The hormone advice I wish more women would question

The hormone advice I wish more women would question

There’s one piece of conventional nutrition advice that refuses to die:

“Eat less. Move more.”

For many of the women I work with — especially those navigating perimenopause, PMS, PMDD or endometriosis — it’s often making things worse.

If you’ve tried this approach before, you’re not wrong. You were doing what you’d been told was the right thing. Most women are. The problem isn’t you. The problem is that this advice ignores hormones.

Why “eat less, move more” often doesn’t work for hormonal health

When you’re already exhausted, inflamed, stressed and riding unpredictable hormone shifts, cutting calories and adding more exercise can backfire.

Here’s what often happens instead:

• Energy crashes get worse

• Cravings intensify

• Sleep becomes lighter or more disrupted

• Cycles become more symptomatic

• Mood swings feel sharper

• Weight becomes harder — not easier — to shift

Why?

Because your body doesn’t interpret aggressive calorie reduction as “healthy”. It interprets it as stress. And when stress goes up, cortisol rises.
When cortisol rises, blood sugar becomes more unstable.
When blood sugar is unstable, cravings, fatigue and fat storage increase.

Add perimenopause into the mix — with fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone — and the stress response becomes even more amplified.

What to focus on instead

If you’re dealing with hormonal symptoms, here’s what works far better than eating less:

1. Blood sugar stability first

Before thinking about calories, think about structure.

• Protein at every meal

• Fibre from vegetables, pulses, nuts and seeds

• Regular meals (not skipping and then overeating later)

• Reducing ultra-processed foods

Stable blood sugar supports stable mood, energy and appetite. It also supports progesterone production and reduces stress signalling.

2. Enough food to feel safe

Hormones thrive when the body feels safe.

That means:

• Not chronically under-eating

• Not relying on caffeine to push through exhaustion

• Not “earning” food through exercise

• Not swinging between restriction and overdoing it

When your body trusts that food is consistent, cravings calm down. Energy improves. Inflammation reduces. Fat loss — if that’s your goal — becomes possible without force.

3. Train in a way that supports your phase of life

More exercise isn’t always better.

For many women in perimenopause or with high inflammatory conditions like endometriosis, recovery capacity is lower than it was at 25.

Supportive movement looks like:

• Strength training 2–3 times a week

• Walking

• Yoga or mobility work

• Proper rest days

Not daily HIIT layered on top of chronic stress.

A different way to think about weight and hormones

Instead of asking “How can I burn this off?” Try asking “What does my body need to feel stable?”

Weight changes are often a symptom of dysregulation — not a sign that you lack discipline.

And when you stabilise blood sugar, reduce inflammation, support the gut and calm the nervous system, body composition often shifts as a side effect.

If you’ve been down the “eat less, move more” road, you’re not behind. You were doing what you knew.

But if you’re still stuck, still exhausted, still inflamed — it may be time for a more hormone-aware approach.

And that’s where everything changes.