Your Hormones - 7 Things You Need to Know If You Want to Lose Weight Over 40

Our hormones add greatly to our well-being. Hormones make us alert, falling in love and happy, can make a smooth skin and a wonderful figure. They have a negative side too: They could make you depressed and sad, stimulate acne outbreaks and spare tires. Even small quantities can produce big changes, because they shape our bodies. In women over 40 the endocrine system shifts, making it harder and harder to lose weight permanently.

In this short article I'll describe the 7 most essential hormones you need to know for successful weight loss.

Estrogen makes sexy, makes the right curves and maintains your skin firm. However, the comparative amount of estrogen to other hormones must be right for that. Strive for a hormone system that's working as perfectly as possible - it's really worth the effort.

When menopause begins, the level of progesterone declines- contributing to excess estrogen. This might impact the thyroid: If estrogen isn't well-balanced by the right quantity of progesterone, it might block thyroid hormones. Even if the thyroid works fine, this effect might come into play. A decline in thyroid activity is often observed for women in menopause.

DHEA is another essential hormone: It blocks fat storage, making it an ideal candidate to look at for women over 40 who want to lose weight permanently. Generally, everything you do to get your estrogen level right will benefit the DHEA too. What you can eat to stimulate DHEA metabolism: olive oil (extra virgin), amaranth seed or rice bran.

As you probably know: Thyroid hormones are very important: They put you in a good mood, make your skin smooth and influence digestion. Unfortunately, thyroid hormones can get out of balance easily. Here are some tips for a good thyroid hormone production:

• Look for your iodine consumption. Good sources are fish and shellfish
• Get adequate protein to stimulate hormone production
• A stressed life-style positions your thyroid on a high activity level. If you are having too much stress, your thyroid might react negatively. Especially women over 40 often have a stressed and hectic schedule, adding another layer of difficulties to losing weight permanently.

Stress hormones like Cortisol or Adrenalin can make your body bloated and bulging. They enhance fat storage in your midsection. If you want to lose weight permanently over 40 you need a balanced, stress-reduced life style.

The male sex hormone testosterone is important for women too: It assists you raising muscle mass when exercising, so you burn more fat. And it strengthens the tissue, preventing wrinkels. What you can do to increase the testosterone level:

• Sex stimulates the testosterone production like nothing else
• Get enough vitamins (A, C, E, B) and zinc. Good sources are whole grain products, fish, dairy and nuts
• Avoid alcohol, smoking and consuming fat
• Working Out regularly helps too

The declining level of progesterone in women over 40 has another ugly effect: Fewer collagen is created. This results in flabby skin and you are more prone to getting wrinkles- a common sight in women over 40. The distribution of fat on the body shifts too: Fat accumulates to a greater extent on belly and butt, thighs and upper arms. These modifications in the shape make it a top priority for many women over 40 to lose weight permanently.

Another typical problem for women over 40 is cellulite- caused by less collagen.

In short, what you can do for a sound, well-balanced hormone system is:

• Eat healthy
• Work out on a regular basis
• A well-balanced lifestyle with enough time for relaxation

When you look at what is recommended for women over 40 to lose weight permanently, all of these are of superior priority too. If you are balancing your hormone system, you are assisting your body to lose weight too. As always, you'll want to find a program that's working for you - a general "one size fits all" plan will only deliver average results at best.

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