5 Mistakes You’re Making When Trying to Balance Hormones
Today more than ever, people are talking about the importance of balanced hormones! They truly affect every aspect of our lives from sleep to metabolism to emotions and even our perception of the world around us. It is becoming increasingly popular to discuss balanced hormones, but I am seeing the discussion centered around supplements, trendy diets, and quick fixes. The truth is that hormonal balance comes from establishing nourishing foundations!
Unfortunately there are a few very common mistakes I see women make when dealing with a hormonal imbalance that can lead to some unexpected symptoms.
Although well intentioned, many women are chronically undernourishing and overexerting themselves. In fact, many “health” practices such as intermittent fasting and various forms of exercise can actually stress our nervous and endocrine systems, leading to hormone imbalances and unexplained symptoms.
Although this list may seem intuitive, I see women making these mistakes day in and day out. It can take some time and practice to avoid these, but once we establish intentional eating, exercise, and food relationship foundations, many symptoms can resolve and the body can achieve homeostasis! Remember the female body is intricate, complex, and requires safety for proper hormone functioning!
Mistake #1: Undereating
A major component of nourishing ourselves is eating enough.
While it seems intuitive, it is extremely common for women to chronically undereat without even realizing. When intentionally or unintentionally restricting food/calories, the body undergoes a stress response as a result of lack of energy supply and nutrient deficiencies. Many women don’t recognize that this can contribute to a cascade of effects which can include thyroid suppression, blood sugar imbalances, sex hormone imbalances, and increases in stress hormones.
Undereating can be a result of:
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- Imbalanced macronutrient consumption
- Dieting and following diet trends
- Skipping meals, especially breakfast
- Prioritizing “low calorie” processed foods
- Poor planning around meal & grocery shopping habits
- Internalized diet culture beliefs (eg: only eating fat-free foods, sugar free foods, low carb foods, foods that fit a specific diet)
- Overconsumption of nutrient-void foods (filling up on foods that lack essential vitamins & minerals)
One of the most important pieces to hormone balance, healthy body composition, and a healthy metabolism is eating adequate amounts of nutrients! Prioritizing balanced meals every 3-4 hours is a foundational aspect of hormone health that will provide the body with the safety it needs to function properly, keep stress hormones at bay, and promote healthy thyroid function. Properly nourishing ourselves is one of the most effective ways to restore balance. It should not be overlooked!
(Pssss) read to the end for a special FREE GIFT to guide you about adequately eating and support you on your journey to balance your hormones.
Mistake #2: Low Carb Eating
Many women with hormone imbalances, blood sugar irregularities, and weight loss goals often turn to low carb diets as a solution. In fact, women who go on keto or low carb diets often see quick weight loss and decreases in fasting blood sugar. Unfortunately, low carb diets are NOT sustainable, especially for menstruating women. This is because every cell and tissue in the body requires glucose (a carbohydrate) for energy, especially cells in the liver, thyroid, and brain. In the absence of adequate carbohydrates, the body produces glucose by breaking down muscle and proteins in the body or relying on ketones (an adaptive stress response for the body when a primary energy resource is not available). Low carb eating is a highly stressful process when reservers are already depleted. This process can throw women into a protective state, involving increasing levels of cortisol and other stress hormones – creating opportunity to shut down your period, menstrual cycle, and ultimately your sex hormones.
When women experience initial weight loss, it is typically a result of this muscle tissue breakdown and water loss, rather than fat loss. Obviously blood sugar will drop in the absence of dietary sugars, however, chronic low carb eating can actually result in the inability to use glucose properly and lead to further imbalances.
Increased stress hormones from long term low carb eating can result in sex hormone deficiencies and a sluggish thyroid. Because every system in the body interacts, this can lead to whole host of symptoms including: digestive issues, menstrual problems, infertility, poor sleep, etc. Prioritizing an adequate balance of macronutrients and quality carbohydrates is absolutely essential for a robust, balanced endocrine system.
Mistake #3: Excessive Fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) has become increasingly trendy. Although many in the health space espouse its benefits, studies on IF have largely only been conducted on men. Men have a 24 hour hormonal cycle and due to high testosterone levels, are more resilient to physical stress compared to women. Women have 25-35 day hormonal cycles and require a sustained energy supply to maintain hormone production.
While some women intentionally choose to fast, others go long periods without eating unintentionally. This can result from:
- Internalized beliefs around dieting & diet culture
- Following weight loss trends (intermittent fasting, low-carb/keto diets, juice cleanses)
- Poor planning, meal preparation, and grocery shopping habits (It is hard to get adequate nutrients without intention when you’re on the go, working a lot, taking care of family, etc!)
- Lack of access to nourishing foods
Although not intentionally fasting, these unintentional delays in eating can have the same effect on hormone production: decreasing thyroid hormones, sex hormones, and increasing stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline. Fasting can also lead to dips in blood sugar which is a large physical stress on the body and exacerbate imbalances. I say it all the time, but the female body requires safety to operate in a balanced state. Consistent energy signals that your body is safe! Eating breakfast and balanced meals and snacks throughout the day is essential for healthy hormone production & a high metabolism.
Mistake #4: Over-exercising / Overexertion
There is a pervasive idea that we must move more and eat less in order to lose weight, promote general health, and achieve our ideal physiques. Many women find themselves in HIIT classes, pushing themselves for hours in the gym, and following workouts generally designed for men–all with good intentions. This is a result of diet culture and the paradigm of “calories in and calories out,” which unfortunately ignores the impact of female hormones on our metabolisms, weight, and ability to burn food for energy. Excessive exercise can actually have negative impacts on our hormonal health by increasing overall stress on the body.
Studies have found that intense exercise increases cortisol levels, the primary stress hormone. Elevated cortisol can cause an imbalance of other sex hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, which are needed for a healthy menstrual cycle, fertility, and countless other processes. Intense workouts combined with chronic undereating actually suppresses the thyroid (metabolism) and is a recipe for high levels of stress hormones. When the body is in this stressed state, it will often hold on to weight as protective mechanism, making the intense workouts counterproductive. Incidentally, elevated cortisol levels are also associated with increased waist circumference in women!
Exercise is absolutely essential in a healthy lifestyle–it promotes good circulation, healthy muscle mass, and increases endorphins. I have found that it can be very beneficial to release expectations around weight loss and intense workouts and focus on joyful movement. Finding enjoyable and relaxing ways to move our bodies can help decrease stress and promote balance.
Mistake #5: Poor Relationship with Food & Self
In today’s world we are inundated with constant messaging from the media about beauty standards, diet culture, and extreme weight loss practices. I see it every time I scroll through Instagram or Tik Tok–it can be extremely hard to tune out all the noise.
One thing I try to work on with all of my clients is listening to our body’s internal cues “Symptoms are Information!”. This is an extremely important component of hormone balance. Our body is always speaking to us, sending messages (sometimes in the form of symptoms) telling us exactly what it needs. When you are feeling constantly low energy, fatigued, or out of balance, it is often a sign that your body needs more ENERGY in the form of nutrients and is potentially signaling a need to rest! Eating adequate amounts allows your body the energy it needs to restore balance and resolve symptoms.
The diet culture mindset can be incredibly damaging to our connection with ourselves. When we sever the relationship between our body and mind by following others’ advice or opinions, we can exacerbate hormone imbalances because we are not living in harmony with our own needs! Hard rules about macronutrients, restrictive elimination diets, and blanket recommendations can be a recipe for disaster because everyone’s needs are different. If you are experiencing a hormonal imbalance, it is likely that you need to include MORE nourishing foods into your diet, rather than eliminating and restricting.
Letting go of limiting beliefs, fears and anxieties around food, and practicing mindfulness by choosing to accept yourself, giving yourself grace, and tuning out other’s opinions is perhaps the most important component of hormonal balance! If you are looking for support in nourishing your relationship with food, body, and self, I highly recommend that you opt into our short Self Nourishment Video series.
Some signs you may be making these hormone mistakes…
It is common for women to not be aware of the various symptoms associated with these hormone mistakes, undereating, over-exercising, an under-nourishing. Some symptoms can include:
- Chronic fatigue
- Brittle hair and nails
- Hair loss
- Hyper fixation on food
- Tendency toward negative thought patterns
- Inability to maintain boundaries
- Poor mental resilience
- Cold hands and feet
- Frequently waking in the middle of the night
- Unexplained weight gain
- Chronic constipation
- Bloating
- Missing periods
- Irregular cycles
- Sex hormone imbalances
- Low sex drive
- Poor circulation
- Infertility
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