I can’t tell you the number of times I hear women tell say, “I’m doing everything right” followed by a BUT “I can’t lose the weight,” or “I still feel exhausted all the time.”
Perhaps this is you. Perhaps you have done everything right. You’ve cleaned up your diet. You’re moving and exercising multiple times a week. Yet, you still don’t feel well or the scale is not reflecting your efforts. You’re left to feeling frustrated and deflated. Your motivation for continuing this health escapade is slim to none with no results so you slowly resort back to old habits…cause, well, why not?
First off, let me tell you this. You’re not alone.
Secondly, this is not your fault.
I coach women of many ages, shapes, and sizes and by the time they get to me they’ve typically expended all other known avenues to feel better. “Jess, I’ve tried everything I know. I went to the doctor and they tell me everything is within a normal range. They can’t seem to tell me what’s going on. Please help!”
If you find yourself struggling with depression, anxiety, weight loss resistance, food intolerances, brain fog, exhaustion, PMS, and other common but not normal symptoms, there are two avenues in which I recommend looking into that modern Western medicine are not as familiar with:
1) Gut imbalance and/or leaky gut
With the consumption of the standard American diet + the additional amounts of stress we encounter daily in today’s world, this tends to disrupt the microbial balance in our intestinal track. We tend to have higher amounts of more pathogenic bacteria. If you’ve ever had any rounds of antibiotics in the past, this accelerates the process because antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria, leaving room for yeast (Candida) to grow. An imbalanced gut can lead to blood sugar issues, bloating, gas, constipation, brain fog, exhaustion, nutritional deficiencies, and much more.
2) Hormonal imbalance
Did you know that it wasn’t until the 1990’s that nutritional and other studies had to begin including women? And it wasn’t until 2014 that these same studies required that they use both male and female lab rats? Needless to say, hormones to most medical practitioners is an area of further research. When hormones are unbalanced, it can seem like you continually run into a brick wall. If they are not working for you, they are working against you. Important hormones I often discuss with clients include: insulin, leptin, cortisol, DHEA, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and pregnenolone. There are more, but these are often the biggest offenders. There can be multiple reasons hormones are out of whack including: stress, poor diet, environmental toxins, lack of exercise, poor vagal tone, leaky or damaged gut microbiome, etc.
If you have a well functioning gut in addition to balanced hormones, you will radiate, be full of energy, have a flexible metabolism, be less stressed, and be able to think clearly. You won’t need coffee to pick you up and a glass of wine to help relax you at night. Your body will naturally do that for you.
If you’re looking for a little help in either area, email me at jess@jesswilliamshealthcoaching.com.
Jess Williams - The Gut Gurl 