Top 5 Things I Wish Women Knew About Hormones

I struggled with imbalanced hormones for YEARS. Hypothyroidism, amenorrhea, adrenal dysfunction…at one point I was quite a mess. I was going through the motions, looked okay on the outside, but I felt like CRAP.

If you want to know a bit more about my story, you can check out this post here.

Here are 5 top things I wish I knew (and want other women to know!) to do for healthy hormones:

1. Remove Inflammatory Foods: I had done bikini fitness competitions, so I knew all about low calorie hacks like low carb wraps, diet drinks, no sugar condiments etc. These foods look good on the label, but I was consuming chemicals & toxic food on a daily basis.

Foods such as conventional dairy, gluten/wheat, sugars and artificial ingredients can all cause havoc your hormones. Gluten can actually disrupt thyroid function! Swapping to organic meats and produce & avoiding those top triggers was one of the first steps to healing.

2. Removing Toxins from your Environment: Changing up what I was eating was important, but our exposure to chemicals & toxins in our water, air supply, personal care and cleaning products also was a key step to balancing hormones. Most conventional brands contain “endocrine disruptors” meaning they literally mess with your hormones, everything from PCOS to infertility to cancer! 

Taking the time to educate myself with labels, ingredients to avoid and healthy non-toxic brands is a process, but over time it makes a big difference.

3. Setting Boundaries: I was notorious for doing TOO much & never giving myself a break. My cortisol/stress hormones were suffering, but I was just pushing through because that’s all I knew. Now I still struggle to this day with “slowing down”, but I’m much more aware of it. Having realistic expectations of yourself & what you can do in a day (hint, it’s less than you think) is a key factor. Your cortisol will affect ALL the other hormones, including thyroid, metabolism & fertility.

Beyond changing my diet, my mindset & environment, here are the other things I wish I did sooner: 

4. Support Gut (and Liver) Health: Did you know that the majority of your hormones are created/balanced through your gut & liver?! Dysfunctional gut & liver function can cause hormone imbalances, and make them worse if not addressed.

Some signs of gut dysfunction include obvious symptoms like gas, bloating and constipation, but also surprising things like skin breakouts, anxiety or depression, fatigue, food sensitivities, brain fog, headaches, chronic pain and more.

Addressing what your triggers and following a functional medicine based gut healing protocol can be important tactics to balancing your overall hormones.

5. Get Testing: No, getting TSH and a basic metabolic panel done, then being told “you’re fine” is not ok. If you want to get to the root issue, you need comprehensive data. This can be tricky, but there are practitioners out there that will do functional medicine level testing!

Some that I did (and many women should consider) would be a full thyroid panel, B vitamins, Vit D, iron, metabolic panel and a full sex hormone panel. Testing should be done on an individualized basis.

BONUS TIP: Have Nervous System Balancing Tactics + Community Support

Your hormones didn’t go crazy overnight, so don’t expect things to change back that quickly either. Managing your stress & keeping realistic expectations is key. Having mantras like “I have the power to improve my health” kept me focused when motivation was low.

Lastly: Don’t Aim for Perfection. Things will never be “ideal” and you have to learn to be okay with results not happening or changing immediately. Many times it can take months, or years, for the body to get to a better balance and for hormones to respond to your effort. Just keep going – think about the alternative when you start to get discouraged. If you don’t do anything, you know that definitely will not move you forward to your goals. So even when you can’t see the results, trust that it is supporting your health in a “behind the scenes” type of way.

You don’t have to do this alone. Reach out to a professional (I can help!) and/or a friend, family, spouse that you can lean on when you’re making these changes.

To learn more about hormones, feel free to check out this article.

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I’ve helped dozens of women, just like Connie, optimize their well-being to balance their hormones and achieve the health they deserve (in her case, start a family!)

If you’re interested in learning more, check out MY SERVICES HERE