Are Hormones Making You Fat?

The body's hormones are a complex system that controls every function that is carried out on a daily basis.

Abdominal fat can be a result of hormonal imbalance. The reverse is also true - abdominal fat can cause hormonal imbalance. Either way, "apple" shaped people have increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

You can quickly determine if you fall into the "apple" shape category by taking a waist and hip measurement. Use those numbers to determine your health risks.

Step 1: Take your waist measurement at your belly button. Don't suck it in - just relax your posture.

Step 2: Take a hip measurement around the widest part of your hips, usually at the level of the bottom of the zipper on your jeans.

Step 3: Look at your waist measurement only. For women, 89 centimetres or 35 inches pushes you into the higher risk category for heart diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure. For men, these numbers are 102 centimetres or 40 inches.

Step 4: Calculate your waist- to-hip ratio (WHR). Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. That's right - larger number into smaller. 0.9 or less for men, or 0.8 or less for women, lowers your risk of illness.

If you are in the increased category on either or both of these tests, you can lower your risk with the following healthy life plan guidelines:

Exercise regularly:

• Keep it short - all workouts can be done in 30 to 40 minutes - 3 times a week. If you don't think you have this time, ask "what is your health worth?"


• Do resistance training. Give your resistance workout your maximum effort every time. Use a resistance weight that forces you to do only low reps - the last rep should definitely be the last one you can do. And, keep the rest periods between exercises short.


• Use interval training for your cardio sessions. It takes much less time and reaps huge rewards in getting that waist and hip measurement into the healthy zone.


• Hire a personal trainer to learn how to exercise correctly.

Eat the right stuff, most of the time:

• Within 45 minutes of working out, have protein combined with a carb snack to replenish the muscle tissue and your energy stores.


• Eat protein every time you eat.


• Eat every 3 to 4 hours to keep your blood sugar and stress hormones in a healthy range.


• Eat breakfast.


• Balance your protein with unrefined grain carbohydrates and good fats.


• Drink water - 8 to 10 glasses a day.


• Up your intake of a variety of brightly coloured vegetables.

Manage the stress in your life:

• Regular exercise and eating whole unprocessed food will begin the process, but there is more you can do to keep the abdominal fat at bay.


• Get good quality sleep every night. Go to bed a regular time, preferably before 11 pm, sleep in a cool dark room and keep the bedroom free of the computer or TV.


• Get into the habit of having down time during the day to allow your stress hormones to lower.


• Practice a relaxation technique like deep breathing, progressive relaxation, yoga or mediation on a regular basis.


• Surround yourself with positive people who make you happy.