You have been religious about your workouts, but you just can’t stronger or leaner. There are many things that could be a factor (like your workout program isn’t designed to meet your goals…look into that). Today we are going to look at Nutrition and Lifestyle.
A key question would be, what is going on with your Androgen Levels. To keep this simple we will talk about Androgens as a reference to testosterone. While commonly thought of as a male hormone, women also need testosterone, so girls this applies to you as well. When we have disruption in our androgen levels the testosterone that could help get us stronger or leaner is being converted into estrogen (the bad kinds) and cortisol and are actually making us fatter and weaker.
So how do week keep our Androgens in check
1. Using alcohol or tobacco products
An occasional drink is not going to disrupt your system, but prolonged and heavy usage of alcohol will start to effect your bodies ability to maintain testosterone levels. Remember that alcohol is estrogenic. Tobacco is also estrogenic and because of the high levels of free radicals and toxins it releases into the body there are bound to be problems.
2. Consuming processed carbohydrates
I have said it again and again- if it doesn’t come from nature then we probably should not eat it. And if it came from nature but then was smashed, rolled, had nutrients removed, mixed with some other junk then you should not eat it either. This goes for Cheerios too… people just because GM have a good marketing team with loads of money to give to shows like the Biggest Loser doesn’t mean you have to believe that Cheeiros areactually the key to eliminating heart disease..come on and use a little common sense here!
3. Consuming little protein or incomplete proteins
You can not get stronger without protein…muscles are made of protein. Again with the common sense. You can not get lean without protein either because lean means you have a high percentage of muscle and a low percentage of fat..again muscle is protein. And your proteins need to be complete proteins. This means that just eating nut butters, milk and beans for protein isn’t going to cut it. Complete proteins are found in meat and eggs.
4. Not drinking enough water
Our entire body is made of cells of various types, if these cells are not hydrated they do not function properly. Hydrate them!
5. Poor sleep quality or quantity
The body needs sleep. If your sleep is off then your androgen levels will most likely be off as well. So you need to fix your sleep. Get in a routine and stick to it. You may also need to add a supplement regimen to help get your sleep back on track.