Hey hey curvy ladies! Are you ready for some unique ways to heal your adrenal fatigue. In this post I’ll share what is adrenal fatigue, symptoms and causes, recovery and healing remedies.
What is Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is a fancy way of saying your body is under too much stress. I have even heard of adrenal fatigue called the 21st century stress syndrome. Basically it is when the body’s ability to heal and recover from stress is impaired.
When you are constantly under stress the adrenal glands can stop functioning optimally. It most often develops after long term stress, anxiety. It doesn’t have to be intense stress either, having a constant low level of stress over a lengthy time can also leave your adrenals unable to work in a way best for your body.
Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
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- Inability to remember things (brain fog)
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- Trouble concentrating or focusing on tasks
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- Pain in the upper back or new with no clear reason
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- Low immunity
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- Dry and thin skin
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- Constipation, diarrhea or an alternation of both
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- Poor sleep
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- excessive fatigue or low energy after a good nights sleep
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- feeling rundown or overwhelmed
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- overwhelmed or unable to cope with stressors
- irritable or moody
Why is Adrenal Fatigue important in Weight Loss?
Digestive stress is about 25% what you eat, and 75% who we are being. So if your eating while stressed you are impairing your digestion at the least and your adrenals are taking another hit.
Stress while eating can be:
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- Eating too fast
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- Constantly eating on the go
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- Multi-tasking during the meal
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- Engaging in gossip
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- These are all ways in which we feed the stress response.
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- Here is the thing, eating under stress and just living a stressful life is not only commonplace, it’s socially acceptable and often a prerequisite for managing a job, a family or having a life.
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- How many times have you heard people almost bragging about how stressed they are and how much they have on their plate? We have all been there.
- Living with all the stress is a key cause your adrenal fatigue
Stress and Your Metabolism
Adrenal Fatigue is an effect of chronic stress.
Stress is the reverse of relaxation. Ask yourself when do you feel stressed? Most of the time we feel stress when we are moving too fast and not taking time to recharge.
If you’ve worked for a stronger metabolism and have been trying to lose weight but have not been able to, there’s likely one basic reason. YOU ARE MOVING TOO FAST!
When moving through life too fast we inevitably eat fast, which destroys our metabolism and creates digestive upset.
The fact is the slower you eat the faster you metabolize and the better shape adrenal gland will be in.
You can eat the healthiest meal on the planet, but if you eat it in a stressed out, anxious state, your digestion is dramatically diminished.
How does that work from a scientific perspective?
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- Mouth saliva is reduced
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- The breakdown of macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbs) is impaired
- Decreased assimilation of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in the gut
The Two Branches
The autonomic nervous system is responsible for digestive activity. There are two branches: The Parasympathetic and the Sympathetic.
The Parasympathetic is also known as the rest and digest response. This is the state of digestion that you want to be in. When the rest and digest response is activated our metabolic power goes up.
The Sympathetic is also known as fight or flight. This is our stress response. When we are stressed out our digestion shuts down and stores fat (cortisol levels go up)
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- Relaxation = healthy digestion
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- Stress = bad digestion, cortisol goes up and the body stores fat, adrenal fatigue kicks in.
- Stress = No weight loss, poor health, and low energy.
Ladies, the thing is when cortisol goes up, tends to create fat accumulation in the belly.
So you see people who may have skinny legs or skinny arms and they tend to gain all their weight in the belly – I’m talking about myself here – STRESS!!!!
Ask Yourself:
What are 3 common stressors you experience and how does your body respond to stress?
Recovery and Healing Remedies
I was there. I was stressed out and I had the belly to prove it. I was eating clean, dieting and exercising regularly, but my body would not change no matter what I did. I need more. I need to see what was holding me back.
So here are some of the things I found that made a difference in my life and health. I found the best things you can do to heal your adrenal glands and to stop producing so much cortisol is to:
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- RELAX!!!
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- Slow down (Meals, time to complete to do lists, etc.)
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- Give yourself time for self care everyday (down-time)
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- Take deep Breaths for 2 minutes
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- Dry Brush your skin
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- Hydrate your body
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- Avoid caffeine
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- Avoid sugar (Need help with that check out my Kick Sugar to the Curb Post)
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- Low intensity movement (Walking, Yoga, Dancing for pleasure)
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- Visualization (I have a great blog on this!)
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- Gratitude journaling
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- Heal your gut
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- Laugh more
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- Meditate and Pray
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- Stretching the body
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- Inspirational music that relaxes you.
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- Be creative
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- Essential Oils that relax you
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- Massage
- Get a good nights sleep
Action Steps
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- Pick one for the 20 remedies above and add it into your life today.
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- Download my free “How to Lose Weight When Nothing Works” Guide. It will focus on my top strategy to help you slow down meals. Slowing down your meals will help you lose weight and reduce your adrenal fatigue. This simple tip will be something you can do today to move you toward your goal of healing your adrenals and losing weight.
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- Arrange your home and work schedules as best as you can to provide yourself with more time.
- As best you can, enroll your family, co-workers, and boss in creating more time and relaxation in your life.
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Have an AHA about today’s post? Shout out and tag me on FB to share how this post has helped you.
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