Get Rid of Hormonal Belly Fat (Without Another Diet)

You've been lied to about belly fat. Cutting calories, doing hours of cardio, torturing yourself with millions of crunches is never going to get rid of it. You can't hate your body into doing what you want. This is exactly why you're still stuck.

The real reason you can't lose belly fat has nothing to do with your willpower. It has everything to do with your hormones and your metabolism.

So by the end of this, I really want you to understand what causes hormonal belly fat, because it is different from other types of fat. I want you to understand how you can start to uncover what's causing it for you and how to finally get rid of it for good.

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What Makes Hormonal Belly Fat Different

Hormonal belly fat isn't like the fat on your thighs or arms. It's metabolically active and directly connected to insulin resistance, estrogen dominance, cortisol imbalances, and inflammation in your body.

This is specific to women because women's hormones are impacted by stress so much more than men. We actually do need more sleep. That's not a myth. Women need more sleep.

Testosterone isn't really impacted by stress that much, which is why this isn't as much of an issue for men. Progesterone and estrogen, however, are very much impacted by stress.

When your hormones are out of balance, your body stores fat differently. It holds onto belly fat as a protective mechanism because something deeper is going wrong. This is why you can eat perfectly, work out religiously, and still not see that stubborn belly fat budge.

So let's stop hating everything in your body and being so frustrated with it and trying to force it into what we want. Instead, let's think: What do I need? What is this belly fat telling me about my hormones? What steps can I take to support my body?

Wondering if what I’m about to share could actually work?

A recent client came to me after gaining most of her weight in her midsection. She was also highly stressed and on and off diets all of the time. Literally by helping her manage stress, getting in enough nutrients, and supporting her cortisol levels, she lost 30 pounds!

4 Root Causes of Hormonal Belly Fat

Sleep Quality

The number one thing you can start with right off the bat: stop scrolling your phone at nighttime and go to bed. Get enough sleep.

Don't brush this off because you're like, that's too easy. Have you actually tried it for three weeks? Three months? Or did you try it for two days? You have to be consistent here.

When you go to sleep, your liver is detoxing, your brain is detoxing, your body is recovering. You expect to do all this cardio and weightlifting while chronically under-eating calories, then you're not sleeping, and you go, come on body, recover. What's wrong with you? Your body is just struggling to survive.

Get off your phone before bed. I like using the free Refocus app because it automatically shuts everything off at 9 PM and doesn't unlock until 8 AM.

Do something that calms your nervous system before bed. Try laying down with your legs up a wall, breathing exercises, or EFT tapping, which has been shown to decrease cortisol levels by 43 percent.

Balance your blood sugar at dinner. Half your plate should be non-starchy veggies, quarter protein, quarter fat and carbs. If you're endlessly snacking at night, you probably aren't eating enough protein at dinner or enough calories during the day. Cravings have nothing to do with willpower and everything to do with blood sugar balance.

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is one of the biggest drivers of hormonal belly fat. When your cells stop responding properly to insulin, your body stores everything as fat, especially around your midsection.

Try apple cider vinegar before meals. Mix one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar with the mother in about four ounces of water and drink that before eating.

Try circadian fasting. This can be really impactful, especially if you have insulin resistance. Stop eating after dinner (five or six PM) until breakfast, giving yourself at least 12 to 14 hours without food. This helps your body completely clear all that insulin out. Make sure you're eating enough at dinner to sustain you overnight; a circadian fast isn't about starving yourself or cutting your calories.

During your fasting window, don't consume anything with stevia or monk fruit. Nothing that tastes sweet, even if it has zero calories. When you're dealing with insulin resistance, you don't want anything that tastes sweet on the tongue. Water and plain herbal tea only.

My two favorite supplements for insulin support are myo-inositol and Maitake from Eversio Wellness. Myo-inositol supports blood sugar balance and is great for PCOS. Maitake has been shown to lower fasting glucose by a minimum of 33 percent in type 2 diabetics and helps your body utilize carbs better.

Get 15% off Eversio Wellness mushrooms with code LEAH.

Estrogen Dominance

If you're constipated or not going to the bathroom at least once a day, you're reabsorbing estrogen that should be leaving your body.

Focus on getting 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily to help eliminate excess estrogen.

Support your gut with a good quality probiotic to prevent estrogen reabsorption and reduce LPS (endotoxins from bacteria) in your gut, which drive inflammation and belly fat.

Consider castor oil packs over your liver three times a week for 30 to 45 minutes. This supports your liver's ability to detox estrogen.

Chronic Stress

This of course includes mental stress and anxiety, but what most people don't realize is that your body can be stressed even when you don't mentally feel stressed. Every time your blood sugar crashes, your body releases cortisol. Every time you skip meals or under-eat, your body releases cortisol. Every time you eat inflammatory foods your gut can't handle, your body releases cortisol.

Your body doesn't know you're on a diet if you're chronically under-eating, it just thinks you're starving. And when you’re starving, fat loss gets shut down.

You can drink all the cortisol mocktails in the world, but if you're not addressing what's actually triggering your stress response through your nutrition, you're just putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.

Managing stress means eating enough food, moving in ways that feel good (not punishment), and giving your body actual rest. Your body needs to feel safe to let go of that protective belly fat.

Your Action Plan to Lose Hormonal Weight Gain

Start Here:

Sleep first. Get off your phone before bed. Do EFT tapping or breathing exercises before bed.

Balance your blood sugar. Half your plate non-starchy veggies, quarter protein, quarter fat and carbs. Stop skipping meals. Try apple cider vinegar before eating. Consider circadian fasting (stop eating after dinner until breakfast). No stevia or monk fruit during your fasting window.

Support gut and estrogen detox. Get 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily. Add a quality probiotic. Try castor oil packs over your liver three times a week.

Manage stress. Eat enough food. Move in ways that feel good. Actually rest.

Targeted supplements. Myo-inositol for blood sugar, Maitake for insulin sensitivity and Reishi for sleep and stress (Eversio Wellness code LEAH for 15% off mushroom supplements).

When you get consistent with these new habits, you're going to notice a reduction in belly fat. It's not going to be quick water weight loss. You're going to see real change because you're fixing what's actually broken.

Ready to reset your hormones and start losing weight?

When you fix your hormones, the weight comes off.

Not because you're starving yourself or doing hours of cardio, but because your body finally feels safe enough to let go of that protective belly fat.

If navigating these steps all by yourself feels overwhelming, if you want accountability and hormonal testing to see what’s going on in your body, that is what I do with my clients inside the Hormone Reset Program®. We literally help you reset your hormones so that you can lose weight effortlessly and have the tools to support your health for life.

A recent client came to us eating fast food all the time, multiple times a week and struggling to lose weight, feeling uncomfortable in her body. Since joining the Hormone Reset Program®, she’s only eating fast food once or twice a month and she has lost about 20 pounds!

Here’s what she told us:

Here's what makes this program different:

We run comprehensive testing to see exactly what's going on in your body. No more guessing. We get clear data on your hormones, blood sugar, gut health, and nutrient levels so we can create your personalized plan.

You'll learn how to manually balance your blood sugar, optimize your sleep, support your gut health, detox estrogen, and manage stress in ways that actually work for your life.

You'll understand what your body needs so you're not dependent on anyone forever. This is the last program you'll need because you'll finally understand your body.

Inside the Hormone Reset Program®, we help women who've been told their symptoms are normal, who've tried all the diets without lasting results, who feel like they're surviving instead of thriving. We help them finally lose that stubborn hormonal belly fat and feel in control of their bodies again.

Ready to lose weight without restrictive diets or endless workouts?

The Hormone Reset Program®, has helped 600+ women lose weight effortlessly, without cutting carbs, counting calories, or working out every single day.