome to the UnDiet Yourself Revolution
Inside the UnDiet Yourself community, I teach you to take a holistic approach to your health. You’ll learn the foundations of health and nutrition for a sustainable healthy lifestyle that will last a lifetime. Some of the areas I specialize in are hormones, gut health, macros, mindset, movement and habit building.