A Note from ATH Supervising Editor, Sherri Carter: Dr. Sara Gottfried offers 4 simple steps to "help you get out of your rut and feel better fast with a few small actions you can implement right away to begin balancing your hormones and seeing results."
Whether
you're 30 or 50+, you don't have to feel cranky, tapped out, and
chronically sleep-deprived. Old-school medical thinking tells us that
these “conditions” are all just a part of growing older as a woman and
prescription medication can cure most of our ills.Furthermore, we are conditioned as women to live in ways that get our hormones (like thyroid, cortisol, progesterone, and estrogen) to work against us, putting us in a bad mood and causing stress, weight gain and overall unhappiness.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can take steps to adjust your hormones naturally so they are allies and they work together to get you feeling better than you have in years. I know from suffering in my 30s with PMS, belly fat, and low sex drive--I figured out that my problem was my hormones. I fixed mine in one month and wrote my new book The Hormone Cure (Simon & Schuster, 3/12/13) to explain how you can too.
I'm going to help you get out of your rut and feel better fast with a few small actions you can implement right away to begin balancing your hormones and seeing results.
To amplify your happy brain chemicals and get your hormones playing on your team again here are 4 actions you can take:
1. Get Your Sleep On
One of the top reasons I see women stall with their weight goals or fail to heal their thyroid or adrenal glands is that they run a chronic sleep debt. All of your hormonal systems run on a circadian rhythm, and if you want to keep them happy and healthy, you must do your part with winding down and getting to bed by 10 p.m. Yes, that's right...10 p.m.!
2. Be an Architect
Take the evolutionary perspective. As you age you are wired, as described by author Barbara Sher, to shift from the life you were born into the life you create. So, become the architect of your best life. Women who are clear about the kind of life they want to create — women who constantly learn how to tap into what brings them the greatest meaning and have the energy to sustain it—have it.
3. Take Tiara Time
Women need help to reclaim their "me" time and a tiara can serve as a visual cue for
your family that you are not endlessly available to satisfy their every whim. So, purchase (or dig out) your tiara and wear it 3 times this week. When you are wearing your tiara, do something nourishing, such as taking a hot bath, talking to a girlfriend on the phone for 10 minutes, practicing yoga, or listening to a meditation CD. Taking those minutes to relax, will de-stress you, lower your heart rate, and tell your brain to ease back on the cortisol it’s pumping through your system. Click here to watch Ricki Lake and me share tiara time.
4. Go Barefoot
There's actually some compelling science that shows you can reset adrenal function by connecting to the earth directly. No wonder gardeners are so happy! Walk on the beach, hike for 10 minutes in your bare feet--it’s been shown to help rebalance your hormones.
If you want happier hormones, listen to your body. Taking action to adjust your lifestyle is more simple than you think.
What are you waiting for?
