What Your Hormones Mean For Weight Gain/Loss

Kait Ann-Michelle describes herself as an “exercise scientist”, so what does that mean?

It means: she has an MS in exercise science, and an MA in clinical psychology.

With this mind, here’s what she has to say about hormones, weight gain/loss, and more:

What she wants us to know

Things to bear in mind over a certain age include:

• That “certain age” is about 35. If that seems a lifetime ago to you, in a way it could well be, if your hormones were very different then. In popular culture, menopause is often played as a joke, and the bar for having passed it is usually set quite high. But since the hormonal changes themselves begin nearer 35, that’s where to start examining things.
  • A lot of online advice is woefully inappropriate for women over that age. Which is quite an injustice, as the 25–35 age range is such a tiny slice of life, yet it seems 80–90% of everything is aimed at it and tailored for it.
• Estrogen gets talked about a lot, but there are many hormones involved in perimenopausal symptoms, as one thing affects another, and before you know it, estrogen, progesterone, and even non-sex hormones like cortisol, insulin, thyroid hormones, and melatonin can be entirely out from where they should be. And the longer this goes on, the more pronounced and deep-rooted the effects.
  • That goes for weight too, especially given the cortisol, insulin, and thyroid imbalances.
• It’s not just a case of “one hormone affects another”, either. Yes, it’s that too, but for example if you have a mood swing due to low estrogen, which creates a stressful situation that ups your cortisol, then you don’t sleep so well, then the next day you are more tired so you skip the exercise you planned, and then and then and then… In short, lifestyle factors matter a lot too; they affect, and are affected by, our hormones.
  • All of this does tend to lead to weight gain if mismanaged.
• She advises advises taking up HRT once it becomes appropriate (which for most women means around menopause—though other conditions can make HRT indicated earlier or in some cases not at all), and/but also focusing a lot on “lifestyle medicine”, that is to say, diet and exercise, good sleep, stress management, and so forth.
  • All of this does tend to lead to weight loss/maintenance if managed correctly.
• She doesn’t recommend guesswork when it comes to hormones, though, and rather recommends getting regularly tested for: thyroid panel, estradiol, progesterone, DHEAS, testosterone, CBC, lipid panel, CMP, and hemoglobin A1c, as well as, ideally, “nice-to-have lab values” of cortisol, IGF1, vitamin D3, homocysteine, B12, SHBG, FSH, LH, iron, ferritin, and CRP.
  • That’s a lot of tests, so note, they’re in relative order of importance.

She notes that your doctor probably won’t want to do all those and will probably try to talk you out of them, so be prepared to advocate for yourself, as comprehensive lab work gives a full picture that the bare minimum does not.

For more details on all of these, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like to read:

• What Does “Balance Your Hormones” Even Mean?
• What You Should Have Been Told About The Menopause Beforehand
• HRT: A Tale Of Two Approaches (Bioidentical vs Animal)
• HRT & Your Heart
• Hormones & Health, Beyond The Obvious

Take care!