Ep327: Estrogen Dominance, Gut Dysfunction, and Fat Loss Resistance with Lois Hughey

In this episode, Tina sits down with functional nutrition coach Lois Hughey to dig into what’s really going on behind the scenes when it comes to fat loss in midlife — things like metabolic slowdown, chronic under-eating, estrogen imbalances, gut issues, and sluggish liver detox. They chat about why standard blood tests often miss the full picture, how functional tests like GI-MAP and DUTCH can give you deeper insights, and why sometimes fat loss needs to take a backseat to actual healing. Here’s what you’ll learn: - Why eating as little as possible trains your body to resist fat loss - What metabolic adaptation actually is and how it develops over time - The functional testing patterns she sees again and again in women who are stuck - How estrogen dominance shows up on stool testing and why it matters, especially before adding HRT - Why gut dysfunction often drives hormonal symptoms - Why you can’t shortcut healing or do things out of order - What realistic timelines for healing and body recomposition really look like Join Peptide School [FREE]: https://www.carrotsncake.com/peptideschool Connect with Tina Haupert: https://carrotsncake.com/ Facebook: Carrots 'N' Cake https://www.facebook.com/carrotsncake Instagram: @carrotsncake https://www.instagram.com/carrotsncake YouTube: Tina Haupert https://www.youtube.com/user/carrotsncake About Tina Haupert: Tina Haupert is the owner of Carrots ‘N’ Cake as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). Tina and her team use functional testing, peptides, and a personalized approach to nutrition to help women find balance within their diets while achieving their body composition goals. Connect with Lois Hughey: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lois.frerichshughey/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loishughey Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lois.hughey.coaching/ About Lois Hughey: Lois Hughey is the founder of Empowered Life Nutrition, a coaching company that helps women over 45 achieve real, lasting fat loss through functional testing, personalized nutrition, and strength-focused fitness. After spending decades trapped in diet culture and overtraining, including running half marathons while eating less than 1,000 calories a day, Lois learned the hard way that discipline alone doesn’t fix a downregulated metabolism. Today, she and her team use advanced testing to uncover the why behind slow progress, fatigue, bloating, sleep issues, and stubborn weight gain. Her signature programs combine data-driven insights with simple, sustainable nutrition and movement strategies that help women feel in control of their bodies again. Lois has coached hundreds of women to rebuild their metabolism, gain confidence, and lose 15–40 pounds without extreme diets or endless cardio. Her work centers on one core belief: when a woman understands her body, she stops fighting it, and that’s when everything changes. She lives in southern Virginia with her husband and two dogs, and when she’s not coaching or creating content, you’ll find her hiking, lifting weights, or binge-watching Netflix.