Hormones and Weight Loss

This blog post will cover two specific hormonal issues, menstrual cycle hormones and cortisol, the stress hormone.

Menstrual Cycle Hormones

Is that skyrocketing scale just water weight? Find out how your monthly visitor affects your number.

You’ve been exercising, eating healthy, and taking your Get Skinny with Jenny product, but the scale just threw you a curve ball, clocking in at five more pounds than last week. Don’t worry—if your shocking weigh-in lands the week before your period, you can chalk it up to water weight, reassures Raquel Dardik, M.D., gynecologist at NYU Langone Medical Center. “Weight gain happens five days before your period, but you’ll be back to normal once you start,” she explains.

Pre-period water weight can range from half of a pound to 10 pounds, usually averaging around five for most women, Dardik explains. Why? The hormone progesterone—essential in the early stages of pregnancy—is to blame: when there’s no baby (aka when you get your period), these levels fall. As a side effect, each cell in your body retains an extra microscopic drop of water, Dardik explains.

While it doesn’t lead to weight change, bloating caused by gas can magnify the situation by making you feel a size bigger.

Before you ask, yes, you can figure out exactly how much weight gain is to blame on your monthly visitor, but it’s better to not focus on numbers. Instead, maintain a healthy scale schedule to keep yourself in check: weigh yourself once a week, on the same day, at the same time, using the same scale. “The main thing is not to overdo it, because fluctuations in weight are common,” Dardik says.

Combat these side effects the way you battle all bulge: with exercise. And drink a lot of water to help get rid of water retention, says Dardik. Also try and avoid unhealthy fatty foods, alcohol, and salt, which triggers your body to hold onto water, says Dardik.

That extra weight that doesn’t disappear after your period, though? This could be caused by pre-period cravings that make you hungry for salty, greasy foods, and sweets—and that kind of weight will not come off after your period, Dardik warns. So before you indulge simply because you're PMSing, think about whether you want to be carrying that extra weight post-period.

Moral of the story: check your weight, but don’t be paranoid about it. And keep your chin up: Your best days are ahead of you, explains Dardik, as women usually feel at their peak in the first 7-10 days after their period.

The Get Skinny with Jenny Products can be of great aid during your period. The ingredients aid in appetite suppression, detoxing water weight gain, and give you needed energy during this time of the month. Stay consistent with taking your Get Skinny with Jenny products regularly and remember to drink your water.

Cortisol Excess from Stress

Another hormone involved in weight gain is elevated cortisol.

The Stress Hormone

What happens over the years when you are constantly or repeatedly under high stress demands, be they physical, mental or emotional? You probably guessed it: excess cortisol production. Similarly, what happens if you constantly worry or have to keep a fast-pace life? Yes, the same thing. One of the heralding sign of excess cortisol production from repeated or chronic stress is weight gain around the middle: the classic apple-shape obesity, even if you are exercising and eating healthy!

Elevated cortisol is can be lowered by stress-reduction. Here are some important stress-reduction concepts: Identify your stressors (financial, relationship, ill health, etc.) and evaluate if they are worth keeping in your life. Then do your favorite “feel good technique”:

· Deep, slow breathing for 10 minutes while visualizing something you enjoy or that makes you happy, with no stressful distractions. Do this whenever you feel stress building up inside you as a feeling of anxiety, or other negative emotions.

· Meditation, yoga, Tai Chi or other meditative exercises

· Find your best music and listen to it often to lift your mood and inspire your personal power. Then write how you feel (journaling) to soft music about your major concern.

During stressful and high anxiety times you may want to stop taking your Get Skinny with Jenny product if you are finding extreme difficulty eating anything and/or not getting restful sleep. Start your product once again when you feel like your are in a better mindset to reach your wellness goals.