July 24, 2025 • 12 mins
Our bodies often send signals that we misinterpret as a lack of discipline or willpower, when in fact they are important communications about hormonal needs and imbalances. In this episode, learn about what sugar cravings, desire to "overeat," a need to hit the snooze button, and doomscrolling could be telling you about your hormones.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to episode number 121 of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and today on the podcast, in
this mini episode, we're gonnabe talking more about discipline
, about willpower, and about whythat might not actually be the
thing that you need, even thoughyou may have been telling
(00:20):
yourself for many, many moons bythis point that that is the
thing that you lack.
This is something that I hearfrom my clients all the time,
every single month.
This is something that I feltmyself for many, many years.
Unfortunately, we're all kindof told by society that we need
(00:42):
to work out more or we need tobe more strict with our diet.
We need to do this, we need todo that, we need to do more,
more, more.
Sometimes, though, that'sreally not what your hormones
need, that's not what yourperiod needs, that's not what
your body needs to restorebalance, to feel safe and to
(01:03):
resume business as normal.
You may have listened to thisweek's earlier episode, where I
did a deep dive into this topic,and what I'll do in today's
episode is walk you through acouple more of the specific ways
, specific signs or signals thatyou could see in your body
(01:24):
where you think gosh, I justdon't have the self-control for
this.
But maybe now you'll say, ohwell, is that my self-control or
is this my body signalingsomething to me?
How can I listen to that?
How can I give my body what itneeds?
So that'll make more sense injust a second, because we're
(01:45):
going to dive into it right now.
If you are on a journey torestore hormone balance restore
balance in your gut you'rewanting to feel better.
One of the things thatoftentimes comes along with a
plan like that is to avoidcertain sugary sweets, processed
foods and probably alcohol.
(02:07):
So let's talk about what canmake things more difficult there
.
Now, one of the things thatyou'll be familiar with if
you've been listening to I'mHormonal for a second is about
blood sugar dysregulation, andif you're somebody who has been
eating some processed foods,eating sweet treats, maybe
(02:27):
drinking sugary drinks for manyyears of your life, like I did
growing up in the Midwest Idon't think I drank water until
I was like in high school.
I don't know how I survived.
Regardless, if you havedysregulated blood sugar levels,
which is absolutely somethingthat could impact the quality of
your menstrual cycle, thatdysregulation itself can result
(02:52):
in cravings for sugar.
So if you're somebody who isavoiding sugar and then your
blood sugars are lower thannormal because your body is
trying to get things back ontrack.
Well, that in and of itself canput your body in a situation
where it's saying, hey, girl, weneed more sugar here, get that
(03:16):
apple, grab that bagel, grabthat whatever lemon poppy seed
muffin with the sweet icing ontop, because we need some energy
here.
This is danger zone.
So that's just one example ofhow you might be feeling.
Like, damn, I just can't say noto that extra brownie at girls
(03:38):
night.
But it could be your bodysignaling to you that blood
sugar levels are low and thatyour body should grab that.
So it's this combination ofsignals from your blood sugar.
Or maybe, for example, numbertwo, if you have some type of
imbalance in your gut microbiome.
(03:58):
On Tuesday's episode I talkedabout a candida overgrowth, so
we'll stay on that train.
But if you have an overgrowthof something, for example
candida, which is a type ofyeast, that yeast itself can be
altering the signals that aresent to your brain and it's
telling your brain that it needsmore energy, that it needs more
(04:18):
sweets, more sugar, becausesugar, that is one of candida's
main food groups.
So that's how the yeast in yourbody.
For some folks with overgrowth,that's how that yeast is
helping to support its own lifeand why it's signaling to you.
So it's not that you just can'tcontrol yourself around those
(04:42):
little, tiny, cute muffins,those little bite-sized muffins.
It's that there are thingsgoing on in your body telling
you to grab those sweet treats.
Another thing I want to talkabout here, also on the note of
food, but just when it comesmore generally to monitoring the
way that you eat.
Now, maybe you're just in aphase where you're like okay,
(05:05):
let me become aware of what I'meating.
Maybe you're not changinganything yet.
Or, phase two, maybe you'vedecided that you do want to
alter the way that you areputting together your meals.
Now, no matter what that lookslike for you, if you're trying
to restrict what you're eating,you're not going to.
(05:26):
There could be a signal fromyour body just saying, hey, you
need more nutrients.
And this is something againI've mentioned this before in
the podcast.
But with most of the clientsthat I work with I would say at
least 75%, if I have to ballparkit, at least 75% of my
one-on-one clients when we dotheir initial food journal, when
(05:49):
we talk about it, they're likewow, I did not realize that I
was under eating so drasticallyUnder eating.
A lot of us we think, oh, I'mprobably overeating, so I'll
just skip this, skip that.
But maybe your body just needsmore nutrients and that's why,
even though you have these quoteunquote good intentions, you
(06:11):
are exceeding them.
Your body just needs more.
On this same note fun fact foryou for today during those two
weeks, those 10 to 14 daysbefore your period starts, this
is the luteal phase of yourcycle.
For most menstruators, yourbody needs, or is asking for
(06:33):
more nourishment during thattime than the other half of the
month.
So for some folks, that mightlook like needing about 300 more
calories each day during thattime of the month.
It's also worth mentioning thatduring that same phase, during
the luteal phase, your body willbe less sensitive to insulin,
(06:57):
which means that it could havemore erratic blood sugar
patterns.
So maybe you're like why do Ialways have this problem before
my period, where I can't controlmyself and I eat so many sweets
?
Well, it could be again thissignal from your body that blood
sugar levels are low and youneed to eat something.
(07:19):
Another thing that comes up alot when I'm working with
clients or when I talk to galsabout what they have tried
before and they talk aboutwanting to exercise more,
wanting to get up in the morning, or maybe it's just a normal
day.
Exercise isn't a part of theequation, but they're like, I
have to hit my snooze buttonlike three times.
There's just never a morningwhen I don't hit snooze.
(07:42):
And again I would say, okay,let's pause and ask ourselves
what is that saying?
Like what is your body tryingto signal to you?
Because it well, it could justbe a pattern.
You press snooze every day, soyou're going to keep on doing
that because that's yoursubconscious or conscious
pattern.
It also could be that when it'stime for your alarm to go off,
(08:05):
you're just not well rested yetand your body is trying to tell
you that it needs more sleep.
Well rested yet, and your bodyis trying to tell you that it
needs more sleep.
It's trying to tell you that,hey, the cortisol levels in the
body are still lower than whereyou know your body kind of wants
them to be to get up for theday.
Let me take a step back toexplain that, because what
happens and especially reallythinking of days when you wake
(08:28):
up, naturally right, whathappens before you wake up is
your cortisol levels come up.
Once they're at the appropriatelevel for you, your cute little
eyes pop open.
It's time to start the day.
But this is all to say that.
If that's not happening, thenmaybe is your cortisol a bit
dysregulated.
Are your patterns off,dysregulated?
(08:55):
Are your patterns off?
What can you do to help supportnormal cortisol awakening
responses or normal cortisolpatterns?
Because it might not be adiscipline thing.
It might just be that you needto strategize on how to get your
cortisol back in the normalgroove of things so you can get
up in the morning feeling reallyrefreshed and starting your day
.
The last thing I want to mentionto you, still on the note of
(09:17):
sleep, is related to socialmedia, because this is something
that happens to most of us.
Well, just like the otherthings.
But we have these phones in ourhands.
I'm scrolling on Instagram andI'm like, oh shoot, how have 45
minutes passed?
I know this isn't like a newstory, right, but this is also
(09:37):
something going on hormonally,where your brain's response to
that scrolling, to that likenext cute cat video, is
reinforcing your desire tocontinue scrolling.
Now the good news is that, whileyou cannot necessarily directly
control these things.
(09:58):
While you can't reach into yourbody and pull the cortisol
levels or tell your brain not toget excited about a little baby
elephant video, you canabsolutely take radical
responsibility for your actionsthat you can control.
So that might look likelearning how to manage these
(10:19):
things yourself learning how toincorporate foods in a certain
way that supports stable bloodsugar levels.
To incorporate foods oractivities or movement that
support your cortisol levelsthroughout the day.
Maybe that looks likeincorporating an app that's
going to shut off Instagram orwhatever social media you like
(10:41):
the best at a certain time,because then you won't get in
this scrolling trap right.
Even though you can't controlthe specific details of what's
happening in your body, you cancontrol so much about how you
respond to those changes and howyou can plan for your future
self.
So you're doing a great jobhere now just learning about
(11:04):
these things.
This is a great first step.
You need to educate yourself onit.
Another step that you can takethat my clients take when they
work with me one-on-one would bethat step of hiring a coach to
support you so that you don'thave to spend all that time
learning this stuff that I'vealready spent years learning and
(11:26):
really catalyze yourtransformation.
Because, again, you don't needmore discipline, you probably
just need a better way tounderstand your body's cues.
You need someone on thisjourney to help you restore
balance, and you need to feelbetter sooner, because that's
what you deserve.
And you need to feel bettersooner because that's what you
(11:48):
deserve Now.
If that sounds like you, Iwould invite you to go over to
imhormonalcom slash apply and wecan talk about if one-on-one
support is the right thing foryou.
So thank you so much forlistening to this episode.
I hope this was insightful, foryou to really reflect on what
your body is telling you, orwhat you think it's telling you,
and I hope it helps you be alittle bit easier on yourself as
(12:10):
you move forward.
So thanks so much for listeningand we'll see you on the next
one.
If you loved today's episodeand got something good out of it
, make sure you subscribe sothat these episodes show up
automatically in your feed.
No work needed on your side.
Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
(12:30):
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only and it
should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis Now, if you are, onthe other hand, in the market
for some one-on-one support,then I would love for you to
take me up on my offer for afree strategy call.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
All right, we'll see you on thenext one.
Welcome to episode number 121 of I'm Hormonal.
I'm your host, bridget Walton,and today on the podcast, in
this mini episode, we're gonnabe talking more about discipline
, about willpower, and about whythat might not actually be the
thing that you need, even thoughyou may have been telling
(00:20):
yourself for many, many moons bythis point that that is the
thing that you lack.
This is something that I hearfrom my clients all the time,
every single month.
This is something that I feltmyself for many, many years.
Unfortunately, we're all kindof told by society that we need
(00:42):
to work out more or we need tobe more strict with our diet.
We need to do this, we need todo that, we need to do more,
more, more.
Sometimes, though, that'sreally not what your hormones
need, that's not what yourperiod needs, that's not what
your body needs to restorebalance, to feel safe and to
(01:03):
resume business as normal.
You may have listened to thisweek's earlier episode, where I
did a deep dive into this topic,and what I'll do in today's
episode is walk you through acouple more of the specific ways
, specific signs or signals thatyou could see in your body
(01:24):
where you think gosh, I justdon't have the self-control for
this.
But maybe now you'll say, ohwell, is that my self-control or
is this my body signalingsomething to me?
How can I listen to that?
How can I give my body what itneeds?
So that'll make more sense injust a second, because we're
(01:45):
going to dive into it right now.
If you are on a journey torestore hormone balance restore
balance in your gut you'rewanting to feel better.
One of the things thatoftentimes comes along with a
plan like that is to avoidcertain sugary sweets, processed
foods and probably alcohol.
(02:07):
So let's talk about what canmake things more difficult there
.
Now, one of the things thatyou'll be familiar with if
you've been listening to I'mHormonal for a second is about
blood sugar dysregulation, andif you're somebody who has been
eating some processed foods,eating sweet treats, maybe
(02:27):
drinking sugary drinks for manyyears of your life, like I did
growing up in the Midwest Idon't think I drank water until
I was like in high school.
I don't know how I survived.
Regardless, if you havedysregulated blood sugar levels,
which is absolutely somethingthat could impact the quality of
your menstrual cycle, thatdysregulation itself can result
(02:52):
in cravings for sugar.
So if you're somebody who isavoiding sugar and then your
blood sugars are lower thannormal because your body is
trying to get things back ontrack.
Well, that in and of itself canput your body in a situation
where it's saying, hey, girl, weneed more sugar here, get that
(03:16):
apple, grab that bagel, grabthat whatever lemon poppy seed
muffin with the sweet icing ontop, because we need some energy
here.
This is danger zone.
So that's just one example ofhow you might be feeling.
Like, damn, I just can't say noto that extra brownie at girls
(03:38):
night.
But it could be your bodysignaling to you that blood
sugar levels are low and thatyour body should grab that.
So it's this combination ofsignals from your blood sugar.
Or maybe, for example, numbertwo, if you have some type of
imbalance in your gut microbiome.
(03:58):
On Tuesday's episode I talkedabout a candida overgrowth, so
we'll stay on that train.
But if you have an overgrowthof something, for example
candida, which is a type ofyeast, that yeast itself can be
altering the signals that aresent to your brain and it's
telling your brain that it needsmore energy, that it needs more
(04:18):
sweets, more sugar, becausesugar, that is one of candida's
main food groups.
So that's how the yeast in yourbody.
For some folks with overgrowth,that's how that yeast is
helping to support its own lifeand why it's signaling to you.
So it's not that you just can'tcontrol yourself around those
(04:42):
little, tiny, cute muffins,those little bite-sized muffins.
It's that there are thingsgoing on in your body telling
you to grab those sweet treats.
Another thing I want to talkabout here, also on the note of
food, but just when it comesmore generally to monitoring the
way that you eat.
Now, maybe you're just in aphase where you're like okay,
(05:05):
let me become aware of what I'meating.
Maybe you're not changinganything yet.
Or, phase two, maybe you'vedecided that you do want to
alter the way that you areputting together your meals.
Now, no matter what that lookslike for you, if you're trying
to restrict what you're eating,you're not going to.
(05:26):
There could be a signal fromyour body just saying, hey, you
need more nutrients.
And this is something againI've mentioned this before in
the podcast.
But with most of the clientsthat I work with I would say at
least 75%, if I have to ballparkit, at least 75% of my
one-on-one clients when we dotheir initial food journal, when
(05:49):
we talk about it, they're likewow, I did not realize that I
was under eating so drasticallyUnder eating.
A lot of us we think, oh, I'mprobably overeating, so I'll
just skip this, skip that.
But maybe your body just needsmore nutrients and that's why,
even though you have these quoteunquote good intentions, you
(06:11):
are exceeding them.
Your body just needs more.
On this same note fun fact foryou for today during those two
weeks, those 10 to 14 daysbefore your period starts, this
is the luteal phase of yourcycle.
For most menstruators, yourbody needs, or is asking for
(06:33):
more nourishment during thattime than the other half of the
month.
So for some folks, that mightlook like needing about 300 more
calories each day during thattime of the month.
It's also worth mentioning thatduring that same phase, during
the luteal phase, your body willbe less sensitive to insulin,
(06:57):
which means that it could havemore erratic blood sugar
patterns.
So maybe you're like why do Ialways have this problem before
my period, where I can't controlmyself and I eat so many sweets
?
Well, it could be again thissignal from your body that blood
sugar levels are low and youneed to eat something.
(07:19):
Another thing that comes up alot when I'm working with
clients or when I talk to galsabout what they have tried
before and they talk aboutwanting to exercise more,
wanting to get up in the morning, or maybe it's just a normal
day.
Exercise isn't a part of theequation, but they're like, I
have to hit my snooze buttonlike three times.
There's just never a morningwhen I don't hit snooze.
(07:42):
And again I would say, okay,let's pause and ask ourselves
what is that saying?
Like what is your body tryingto signal to you?
Because it well, it could justbe a pattern.
You press snooze every day, soyou're going to keep on doing
that because that's yoursubconscious or conscious
pattern.
It also could be that when it'stime for your alarm to go off,
(08:05):
you're just not well rested yetand your body is trying to tell
you that it needs more sleep.
Well rested yet, and your bodyis trying to tell you that it
needs more sleep.
It's trying to tell you that,hey, the cortisol levels in the
body are still lower than whereyou know your body kind of wants
them to be to get up for theday.
Let me take a step back toexplain that, because what
happens and especially reallythinking of days when you wake
(08:28):
up, naturally right, whathappens before you wake up is
your cortisol levels come up.
Once they're at the appropriatelevel for you, your cute little
eyes pop open.
It's time to start the day.
But this is all to say that.
If that's not happening, thenmaybe is your cortisol a bit
dysregulated.
Are your patterns off,dysregulated?
(08:55):
Are your patterns off?
What can you do to help supportnormal cortisol awakening
responses or normal cortisolpatterns?
Because it might not be adiscipline thing.
It might just be that you needto strategize on how to get your
cortisol back in the normalgroove of things so you can get
up in the morning feeling reallyrefreshed and starting your day
.
The last thing I want to mentionto you, still on the note of
(09:17):
sleep, is related to socialmedia, because this is something
that happens to most of us.
Well, just like the otherthings.
But we have these phones in ourhands.
I'm scrolling on Instagram andI'm like, oh shoot, how have 45
minutes passed?
I know this isn't like a newstory, right, but this is also
(09:37):
something going on hormonally,where your brain's response to
that scrolling, to that likenext cute cat video, is
reinforcing your desire tocontinue scrolling.
Now the good news is that, whileyou cannot necessarily directly
control these things.
(09:58):
While you can't reach into yourbody and pull the cortisol
levels or tell your brain not toget excited about a little baby
elephant video, you canabsolutely take radical
responsibility for your actionsthat you can control.
So that might look likelearning how to manage these
(10:19):
things yourself learning how toincorporate foods in a certain
way that supports stable bloodsugar levels.
To incorporate foods oractivities or movement that
support your cortisol levelsthroughout the day.
Maybe that looks likeincorporating an app that's
going to shut off Instagram orwhatever social media you like
(10:41):
the best at a certain time,because then you won't get in
this scrolling trap right.
Even though you can't controlthe specific details of what's
happening in your body, you cancontrol so much about how you
respond to those changes and howyou can plan for your future
self.
So you're doing a great jobhere now just learning about
(11:04):
these things.
This is a great first step.
You need to educate yourself onit.
Another step that you can takethat my clients take when they
work with me one-on-one would bethat step of hiring a coach to
support you so that you don'thave to spend all that time
learning this stuff that I'vealready spent years learning and
(11:26):
really catalyze yourtransformation.
Because, again, you don't needmore discipline, you probably
just need a better way tounderstand your body's cues.
You need someone on thisjourney to help you restore
balance, and you need to feelbetter sooner, because that's
what you deserve.
And you need to feel bettersooner because that's what you
(11:48):
deserve Now.
If that sounds like you, Iwould invite you to go over to
imhormonalcom slash apply and wecan talk about if one-on-one
support is the right thing foryou.
So thank you so much forlistening to this episode.
I hope this was insightful, foryou to really reflect on what
your body is telling you, orwhat you think it's telling you,
and I hope it helps you be alittle bit easier on yourself as
(12:10):
you move forward.
So thanks so much for listeningand we'll see you on the next
one.
If you loved today's episodeand got something good out of it
, make sure you subscribe sothat these episodes show up
automatically in your feed.
No work needed on your side.
Let's put it on autopilot.
As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
(12:30):
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only and it
should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis Now, if you are, onthe other hand, in the market
for some one-on-one support,then I would love for you to
take me up on my offer for afree strategy call.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.
All right, we'll see you on thenext one.
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