Hormones trouble?

hypegoose
hypegoose Posts: 29
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! I'm new here. Anyways, I have a problem regarding possible hormone imbalance. I keep reading that fat on your body increases estrogen, and in turn estrogen makes it really hard to lose weight. I don't understand how to break that cycle. How do you lose the weight to get estrogen to a normal level if the weight itself is inhibiting me to NOT lose weight? (If that makes any sense!) It seems like a catch-22 to me. I've also read about 'master hormone' called leptin, and I've come to the conclusion my leptin might be out of whack... the thing is all the articles I've read say that exercise will cause stress in your body and continue to make your leptin levels bad and they suggest not exercising or doing very 'light' exercise like walking (which doesn't sit well with me, I like high intensity work outs because they really help my mental stress and anxieties). It specifically said don't jog or circuit train, which are my two most common work outs.

I'm discouraged to say the least! I just started taking my eating habits and exercising really seriously in the last few weeks, and now I'm being told to not work out and eat certain foods that don't align with my weight loss goals. I feel like there's no winning! Side note: this is the first week I've bumped up my work outs from 4 days a week to 6 days a week, and I've gained five pounds for some reason.

I'm just hoping to get some other peoples' thoughts on this subject because I honestly don't know where to go from here. :(

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Read this. Follow it. Prosper.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?


    Yes, hormones play a role, but not to the extent you are worrying about. Log accurately, eat a modest deficit, move and you will be successful.
  • tmaryam
    tmaryam Posts: 289 Member
    Unless you're growing female breasts (gynecomastia), your estrogen levels are probably normal. Heed the advice above, and you'll do great! Relax. :flowerforyou:
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    first thing go get your body fat% test done. Post your results here. My doctor thinks I have low T. I have 32.7% body fat as of last Sunday. I know I might have a hormone imbalance.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Unless you're growing female breasts (gynecomastia), your estrogen levels are probably normal. Heed the advice above, and you'll do great! Relax. :flowerforyou:

    I also have a lot of chest fat. gynecomastia is a rare case. It is usually just that where some of the fat went.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Time. Once you hit MENopause this will be a non issue.
  • hypegoose
    hypegoose Posts: 29
    Thanks for the resources and reassurance everyone. I probably am worrying too much. I do have chest fat but I don't think they're necessarily 'female breast' shaped lol. I just hope I'm not putting tons of effort into all this if I'm not going to lose weight at all!
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Thanks for the resources and reassurance everyone. I probably am worrying too much. I do have chest fat but I don't think they're necessarily 'female breast' shaped lol. I just hope I'm not putting tons of effort into all this if I'm not going to lose weight at all!

    Real talk if you start reading ALL TEH THINGS online, yer gonna go crazy and get confused and end up paralyzed. read the article the first poster gave you the link to and just focus on the big points and don't get mired in every detail on weight loss floating all over the interwebs. it's a mess.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    Almost any food can align with your weight loss goals. If you consistently burn more calories (living, exercising) then you eat, you're going to be digging into your calorie stores, i.e. losing weight.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Thanks for the resources and reassurance everyone. I probably am worrying too much. I do have chest fat but I don't think they're necessarily 'female breast' shaped lol. I just hope I'm not putting tons of effort into all this if I'm not going to lose weight at all!

    If you are eating less than your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, explained in the link above) you will lose weight. Even women with hormone imbalances lose weight when eating under TDEE, the problem is their TDEE is often lower than average.
  • hypegoose
    hypegoose Posts: 29
    Time. Once you hit MENopause this will be a non issue.

    I'm 21, I don't think I'll be hitting MENopause for quite a while. Plus with 'male menopause' don't testosterone levels drop down even further?
  • hypegoose
    hypegoose Posts: 29
    Ya'll have made me feel better already. I'm just going to keep trucking and making sure I have a healthy deficit and that I'm in motion. I will also stop reading too much into things posted around the internet haha.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Ya'll have made me feel better already. I'm just going to keep trucking and making sure I have a healthy deficit and that I'm in motion. I will also stop reading too much into things posted around the internet haha.

    Bro I am in the same place when the weight comes off the chest will get smaller. I can see my chest going down in size but I do a lot of lifting so hopefully when I get down they turn into pecs.
  • tmaryam
    tmaryam Posts: 289 Member
    Good luck to both of you! I'm sure you'll both do great.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    I know how self conscious it is to have them but just use that to keep pushing yourself to hit the weight goal. Them will get smaller as the weight comes off. I feel your pain. A girl starts to rub all over you then goes to your chest.
  • DivineChoices
    DivineChoices Posts: 193 Member
    I just hope I'm not putting tons of effort into all this if I'm not going to lose weight at all!

    I have a hormone imbalance which makes it 10x easier to gain weight and 10x harder to lose it. BUT I've put my ALL into eating at a deficit, only, and I've lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. You can DO THIS!

    And make sure to take pictures and measurements so if the scale stops moving temporarily, you can monitor your progress other ways.
  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    Google Eat stop eat - Brad Pilon - I am following the Venus Program for ladies but he has written a lot about Leptin resistance

    http://bradpilon.com/

    Cheers D
  • hypegoose
    hypegoose Posts: 29
    I just hope I'm not putting tons of effort into all this if I'm not going to lose weight at all!

    I have a hormone imbalance which makes it 10x easier to gain weight and 10x harder to lose it. BUT I've put my ALL into eating at a deficit, only, and I've lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. You can DO THIS!

    And make sure to take pictures and measurements so if the scale stops moving temporarily, you can monitor your progress other ways.

    That's very inspiring! Thank you for saying that. It's great to know that I can still lose if I try. I'm going to keep at it!

    Thank you so much to everyone for giving me peace of mind and resources and kind words. (:

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