You know the stuff that giggles and no one likes and no one wants to talk about in an educated manner, especially in the circles where it matters most. Wait, I am a late twenty something dude and I am not in those circles. Truth. And if you know me you know my One Thing is to become a leader with a sane research and clinical based message in the arena of Men’s Health. I spend the vast majority of my research time wading through scientific journal articles and textbooks on subjects like over-training syndrome, andropause, and the neuroendocrinology of exercise. I also balance this out with popular literature that is quicker to read and then hack the resources in pubmed for more deets. In this excursion, I have learned a surprising amount about female physiology. I also work with a female Functional Medicine Practitioner out of California that takes on most of our female cases, so I have seen women lose 25+ pounds in 2 months without any substantial calorie reduction or increase in exercise. Faces were melted. For some the road is trickier and the lifestyle change more difficult, but all of these women learn so much about themselves and become very knowledgeable and beacons of reason within their social circles. If you are a woman and you have not read The Belly Fat Effect, The Hormone Secret, The Hormone Cure, and Lose Weight Here you are missing out. I have had female clients read these books and ask – why are they talking about me, it’s creepy, stop it. Ladies – you are lucky. There are so many amazing trailblazers and voices in your field. Follow them, read their content, and objectively tinker with their approaches.
Below is a quote from Lose Weight Here by Jade Teta N.D.
“Female belly fat is more about stress. Women with high waist- to- hip ratios (bigger bellies), whether overweight or underweight, have been shown in research to be more stress reactive. This means that dealing with female belly fat is less about diet and exercise and more about stress management. Which is good to know, because when food and exercise are taken to the extreme, they, too, can become a stressor. This is why we often say that a woman with stubborn belly fat that does not respond to diet and exercise would be far better off spending an extra hour in bed than an extra hour on the treadmill. The stress that causes female belly fat leads to a unique hormonal situation where testosterone and cortisol are high while estrogen is low. Eating less and exercising less (ELEL)— “starving the fat”— which is phase one in our plan, may be the best approach to use for female belly fat since it is focused on relaxation and recovery.”
All the sane voices in the field preach this message in some form or fashion. Yet, what we see in the conventional fitness industry and the media is so out of line with the needs of this population. You can’t out work or starve hormonal chaos, and the only way to combat it is to build back the system.
At any given moment somewhere around a quarter to half my clients are females between the ages of 30 and 50 and educating them on the juxtaposition of what the media wants them to think and what will get them results is the most pivotal thing I do. It is hard. No one wants to feel lazy and these women want to wear the badge of trying hard. They want to be out there sweating and eating massaged kale. But, we have to break through this identity if we are going to have long term results. We have to look at autonomic nervous system balance and providing enough calories to support their workload and health building activities – and we have to take on lifestyle.
Stories are powerful and can explain this concept better than I ever could. I have a female client who is very put together. She is a super successful professional and mother. One day she came in and I could tell she was a little distraught. She had just got a haircut and was all done up in her workout gear. She was ready to train. We started our session with an OmegaWave reading. She came back in a serious stress response, so much so that the black box that is the OmegaWave said that she was under emotional tension and should not be trained with any higher intensity cardio. I shielded the results from her and asked about her sleep and if anything was out of the norm this week. She said her sleep wasn’t particularly great but that everything was pretty much normal (stressful kids and an on-the-go lifestyle). Yet, I could tell she was guarding something. I didn’t pry and just adjusted the workload and atmosphere to her test results. Later in the session she dropped the bomb flippantly – my husband made a joke about my haircut. The anger I felt was scorching. It spread through my body like lava and even at this moment it is hard to type. As men we have to bring people up, not push them down. If you are past puberty you don’t get a single get out of jail free card – as my fellow Texan coach Zach Williams says – Cowboy Up.
If your wife or significant other is attempting to lose weight or build health you need to support them with every part of your being. Judgment and assumption need to leave your vocabulary.
This particular client has been with me a long time and has lost over 10% of her body weight and kept it off for well over a year. In terms of the conventional model she is a walking miracle. But recently her results have stalled and I will not give her more exercise and/or calorie restriction. Here is why. She comes in sympathetic dominant every time she tests on the OmegaWave. I know without a shadow of a doubt that her results have little to do with her diet and exercise regiment. I will say this again you can not out supplement or out work a lifestyle problem. It is too powerful. As a knowledgeable professional you have to do everything within your power to turn the chronic stress response around. As a trainer or coach this is so hard, because the ball is almost entirely in the client’s court, all you can do is give these people all your support and dial in a steady stream of non-judgmental knowledge and tools to help through the process. In this case, I have to let go of what I want to happen because my controlling the situation is not going to help. The road has to be “easy” and more alarms and micromanaging are the anti-thesis of what is generally needed. We have to seek first to understand the physiology and psychology of the puzzle and then help them put the pieces back together. The thing we can’t do is promote/allow these women to beat and starve themselves into a state they may never be able to recover from.
By Ben House PhD Candidate, FDN, fNMT
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