In case you hadn’t been informed: The new year has begun (and a new decade as well). And I hear a variety of things from people all across the board on their perspectives of what “the new year” means. For some, the new year is actually the winter solstice because it follows the natural rhythm of nature's seasons and the earth cycles. For some, the new year is the Jewish New Year or Chinese New Year or any other culture for that matter. And some people I talk with truly believe that there is no such thing-- that Dec 31 or Jan 1 are literally “just another day”, end of story. For me it is a mix of these things and because I am a very sensitive creature-- I feel the power and truth of them all, for different reasons and vantage points. And no matter what you believe-- it is true we all know that 2020 is about more than just perfect vision. And next year, hindsight will be 2020 either way : ). Ok but really-- I think it’s imperative to take stock, assess and check in with goals and dreams and visionary energy at various touch points all year long. Maybe the new year is your birthday and that’s when you do such things!
Whatever it is I’m sure on some level you are aware of your own goals, responsibilities, dreams and desires, some of which can become quickly overshadowed with the reality of stress or anxiety and the demands of daily life.
Stress is needed in small and healthy doses on a regular basis— some of which is actually how we grow, discomfort and all. However too much ongoing stress with improper release valves wreaks havoc on your digestive health, your sleep, moods, and your hormones.
When your hormones are in balance, your metabolism is supported and you feel great—you’re energized, stable moods, your cravings aren’t driving the ship, and you’re in the flow! On the flip side, when they’re out of whack, you feel wiped, out of control, and your metabolism is not operating smoothly. Any number of these things can make it harder to reach OR actually ENJOY the fruits of your labor. I mean, who cares if you just landed that job you’ve been working your ass off for if you’re not sleeping, stomach is “a mess” and are making stops at Dunkin Doughnuts daily (and do NOT try telling me they have amazing coffee, thank you.)
I thought it might be a nice time to mention 2 essential hormones, because no matter what time of year (and especially for those of you who I KNOW were thrown off by the stress of holidays-- travel, family stuff, schedules, different foods, late nights and more…) it’s important to remember what is going on behind the scenes in your body!
2 Essential hormones
1) Cortisol, yay! Also known as your "stress hormone" is one of the most important hormones in your body because without it, you couldn’t handle stress at all.
It regulates your "fight, flight or freeze" response, and exists as a survival mechanism. It is released when you are in any kind of danger and is meant to be released in small doses and for short lengths of time.
It serves its purpose when you need to kick into high gear by increasing your blood sugar and blood pressure.
But when you’re super-stressed - by holiday shopping, expectations, family - THEN this causes insulin—your fat storing hormone—to come out to do its job of transporting sugar from your bloodstream to your cells to be stored as fat.
Weight gain: Under heavy stress...independent of your nutrition...you may gain weight, without even eating any more, less, or differently!
Lower sex drive: Cortisol prevents your body from working on your other hormones.
Keeping cortisol in check: Stress management can be done! Small daily habits make a large impact. Deep breathing while using pure therapeutic grade well sourced essential oils like lavender and many others (I have other favs if you want suggestions let me know), the use of high quality cbd, proper supplementation also from high quality sources, mediation practice (more on this on coming soon), breathing exercises, a support network, movement that suits you, singing, dancing, journaling, and shutting OFF technology. Take time out to talk with a practitioner you trust, laugh with friends or something that helps you laugh, go for a walk, journal for a few minutes daily, listen to music (or music that allows you to sing along loudly and release)! Whatever you need to do to keep your stress in check in a supportive way.
2) Insulin: Insulin can be thought of as your master hormone because when insulin is at work, the activities of other major hormones are suppressed.
Insulin’s main job is to store fat, which is why it’s important to keep insulin’s workload as light as possible.
When insulin isn’t working hard, you’re not packing on more pounds (inflammation) or experiencing other health challenges.
Keeping insulin balanced: Keep your blood sugar levels stable to keep insulin levels low...or else they will spike and keep you in a damaging vicious cycle of spikes and crashes and throwing off hormonal balance which in turn disrupts ALL of your bodies beautiful and vital natural cycles! Every time you eat should include a combination of protein, healthy fats AND complex carbs (like fiber!) to stay off the blood sugar roller coaster that drives insulin. I talk with my clients about this one ALL the time and it helps!
Unfortunately our culture has a broken system around “dieting” and body image. I will address this more in the coming months, but it’s important that I mention how this pain and stress is connected to the messaging of perfection and weight loss prevalent in society. Buying into this message can cause damage and drive up unnecessary cortisol and insulin levels as well.
This is the opposite of what is needed to lower inflammation.
Instead of beating yourself up, FLIP IT!!:
1. Focus on what truly and deeply brings you pleasure, this could be any number of things and likely is something you’re not getting enough of is my guess.
2. Find something that you’ve never done before but always wanted to, this could be ANYTHING and make a commitment to do it. Often telling a friend that you are going to do this and WHEN you are going to do it will help. For me this would be something physical (like taking a trapeze class!) that both scares me just a little but excites me more and is “a stretch” out of my comfort zone. Or it would be making myself take a class to practice public speaking. The list goes on.
3. Gratitude. This helps every time I’m in “beat myself up mode” to stop the spinning. Make a list of what you’re grateful for. So simple!
4. Volunteer! When was the last time, or any time, you went to help out somewhere that you were really needed? Seriously.
ready to get started?
Let’s chat about all of this and more! Schedule your FREE 15-minute consultation with me and we can talk about a plan for health that fits YOUR life and YOUR goals. CLICK HERE to schedule!
