How many times have you heard someone say, “It’s just calories in and calories out”? Wouldn’t it be great if it were that simple? Just eat less and exercise more, and you’ll lose weight. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Your body isn’t a math formula, it’s vastly more complicated. It’s actually one big chemistry experiment with a lot of different variables affected by a lot of other variables. Understanding those variables can make all the difference in how you treat your body and how you feel.

Do you understand how complex your health is?

Our bodies are complex. And women’s bodies can be even more complicated because of our hormones. I’m not talking about the hormones we learned about in health class that have to do with reproduction.

Hormones influence every aspect of your body, how it functions and feels, your appetite, your stress level and mood, and even how your brain functions. Hormones affect your health and your wellbeing. So of course, when there’s an imbalance, that will affect you.

Another hormone fact that we don’t learn in health class, is that testosterone is the most abundant hormone in women’s bodies. Starting in their late 20s, women start losing testosterone which can lead to a downward spiral of health effects. Testosterone has a direct effect on insulin. And insulin affects appetite, and the ability to burn and store fat.

Whole foods

The thing I want you to take away from this is that just because you’re in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, you do not need to feel like shit!

But as you age, you do need to understand what your body needs more of, and fuel your body correctly. And the standard American lifestyle and diet isn’t going to get you there.

The best thing you can do is limit processed foods. It’s not just that added fats and carbohydrates are unhealthy. The added chemicals, oils, and preservatives in processed foods affect your hormones and make your brain say “Give me more!” The phrase, “You can’t eat just one!” isn’t just an ad slogan, it’s a fact.

So the more you can limit your exposure to processed foods and the chemicals that trick your brain into thinking you’re still hungry, the better you’ll be.

Exercise

The next thing you can do is exercise. First of all, sweat is a better detox system than any juice cleanse. But more importantly, your muscles store glucose, a.k.a. energy. So when you exercise, you burn the glucose in your muscles. And then you get energy from the glycogen in your liver.

After your workout, when you eat some high-quality food, your muscles and liver suck all the energy from that food to prepare for the next workout, instead of storing it. Your metabolism is going, and the system is working.

Sleep

But whole food and exercise isn’t the end. Something important that often gets overlooked is sleep. You might think you’re bionic, but you need at least 7 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep a night. Because that’s when your body fixes everything. Your brain, muscles, and body clear out the dead cells and repairs damaged tissue, and your digestive system resets. Your body is amazing! It can reset, repair, and regenerate while you sleep.

Sleep also helps with cortisol levels. If you’re highly stressed during the day and then skimping on sleep, your cortisol levels will keep spiking during the night and you won’t wake up feeling your best. And high cortisol levels tell your body to store fat and burn mucle.

Luckily, there are some easy things you can incorporate to help with that is limiting your blue-light exposure, investing in a red-light alarm clock, and getting 10 minutes of sunlight before 10:00am. Let your brain get into the habit of recognizing the morning. Because then, when evening comes, you’ll sleep better.

Understand your body!

Finally, understand that when it comes to your diet, it’s not just about macros or calories. It’s a combination of factors based on factors like your body’s insulin resistance, food intolerances, hormone levels, and stress levels. Finding the right mixture for you and your body will make all the difference in how you feel. 

If you want to go even deeper into this science lesson, message me and let’s put a system in place that will have you feel amazing at every age!