Mid way into my stress series, so go back and catch up if you’re behind! 💥Remember, the goals are to KNOW your stressors, ADDRESS what you can, and become more RESILIENT to the rest.
Believe it or not, blood sugar(BS) dysregulation might be the sneakiest stressor of all. Most of us have a fairly poor understanding of BS...Would you believe that it’s my ‘healthiest’ eaters who struggle the most with BS dysregulation?! I would bet you didn't know that at times eating carbs can actually help lower stress hormones.
Your blood sugar changes often, but the frequency and intensity of fluctuations is what can be a stressor. One of the primary roles of your adrenal glands is to keep your BS within the narrowest range possible. When your BS is too high, your pancreas will pump out extra insulin in order to help move glucose into your cells. And, when your BS is too low, your adrenal glands release cortisol. Cortisol then breaks down your OWN organ tissue (primarily from muscle and thymus) and converts it into glucose in order to elevate BS levels. You see, cortisol is a survival hormone and low BS is dangerous.
In other words, there are times when eating glucose can actually LOWER CORTISOL, meaning sometimes sugar can help LOWER your STRESS hormones!
What’s more, there are SO many factors that can raise or lower your BS beyond dietary sugar. Any of the stressors in this series can affect BS levels along with these other common triggers:
⚡️Meal Frequency: too far apart OR too frequent
⚡️Meal Timing: mismatched carbs and diurnal insulin patterns
⚡️Energy Balance: inadequate OR excessive calories
⚡️Macronutrient Balance: in particular, carbs not paired with fat and protein
⚡️Micronutrient Deficiencies: vitamins, minerals
⚡️Circadian Rhythm Disruption
⚡️Perceived or Emotional Stress
⚡️Physical Activity: not enough or excessive in frequency or intensity
⚡️Caffeine, Alcohol, Medications
⚡️Inflammation, Infection
⚡️Metabolic dysfunction
⚡️Gut & Oral Microbiome Imbalances: bacteria, enzymes, parasitess...
⚡️Hormone Imbalances & Fluctuations: Ovarian, Adrenal, & Thyroid
Stay tuned tomorrow for how to better support balanced blood sugar!
Tips to Support a Healthy Circadian Rhythm
Yesterday we covered some of the things that can cause disruption to your Circadian Rhythm (CR)⏰and how that might be affecting your health.
Maybe, supporting your CR is one of the stressors that you CAN start to tackle. While it might seem like it has no connection to your health, as you learned yesterday, improving your CR can make a huge💥difference.
Below are some ways to better support your CR. But, remember the goal is never perfection! It is unlikely that you can tackle this entire list. Instead, I encourage you to think about which things make sense for you to work on and start 🏁there.
⚡️Try to get bright sunlight early in the day, ideally within 30 minutes of waking
⚡️Be physically active earlier in the day, if possible and avoid overdoing it with exercise
⚡️Make sure you are adequately nourishing yourself throughout the day rather than saving the bulk of your calories for later in the day
⚡️If you've been eating low carb, consider introducing more carbs into dinner
⚡️Try to eat dinner ≥2 hours before bed **However, a small bed time snack can actually be helpful for some people
⚡️Work with a professional to balance hormones and microbiome health
⚡️Eliminate caffeine after noon
⚡️Minimize alcohol
⚡️Shut down screens 30min-1 hour before bed
⚡️Keep phones and computers away from the bed and out of the bedroom
⚡️Sleep in a cold, dark room
⚡️Create a consistent sleep schedule
⚡️Maximize sleep from 10pm-2am, when most people can get their most restorative sleep
As for my fellow parents, I KNOW those late hours feel like the only alone time you have🤪, and can be precious time with your spouse❤️. But, do me a favor and take audit of your night time hours... Are you using them to connect wtih your spouse, or to truly reset from the day? Or are you zoning out on screens for work or pleasure? I'm not saying some of that is wrong - I do it plenty! But, I encourage you to consider🤔 whether you can re-prioritize those hours, and explore what might really bring you rest, and restoration during that time.
What steps can you take to improve your circadian rhythm?
Know your stressors: Circadian Disruption
This is the 4th post in my stress series, so if you’re behind go back and catch up. Remember💥 the goals of this series are to help you to KNOW your stressors, ADDRESS what you can, and become more RESILIENT to the rest.
Most of us know that stress can disturb our sleep 😴 , but did you know that poor sleep (along with other circadian rhythm disruptors) can be a form of stress itself?!
Your circadian rhythm is an internal clock⏰ that is constantly running and is critical to your health. Essentially every system in your body is coordinated by your brain’s operation of this internal clock.It can even ↑or ↓ regulate certain enzyme functions based on whether your body thinks it's 🌞or🌙. In addition to the sleep-wake cycle, your circadian rhythm also plays a major role in these functions:
⚡️Metabolism, Weight management
⚡️Training recovery & performance
⚡️Blood sugar regulation
⚡️Neurological health
⚡️Immune health, DNA repair
⚡️Hormone function (in particular thyroid, LH, FSH, and prolactin)
⚡️Microbiome (gut) health
⚡️Detoxification
When your circadian rhythm becomes disrupted, it means these systems don’t operate right. And vice versa, when these systems are off, your circadian rhythm can become even more disrupted. So, not only does staying up late leave you feeling crummy, it’s actually impacting a much bigger picture.
Circadian disruption comes from a number of things, including:
⛔️Insufficient sunlight or red light
⛔️Inconsistent sleep-wake patterns, or night shift work
⛔️Hormone imbalance, in particular low progesterone
⛔️Liver health (affected by, but not limited to, alcohol use)
⛔️Excessive blue light, particularly past sundown
⛔️Excessive OR not enough physical activity
⛔️Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs)
⛔️Gut / microbiome health
⛔️High perceived stress (see last week’s post)
⛔️Poor nutrient balance, especially insufficient carbohydrate or calories
So now it’s time for reflection: what might be negatively affecting your circadian rhythm?
Save📌and Stay tuned; tomorrow I’ll be talking about ways to support your circadian rhythm better 👊🏼
Know your stressors: Psychological, Emotional, and Perceived Stress
I see so many misconceptions about what stress means; so this is the 3️⃣ post of many to help you better understand it. The next few posts are intended to help you name your stressors. Believe it or not, ALL stress, no matter what type, has a similar effect on our health.⚡️The goal is to know your stressors, address what you can, and become more resilient to the rest
First up is the type most of us think about when we hear the word "stress."
Often, this stress occurs when there is a difference between what we expected, and what is actually happening. And It’s subjective!
It DOES NOT MATTER what is going on; if it feels overwhelming to you, it is likely causing physical health problems. What’s more, you do not have to have a diagnosis or reason to justify feeling overwhelmed. For my fellow Enneagram 8s, this has nothing to do with your capacity to handle the situation. Even if you don’t feel overwhelmed, I challenge you to consider what keeps your mind 🤯running.
No matter what is going on, or whether you feel it is justified, support can be incredible. I highly recommend working with a therapist, even if just for a season.We would all be better with counselors on our team ❤️
In addition to support, it can also be helpful to address what stressors you can. This can be overwhelming, but here are some steps to start:
💥Make a list of what drains you.
💥Reassess your priorities and make sure it aligns with how you spend your time.
💥Figure out what you can outsource - and yes, it’s worth the cost.
💥Be aware of the patterns, environments and people that lead to you feeling overwhelmed.
💥Build more margins in your schedule.
💥Learn to say no.
💥Let go of perfection and guilt.
Lastly, remember that the goal is not just to remove your triggers, but learn how to become more RESILIENT. Below are some questions you can ask when you find yourself feeling triggered:
❓Can I think about this situation differently?
❓Is the threat real?
❓Do I have experience handling something similar in the past?
❓Is there a person or a tool, that would be helpful in this situation?
⚡️Where will you start?
Stress: Beyond Burnout
Often when we think of stress we can easily become overwhelmed trying to figure out how to minimize or eliminate it 😳. As in, "I can’t get rid of my kids, or quit my job." In fact, many of my clients do believe that stress is having an impact on their health, but also feel stuck in the belief that there is no way to address it without completely eliminating stress from their lives -which is an overwhelming and impossible venture 🙅🏼♀️.
So to start, I want to help you see that stress encompasses so much more than mental health and exhaustion.
By giving you a complete definition of stress, the goal is NOT that you feel even more overwhelmed. Rather, my goal is always to equip you to be your own health advocate and expert.💥Only when you can identify additional sources of stress in your life and your body, can you truly address them💥
💡Remember from last week’s post, that stress is our body’s response to danger, or threats.
Most stress is triggered by 4 areas:
⚡Perceived & Emotional pressure -(what we think of when we hear the word stress)driven by lifestyle, relationships, responsibilities, mindset, internal demands, perfectionism, novelty, threat, trauma, ...
⚡Circadian disruption -driven by lack of sunlight, EMFs, blue light exposure, poor sleep hygiene, breathing patterns, hormone imbalance, eating patterns and timing, ...
⚡Blood sugar dysregulation -driven by macronutrient balance, under or over fueling, gut dysbiosis, pathogens, hormone imbalance, mineral balance, irregular eating patterns, nutrient poor foods, dehydration, other types of stress,...
⚡Inflammation -driven by excessive or chronic exercise, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoimmunity, toxic burden, oxidative stress, gut dysbiosis, poor sleep,...
In the next few weeks I will dive into each of these, so stay tuned! In the meantime...
⭐What in those lists stands out to you?
⭐Does one input feel heavier than another?
⭐Do you already have a sense that something on that list is affecting your health?
If not, start looking beyond burnout, and consider what other sources of stress you have the power to address 👊🏼
What is Stress?
I’m not the first to tell you that stress is one of the most impactful drivers of health. But, the word has become a bit watered down. Many of my clients are so confused about stress that they glaze 🥱over the discussion, or assume that if they cannot remove “it” completely, there’s not much else they can do.
Here’s the first thing to remember: Stress IS NOT inherently BAD. In fact, it’s part of our body’s way of protecting us 💪🏼.Stress only becomes a problem when your stressors are overwhelming, or continue without relief. The goal is NOT✋🏼to completely remove stress from your life. That’s unrealistic.
Instead, if we can better understand what stress is, where it might be coming from, and what it feels and looks like when things become out of balance,
THEN ⚡️we can address the root causes and better support our body in its own work.
THEN ⚡️we can become resilient to stress.
You’ve heard me say it before, the more we work WITH our bodies, the easier it is to see change.
So over the next few weeks I’m going to do my best to help explain:
⭐️What stress is
⭐️different types of stressors
⭐️How stress impacts your health
⭐️Signs & symptoms that stress is negatively affecting you
* And more!
So, to start, what IS stress?
💥Stress is often defined as the body AND brain’s response to a perceived challenge, threat, or demand.
In short, stress is a reaction💥a series of alarms⏰ in your body AND your brain to something that seems threatening.And often, those alarms cause downstream effects in order to keep you alive.
It’s important to know that the ‘threat’ can be triggered by a huge variety of situations, ranging from actual threats or physical dangers, to how you perceive or react to a situation, to internal stressors such as blood sugar imbalance, infection, and inflammation.
If you’ve read through my previous posts, maybe you already have some ideas💡 about things in your life or in your body, or even about the way that your mind🧠works that could be setting off alarms in your body. And if not, I challenge you to start listening.
👇🏼Comment below with questions you want to makes sure I address about stress! ⚡️
a NEW kind of resolution
You've been here before.... ⠀
You've enjoyed some down time and indulged in a few more treats than usual, you feel a little puffy, a little blah, and are actually interested in making changes. ⠀
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Meanwhile, the 72 billion dollar diet industry is quietly slipping you messages that there is a way out...YOU ARE IN FACT BROKEN, but not to despair, there is still time to find a new you! So you start a new program, eliminate food groups, follow all new recipes, establish a meditation routine, AND start exercising. And you kill it. For a few weeks. ⠀
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You feel good at first, then slowly things start to unravel. Life gets busy, you realize you are exhausted and overwhelmed by all of the new tasks you took on, and obsessing over what to eat. Your anxiety has gone up because you aren’t even sure if what you are doing is right for YOU. You feel better when you are 'on your plan' but can't figure out how to sustain it all. So, ULTIMATELY YOU GIVE UP, go back to take out, and feel like a failure, yet again. Sound familiar? ⠀
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Here’s the thing. I know it feels easier to just follow what someone else tells you to do, even if that includes restriction. And someone else’s plan might work for a little bit. But is that what you want? Something that works for a little bit? ⠀
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Resolutions and goals DO have value. ⠀
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But, this much I know to be true: ⠀
** No plan is going to work for you unless it was designed with you involved. ⠀
** No program is going to work if it requires you to change everything at once. ⠀
** And no program is going to work if it is built on perfection, shame, rigidity and control. ⠀
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Only YOU can decide what you really need and create a plan that will work for you. It does take time, a new way of thinking, and often support (that's where I come in). But I promise you will be hooked once you see and feel the change. ⠀
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So this year, I CHALLENGE YOU to think differently about your resolutions. I challenge you to start by using these as your base: ⠀
* NOURISHMENT ⠀
* GROWTH⠀
* FLEXIBILITY ⠀
* EXPLORATION⠀
* BEHAVIORS, and ⠀
* PROGRESS⠀
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Comment below if you're in! And, stay tuned next week as we dig in more.
Shop Local 2020
It sure does feel easier than ever to shop from my couch this year. Sadly, we also know that small businesses are taking an incredibly hard hit right now. So instead of the easy route, I’m committing to shop local! There are so many fabulous local business that you can support, but I’m sharing a few of my favorites below. Happy Shopping!
Back Porch Posies
If you know your loved one appreciates fresh flowers, then you can’t go wrong with this gift. Julie is a true artist when it comes to floral arrangements and her three month subscription will bring joy to anyone's doorstep.
Levo Wellness
Check out Levo for the fitness lovers in your life. Levo is a personalized plan built by a physical therapist that will move the needle towards your fitness goals without destroying your joints. Gift a month of Levo for an endless collection of online workouts and personal fitness support.
Run Raleigh PT
Give the gift of health with a gift card to Run Raleigh PT. Abby and her team are truly the best at figuring out the root of your issues and helping you feel your best as well and improve performance.
Massage
You can't find a more talented masseur than Shell at Brookside Massage. Treat your special person to an hour of pure bliss.
Rolling M Farms
A third generation family farm in Bunn, NC with local cuts of meat like short ribs, filets, and ground chuck. Find them online or at the Midtown Farmer’s Market.
Artwork by Nan Jones
Nan is one of my favorite local artists. Inquire about commissions or shop her ready to ship acrylic and oil paintings on her website.
FlowCORPS
My favorite workout in Raleigh. Their power Pilates classes are a great for low-impact strength training that is challenging, fun, and safe. Purchase a gift card for a friend, or treat yourself to a class.
A Place at the Table
Run, don't walk if you haven’t visited a Place at the Table yet and grab a stocking stuffer gift card. A Place at the Table is a pay what you can restaurant devoted to providing good food for all regardless of means.
The Pleasant Bee
Snag a local honey bear jar or a beeswax votive. Local honey can help with seasonal allergies. Located at the Midtown Farmer’s Market or shop online.
Current Wellness
Current Wellness offers services that integrate physical, mental, and social health that emphasize inclusion and self-compassion for the community. Check out their Holiday Wellness Package: $75 for either a massage or a personal training session and 3 group classes.
Boulted Bread
It feels hard to create even a short list of my Raleigh go-tos without including our favorite local bakery. Daily in-house milling of organic and heirloom grains, and lots of love, leads to the most delicious pastries you’ve ever tasted. A Boulted gift card would make the perfect stocking stuffer.
Quail Ridge Books
Everyone loves a good cookbook right?! Quail Ridge is an independent bookstore with a friendly, knowledgeable staff. Shop online or in store for your favorite book worm.
It's hard to move forward if you are always looking sideways
Who doesn't love to dig in to the hottest health trend? Social media wants us to think of “wellness” as a universal truth. But, I believe that what wellness looks and feels like is completely different for each of us, and so our goals, processes, and priorities should also be unique. ⠀
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Our culture is great at respecting differences some ways, but quite the opposite when it comes to nutrition. ⠀
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We would never assume that exactly what our friend does as it relates to mental health, career choice, parenting, or nurturing relationships will work perfectly for us. We even recognize that medications and procedures can work differently for each of us …. And yet, when it comes to nutrition, we all feel like there must be this ONE solution that we just haven’t discovered yet. Which leads to a believe that our imperfect health is rooted in our laziness, or lack of willpower, to stick to the same plan that our girlfriend does. ⠀
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Sadly it’s not just the process, but also the outcome that we tend to try to mimic. We value differences in hair styles, nail colors, and decorating choices. But then want to look as similar as possible when it comes to weight and shape. ⠀
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I’m here to remind you what you already know…that we are all dramatically unique when it comes to health and so your process and goals need to be unique as well. ⠀
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There are no wrong answers in this game, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not wrong to want to change your physique, get stronger, support your hormones, liberalize your diet, heal your gut, stop binging, improve your sex drive, or just find balance in health. But each of these might involve drastically different pathways and certainly will look different form person to person depending on what you have going on in life. ⠀
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Start by digging into where you are now, what is going on in your body, and where you want to be heading. Sometimes it can be hard to do this work alone, and sometimes it can even be dangerous. So don’t be afraid to reach out to me, or another professional who can help you along this journey. Make it YOUR journey. Not anyone else’s. I promise you won’t regret it. ⠀
Stop thinking about what and start focusing on how
Any good leader or coach knows that the real win isn’t in the outcome, it’s in the growth along the way. If you’ve been a client of mine, you know this is something I repeat over and over. ⠀
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How many of you parents know exactly what you want your child to grow up and do in life? Or, who they should fall in love with? No? Me either. ⠀
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But, I do know the characteristics and behaviors that I want them to cling to no matter what. I know that I want them to be kind and inclusive, to be a good listener and always willing to learn, to be brave, to never give up, and to know they are loved no matter what… And so, as parents, we teach them HOW to do all of these things. We focus on behaviors more than the destination. ⠀
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Unfortunately, when it comes to ourselves, we too often focus on the outcome, on exact prescriptions, rather than the behaviors, patterns, and processes that help us get there. Most of us have enough to worry about, especially right now, and we don’t need to add food to that list. ⠀
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So, instead of thinking so much about which food you need to eliminate, what carbs you should be eating or not, which vegetable is healthiest, or even the diet you want to end up on, what if you started to think about the patterns and behaviors that help you move towards your goal. ⠀
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For example, how many of you eat more when you are standing up than when you put your food on a plate? What if your “sugar cravings” are more often a result of a stressful day? Or maybe, your endless snacking habit is because you skimped on a meal. Maybe, like me, you try to escape chaos by nibbling on something in the afternoons, and the problem isn’t the food, it’s your response to the chaos. ⠀
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There is a time and place for thinking about specifics, but let’s not start there. Instead, I want you to think about what behaviors are linked with eating in a way that makes you feel your best, and what behaviors (whether they work for your neighbor or not), make it harder for you to eat in a way that makes you feel your best. ⠀
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Health is not a game you can win, and in fact, there is far more to be gained in the process than the destination.⠀
What behaviors help you?