5 signs your hormones are making you fat

Excess weight around your waistline can be the hardest to lose. But before you beat yourself up over not doing enough crunches at the gym, consider this: As we get older, even a slight disruption in our hormone levels can cause stubborn belly fat to stick.

In fact, new research suggests that postmenopausal women on hormonal replacement therapy have lower levels of belly fat than those that aren't. But before you rush to your doctor looking to get a prescription for your hormonal belly, there are natural ways to readjust your hormone levels as well.

Reducing sugar intake, eliminating processed foods from your diet, and avoiding things like dairy, alcohol, and caffeine can all help reset your blood sugar and insulin levels.

So, how do you know if those love handles are a few extra kilos from bingeing on pizza and wine, or a larger issue? Here are six signs your hormones may be to blame.

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1) Your waistline is getting bigger, but you're eating right

If you’ve had a relatively flat stomach for majority of your life and then suddenly that spare tyre appears overnight, it may be a sign you've developed a hormonal belly. “As we age, the body can become more insulin-resistant, driving your body to store fat instead of burning it off,” explains hormone expert Dr Sara Gottfried. “Women also become more oestrogen-dominant as we move into perimenopause and beyond. Oestrogen dominance promotes insulin resistance, which causes the belly fat build up," she says.

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2) You've been craving a lot of sugar

According to Dr Gottfried, insulin resistance can have some secondary effects on other important hormones as well. “Insulin resistance can have a knock-on effect on leptin. Leptin is the hormone that alerts your body when you're full, but elevated insulin levels eventually lead to elevated leptin, as well,” she explains.

“Elevated leptin, despite what you may think, does not mean you are more likely to put down your fork and stop eating. Consistently elevated leptin levels can lead to a dysfunction of leptin receptors," Dr. Gottfried says. These receptors stop sending signals to the brain to tell you to stop eating. As a result, you do the exact opposite of what leptin is designed to control, and you continue to eat, never receiving the signal to stop.

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3) You're constantly stressed

Another major player in the hormonal belly fat game is cortisol. Often referred to as the stress hormone, cortisol levels increase when your body senses you're stressed out or anxious, which can lead to stubborn weight gain.

According to emergency medicine and critical care Dr Jacqueline Montoya this is because the body goes into survival mode. “High levels of stress and anxiety can send the body into survival mode which increase our cortisol levels and signals the body to store more fat,” she explains.

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4) You experience mood swings

As women enter the pre- and post-menopausal years, their oestrogen levels fluctuate often, which can lead to mood swings and stubborn weight gain around the midsection. According to a University of Wisconsin study, this is why women are at a higher risk to develop mood disorders than men. The study found that oestrogen levels in women fluctuate most often during reproductive cycle events and menopausal transitions. This is also the time that most women reported the onset of depression or recurrent depression.

Oestrogen levels fluctuate naturally during menopausal bodily changes, which can cause mood swings and lead to weight gain. That is why Dr Gottfried says not to blame yourself for excess weight gain. “If you're struggling to lose excess weight with no success, don’t blame it on a lack of willpower or self-discipline. Most likely your hormones have turned against you,” she says.

5) You're exhausted all the time but can't fall asleep

Insomnia and exhaustion can be tell-tale signs that hormones are to blame for your weight gain. Lack of sleep causes exhaustion, which in turn causes stress and leads to insomnia. All these things will mess with your hormones, specifically your cortisol levels. “High cortisol can lead to decreased thyroid levels, which can cause central weight gain,” Dr Montoya explains. “It also leads to decrease in growth hormone which is responsible for tissue building, muscle growth, and overall health.”

6) How to naturally restart your hormones

The main problem with a fighting hormonal imbalance that causes belly fat is that all the issues are cyclical-one issue leads to another and back. That's why many women have a hard time whittling away a hormonal belly. Aside from medical intervention, there are lifestyle changes you can make to break the cycle and reset your hormones.

“Making conscious day to day decisions about what you eat, exercise, how much you sleep, and how you handle stressful situations, is key to combatting hormonal imbalances,” Dr Montoya says.

Dr Gottfried suggests to overhauling what you eat. “I recommend 40 days of cutting out sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol, and caffeine,” she says. “Aim to eat 500g of vegetables daily, such as cruciferous vegetables, along with anti-inflammatory protein. The goal is to reduce nutritional stress by cutting out highly reactive foods.” In addition to changing your diet, Dr Gottfried recommends intermittent fasting, she prefers the 16:8 method. It's an eight-hour eating window and 16-hour overnight fast. She also advises doing HIIT workouts and sleeping at least seven to eight hours each night. “Poor quality of sleep wreaks havoc on your internal biochemistry and you are more likely to overeat when you are tired,” she says.