Stress is okay, chronic stress is not. Chronic stress increases your cortisol levels. Increased cortisol levels lead to weight gain. So are you stressed? You might not feel the stress that your body is under. But your body could still be experiencing stress. Most of us drink from a stress fire hose every day. We are so so used to this being "normal" that we don't recognize it consciously as stress. But our poor little bodies see tigers surrounding us and go into stress overload.
Have any of you experienced unexpected weight gain and don't have a great explanation for it? Could be your elevated cortisol levels are to blame. Check this out and see if there are some changes you can, or should make.
Dieting, restrictive eating, fasting - these things alone could cause stress in your body. Nutrition is a major factor when it comes to healing your nervous system and calming down your stress response. Eat Clean! It's the best thing you can do for your body. Get rid of the processed and ultra-processed foods to start. Those foods will cause inflammation in your body. Over exercising- Crossfit, long endurance training (that was me), 2 a day workouts (that was me too) will spike your cortisol levels and exhaust your body. You do need to move your body, but you don't need to punish your body, there is a difference there. Your body needs recovery as much as it needs movement. Listen to your body, if it is telling you to rest, then rest.
Coffee - don't shoot the messenger. Coffee on an empty stomach will spike your cortisol. Eat first. |
Being BUSY- I know you have heard this from me recently. An overbooked schedule causes stress. Make sure you have some down time. People pleasing can be a real problem for many of us. Just make sure that the one "people" you are pleasing is yourself. One tip I give my clients is that is saying YES to someone else, means saying NO to you- then it's a No for them. Leave some space on your social calendar to just be.
I hope you find these tips helpful. If you feel like you need some help navigating any of these changes, let's book a strategy session and I can help you through it. It will be the best use of 90 minutes for you to get on track.
Take care of yourself.
Deb
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