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The 5 Hormones Running Your Body — Fight The Weight
FIGHT THE WEIGHT · REAL EXPERIENCE. REAL EDUCATION. REAL RESULTS.
FTW Education Series
The 5 Hormones Running Your Body
— And What to Do About Each One
If you have ever done everything right and still not seen results — this is the email that explains why. Your hormones are running the show. It is time to understand them.
Hi Reader,
Here is something that most diet programmes never tell you: calories are only part of the story.
Two women can eat the exact same food, follow the exact same programme, and get completely different results. The reason almost always comes down to one thing — their hormonal environment.
Your hormones determine whether your body stores fat or releases it. They control how hungry you feel, how much energy you have, how well you sleep, and how quickly you recover. Understanding them does not just explain why things have been hard — it gives you the tools to actually change them.
Today I am walking you through the 5 key hormones that directly affect your body composition — what each one does, what happens when it is out of balance, and exactly what you can do about it.
Save this email. You will come back to it.
What It Is
Insulin is released by your pancreas every time you eat — especially when you eat carbohydrates and sugar. Its job is to move glucose from your bloodstream into your cells for energy or storage.
Here is the part most women have never been told: while insulin is elevated, your fat cells are locked. Your body physically cannot release stored fat to use as energy — no matter how little you are eating. Fat access requires insulin to be low.
This is why you can be in a caloric deficit and still feel like nothing is moving. If your insulin is chronically elevated from constant snacking, refined carbohydrates, and sugar — your body spends most of the day in fat storage mode, never fully switching to fat burning mode.
Remember This
You can be eating less than you burn and STILL not accessing stored fat if insulin stays elevated. Managing insulin is not optional — it is the foundation.
What To Do
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Eat low-GI carbohydrates — they cause a slower, lower insulin response than white bread, white rice, and sugar
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Always pair carbohydrates with protein and fat — this slows glucose absorption and reduces the insulin spike
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Leave 4–5 hours between meals to allow insulin to fully drop between eating
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Take a 10-minute walk after meals — your muscles absorb glucose without requiring insulin
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Resistance training improves insulin sensitivity significantly — this is why weight training matters more than cardio
What It Is
Cortisol is released by your adrenal glands every time you experience stress — physical, emotional, or psychological. Here is the thing: your body cannot tell the difference between a work deadline and a physical threat. The hormonal response is identical.
Chronically elevated cortisol directly causes abdominal fat storage, muscle breakdown, increased hunger by up to 25%, reduced fat burning, and poor sleep quality. And here is the cruel part — a caloric deficit is itself a physiological stressor. This means that dieting too aggressively actually raises cortisol, making fat storage worse, not better.
This is why so many women who diet harder get more belly fat, not less. They are not doing something wrong. Their cortisol is doing exactly what cortisol is designed to do.
Remember This
You cannot out-exercise or out-eat chronic stress. Managing cortisol is not a lifestyle luxury — it is a metabolic strategy that directly affects where your body stores fat.
What To Do
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Keep your caloric deficit moderate — 400 to 500 calories below maintenance. Never aggressive.
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Protect your sleep above almost everything else — poor sleep is one of the most powerful cortisol triggers
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Get 5–10 minutes of morning sunlight within 30 minutes of waking — this anchors your cortisol rhythm for the whole day
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Magnesium glycinate 300mg before bed — directly calms the stress response and supports deep sleep
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Ashwagandha KSM-66 (300–600mg daily) — clinically proven to reduce cortisol in multiple randomised controlled trials
What It Is
Leptin is produced by your fat cells. Its job is to signal to your brain that you have enough stored energy — which reduces your appetite and supports your metabolic rate.
When you have more body fat, you produce more leptin and feel fuller. But here is what happens when you start losing fat or restricting food: leptin drops. Your brain receives what it interprets as a starvation signal. Hunger increases. Motivation drops. Your metabolism slows down.
This is the primary mechanism of metabolic adaptation — the reason every diet eventually stops working. It is not your fault and it is not a lack of willpower. It is leptin doing its job.
Remember This
When leptin drops during a fat loss phase, your brain receives a starvation signal. This is why hunger increases, motivation drops, and progress stalls — even when you are still doing everything right.
What To Do
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Plan diet breaks — 1 to 2 weeks eating at maintenance calories temporarily restores leptin. This is strategy, not cheating.
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Refeed days — 1 to 2 days of higher carbohydrate intake gives leptin a short-term boost
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Prioritise sleep — adequate sleep supports healthy leptin production
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Do not stay in a deficit indefinitely — plan breaks into your programme from the beginning
What It Is
Ghrelin is produced in your stomach. It rises before meals, signals hunger to your brain, and falls after eating. When you are in a caloric deficit, ghrelin rises — which is why you feel hungrier when dieting. This is biology, not weakness.
The most powerful ghrelin trigger that most women never connect to hunger? Sleep deprivation. Just one night of poor sleep raises ghrelin by up to 28%. So by the time you wake up after a bad night, you are already significantly hungrier than you would otherwise be — before you have made a single food choice.
High-protein meals suppress ghrelin more effectively than any other macronutrient. This is one of the core reasons protein is non-negotiable in this programme.
Remember This
You feel hungrier when dieting because ghrelin rises in a deficit. It is not weakness. It is not a character flaw. It is a hormone doing exactly what it was designed to do. Work with it — don’t fight it.
What To Do
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Prioritise sleep — the single most powerful ghrelin management tool available to you
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Eat high-protein meals — protein suppresses ghrelin more effectively than carbohydrates or fat
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Maintain regular meal timing — predictable eating patterns help regulate the ghrelin rhythm
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Stay well hydrated — thirst and hunger share overlapping brain signals. Drink water before deciding if you are hungry.
What It Is
Your thyroid gland produces T4, which is converted to the active hormone T3 in your liver and kidneys. T3 directly controls the speed of almost every metabolic process in your body — your heart rate, your body temperature, and how quickly you burn energy.
Even mild thyroid dysfunction can reduce your metabolic rate by 15 to 30 percent — making fat loss extremely difficult despite consistent effort. But here is the part that surprises most women: you do not need a thyroid condition for this to affect you.
Aggressive caloric restriction, chronic stress, and very low carbohydrate diets can all suppress T3 even when your thyroid itself is completely healthy. This is called low T3 syndrome — and it is one of the most common and most overlooked reasons that women plateau despite doing everything right.
Remember This
You do not need a diagnosed thyroid condition for your T3 to be suppressed. Crash dieting, chronic stress, and very low carb eating can all slow your metabolism significantly — even with a healthy thyroid.
What To Do
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Do not restrict calories too aggressively — this suppresses T3 and slows your metabolism
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Maintain a minimum of 100g carbohydrates per day — carbohydrates support T3 production
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Eat 2 Brazil nuts daily — they provide selenium, which is essential for T4 to T3 conversion
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If you are doing everything right and nothing is moving — ask your doctor for TSH, Free T3, and Free T4 (not just TSH alone)
The Quick Reference — All 5 Hormones
| INSULIN |
The fat storage switch — keeps fat locked while elevated. Lower it through low-GI food, protein pairing, and walking after meals. |
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| CORTISOL |
The stress hormone — causes abdominal fat storage and muscle loss. Manage it with sleep, morning light, magnesium, and a moderate deficit. |
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| LEPTIN |
The fullness hormone — drops during fat loss, causing hunger and metabolic slowdown. Plan diet breaks and prioritise sleep. |
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| GHRELIN |
The hunger hormone — rises in a deficit and after poor sleep. Manage it with protein, sleep, regular meal timing, and hydration. |
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| THYROID |
Your metabolic rate controller — suppressed by crash dieting, stress, and very low carb. Eat enough, include carbs, eat Brazil nuts. |
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