What I’ve Learned About Health, Hormones, and Listening to My Body

I’m going to talk about something that I think a lot of us are quietly dealing with, but we don’t always know how to explain it without sounding dramatic.

It’s that feeling that…something is off.

Not “I’m sick” kind of off, or the “I need to go to the hospital” kind of off. Just that low level, persistent sense that your body isn’t responding the way it used to. Your energy isn’t the same. Your sleep is weird. Your mood feels unpredictable. Your appetite changes. Your skin changes. Your workouts hit differently. And you can’t fully pin it on one thing, which is the most frustrating part.

In all honesty, this kind of phase can literally be just that…a phase. I’ve realized that when I feel this way, it takes me having to remind myself not to be dramatic…even just to myself. Because, sometimes this feeling is literally just for a day, or for a few days. It’s not the end of the world. This is what I tell myself.

For the longest time, when I felt that way, I’d do what most of us do. I’d push through. I’d tell myself I’m being lazy, or overthinking, or just need to get it together. I’d try to tighten everything up, stricter routine, stricter food, stricter mindset…because in my head, the answer was always more discipline.

Now I look back and think…why are we so quick to blame ourselves?

What I’ve learned is that a lot of this is hormonal. And hormonal changes don’t always show up and give us a nice note along with it to tell us why these changes are happening. They can creep in, and before you know it, you’re wondering why your old routines aren’t giving you the same results, and why you feel like you’re working twice as hard to feel half as good.

I also think hormones affect us way more than people realize. It’s not just about periods or menopause or anything that gets put into that category. Hormones affect everything…energy, appetite, mood, sleep, cravings, stress tolerance, recovery, inflammation, even confidence. And when they start shifting, your body starts playing by a slightly different rule book.

One of the biggest wake-up calls for me was recognizing how my body responds to stress now. Stress used to feel mental. Like, okay, I’m busy, I’ll deal with it, I’ll move on. But now I can actually see stress on my body. It shows up as puffiness, inflammation, disrupted sleep, skin flare-ups, and that feeling of being tired even when you technically slept…but it just wasn’t the right type of sleep. It honestly blows my mind when you think about what women have to go through.

And what’s annoying is that sometimes you can be doing everything right. Eating well, working out, being consistent, and still feel like your body isn’t cooperating. That’s when it starts to mess with your head. You start wondering if it’s even worth continuing the workouts and clean eating.

Listening to my body has been a journey because I didn’t grow up doing that. I grew up thinking you ignore discomfort. You push through. You don’t complain. You just get on with it. And that mindset can make you successful in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t always make you healthy.

Now, I pay attention, but just not in an obsessive way, but in a more respectful way.