A lot of the clients I see at our Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic on Yonge street, Toronto that come in for weight loss are often amazed when they see how much of a connection there is between hormones and weight gain or weight loss. Weight gain can be caused due to various factors which include, and are not limited to:

• inactivity or inability to exercise.
• poor eating habits and eating too late in the evenings.
• inadequate sleep or insomnia.
• various medications especially anti-depressants and birth control pills.
• stress and poor stress management.
• hormonal imbalances especially thyroid and reproductive hormones.
• menopause and perimenopause.

Majority of the people who have had success with weight loss naturally will tell you how important it is to eat well and have smaller meals through out the day, as opposed to three large meals, and of course exercise. This works well if there are no underlying hormonal abnormalities or imbalances that slow down the metabolic rate such as an under active thyroid. How would you know if you have any thyroid issues or other hormonal imbalances?

Well, usually if you have been trying to loose weight by doing all the right things with diet and exercise, but have had limited success, and tend to gain weight easily, you might want to take a closer look at your hormones. Ask yourself the following questions:

– Do you have a tendency to gain more weight or stay at the same weight, as opposed to building muscle mass or toning up even when you have been working out consistently?

– Do you tend to gain a few pounds when you are close to your menstrual cycle / period?

– Do you tend to gain weight around you abdomen and the trunk of the body much faster than other areas?

– Are you unable to loose weight easily regardless of what you do to loose weight?

– Do you tend to retain a lot of water prior to your menstrual cycle or in general?

If you answered yes to 1 or more of the above questions, it is possible that your weight gain maybe related to your reproductive hormones or thyroid. Talk to your naturopath about testing your hormones, as this may provide more insight into why you are gaining or not loosing weight easily.

By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic on Yonge / Davisville.