the latest a-ha

So I had been mulling it over in my head just weeks ago. The bloating feeling. Some weeks it is worse than others. And maybe that is just normal, many women complain of it. But it got me to thinking...hormones. How would one even know if their hormones are out of whack? And surely it has a big impact on how your body does its job.

I picked up a book by C.W. Randolph, M.D. which talks about just that - over dominating estrogen levels which cause belly fat in women over age 30 (and men over age 40). A lot of the symptoms just don't apply to me but I am reading on because a lot of it falls right in line with the other stuff I have read about my body type and health in general, concentrate on certain fruits and vegetables, calcium, fiber, healthy oils, etc.

And then the fact that I quit coffee made sense and I was proud of that move when I read on. The book states, "Studies have shown that drinking two cups of coffee a day can increase estrogen levels." In a study involving hundreds of men and women, women who had more than one cup of coffee a day had significantly higher estrogen levels! This definitely applies to all caffeinated beverages, so the pop drinkers are also at risk, thankfully I am really not.

I have also set aside a food journal for myself. Seeing that I tend to do the whole, "oh just one of these, or a little of that" constantly I need to be making myself write it down and then maybe I won't be so quick to make excuses for all of those little treats. It is time consuming but I suppose like anything once you have a routine it is not such a big deal.

Onward to slimmer and better things!