Hormone Healthy Habits for Any Season

4 Guiding Principles for Hormone Healthy Routines

What's the perfect morning routine? Meal prep routine? Sleep routine? What about your workout routine?

Does any of this actually matter?

Creating an ecosystem that supports hormone healthy habits between work, home, school, and your social life takes a bit of planning, but there's no need to get everything “right” all the time. 

So, what exactly are hormones and how do our choices impact them?

Your hormones are part of the master control system of your entire body. Hormones are compounds made by one part of the body that are used to communicate with another part.

For example, insulin is made in the pancreas. When your blood sugar gets too high, insulin is released into the bloodstream. Then, it goes to your muscles and other cells to tell them to absorb that sugar out of the blood (and if there is still too much blood sugar, it signals your body to store it as fat). Your hormones control not only your blood sugar, but also your metabolism and appetite (plus a host of other things). And you probably know that having healthy blood sugar, metabolism and appetite is the foundation for maintaining optimal energy levels and maintaining a consistent weight over the years. 

Since hormones have such a critical role to feeling your best, keeping them balanced is essential. 

But how much control do we really have in this department?

You might be surprised!

These are my 4 guiding principles to determine what should or shouldn’t be part of my regular routines, no matter the season.

1. Minimize exposure to endocrine disruptors: Choosing beauty and kitchen products that keep sustainability top of mind is the guiding star for this one. Check out the clean beauty guide & kitchen guide for ideas of products swaps to minimize harsh chemicals and microplastics in your daily routines.

2. Get regular exercise: Use up excess blood sugar before your insulin has your body store it as fat: joining a fitness group, making an at home gym area or taking workout classes can help make this a regular part of your schedule. Check out my health-tech and fitness guides for my go to essentials for keeping exercise a regular part of my routine.

3. Relax: Try stress relieving activities like walking in nature, deep breathing, meditation or even crafting to reduce your (belly fat inducing) cortisol. Healthy coping mechanisms and good sleep hygiene can help you self regulate through times that you can’t simply eliminate your source(s) of stress. Check out the winter wellness wishlist for a few tips on creating a relaxing internal and external environment.

4. Be a picky eater (most of the time): balancing your blood sugar, supporting your gut health, boosting your immune system and even boosting your mood can often be achieved by eating certain types of foods regularly. Minimizing ultra-processed foods and leaning into meal prep can make healthy eating an intuitive part of your routine.

I think there’s more to living a healthy lifestyle than just shear willpower, but there is quite a bit of power in consistency. Sustainable habits tend to fit in to your regular lifestyle, creating a routine to lean into most of the time. A reliable routine that feels easy to stick to requires habits that lean towards mostly healthy choices, most days. Consistency is essential whether your routine includes support from GLP-1 medications or lifestyle modifications alone.

Sometimes when things require drastic changes and a lot of complex preparation, they can easily go from daily habits to distant memories of “things we used to do”.

If you're looking for a sustainable method of eating to support your hormone health goals, visit the shop to check out Balance Your Hormones with Food, a self-guided meal plan to jump start your wellness journey.

Blessings,