Worried about hormone imbalance

[TheUsurper]

      I know the details get scary, but I'm only going into them for the people who really want to hear them, like I would have myself a few years back.  If you are just barely starting into this, and mostly to simply lead a healthy lifestyle, then you don't need a set rigid workout plan, or a "weekly scheme" to follow.  You simply need to adhere to a couple basic principles.  Those are: 1) eat real, natural foods, as much as possible. 2) Alternate between carb days and fat days as your body feels the need to. When you feel like having some eggs/salmon/beef/chicken and cheese and almonds for dinner, time for a fat day.  When you feel like having potatoes(sweet preferably) corn, rice, pasta(I advise against it but its really up to you) or any other dense starch, time for a carb day.  You could even switch every other day and never miss out on your favorite foods if you wanted to.  I'll explain why it is CRUCIAL for fat loss without going into too much detail why you need to separate your carb-fuel/fat-fuel days.
       As you probably know, your body will only burn so many calories in a given day.  But your body has a limited capacity to take in either carbs or fat.  So lets start with the example of what happens on a "fat days" and then move on to what happens when you switch over to "carb days".
       Your meal is designed to give you adequate amino acids(protein) to build/maintain muscle.  Then when it comes to fat, the calories replenish your stores of fat (yes it sounds like what you don't want to happen but just wait), but you still have a greater capacity to burn more calories than just "capping off" your fat stores.  The excess fat in your blood stream is quickly being burned up by cells everywhere across your body(in the mitochondria) and on the following day.  Having a lot of fat, without exceeding too far beyond your caloric limit, signals the body to burn more fat the following day because it realizes it has a lot of excess.  At the same time, it gives the signal to conserve glycogen, which is made from carb fuel.  The hope is that the following day, by making it a carb focused day, your body has both the signal to burn more fat, and take in more glycogen.  This means that more carbs will be stored as glycogen, in your muscles, instead of as fat.  If you take in a lot of fat on this day though, the high insulin levels circulating encourage them to be stored.

And I think enough people have survived NYC winters to prove that its possible haha.  If you don't think you can do it, it's time to move out here to AZ!

[clake16]

Andy ...

Like usurper said.  You don't need to get to his level.  He provides a lot of good info, if you want that much.  While you are starting, just listen to your body.  Eat till you are full, but make sure to spread out your eating phase to avoid overloading before your body recognizes it.  You WILL get good results at first very easily.  IF you're happy when you hit that plateau, maintain what you are doing.  The mental clarity, energy, and other benefits should stick with you.  If however, you hit a plateau weight wise and want more results, then it is time to really "tweek" the process and get scientific.  By that time everything we are talking about now will be second nature to you.  Then you could get into the calorie counting, the supplements, and diving in 100%...continual edeucation is key.

For now, take it slow.  Try to learn (really learn and make 1 concepts a day).  Then as you go, you'll pick up more and more.  Don't get overwhelmed.  One of the main concepts of this diet is the freedom - and not counting calories...I think you'll reach a point when you want to though.  I really got addicited to this.  You will want to get the most out of it eventually - just don't rush it.  So just take it slow.  You won't learn it all overnight.  You will make mistakes.  Make the most of them and learn from them.

[Andy S]

Couple of things:

I've tried the warrior diet, but to be honest it's just too inconvenient based on the timing of things.  Like I said, I've read both the warrior diet, and AED books, and incorporate pieces of both into my lifestyle, not a quick 2 week crash diet.

I don't understand why you need to cycle between fat and carb days.  I imagined both should be in your diet every day, just in the right amount.  Was that something written in ori's books, and I missed?

Either way, I'm definitely going to be getting a blood test done, because there's a large possibility it's all in my head.  If not I'll seriously evaluate the AED

[Theo]

this is a good thread

i think there is something you have to take into consideration, your body is a machine, the sum of all parts, each part influences the next.

it's not in your head.

if you have fat in those areas then you most likely do have excess estrogen in fact you almost certainly do.

realising this, you must also realise that no intelligent efforts are in vain, by losing fat you improve your hormonal profile and by improving your hormonal profile you lose fat.

but what are you gonna do when you get your hormone readings? i think unless you know a lot on the subject the readings will just be numbers on a piece of paper that cost you a fair bit.

so there no need to go getting worried about your hormones, your health is reflected on your body, in your case the fat in areas but also the improvements you have had.

to improve your hormones, here are a few suggestions.

-the warrior diet cycle is good for growth hormone
-cold showers in the morning to stimulate adrenals.
- training hard, heavy weights, moderate volume cranks up testosterone
-anaerobic exercise increases growth hormone, anything that fills your muscles with lactic acid does.
-protein, you want a fair bit if you train hard, fuck the RDA.
-you need EFAs to manufacture prostaglandins, dairy, fish, walnuts for omega 3(alpha linolenic)for a good hormone profile.
- sleeep, 8-9 hours. i wish i could get that every night lol
-don't drink much, don't drink beer.
-cleanse!! a purpose of fat is to store toxins away, calcium may help with this, however don't take it with zinc.
and a couple of testosterone tricks i use,

tribulus terrestris, tastes baaadd but it increases testosterone potential by increasing LH and FSH.more expensive so i don't use it much.
however the best things i find are cheap.
zinc - i wont recommend a dose but i think you need substantially more than 15mg, i think 50-60mg/d would be good. zinc on an empty stomach can make you felt sick, don't take it with foods high in/or calcium.
and vitamin C- buy a big bottle of it,( with bioflavonoids is best) humans don't produce it, the RDA is a joke..(60mg i think) and if you overdose you just get diarrhea to eliminate the excess.
i take 2000- 6000mg/d  don't take it in the evening though, it makes it hard to sleep.



zinc and vit c suppress estrogen and in my experience have a synergistic effect.

and returning to the 'mind-body' aspect, don't let anyone push you around, if you want testosterone you have to have balls. winning increases testosterone, losing drains it.

uhh that's all i can think of, best of luck mate

[mrmojorisin]

Andy, for a male your age who's having fat gain in your upper thighs, chest, and stomach you're without a doubt estrogen dominant. To be honest with you may want to have a full metabolic panel done. This sounds to me more than just estrogen dominance. The Warrior/Anti-estrogenic diets are great; but if you're hormones are seriously out of whack you may want to address that first.

[Andy S]

Andy, for a male your age who's having fat gain in your upper thighs, chest, and stomach you're without a doubt estrogen dominant. To be honest with you may want to have a full metabolic panel done. This sounds to me more than just estrogen dominance. The Warrior/Anti-estrogenic diets are great; but if you're hormones are seriously out of whack you may want to address that first.

I'm going to look into it, because I do believe I eat very well, and exercise well.  I do everything I should do.  I've put the idea out of my head for awhile and thought I was just making excuses, and could have worked harder. 

I also asked my doctor before about possibly getting hormone tests done, but hes an old fashioned type who told me there wasn't anything I should worry about - he thinks I'm being absurd probably.  But I'll ask him again

What exactly comprises a full metabolic panel?  And what other tests can I get done by a general physician.  I'd like to get it all done before I lose my insurance

Thanks

[mrmojorisin]

Andy, a full metabolic panel checks things like you electrolytes,(thyroid hormones) TSH, T3, T4, glucose, etc. I would also have a complete hormone panel done too; which includes estrogen/estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, SHBG, DHEA, prolcatin, and sometimes LH, FSH. Your general physician can perform these test, because they just draw blood and ship it out, and your insurance should cover it. If your doctor doesn't want to listen to you see another doctor.

[Andy S]

Yeah I'm looking into an endocrinologist under my plan, thanks for the advice