Are you filling your days up with activities and projects that you love? Well anything can be TOO MUCH for your body to handle and that includes doing TOO MUCH each day. As I share in my book “LIFE IS NOT A RACE” (on Amazon), too much of anything can be toxic, and too little of anything can lead to deficiencies.
As I begin my new role as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I observe more and more clients with tired adrenals – or specifically the HPA Axis. The HPA Axis is really what adrenal fatigue or worse adrenal exhaustion is about- the relay of the command center the Hypothalamus to the Pituitary Gland to the Adrenal Gland. The adrenals send out the response team – usually the hormone cortisol to respond to any emergency calls the command center/hypothalamus senses.
My point is for you to learn that even though you enjoy playing your music, going to your workout session with friends and book club meeting all within working 8 to 10 hours of work in one day… your “beaker of stress” can be over filling as a result of chronic busy-ness! We all want to do so much and not miss out in life- so what do we do? Cram more activities, workouts, work projects, meetings and commitments into one day.
What about our sleep? After my experience with exhausting my adrenals (HPA Axis) since 2013 (and slowly rebuilding them now with the Wilson’s Formula)), I know i need 9 hours of quality sleep per night or else I am sleepy all day. If I don’t get enough sleep, then i adjust my free time in the afternoons (in between work) for a 20-minute nap at home. That will require not working as much on computer admin work or coaching clients plus a shorter or skipped workout sessions. My sleep is a priority or else i find I take one step forward and two steps backwards with my adrenal issues.
I recently had to take six to eight weeks off cycling after my finals for my Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) program. After our finals in mid-June, I was so tired, exhausted and lacked energy to get things done in the afternoon after my morning client sessions. I tried riding my bike- my favorite “de-stress” blue sky time activity especially in the summer but my legs and body couldn’t pedal. Now this started mid-June to August 1st that I was too exhausted to ride around the block – one mile! So sad- after all of these years trying to heal my adrenal and get my health back.
What was my source of stress? Not only an ongoing gut bug (blasto bacteria) but over loading my brain with constant worry and anxiety about studying for our NTP finals starting in May! I was focused for preparing for finals for six weeks. And that six weeks of “chronic” studying too six weeks to recover and repair my HPA Axis.
Well… I don’t feel exhausted but i know my adrenals are still “Fatigued” and healing. I feel that i am on the right track finally healing my body with Nutritional Therapy testing, finding what supplements my body needs to repair and the Wilson’s Formula for adrenal stress.
Stay tuned for new episodes on my podcast- The WHOLE Athlete for stories on my ongoing road to recovery as well as listeners come on the show as guest co-hosts to share their journey!
Debbie .
