|
That's why anything that signals too much stress can backfire and put women into a fat-storing state, regardless of how much she is eating and exercising.
This is why fat loss for women is a highly bio-individual, personalized, delicate process that often feels counterintuitive because it's so different than mainstream approaches which are mostly effective in men.
Feeding the body regularly, removing excess stress (including too much intense exercise and workload), and engaging in more nourishing activities are all essential when it comes to creating balance in a woman's body.
Here's another way to look at it: let's say a woman skips breakfast, goes straight to plain coffee (or maybe just a small splash of creamer). The message her body is getting is that food is not available. The coffee on an empty stomach further exacerbates the stress response by increasing cortisol.
(Disclaimer: cortisol isn't "bad" at all! But too much of it at the wrong times can be detrimental).
Think about it.
If a woman's body is primed to carry a baby, it needs a certain level of body fat. It definitely needs and wants available food!
For many women, skipping meals (especially breakfast) signals food scarcity. This alone can slow a woman's metabolic rate in an effort to conserve body fat for a potential baby.
Not to mention... why so many women experience intense cravings anytime they go to extremes. The pro-creation instinct is strong. A woman's body will pump out those hunger hormones later in the day that no willpower can overcome.
But instead of taking our unique hormones into consideration, women are left feeling broken and weak, as if we should be able to withstand these intense stressors and overcome our basic physiology.
There is a huge difference for women when it comes to meal timing, food quantity, and meal spacing.
Skipping breakfast and consuming all 1,400 - 2,000+ calories in just 2 meals at the end of the day is going to have a completely different impact on hormones than a woman who is eating the same exact calories and food by starting with breakfast and spreading those nutrients out throughout the day with fasted windows in between meals.
This is why simple calories in / calories out isn't the only answer for women.
This is why simple strategies that work for men don't necessarily work for women.
And what works for post-menopausal women may not work for those in their fertile years.
If you're a woman and you feel that the harder you try to lose weight, the more it comes back with a vengeance, it's time to assess the finer lifestyle details outside of just your calories:
- How is your mental / emotional stress right now? Have you experienced any major life event in the past 6 months?
- How much exercise are you doing? What is the intensity? How often?
- How many hours of sleep do you get each night?
- What are your waking hours and sleeping hours? Are you mostly in sync with the natural circadian rhythm of your current environment, or are you up late with artificial light (hint: your light environment absolutely impacts your hormones, appetite, and ability to burn body fat)
- How much alcohol are you drinking? Caffeine? THC? HBC? Everything. It all has an impact.
- What is your meal timing and spacing? How much protein are you getting daily?
- How many steps are you getting daily?
- What nourishing activities are you doing regularly?
Stories like that of our accountant are what gets us jumping out of bed every single day, eager to support in every way.
If this resonated with you, please forward this to a friend or send them our free nutrition master class to help spread the word that women are NOT stuck... many just have the wrong tools and information 🙏
Shannon Morse & Lisa Kirby | Creators of Awaken Your Nutrition @thegreendoor.life | thegreendoorlife.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P.S. Our next cohort of Awaken Your Inner Coach is starting soon!
Here are the next steps if you're ready to apply:
1. Start our 12-week Awaken Your Nutrition program as soon as possible. This required for ALL coaches regardless of current certifications. If you're a past client of ours, you're already eligible and can skip this step!
2. Start our Awaken Your Inner Coach program in mid July. Includes your NAMS certification and 12 weeks of coaching calls to help you pass the test!
Questions? Click reply and let's hop on a call! We only have a few spots left 💚
|
