You’re stressed, and I can help

Here are some tips to help with that stressed feeling:

It has been almost a year since the pandemic and the stress is not letting up. Family members taking ill, kids are over anxious and you are feeling the effects of what this level of stress is doing to your body.

Maybe you’ve noticed your waistline increasing despite your efforts to workout and eat whole foods consistently. Well let me tell you you are not alone and I am here to help.

First step:

First sit right there in your chair and breathe. Take a deep breath in hold, and out. Okay now do that again 2 more times. Feel that? Your shoulders drop and your face relaxes a little.

Now lets look at the things you can do right now to help reduce cortisol levels and have you feeling more in control.

Cortisol is an important hormone which helps us get through stressful situations in everyday life and in a healthy individual cortisol is naturally highest in the morning; in fact it rises gradually throughout the night until it wakes us.

Tip #1

Exercise first thing in the morning. When we wake up, cortisol is at its highest so adding in some movement first thing in the morning helps to allow that cortisol to continuously fall throughout the day until you go to bed.

Another reason why it’s best to train in the morning is that exercise raises your core body temperature and boosts your metabolism for several hours after you finish training (high intensity training is the best for this:). During this time your body will be using more energy and the body will choose to use fat as the preferred source of fuel. Therefore there’s a metabolic advantage to be had from getting your training done before midday.

Tip #2

Sleep. Now that you have gotten your workout out of the way your body will naturally bring down your cortisol right up until you go to bed. The key to getting a good night’s rest is to have a routine. This routine begins first thing in the morning too and can look like this:

5AM: wake up

5:45AM: workout

7AM: Breakfast

10AM: Snack and a walk around the block

12PM: Lunch break and walk or stretch * last caffeine drink

3PM: Snack time

6PM:Supper

9:30PM: Hot bath or light yoga

10PM: Lights out

Tip #3

Eat foods that lower cortisol. A few squares of dark chocolate, dark leafy greens, green tea have all been proven to help keep cortisol levels where they should be. Make sure your last meal of the day is full of whole foods not processed in any way.

One food group often overlooked is water. Water has a profound effect on your hormones and being dehydrated can increase your cortisol levels. So drink up!

Tip #4

Supplement to help. Many people are just not getting enough of the vitamins and minerals to help their body do what it is designed to do. So sometimes we need to help it out. Here are some of my daily supplements that help me.

Fish Oil Omega 3&6 Fatty acids are great for your brain, your cells and your hormones. I take 5 mg in the morning and 5 mg at night.

Magnesium is known as nature's calm. Taking 400mg of magnesium before bed can help get your body ready for a restful night's sleep.

Probiotics will help keep the gut brain axis communicating as they should. Having a healthy gut is one of the keys to overall optimal health. If your gut is unhealthy your brian will be too. I take one in the morning and one at night daily.

As always consult with your doctor especially if you are taking any other medications as you want to be sure these are right for you.

I hope these tips will help you feel better really soon. Reach out if I can help in any way.