I am going to let you in on a little secret…sometimes, just sometimes I don’t take my own advice. Sure I practice what I preach when it comes to eating like a health goddess and yes I move my body daily, but lately I have let the whole ‘work/life balance’ ratio slide in a very uneven manner.
More accurately it would be work/work/no balance.
My down time has been spent on creating my new shiny website, writing e-books, replying to emails and working on new sessions for health coaching or bootcamp locations.
I have actually been loving every minute of it because it doesn’t feel like work (yes I know how lucky!) and I don’t feel stressed, but my body is telling me a different story.
My heart is a little racy, I am not very hungry (which is very odd for me) and when I do crave something it comes in the form of Pana raw chocolates… this my friends is the begin of adrenal burn out which I am all too familiar with. It is when your body is stuck in ‘flight’ mode and has trouble shutting down. Sure a plus may be that I am being realllllly productive, but the negative certainly outweigh that!!
It can lead to a whole mountain of issues such as stress, extra PMS, high blood pressure, sleep issues, hormonal problems, increased illness, zero sex drive and in general a scatty human being!
But lets not kid ourselves, life today is stressful, everything is fast paced, demanding and things happen outside of our control, but dealing with stressors before it gets to the point of adrenal fatigue and burn out is important, if it is too late understand it will take time to fully recover.
Could you have adrenal fatigue?
Well if you are surviving on coffee and a diet high in processed foods with a big side of constant stress, then the answer is most likely yes!!
Adrenal fatigue can wreak havoc with your life. In the more serious cases, the activity of the adrenal glands is so diminished that every organ and system in your body is profoundly affected. Changes occur in your carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance, heart and cardiovascular system, and even sex drive. Many other alterations take place at the biochemical and cellular levels in response to and to compensate for the decrease in adrenal hormones that occurs with adrenal fatigue. Your body does its best to make up for under-functioning adrenal glands, but it does so at a price.
Not cool right? While I am defiantly not at this point, I do realize I have to slow down stat.
The first step to slowing down is just taking a moment, and give yourself time to catch your breath. That may mean you need to take a ‘mental health’ day (or two) off from work to be at one with the couch, or spending a few hours on the weekend alone to write out all your lists, yours stresses and what you need to do to move forward. Maybe it is asking some girlfriends (or your mum) for a little help – whether that is in the form of a listening ear, a few home cooked meals or someone to run away with on relaxing holiday.
And that is exactly what I am doing this weekend, I am taking a mini trip to Byron Bay and just hitting that reset button and disconnecting at least one day from social media, emails – the lot. And eating awesome food by the beach of course.
I am also taking a herbal tonic full of adaptagens to address stress head on. Adaptagens are a unique group of herbal ingredients used to improve the health of your adrenal system, the system that’s in charge of managing your body’s hormonal response to stress. They help strengthen the body’s response to stress and enhance its ability to cope with anxiety and fight fatigue – slowly and gently, without jolts or crashes. They’re called adaptogens because of their unique ability to “adapt” their function according to your body’s specific needs. Though the effects may initially be subtle and take time to make themselves felt, they’re real and they’re awesome. Herbal teas with calming effects should also be in easy reach in times of stress, chamomile especially.
Chamomile has numerous health benefits, including the promotion of general relaxation and relief of stress. Studies show that chamomile contains substances that act on the same parts of the brain and nervous system as anti-anxiety drugs, which makes it the perfect choice to enjoy throughout the day in times of stress. It is also the source of phytonutrients and minerals, such as flavones, glycosides, bitter glycosides, valeric acid, tannins, salicylic acid, coumarin derivatives, copper, potassium, zinc, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin B1 so the little flowers really are a super tonic in its own right.
I found some gorgeous fresh chamomile at the markets last week so decided to try something a little different and add to my mid-morning smoothie. To get the properties, steep the flowers in hot water for at least 10 minutes and then let cool.
Soothe Me Smoothie
Ingredients
Almond milk (I buy fresh Inside Out almond milk from Bondi Markets – love) when I run out I simply make my own, recipe here
Bare Blends WPI cacao powder
Young coconut flesh
1 tbsp chia seeds (pre soaked so they swell)
1 tbsp of chamomile flowers soaked in ¼ cup boiling water
5 ice cubes
few chamomile flowers to garnish
Method
Simply add everything to the blender, zap, and pour into large glass to enjoy (preferably in a calm sunny environment for extra stress relief)
So remember to take some quite times in your busy schedule for some quality you time. It is after all the season to nurture.
Lee x
Though of u being so busy 🙂