{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "The Lioness Blog", "home_page_url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog", "feed_url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/testosterone", "url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/testosterone", "title": "The Truth About Testosterone", "content_text": "Ladies, let’s talk testosterone. Yes, *that* hormone. The one that gets all the macho press, the muscle-bound glory, and the deep voice credit. But here’s the truth: testosterone isn’t just for the guys. It plays a crucial role in *your* health, fitness, mood, energy, and more. And when it’s low? You feel it.\n\nWhether you’re postpartum, perimenopausal, menopausal, or simply feeling off and can’t quite put your finger on why—testosterone may be part of the picture.\n\n## Testosterone: Not Just a “Male Hormone”\n\nHere’s a little science without the snooze: testosterone is an androgen, a group of hormones that includes DHEA and androstenedione. Women produce testosterone in their ovaries, adrenal glands, and peripheral tissues. While men typically have 10 to 20 times more, women still need a certain baseline to feel and function their best.\n\nIn healthy women, normal levels range between **15-70 ng/dL**. Compare that to the **270-1070 ng/dL** range typical for men, and you’ll quickly see that we’re talking about a completely different ball game. You’re not about to grow a beard or biceps overnight. So let’s clear the air: *restoring your testosterone to a healthy female level does not make you a man*.\n\n## What Happens When Testosterone is Low?\n\n**1. Muscle Mass Takes a Hit**\nTestosterone helps preserve lean muscle. So if you’re lifting weights but noticing you’re not making gains like you used to—or worse, you’re losing strength and tone—your T levels may be low. This matters not just for vanity, but for metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and bone density.\n\n**2. Fat Loss Becomes an Uphill Battle**\nLow testosterone often goes hand-in-hand with an increase in body fat, especially around the midsection. That stubborn belly that seems immune to every clean meal and sweat session? T might be a missing link.\n\n**3. Mood and Motivation Tank**\nFeeling less drive, more irritability, and even creeping depression? Testosterone is tied to dopamine (your feel-good neurotransmitter) and energy levels. When T is low, your get-up-and-go might have just got up and went.\n\n**4. Sleep Gets Squirrely**\nLow testosterone can mess with your circadian rhythms and overall sleep quality. And poor sleep further tanks testosterone. It’s a vicious cycle—especially in perimenopause and menopause when sleep already becomes more fragile.\n\n**5. Libido Leaves the Chat**\nLet’s be real: women want and deserve a satisfying sex life. Testosterone plays a key role in desire, arousal, and even sexual satisfaction. Low levels can cause not just disinterest but discomfort.\n\n**6. Recovery Slows**\nFrom workouts to illness to stress, you may feel like your bounce-back ability just isn’t what it used to be. Testosterone helps regulate inflammation and repair, so if you’re dragging more than usual after your usual routine, low T could be part of the picture.\n\n## When Does Testosterone Naturally Decline?\n\nMost women peak in their 20s and experience a slow decline after 30. By the time menopause rolls around, many women have half (or less) of the testosterone they once did. Postpartum women can also experience a sharp dip, especially in combination with sleep deprivation, nutrient depletion, and stress.\n\n## But Won’t Testosterone Make Me…Manly?\n\nThis is the #1 fear I hear, and it’s understandable. But again: the levels being discussed for women are nowhere near male levels. Supporting optimal testosterone in women does not lead to a square jaw or Hulk hands.\n\nSigns of *true* virilization (like voice deepening or facial hair) typically happen only with *abuse* of testosterone or anabolic steroids, not with therapeutic or physiological hormone restoration.\n\n## What Can You Do?\n\nStart with the basics:\n- **Lift heavy**: Resistance training is one of the best natural boosters of testosterone.\n- **Sleep**: Prioritize quality sleep (7-9 hours) to support hormone production.\n- **Nourish smartly**: Eat enough protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients like zinc and magnesium.\n- **Manage stress**: Cortisol is testosterone’s hormonal nemesis.\n- **Test, don’t guess**: A simple blood panel can tell you where you stand. Work with a provider who understands women’s hormones.\n\n## Final Thoughts from a Seasoned Coach\n\nYou are not crazy. You are not lazy. And it’s not all in your head. If your energy, strength, mood, and sex drive have gone MIA, don’t ignore it. Testosterone may be the quiet contributor.\n\nHealth information notice: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Talk with a qualified healthcare professional about symptoms, testing, or hormone therapy.\n\nSources:\n- Androgen Therapy in Women: A Reappraisal — Endocrine Society: https://www.endocrine.org/clinical-practice-guidelines/androgen-therapy-in-women\n- Global Consensus Position Statement on the Use of Testosterone Therapy for Women — The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/104/10/4660/5556103\n- The Menopause Years — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-menopause-years", "summary": "Ladies, let's talk testosterone. Yes, that hormone. The one that gets all the macho press, the muscle-bound glory, and the deep voice credit. But here's the truth: testosterone isn't just for the guys.", "image": "/images/originals/lioness-built-testosterone.jpg", "date_published": "2025-06-10T12:00:00Z", "authors": [ { "name": "LeeAnna McMullen", "title": "NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach; ACE Certified" } ] }, { "id": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/progesterone", "url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/progesterone", "title": "The Power of Progesterone", "content_text": "## Why This Unsung Hormone Matters More Than You Think\n\nWhen we talk about hormones and women’s health, estrogen usually hogs the spotlight. But today, let’s pull the curtain back and give a standing ovation to a lesser-known hero: **progesterone**. Whether you’re postpartum, perimenopausal, or somewhere in the foggy middle of hormonal shifts, progesterone is quietly orchestrating more than you might realize.\n\n### What Is Progesterone, Anyway?\n\nProgesterone is a steroid hormone that your body produces mainly in the ovaries after ovulation. It’s also made in small amounts by the adrenal glands. Think of it as the calming, grounding force in the hormonal dance. While estrogen gets all fired up, progesterone is the voice saying, “Let’s not lose our heads here.”\n\n### Why Progesterone Matters at Every Stage\n\n#### 1. Postpartum: The Hormonal Freefall\nAfter giving birth, progesterone levels plummet. Combine that with sleep deprivation and healing from birth, and it’s no wonder many new moms feel like they’ve been hit by a hormonal truck. Low progesterone during this stage can contribute to mood swings, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. \n\n#### 2. Perimenopause: The Slow Fade\nPerimenopause is marked by irregular ovulation. No ovulation = no progesterone production that month. Over time, this adds up. You might notice changes in mood, heavier or irregular periods, sleep trouble, or feeling anxious for no good reason. \n\n#### 3. Menopause: The Hormonal Quiet\nIn menopause, when ovulation stops completely, progesterone production drops off. While this is normal, the loss of its calming, balancing effects can be felt deeply. Women often report sleep disruptions, mood changes, and a general feeling of “off.” \n\n### Progesterone and Fitness: More Connected Than You Think\n\nLet’s talk shop. Your workouts and recovery are absolutely impacted by progesterone. Here’s how:\n\n- **Sleep**: Progesterone promotes GABA, a neurotransmitter that helps you relax and sleep. If your sleep is off, your recovery and gains will be, too.\n- **Mood and Motivation**: Feeling anxious, irritable, or down? That lack of “get up and go” could be linked to low progesterone.\n- **Inflammation and Recovery**: Progesterone has anti-inflammatory effects. When it’s low, aches, pains, and post-workout soreness can feel worse.\n\n### Signs You Might Be Low on Progesterone\n\n- Irregular or heavy periods\n- Spotting between periods\n- Sleep issues (especially trouble falling asleep)\n- Anxiety or feeling “on edge”\n- Breast tenderness\n- Brain fog\n\n### Supporting Progesterone Naturally\n\nBefore diving into bioidenticals or supplements, let’s start with what you *can* do today:\n\n1. **Manage Stress**: Chronic stress = high cortisol = lower progesterone. Think breathwork, walks, laughter.\n2. **Eat Enough**: Progesterone is made from cholesterol. Undereating or fat-phobia diets can leave you short on raw materials.\n3. **Strength Training**: Yep, lifting weights not only builds muscle but also helps balance hormones. \n4. **Sleep Hygiene**: Quality sleep is essential for hormone regulation. \n\n### Final Thoughts\n\nProgesterone might not be the loudest hormone, but it’s one of the most crucial for women’s health. From keeping us calm and well-rested to supporting cycles and workouts, it deserves more than a footnote.\n\nHealth information notice: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Talk with a qualified healthcare professional about persistent symptoms, supplements, or hormone therapy.\n\nSources:\n- Progesterone — National Library of Medicine: StatPearls: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK558960/\n- Postpartum Depression — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/postpartum-depression\n- The Menopause Years — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-menopause-years", "summary": "When we talk about hormones and women's health, estrogen usually hogs the spotlight. But today, let's pull the curtain back and give a standing ovation to a lesser-known hero.", "image": "/images/originals/lioness-built-progesterone.jpg", "date_published": "2025-06-10T12:00:00Z", "authors": [ { "name": "LeeAnna McMullen", "title": "NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach; ACE Certified" } ] }, { "id": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/estrogen-dominance", "url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/estrogen-dominance", "title": "Estrogen Dominance & Your Workouts", "content_text": "Let’s talk estrogen. Not the glamorous, skin-glowing, libido-boosting version you hear about in beauty ads—but the tricky kind that shows up uninvited and overstays its welcome. I’m talking about **estrogen dominance**, and if you’re postpartum, perimenopausal, or fully menopausal, chances are this hormonal imbalance might be affecting your workouts, your energy, your recovery, and your results.\n\n## What Is Estrogen Dominance, Anyway?\n\nEstrogen dominance doesn’t always mean you have too much estrogen. It means your **estrogen is high relative to progesterone**, kind of like having a loud neighbor and no walls. It throws off the whole vibe.\n\nThis imbalance can be caused by:\n- Chronic stress (hello, cortisol)\n- Poor liver detoxification\n- Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (plastics, skincare)\n- Being postpartum (progesterone plummets after birth)\n- Perimenopause (progesterone often declines faster than estrogen)\n\n## Symptoms Women Often Dismiss (But Shouldn’t)\n\nWomen experiencing estrogen dominance often chalk up the symptoms to “aging” or “being tired,” but the list includes:\n- Fatigue (especially after workouts)\n- Trouble losing weight (especially around the hips, thighs, and belly)\n- Breast tenderness or swelling\n- PMS or irregular cycles\n- Mood swings, anxiety, or irritability\n- Bloating or water retention\n- Brain fog\n\n## How Estrogen Dominance Messes With Your Workouts\n\nHere’s where things get frustrating. You’re showing up, lifting, running, sweating, but not getting the payoff. \n\n### Energy & Motivation Tank\nEstrogen imbalance affects neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. This means you might start a workout dragging, or feel too emotionally fried to even put on your sports bra.\n\n### Slower Recovery\nToo much estrogen promotes inflammation and can increase cortisol. That combo equals sore joints, delayed muscle repair, and a tendency to feel “puffy” rather than strong.\n\n### Plateaued Progress\nEstrogen dominance is linked to insulin resistance, especially around perimenopause. This makes it harder for your body to use carbohydrates efficiently, and fat storage becomes more stubborn, even with strength training.\n\n### Exercise Intolerance or Burnout\nWhen estrogen is high and progesterone is low, your stress resilience tanks. Intense workouts may feel like they’re doing more harm than good.\n\n## What You *Can* Do About It (In the Gym)\n\nDon’t worry, you don’t have to toss your dumbbells or become a walking yoga mat. With a few smart adjustments, your workouts can actually help rebalance hormones:\n\n### Lift Heavy, but Smart\nStrength training is still gold. It helps manage insulin, boost metabolism, and protect bone density. But back off the “no pain, no gain” mindset. Prioritize **form, tempo, and recovery.**\n\n### Embrace the Deload Week\nIf you’re used to powering through, this might feel like blasphemy, but cycling your intensity (a deload week every 4–6 weeks) gives your hormones space to recalibrate.\n\n### Shorten & Soften Cardio\nChronic long cardio sessions can spike cortisol. Opt for **shorter, moderate** bursts like a brisk 20-minute walk.\n\nHealth information notice: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Symptoms attributed to hormones can have many causes; consult a qualified healthcare professional for assessment.\n\nSources:\n- The Menopause Years — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-menopause-years\n- The 2020 Menopausal Hormone Therapy Guidelines — Journal of Menopausal Medicine / PubMed Central: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7475284/\n- Physical Activity and Your Heart — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/physical-activity", "summary": "Let's talk estrogen. Not the glamorous, skin-glowing version you hear about in beauty ads—but the tricky kind that shows up uninvited and overstays its welcome.", "image": "/images/originals/estrogen-dominance1.jpg", "date_published": "2025-06-09T12:00:00Z", "authors": [ { "name": "LeeAnna McMullen", "title": "NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach; ACE Certified" } ] }, { "id": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/cortisol", "url": "https://lionessbuilt.com/blog/cortisol", "title": "Cortisol and the Modern Woman", "content_text": "## What Your Stress Hormone is Really Doing to Your Body\n\nLet’s start with a truth bomb: you are not imagining it.\n\nThat wired-but-tired feeling? The stubborn belly fat that showed up uninvited and refuses to leave? The 2 a.m. wakeups with your heart racing and your mind replaying that one weird thing you said in a meeting six years ago? Yep, cortisol is likely playing a starring role.\n\nIf you’re navigating perimenopause or menopause, this hormone deserves a spotlight on your radar. But even if you’re not there yet, cortisol is still impacting your sleep, mood, energy, and those fitness goals you’ve been chasing with green smoothies and spin classes.\n\n### **What Is Cortisol, Anyway?**\n\nCortisol is your body’s primary stress hormone. Produced by the adrenal glands, it works like your internal alarm system, helping you wake up in the morning, respond to danger, and keep inflammation in check.\n\nIn small, controlled doses, cortisol is incredibly helpful. The trouble begins when your cortisol levels are chronically elevated, which, let’s be honest, is not uncommon for modern women balancing work, caregiving, aging parents, hormonal shifts, and about 37 browser tabs open at once.\n\n### **How Cortisol Changes with Age**\n\nHere’s the kicker: cortisol doesn’t play fair as we age. During perimenopause and menopause, your estrogen and progesterone levels begin to decline, but your body doesn’t always recalibrate cortisol properly in response. \n\nWith less progesterone (a calming, cortisol-buffering hormone), your body may become more sensitive to stress. Estrogen, too, plays a role in keeping cortisol in balance, so when it starts dropping, cortisol often steps out of line. \n\n### **The Sneaky Ways Cortisol Shows Up**\n\nCortisol isn’t just about stress. It can quietly hijack all kinds of systems in the body:\n\n- **Sleep Disruptions:** Elevated nighttime cortisol can make it hard to fall asleep or cause you to wake up in the middle of the night.\n- **Weight Gain (especially belly fat):** Cortisol encourages fat storage around the midsection, partly for quick energy access.\n- **Sugar Cravings:** Cortisol raises blood sugar to give you energy in a crisis. When there’s no crisis, it makes you crave quick carbs.\n- **Mood Swings & Anxiety:** Chronic cortisol elevation is linked to increased anxiety and irritability.\n- **Brain Fog:** High cortisol over time can impair memory and concentration.\n- **Muscle Loss:** In a cortisol-dominant state, the body may break down muscle for fuel. Not helpful when you’re working hard to preserve lean mass.\n\nSound familiar?\n\n#### **Susan’s Story**\n\nSusan, 48, works full-time, manages her household, and is training for a 10K. She eats clean, exercises five days a week, but her sleep is wrecked and the scale hasn’t budged in months. She feels anxious for no reason and her clothes are tighter around the waist.\n\nShe’s doing everything right… but her body feels like it’s working against her.\n\nWhat Susan doesn’t realize is that her intense workouts, low-calorie meals, and non-stop schedule are keeping her cortisol elevated. Her body thinks it’s surviving, not thriving. It doesn’t want to burn fat, it wants to hold onto it “just in case.”\n\n### **Why This Hits Women Harder**\n\nMen produce cortisol too, but women are often more sensitive to its effects. That’s partly because of how our bodies interact with estrogen and progesterone. But it’s also cultural.\n\nWe’re taught to push harder. Do more. Be everything for everyone.\n\nSo when our bodies start sending distress signals, we need to listen. Start by prioritizing recovery, sleep, and fueling your body properly, rather than punishing it.\n\nHealth information notice: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Persistent sleep, mood, weight, or stress-related symptoms should be discussed with a qualified healthcare professional.\n\nSources:\n- Cortisol: What It Is, Function, Symptoms & Levels — Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22187-cortisol\n- Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk — Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037\n- The Menopause Years — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-menopause-years", "summary": "That wired-but-tired feeling? The stubborn belly fat that showed up uninvited and refuses to leave? Yep, cortisol is likely playing a starring role.", "image": "/images/originals/women-cortisol-lioness-built.jpg", "date_published": "2025-06-08T12:00:00Z", "authors": [ { "name": "LeeAnna McMullen", "title": "NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach; ACE Certified" } ] } ] }