Does Birth Control Affect Weight Loss and Muscle?

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Fourth day of taking birth control. Wow. I was on an emotional freaking roller coaster.

What is going on, my friends? Welcome back to the show. Look, I'm not going to do the opening today. Y'all know. The WarriorBabe Show: lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, feel insanely confident.

What I've got to say is, it really, really pains me when I cannot keep on track with the release of these podcasts. And I know, again, last week, which may be outdated if you're new to the show. We've consistently been doing three episodes a week since the birth of this podcast in January of 2023. And these last couple of weeks have been inconsistent. I am somebody who loves to be consistent in all areas of my life. But when it comes to the projects I'm currently working on, there are things that are a priority. And while I love doing this podcast and releasing these episodes, three a week right now is just not manageable for me.

So I don't want to go weeks not doing it. The team talked and we came to the conclusion of at least rolling out two a week. I can manage that. It's just that third one. I can knock out two episodes in one day. But then the third one comes, and I place it on my calendar and then I overlook it because something of importance comes up or needs my focus, and I just wipe that one out entirely. So I'm going to stick to two, and I can hone in on two. There may be some weeks that there's one, but at least we're not missing entire weeks.

Okay, so I just wanted to lay that out. I know you guys love the show. I know you guys show up for every single new episode, so I appreciate that so freaking much. But I just want to be transparent, honest and vulnerable with you, because I've been so inconsistent and I hate that. I know that you guys will understand and appreciate my authenticity. I can never say that word right with you all here on the show.

Okay, so let's just dive into this one today. This was a question that I got. We did a live Q&A where we had six participants live with me on Facebook. I got to speak with them live, see their faces, hang out with them and give them live coaching. They had to submit questions ahead of time. We had 50-some questions come through, and we were only able to pick about nine people. But of those 50-some questions, this one actually popped up a couple of times. So I wanted to take the space on this podcast to answer it, because I feel like if this question popped up a couple of times, then some of you guys are thinking about this, have thought about this, or just want some clarity around the topic. So that's what we're going to dive into today. We're going to talk about birth control.

Now, before I dive into talking about birth control, I want you guys to know that I am not an OB-GYN. I am not a doctor. It's not really in my scope of practice to prescribe things or say things that would make you go and change things or go about things differently. So please know that if there's anything on this podcast that resonates with you, go and consult with your doctor about it first before you make any changes.

Now, I do want to talk first about a story of mine, and my opinion and perception of birth control, because I actually have a story that has been really ingrained in me since childhood. I stuck onto that experience and formed my own opinion about it. And I'm actually grateful for what I've done throughout my 20s and 30s, and the ability to either go on it or not be on it, birth control that is. I'm grateful for the experience I had in childhood. I'm going to elaborate on all of this. I'm going to elaborate on my recent interaction with actually being on birth control. And then I want to talk about the effects your body can go through for fat loss and muscle building if you are somebody who is taking birth control. And again, if any of this resonates with you, please make sure you consult with your doctor before you go and change anything, because it's not my scope of practice to prescribe that you should or should not be on it.

Okay, my friends. So first and foremost, the story that I have for you. I think it was around the age when I got my menstrual cycle, maybe 14 years old, or maybe even younger than that. I don't remember exactly. I just remember the morning when I first got it. And praise my stepmom, because my parents are divorced, and I just think if I didn't have my stepmom in my life that day, my dad and I would have been having a really awkward conversation.

So anyway, my stepmom was in my life, and at this time my dad and my stepmom were working on having my sister, or my half-sister. I call her my sister because she is my sister. So they were working on having her, and my stepmom was having a really hard time. She ended up having to go through the whole IVF process, and my sister is an IVF baby. The reason she was having such a hard time is because she had been put on birth control basically her entire life.

She had just come off of it, and she was in her mid-to-late 20s at this time, or maybe even her early 30s, I can't remember. They were taking her off of it so she could try to get pregnant. And I remember standing in the hallway slash bathroom having this conversation with my stepmom about how she was having a really hard time having a baby because of the birth control she was on her entire life. This really stuck with me, because I knew at that time that I wanted a family. I wanted to have kids later on, and I didn't want to have a problem. I didn't want to have that experience.

So I made that kind of promise to myself at that point in time when I saw my stepmom. It was more than just a conversation. She was struggling. She really wanted a baby. It was really hard. She couldn't make it happen, and they went through this whole entire process. For those of you who have been through IVF, you know that it's a challenge. It's hard for a woman and a couple to go through that experience.

So at that point in my life I was like, I don't want to go on birth control. I don't want to experience this. I don't want to experience the pain, the frustration, the struggle, the hardship, all of the things she was going through. So I chose not to go on birth control. I never did, up until what I'll share next. Throughout my teens and my 20s, it's a common thing for parents to put their daughter on birth control, because they're trying to keep their daughter safe from getting pregnant, or if there's ever a situation where there's unprotected sex, yada yada, you know all the jazz. But I chose not to go on it. And God bless, none of those things ever happened to me. And there's such a thing as the pull-out freaking method, okay? Now I'm getting a little TMI. But you feel me on that one, right?

So throughout my years, I never chose to go on birth control, and I do believe that has helped me. It's a variable that has helped me. There are so many other variables, you guys, as to why you can't lose body fat, or why you can't gain muscle, or why you're experiencing weight gain. There are many variables. It's not just birth control if you are somebody who is on it. It may just be a variable. If you're gaining weight, let's look at your diet. Are you fucking overeating? Are you eating tons and tons of calories on a daily basis? Or are you under-eating? There are variables to it. You can't just lean on, if you're on birth control and struggling to lose weight, that it's the birth control's fault. So just remember that.

So I think that through my years, not going on it was a variable that probably did play a role in keeping my hormones balanced and keeping the natural, normal process that happens within a female body every single month. I'm so on-point regular with every single menstrual period that I have, and I do believe, in my opinion, that it's because I didn't take any of these things.

Before I get to the next story, I want to say that what your body experiences when you take birth control, and how it affects your body hormonally, is, in my opinion, a pretty big deal. With birth control, IUDs, patches, injections, anything that tries to prevent you from getting pregnant or stop that process from happening internally, these things are synthetic versions of hormones. That's the way I like to think of it: you're pumping synthetic hormones into your body. And look, maybe you have to go on birth control for medical reasons and diagnoses and things like that. I'm just placing my firm opinion on a healthy human body, me for example, and why I chose not to go on it.

When I later learned what this whole thing is, synthetic versions of estrogen and progesterone basically being pumped into your body, your body can be affected hormonally in many ways. One of the biggest is that the whole reason women go on birth control is to prevent ovulation. The primary function of birth control is to prevent the maturation and release of an egg from the ovaries so it can't be impregnated. That process gets stopped by taking birth control, and that tricks the body into thinking that...

Hey guys, I love so much that you're listening to this podcast. If you ever want the video version of this, which usually has more effects and all that good stuff, for those of you who are visual learners, check out the YouTube channel, WarriorBabe, if that's what you like. Either way, keep enjoying the show.

...that whole process. Basically, you're playing around with those hormones internally, and you're trying to alter the normal, natural process of your body going through ovulation. That's the best way I can explain it, because again, I don't know so much about this, but I have understandings from things I've read, my personal experience, and being in this field of helping women who want to lose body fat and build muscle, and the things that may be a factor in that.

So again, like I said, this is being prevented. And think about the time when a woman ovulates. It's actually an incredible experience. If you dive into more studies and research on it, there are so many good hormones that get released, and so many natural ways for a woman to be fully expressive during ovulation. These things are being prevented when you're on birth control. Not really in terms of fat loss and muscle, but overall in terms of mood and expressiveness for a female. That's what birth control is doing. That's one way your hormones are affected by taking it. And overarching, it's synthetic. They're not real hormones. It's technically a drug. So you're giving your body synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

Now, I'm going to dive into how the effects of all of this take place when you're trying to lose body fat and build muscle. But first I want to share a recent experience I had with actually having to take birth control.

About a month ago, the beginning of July, I was in the process of freezing my eggs. It's the first half of IVF, but we don't go into turning my eggs into an embryo and implanting them back in to be pregnant. I go through the injections, basically injecting my body with hormones to prevent the whole process of releasing the eggs. I want the eggs to stay in my body. But before injecting myself with the hormones, I had to be on birth control for a week and a half.

I am so in tune with my body, and I can feel a lot of things because of the overall wellness and health I've provided myself throughout the years of my fitness journey. The fourth day of taking birth control, wow, I was on an emotional freaking roller coaster, because all of my hormones were being shifted. Marrying my understanding of birth control, the experience with my stepmom, and reading and understanding that you're putting these hormones into your body, from day four on I was like, geez, man, this is wild to me. This is just wild to me that I was taking it after so long of being so against it.

Guys, the first day I had to take the birth control pill, because I had never taken it and I have all these thoughts and opinions around it, I remember it took me 10 minutes to take the damn pill, because I just had all of these feels about it. I remember sharing it on my story, and I was like, I don't know, am I being overly dramatic? And you guys reassured me, which, thank you so much, that I wasn't. You guys had these opinions too. We're in the same boat together. Some of you obviously take birth control for medical reasons, and I totally understand that.

But the day I shared that with you guys, I felt a bit more relieved about my personal opinion of birth control and then actually having to take it. I was fighting myself in that moment because of all the things I feel about it. And man, it really opened me up to, yeah, Nikkiey, you're right in how you feel about it, because I actually got to experience it. It was a whirlwind of emotions. Up, down, all around, crying randomly, just random, and all of the things.

And it's because you're giving your body hormones, like I said, to basically prevent this whole process from happening. Then I had to go further into it and give my body even more hormones to really prevent ovulation. Knowing what ovulation does and what the experience is like for a female, and being suppressed of that, and now being able to experience it again, because I'm in the phase where I track my cycle. I use the app Flo, I love that thing. Now being like, this is my ovulation period right now, and being able to experience what I missed out on last month, I am even more grateful for my ovulation period. I was suppressed of it last month. That was the first time I was ever suppressed of it.

Obviously, I'm doing it for a purpose, and I want you to know that I chose to do that. It was for a reason, and a really good reason. But I really assess things and I'm aware of things. And being suppressed of it and having it right now, it's like, holy cow, people who are on birth control suppress this every single freaking month. And it's such a beautiful thing for women to experience.

Anyway, these are just the high-level effects, because I don't feel comfortable talking about the in-depth effects. Again, this is my personal opinion and my personal preference.

So now I want to take the time and space to talk, again at a really high level, about the effects birth control could have on fat loss and on building muscle. I want to speak more to building muscle, because in terms of fat loss, there have been more studies showing that birth control doesn't really cause significant weight gain. I know a lot of people have thought, oh, I'm on birth control and it causes a lot of weight gain. People kind of use that as a crutch when they gain weight, when really it's more your lifestyle factors that are causing you to gain weight.

Could it be a variable? Absolutely. But let's pull back the cover and look at the pages a little more closely. What are you eating on a regular basis? How much alcohol are you drinking? How much sleep are you getting? How much water are you drinking? Are you having daily movement? Typically those things weigh a little heavier than saying it's the birth control's fault. It can be a variable in fat loss, but it's not the overarching reason why you can't lose weight. Yes, it does play a factor in your hormones, but again, I don't believe it's the overarching reason why you can't lose weight. It's typically that some things aren't consistent elsewhere, mainly diet, mainly what you're eating.

Now, I do want to take a moment to speak to muscle building, because there was actually some research. Hear me out, because more research is needed in this area to fully understand the effects. But there was research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning that found women who took oral contraceptives had smaller muscle mass gains compared to a control group after a 10-week resistance training program. Meaning the group on birth control had smaller muscle mass gains, less ability to build muscle, compared to the control group that wasn't taking birth control, after a 10-week period.

That's because of the impact of birth control on hormones, mainly the effects on hormones that are important for muscle growth, like testosterone. Testosterone is a really important hormone for the ability to build more muscle, and those things get altered when you're taking a contraceptive.

So I just wanted to speak to that one at a really high level, because I think part of why women can't build a lot of muscle in general is that we don't have tons and tons of testosterone like men do. And if something is altering your ability to build muscle even more, when we don't have that much testosterone to begin with, then you have another added variable lowering your testosterone, which could then be a variable in why you can't build more muscle.

So overarching, these are just things to understand and gain perspective around. Now, again, I need you to understand that everybody has their own individual response to birth control methods, and they vary widely. So please, if anything resonates with you in this, take it to your doctor and talk to your doctor about it. Formulate a game plan. If you are on it and you want to have the autonomy and advocate for yourself to say, hey, I want to come off of this, go talk to your doctor about it.

I just wanted to hold this space on the podcast to talk about this specific topic, because it keeps coming up, whether in the Q&A we just had or on Instagram, where I sometimes get DMs asking what my thoughts and opinions are on this. So here it is. Here are my thoughts. Here's my opinion. If anything resonates with you, like I said, take it to your doctor and have the conversation. And I'm always going to come here on this podcast and give opinions, perspectives and what I think, in any way that's going to help you have a better experience on your journey of decreasing body fat, building more muscle and feeling more confident in your skin. All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed this podcast, and I'll see you in the next one.

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