The Energy Cycle: How to Get Back Your Get-Up-And-Go: Part 3—Stress and Fatigue

In part 1 and 2 of this blog series, I’ve dealt with “Processed Foods, Food Sensitivities and Food Allergies” and “Caffeine and Sleep Quality.” While these are important considerations when it comes to what causes you to lose your get-up-and-go, you can’t forget how stress is sapping your energy every day.

Chronic stress, like dealing with commute traffic and being over-scheduled, certainly rob you of your vital energy day-in and day-out. You’re just not designed to be in a chronic stress state24/7.

Additionally, chronic stress taxes your little adrenal glands over time. The reason? Those are the glands that secrete your stress hormones, certain sex hormones and help manage blood sugar.

Being chronically stressed also sets you up for too much time in the “sympathetic” state, and not enough time in the “parasympathetic” state.  When it comes to the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, it’s all about balance. The sympathetic nervous system activates what is often termed the fight-or-flight response, increases heart rate, makes pupils dilate, and inhibits digestion.  The parasympathetic state slows down the heart rate, stimulates digestion, and stimulates good liver and kidney function, among other things.

So you can see that if you are in the sympathetic state way too often, your ability to digest and absorb nutrients from your foods, your liver’s ability to detoxify harmful substances, and restoration in general will be greatly affected.

But these are only some of the concerns robbing you of your energy. To discover how toxins and preservatives, fat storage, exercise, and endocrine imbalances affect energy, continue reading this 7-part blog post series, “The Energy Cycle: How to Get Back Your Get-Up-And-Go.”

And to help get back your get-up-and-go, you can start with a three week cleanse program. It can immediately help detoxify harmful substances from your body and help stimulate good liver and kidney function.

To learn more about how the 3-week cleanse can help you, CLICK HERE!

Breathe, it’s okay!

Welcome to my blog! Thanks for joining me!

My intention for this ongoing communication is:

  • To educate you about how specific foods, nutrients, and lifestyle changes can really impact the way you feel on a daily basis
  • Create a conversation about how to make diet and lifestyle changes, whether big or small, when you have a completely hectic schedule!
  • And to learn YOUR biggest challenges and how I can help you

Do you ever get stressed out or overwhelmed by trying so hard to stay in balance? How do we stay “balanced” in this crazy, busy world? I am often perplexed by this question. It seems that whenever I get a sense of balance going, something comes along to upset it! How do we balance work, eating well, exercising, sleep, taking time for yoga or meditation or any type of spiritual practice that relaxes and nourishes us, spending time with loved ones, having fun, and keeping up on personal appointments, and all of our other obligations?

Personally, I have found that at the beginning of every week I need to re-adjust, figure out what is most important to me that week, and then do my best to be okay with letting something else go. Of course, certain activities like work, sleep, and spending time with my boyfriend are pretty constant! And because I have discovered over the years what a profound effect eating well and exercise have on my overall mood and body, I make it a priority to spend time on Sunday preparing food for the week ahead (sometimes a quick stop to Whole Foods suffices!) and I do schedule in my exercise on my calendar as appointments!

This week I decided that my yoga class (my time to focus inward and de-stress) is going to have to take a back seat to a haircut that I desperately need! I will miss my yoga class, but I will also be very happy after I get my hair cut. And I will go to yoga next week. Hmmm, when am I going to fit in that oil change? Breathe, it’s okay!

What did you choose this week and what did you let go?