You probably intuitively understand your emotional state and the amount of fat on your body are linked, right?
After all, a spare tire forming around your waist and flab dangling off your body hardly makes you feel like a confident “alpha male”.
And the more depressed and tired you get, the less energy you have to get in the gym.
But it’s the old chicken and egg question….Do we get fat because we’re tired, lazy, and feeling beat down by the world? Or vice versa? And is this just all part of getting older?
Well, for a lot of men –like it was for me– there’s something else going on.
Low testosterone.
Let’s have a look at some little known links between testosterone, the way your body handles fat, and your emotions.
The Complicated Interplay Between Obesity and Testosterone
Did you know the amount of fat on your body is highly-dependent on your T levels, and vice versa? A doughy stomach, flabby arms, and sprouting man-boobs isn’t exactly the picture of masculinity, right?
When your body fat goes up, testosterone goes down, especially if you develop insulin resistance. When you’re obese, you’re also more vulnerable to stress, and your cortisol (the stress hormone) increases easier.
And cortisol also suppresses lipolysis, the process of breaking down fat tissue.
Simply put, increased cortisol makes it more likely to be obese, and the more obese you are, especially if you become insulin resistant, the more fat you gain and the more cortisol flows through your bloodstream, further lowering testosterone.
It’s a snowball effect.
So, the answer is Fat Loss?
Obviously, you need to get lean.
In fact, there’s no faster route for an overweight man to raise his T levels.
But you have to be careful here. Crash diets can increase your cortisol levels, which is just counterproductive. Don’t do anything that will shock your body if you want to get your hormones back in balance.
Take the slow approach to breaking the cycle. And as you lower your body fat, the better your body handles the stress, the lower your cortisol levels go, and the easier it becomes to peel off the fat.
Aim for eating 10-20% caloric deficit, start a endocrine-friendly training program, and work steadily towards a healthier hormonal balance.
The Link Between Depression and Testosterone
A study at McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital found that nearly 50% of men who failed to respond to standard depression treatments had low or low-to-normal testosterone. When testosterone was supplemented with the usual antidepressants, their moods improved.
You may not think of your negative emotions as warning signs. Instead you focus on overcoming the mood problem, not recognizing it may be a symptom of something else (depression, for instance, can be a sign of illness).
Men with low T are men whose bodies are out of whack – they’re not functioning the way that Nature intended. For this reason, they often feel down and out, seemingly for no reason at all.
Feeling Tired All the Time?
Maybe you’re not depressed, but you just don’t have the energy you’re used to.
It could be age. Or it could be that the years have depleted your testosterone.
Simply put, sex hormones play a big role in how your body allocates its energy resources. When your testosterone levels go down, the body responds by sending these resources to help with immune functioning.
Low testosterone also causes poor sleep, via insomnia or waking periodically throughout the night. This obviously leads to fatigue as well.
Stop Making Excuses for Your Hormonal Imbalance!
Modern society embraces the idea that your body falls apart as you age. Men and women alike blame increasing fat, the inability to lose weight, and fatigue on the aging process – and the depression on the way they look and feel.
The danger is that you then accept it all as inevitable.
It’s not! Anyone who has ever met a 70-year-old man, full of life, working like a horse, and laughing about his active sex life can tell you that much…
Your body is a well-designed machine, no matter what you believe philosophically, and if you restore its balance and give it what it needs, it will function the way it’s supposed to.
Get your T levels high enough, and you just might feel better than you ever did in your life!
Want to learn more about the concepts in this article and find out how you can take control of your physical body and emotional state once again? My good friend Dave has just finished putting together a great video talking about this, makes it really easy to understand, and explains some amazingly powerful solutions.
Checkout What Dave Has to Say by Clicking Here <==
I will warn you…Dave doesn’t sugar-coat things. Some of the things he talks about in his video could be a little offensive to some. So put your big-boy pants on and make sure there’s no “delicate ears” within listening distance. A big part of how testosterone deficiency can play havoc with a man’s emotional state –and life in general– is by the devastating toll it can take on his sex life. Dave confronts this fact head on…and he’s not shy about addressing it.
