The Guardian

The Guardian

Ovarian burnout/Perimenopausal

Busy lifestyles at home and work mean that stress is high and consistent and playing havoc with your fatloss efforts. Energy is a see saw, belly fat taking over and impossible to shift. Struggling with feeling frumpy and not feeling sexy. Your cycle is unpredictable and you are going longer and longer between them.

Your number one challenge is managing stress. That’s because as stress levels rise, estrogen and progesterone fall, and your metabolic see-saw practically grinds to a halt. That makes a big difference in how you should eat.

The best way to get stress under control and rebalance the see-saw is by changing when you eat your carbs. A lot of people avoid carbs because they’ve heard carbs make you fat. That’s not true. No single type of food makes you fat. Obviously you can’t eat 60 loafs of bread and expect a flat belly…That will cause a nasty spike in insulin – the primary hormone that promotes fat storage.

On the other hand, you can’t swear off carbs all-together. That’s because when your body doesn’t get enough carbs, it can cause an equally nasty spike in the stress hormone cortisol. Your body uses cortisol as an emergency fuel producer when you don’t have enough carbs. And one way it creates that fuel is by breaking down muscle tissue.

Unfortunately, cortisol also interferes with your fat burning hormones. Eat too many carbs and insulin is the problem. Eat too few carbs and cortisol is the problem, so we don’t want you to slash the number of carbs you eat. The trick is to eat them at the right times… when they work best with your Hormone Type.

Here are the rules to follow:

First, on your Reg Cal and Feast days, count up the average number of carbs you eat in a day and split them across two meals (better to get more protein and fat in the morning)

Why not try to eat about half that amount first thing in the morning, And eat the other half last thing at night.

In between, stick to low carb foods like salads and protein shakes.  In fact, smoothies and shakes need to become your new best friend.

This approach will stop your stress hormones from spiking in the morning so you start your day calm and focused, and it will suppress them in the evening so you can easily fall asleep.

On Low Carb, Low Cal and Fast days, close your feeding window which means, eat later in the day and finish your last meal around 8/9pm.

It is essential that you cut out MILK and other DAIRY products as they can play havoc with your oestrogen and focus on isoflavones such as chick peas, hummus, legumes and sweet potatoes when you choose starches.

Push until you can’t, rest until you can.

Rest more during workouts so as not to put your body into stress during workouts.

Shorter and Higher Intensity Workouts.  Be sure to incorporate Sprint or burst intervals into your weekly exercise and this can be followed by a long easy paced walk.

Focus on building lean muscle and lifting heavier.

Metabolism priming workouts

3x 30 min Metabolic HIIT workouts MAXIMUM (2x LEAN, 1 x CURVY OR STRONG) NO MORE THAN THIS A WEEK. Do not be tempted to do more or heavier and partner with Sprint Burst training on lower calorie days.

Enjoy Long Walks- no power walks, easy walks in nature. Even break this up with 30 minutes twice a day.

Focus on breathing exercises and other stress relieving techniques such as yoga, meditation and spend time with other women in a support group. Community is essential during this phase of life for any long term lifestyle and body change.

Your number one priority is to get your estrogen and progesterone balanced again, so the best thing you can do is get more good quality sleep. Sleep puts your body in restoration mode. You can think of it as a reboot for your metabolic hard drive. That means – if possible – you should go to bed an hour earlier and wake up an hour later.

There is only one problem…You may have difficulty falling asleep at night, so supplement this with short naps during the week. Research shows that even a 10-minute nap can undo much of the hormonal damage caused by sleep loss.

Important to avoid fake or phtyoestrogens – try to go plastic & chemical free and do regular cleanses and detox practices.

Sweat away fake estrogen and high oestrogen – Saunas & hot epsom baths- at least 1 a week

Juice Plus Complete Superfood Shakes

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Juice Plus Omegas 3, 5, 6 & 9

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Adrenal Fatigue

Rhodiola rosea 300 to 600 mg per day. This is one of the best supplements I have found to restore balance to the HPA. Research has shown that it is an excellent aid to those dealing with fatigue due to overwork, overtraining or long periods of excess stress and strain.14

Menopause and menstrual issues

Vitex (aka chaste berry) 200 to 400 mg per day. This herb acts on the hypothalamus to restore normal function of the HPA and its signaling to the ovaries. In this way vitex can deliver estrogen and progesterone balancing effects. Add Maca powder to your Green Proothies.