Determining Your Body Chemistry to Help With Your Natural Weightloss Routine

As Kimberly discussed a few weeks ago in her post, “Your Natural Weight Loss Plan of Eating,” an extremely efficient way to lose excess weight is to eat for your body chemistry. As she so succinctly put it, “if you are eating properly, and your body is in balance chemically, you will be at the right weight for you.”

To determine how to eat for your body chemistry, you first need to determine which hormonal category you fall into. During menopause, I’ve found that things aren’t as simple as just too much or too little of any given hormone. Instead, my patients tended to experience a total shift in their entire physical and chemical makeup that manifested as one of two patterns. Their body and brain chemistry tended toward becoming either too fast or too slow. For this reason, I call the first pattern estrogen deficiency–fast processor. The second is its mirror image: estrogen deficiency–slow processor.

An estrogen deficiency–fast processor woman is in menopause with too little estrogen. Characteristics include:
• Anxiety
• Thin, dry skin and tissues
• Menopause hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Insomnia
• Vaginal dryness
• Sore joints
• Increased risk for heart disease and osteoporosis

An estrogen deficiency–slow processor woman is also in menopause, but she has the opposite body type and temperament. Characteristics include:
• Plumper/difficult time losing weight
• Fluid retention
• Stronger bones and connective tissue
• Thicker skin and hair
• Placid temperament

Based on these characteristics, if you determine that you are a fast processor, follow this eating plan. If you are a slow processor, this diet will best suit you.

The majority of women over age 50 fall distinctly into one hormonal category. However, you may find that, whether you are predominantly a fast processor or slow processor, you still have some traits that fit in the other category. If that’s the case, you should still follow the eating plan for your predominant hormone type. However, most women over 50 are usually at one end of the hormonal spectrum or another, and tend not to be “hybrids.”