Hormones and Fat Patterns

Sometimes it is the hormones.

One of the areas that I strive to focus on is fat loss and not just ordinary “lets drop 10lbs for the beach fat loss” but “I want to look hot naked and make my ex jealous fat loss”.

I know you have all thought this.

Now, you may have gotten down to a decent level in body fat but you may have noticed that trying to drop those last few stubborn pounds to really get that polished look is just frustrating. No matter how clean you eat or how much you exercise you can’t seem to get that look that you have in your mind.

So what’s holding you back?

Well my friend, sometimes it IS the hormones

What hormones store fat, where, and how to fix it?

I’ve talked about this before in a previous blog post that your body’s fat deposit pattern can be a strong indicator of what hormone(s) imbalance may be going on but I wanted to elaborate a bit further on this.

Last time we just talked about the big three (Estrogen, Cortisol, and Insluine) but lets get into how to help correct some of these stubborn issues.

-Upper Arms and Chest-

This pertains more to men than women, even though ladies do complain about those turkey wings, if you find that you carry majority of your body fat in your chest or arms OR that you seem to have a much larger fat deposit pattern in your pecs or triceps than anywhere this is a strong indicator that you may have low testosterone levels.

– The fix?-

1. Do more heavier weight training sessions;  3-5 times a week.
2. Avoid mass produced vegetables and fruit, the pesticides have been linked to high estrogen levels
3. Eat more free range beef, even if you are a female
4. I won’t go into too much more detail because I’ve talked about this EXACT problem HERE.

–  Hips and low back –

We tend to call this a muffin top, or cup cake, and this is typically a coloration with insulin resistance; other words, its means that you don’t tolerate carbohydrates too well. Honestly that sucks due to majority of American’s diet being nearly 80% carb based, BUT this is fixable!

– The Fix?-

1. As silly as it may sound drop your body fat low and KEEP it that way for a long period of time, I would recommend at least several months. This was your body is able to slowly learn how to tolerate carbs better
2. Go more of a Paleo diet. Other words if you can’t grow it or kill it, don’t eat it <==Tweet that 😉
3. Keep carbs LOW for majority of your day. Majority being about ¾ of your and consume the bulk of your carbs AFTER your workout.
4. Take longer breaks between meals. You don’t have to eat every 2-3 hours.

– Ribs or rib cage-

The is a indicator of a thyroid issue. NOW, I’m not saying that you HAVE a thyroid issue but honestly it wouldn’t hurt to get this checked out. I will admit even as a trainer I don’t like to mess with this one too much but it is still worth addressing because this is a problem for some.

– The Fix?-

1. Eat more wild caught fish and free range poultry
2. Consume more natural (not mass produced) onions, asparagus, seaweeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. All these have higher levels of tyrosine which can help convert T4 hormone to T3.
3. Get a blood panel and possible medication.

– Lower abs –

From my experience this is a STRONG indicator of higher cortisol levels. Too much of that nasty lil hormone tends to leave a soft, watered down appearance to your stomach. I should know because this is the one that I personally struggle with.

– The Fix?-

1. Lower stress levels. Easier said than done I know
2. Limit your workouts to no more than 45min
3. Avoid long duration cardio
4. Get more sleep (at least 8-9 hours)
5. Avoid gluten

– Butt and thighs-

Estrogen is the female sex hormone and there tends to be more estrogen receptors around the hips and thighs. This isn’t limited to only women because we have seen men with LARGE rears and legs due to environmental lifestyle changes over the decades.

This actually was the lead to a previous blog post about all the hormone laden foods have led us to see an increase in 12 year old girls looking like they were 18, the emo culture and guys wearing skinny jeans. For the love of God do squats.

– The Fix?-

1. Avoid eating or drinking out of plastics
2. Eat more free range meats and eggs; also wild caught fish.
3. Detox your liver (see the FREE report below)
4. Avoid beer. The hops in beer have been linked to higher estrogen levels

-Knees and calves-

This one hasn’t really had a strong backing by science but anecdotal evidence leads up to believe this is low GH (Growth Hormone) issue.

– The Fix?-

1. Delay your first meal as long as possible, this will allow your GH levels to have more time to rise throughout the day
2. Cut out ALL grains. Think anything gluten
3. Supplement with high omega oils (HERE is EXACTLY what I use)
4. Reduce stress levels. Seeing a trend here aren’t we.
5. Consume 5-10g of glutamine on a daily basis

So Starting on Monday…

It’s not uncommon to find that you may have more than one hormonal issue, in my experience its rarely ever just one. If you do, just combine the methods to fix each one.

One of the methods that I have found when you are coming across the issue of more than one is actually doing a bit of a detox, but let me clarify something. I’m not talking about those crappy drinking lemon and cayenne pepper juice detoxes (who the hell came up with that idea anyways), I’m talking more about something that emphases just about everything we have talked about today.

The Drop 15lbs of Bloat covers over half of the issues that I have personally seen when it comes to methods to pressing the reset button on your body and starting the process of getting some of those hormones back in balance.

If you haven’t read it yet, take a look.

 

In Health and Awesomeness,

Travis Merritt, BS, CPT, CES, RBT is the owner of Fitness Revolution in Rowlett, TX.

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