Are you Exhausted? Grumpy? Overweight?
Lacking in motivation? Stressed out? Gaining unwanted bellyfat?
Welcome to the real world then. It seems to be the story of the 21st century, especially with busy woman.
Woman who are working, whether it be in a job or in their own business.
Woman who have kids to organise, to tend to, to run after, to love.
Woman who have a partner to fit into their busy lives…
Woman who are trying their best to workout to maintain or find that hot sexy body they used to have, or just to feel fit and healthy again….but keep skipping meals, skipping exercise and grabbing the chocolate bar in the afternoon to get through the day.
I hear it so often these days and in fact, we have all been there (including myself), and yes…I struggle with unwanted fat deposits. I am not perfect, and I realise that as I age, it is not as easy as it once was to be perfectly toned and tight ALL the time. But I do forge the way to get back there, even at my age. And I am comfortable with who I am! I have also experienced that stressful place….that feeling that you are just running from one thing to the next with this continual feeling of burn out, right down at a cellular level. That feeling of absolute exhaustion that disappears when you fall into bed, while you lay there, wired, exhausted, but hardly even sleeping a wink! That FATNESS around your abs…where maybe not the 6 pack used to be,but where the flat stomach once was.The cellulite that has appeared on the thighs.The cravings for sugar that are downright ridiculous in the afternoon. Painful!
You are not alone…..they have a name for that now. Thank god! It’s not in your head!
It’s called Adrenal fatigue and it is a very common, unsung syndrome that can (lead to some serious health issues, if not recognised and actioned now, that will lead to unhappiness, increasing insomnia, an ever increasing waist and weight gain battle, and wrinkles and dullness on the face and skin that need not happen!
Let me ask you a few questions? If you say yes to any of the following questions, then you need some serious changes made in your lifestyle before something serious stops you in your tracks.
1.Do you feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and stressed all the time? Do you have profound fatigue. You struggle to wake up in the morning…and need caffeine and sugar to start your day…and then have your energy crashs in the afternoon. Sometimes you get a second wind at night and cannot sleep.
2.Do you need five cups of coffee or a constant infusion of soda just to make it through the day?
3. Do you have trouble waking up, falling asleep, or staying asleep, no matter which herbal supplements you try?
4.Do you find yourself feeling constantly irritable or on edge?
5.Do you feel that you need to exercise to stay in shape even though you’re exhausted when you do?
6.Do you feel as though everything you eat turns to fat?
7. Are you always hungry, frequently craving sweets, or tempted by “carbo-binges”?
8.Are you plagued by irregular or painful periods or PMS?
9.Are you struggling with peri-menopause/menopause/ lowered sex drive/mood swings/hot flushes
10.Do you find yourself feeling forgetful.
11.Hair loss…do you suffer from hair loss and are your nails brittle and slow growing. Is your skin is dry and appears to be aging fast.
12.Cravings. Do you crave sugar after you eat? When you eat, cortisol is produced which releases stored sugar so that you have immediate fuel until your food is digested. Tired adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol and you crave sugar, straight after a meal.
At the simplest level, adrenal fatigue is caused by the inability of your adrenal glands to cope with stress. But to really understand your condition you need to know how your adrenal glands have reached this point. You instinctively know that your adrenals are performing sub-optimally, but what is the reason (or reasons) for this?
You should also realize that adrenal fatigue is not something that happens suddenly. It usually takes years for your adrenals to become exhausted. So when you are looking to identify the reasons for your adrenal fatigue symptoms, remember to look back a few years into your past. That traumatic emotional or physical event that happened five years ago might have been just enough to send your adrenals on a long-term downward spiral.
The origin of these dramatic changes stem from hormones produced by our adrenal glands. These amazing glands govern many very important bodily functions and are crucial to helping us deal with the stress response. When the adrenals are completely out of balance, the fight-or-flight response occurs and the body prepares for the worst case scenario by storing calories for a rainy day. But the good news is that when supported properly and healthy function is regained – energy comes back, stamina returns, cravings for carbs and sugar disappear, and best of all – the unwanted pounds just fall off with little effort.
The real problem here is that is that many of us are living in a constant state of stress which causes high levels of cortisol to be released on a regular basis for extended periods of time.
Adrenal hormones, such as cortisol and aldosterone, play key roles in the functioning of the human body, such as regulating blood pressure; metabolism, the way the body uses digested food for energy; and the body’s response to stress.
Cortisol
Cortisol’s most important job is to help the body respond to stress. Among its many tasks, cortisol helps
- maintain blood pressure and heart and blood vessel function
- slow the immune system’s inflammatory response—how the body recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, and substances that appear foreign and harmful
- regulate metabolism
So, what is the best solution to the “beast”
Nurture. Be kind to your body. It is SO easy for someone to say..”chill out, don’t stress” And on days when you have 5000 emails to attend to, food to get and prepare for the family and a household to run, not to mention the gym class you want to attend, and then make sure you’re looking hot and sexy and SO ready for your partner when the curtains fall at night.
So how the heel do you “Chill out, and stress less “at these times.
I believe the body will heal itself given the proper nutrients. So first I recommend a foundational support to heal the adrenals as well as all the organ systems affected by stress. Getting the adrenals functioning properly will stop the hair loss, weight gain, and aging, but the body needs extra nutrients to grow hair and healthy skin, improve body composition to increase lean body mass and decrease body fat, and optimize health.
There are a number of things that will help reset the adrenals and help you start to feel alive and healthy again, not to mention the weight starting to fall away and help you feeling like a woman again.
The right supplements. Not a concoction of minerals and vitamins the pharmacy or health store tries to sell you, but the right ones for you. Which will include, Vitamin B and C, Zinc and Magnesium for starters.
Then there is the right exercise. Not the endless HIIT or stressful workouts that leave you even more exhausted. There is nothing wrong with HIIT routines, we just don’t need to do them every day, as they raise cortisol levels also. And if your adrenals are already struggling to produce cortisol………..you will feel like crap! The right weight or resistance training and cardio training for you!
Weight training or resistance to build muscle, strengthen bones and tighten/tone the body, AND help increase the bodies metabolism to higher levels to help shift that weight, and keep it off.
Yoga, or walks in nature, to lower cortisol levels and allow the body and mind to be in flow, relax and think without the chatter in your head.
So it’s time to get off this endless treadmill of stress, weight gain, exhaustion and lack life, and put some “vitality” back into your life. There is no right time…..the time is now. Time to start living, not surviving.
My specialty is taking woman by the hand and guiding them, teaching them, coaching them to get through this disorder, and make a better life for themselves through learning what to eat, when to eat it and prescribing the perfect exercise routine for their lifestyle and commitments. There is so much more to fitness and health than a generic “program” to follow and a food plan. It needs to be specifically designed with all things considered. Over time, this continual accountability and guidance becomes the norm, and habits are formed that will last a lifetime.
If any of these ‘reasons’ are pushing the right button, then imagine if you had some continual guidance, some motivation, some direction and some information that will allow you to get fit, lose some weight, feel part of a community AND still fit in everything in your life…whether you belong to a gym or not!
Now, if you want to work closer with me personally, I have a 6 week online coaching program called “vitality” that is perfect for woman wanting to increase their energy and vitality for life, lose weight, understand where they are at with their hormones, and what they need to in order to balance their busy lives, hormones, and still enjoy life…AND work towards adjusting this imbalance in your life, re-set your hormones and become healthy, create energy again, learn what you need to do to lose that unwanted weight, and be well on your way to having a fulfilled life. I am working with other professionals in the area of Adrenal Fatigue that involves nutrition, exercise, mindset, hormone testing and the emotional needs that can lead to this burn out that may need to be addressed also.
Connect with me for a 15 minute free consultation where we can discuss if this is for you further.
CM x