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When I ask women what is the #1 thing they want to fix first when it comes to their hormones, itโs always โ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉโ
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So first we need to determine WHAT is causing the belly fat? Then from there, we can work on fixing it.
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When most people think of hormones, they tend to think of estrogen and testosterone, but cortisol is also considered a hormone and is known as the STRESS HORMONE.
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If your entire life is high-stress and always in high gear, your body will constantly pump out cortisol.
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This in turn increases your blood sugar levels which causes you to want to eat more and crave sugar or processed and more palatable foods.
And where do you think those foods go?? Yup, directly to the belly area.
Here are just 2 of the 6 steps to Ultimate Hormonal Balance, but the 2 I feel are most important!
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The number ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ!ย
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I get thisโฆ. Because I tend to run on stress, itโs just who I am, but I am finding that as I get older and now post-menopausal, my body canโt handle it as much, which ends up putting on that belly fluff. And up until just a few years ago, I never had any. 
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So now I find myself trying to deal with my stress, versus letting it control my life.
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I take regular vacations. I have a daily STOP working time each day and then I do something that I enjoy ~ taking a walk, reading a book, listening to a podcast, or just watching TV!
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I make sure to take Saturdays completely OFF from work. And if things get out of control, I do some journaling or I listen to affirmation videos on youtube.
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Stress is not just internal, there is also physical stress. If workouts are too intense or you are doing the wrong kind of workouts for what your body needs, it will cause belly fat.
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How do you know?ย
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Do you feel energized after your workouts or lethargic?
Is your sleep interrupted after long, hard workouts?
Do you find you are experiencing more muscle soreness and joint pain?
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These are tell-tale signs that the workouts you are doing are not serving you right now.
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๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ? ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง!ย
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๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ?
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ?
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด?
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด.
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Your body needs enough food to fuel your engine. If you are depriving it of food and it needs more, it will hold on to body fat.ย
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And everyone knows the whole calories in vs calories out logic, right? You cannot consume more calories than you are burning or you will gain weight.ย
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Your body needs all the macros, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates and that means starches and grains too! If you are removing one of those things from your nutritional needs, your body will revolt and go into stress mode. That is what happened to me.ย
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I was putting too much stress on my body by cutting my calories and carbs way too low for my body’s needs. And BOOM came the belly fat.
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Putting inflammatory foods into your body messes with your gut health and your digestion. When your body is not properly digesting foods, you are not getting all the nutrients your body needs to burn fat.ย
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I am not saying you have to give these things up forever, (unless your BODY tells you you need to), but cut them out for 21 days to start. See how you feel, see what happens to your belly fat.
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๐๐ค๐ค๐ค, ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐๐ช๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ?