Are you doing too much to reach your health goals?
When we think of making healthy big changes for our well-being, we may think we have to go all in and change our entire lives. I disagree with the all or nothing mentality. I disagree because I once was an all or nothing individual. I would arrange my day around my workouts even missing college lectures to make sure I worked out for a couple hours a day and when I say a couple hours I would workout for 6 hours some days.
I ate what I believed was a healthy diet, some things were healthy like greens and fruits but I was under-eating and eating a lot of vegetarian processed foods thinking it was the healthiest option. The problem was I was not properly nourishing my body and definitely not eating enough protein for my activity level. Even with my best efforts at obtaining my ideal body, I suffered from stubborn stomach fat, back fat, cystic acne and a puffy face. Knowing what I know now these were classic examples of a dysregulated human.
I believed to achieve my ‘perfect’ body, I had to go to extreme lengths. Exhausting my body everyday or else I was not trying hard enough and I did not deserve good results. Present day me knows I was doing way too much and it did not have to be that extreme. If the above example sounds a lot like you it is time to sloooooow down.
Reassess your daily routine and understand going a mile-a-minute can disrupt your hormones and affect your health for many years to come. I ask are you using exercise and food as a mean to have control of something in your life? Your body and mind need a break, walking is a good substitution in the mean time for your intense workouts. I am not saying this as a forever thing just as an in the mean time solution to balance your body.
Cortisol is a hormone that handles stress and it is released in the bloodstream after an intense workout. If your body is not effectively bringing your cortisol levels down after your workout, your body stays in this fight or flight mode. Your body is now in a stressed state. When your body has too much cortisol it can look like mood instability, sleep changes (waking up more throughout the night or having trouble falling asleep), anxiety, fatigue in daily life and while working out. Your body is confused and using cortisol as inappropriate times.
Other areas with be affected by this dysregulation, becoming easily agitated by everyday tasks like driving to work, making breakfast etc. An intense workout is not the only way to create this cortisol response, other traumatic life events, a stressful work life, abusive relationships, having no boundaries can all harm our physical health.
Focus on what you are consuming mentally and physically. Do not harp on what to take away instead think what can i add?
Add more protein into your diet, aim for 30 grams per meal to activate protein synthesis.
Add more moments of actual rest as in meditation, moments of no screen time, participating in a relaxing activity like painting.
Add more moments in nature.
Add more diverse fruit and veggies to your plate. We are supposed to be ingesting 30 different plants per week for healthy gut diversity.
Add in more home cooked meals, I know packaged food is convenient but many have added preservatives that can cause stress on body.
Add in apple cider vinegar or our Sweet Release tincture before meals to regulate blood sugar levels.
XO,
Mariah, Get Well Soon Herbs