I was exactly in your shoes a few years ago. I was unintentionally undernourished, leading to many years of heavy, painful periods, chronic acne, zero appetite, constant chills, and the worst PMS symptoms. It took a toll on my health and well-being, and it all boiled down to one major factor: stress. Stress affects us more than we realize, and it’s crucial to address it for our overall health and happiness.
In our fast-paced world, busy women are juggling multiple responsibilities—careers, family, social obligations—which adds to their stress levels. The constant pressure to excel in every aspect of life leaves little room for self-care, exacerbating stress and its harmful effects.
In this blog, we'll explore the topic of stress and why it’s so important to manage it. Here’s what we’ll cover:
What is Stress?
Understanding the basics of stress, its sources, and how it impacts our daily lives.
How Stress Affects Our Health
A look at the physiological and psychological effects of stress on our bodies and minds.
Symptoms You May Be Experiencing
Common signs that stress is negatively impacting your health, from physical to emotional symptoms.
How to Let Go of What You Can't Control
Tips and strategies to help you release the stressors that are out of your hands and focus on what you can change.
How to Nourish and Take Care of Yourself
Simple, effective steps to support your thyroid function, improve nourishment, and reduce reliance on stress hormones.
By understanding stress and learning how to manage it, you can take significant steps towards a healthier, happier life. Let's dive in!
What is stress?
Before we dive into how to fix the problem, we must first understand what the problem is.
Stress can be defined as any change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is our body’s response to anything that requires attention or action & is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives.
Society, however, has normalized high stress and the hustle culture. Typically you think of stress as mental or emotional life stressors, like family hardships, school or job struggles, or personal problems, but as busy women we often don’t account for the physical stressors we place on our bodies everyday.
Skipping meals, not eating enough, constantly connecting to social media, consuming high amounts of food additives, and other habitual behaviors such as overcommitting to tasks and neglecting sleep contribute to high stress.
And to top it off society normalizes this high stress - fight or flight way of living. Whether self imposed or culturally imposed, you are chronically stressed in some way.
As busy women, becoming aware of what you are habitually doing to continue the fight or flight response is crucial to finding simple ways to shift things so that you can increase your health and happiness.
How stress affects your health.
When discussing stress hormones, the thyroid and adrenal glands play pivotal roles.
The Importance of Adequate Active Thyroid Levels
The thyroid and adrenal glands work against each other in managing your body's stress response. The thyroid, shaped like a butterfly and located in your throat, produces hormones that boost your energy and metabolism, supporting detoxification, growth, immune function, and more.
Meanwhile, the adrenal glands, sitting on top of your kidneys, help manage stress.
Ideally, the adrenals should only kick in as an emergency energy source. However, our stressful and often undernourished lifestyles mean they frequently become the main energy providers. This constant reliance on stress hormones and suppression of thyroid function leads to various issues: PMS symptoms, heavy and painful periods, low sex drive, chronic acne, hair loss, poor sleep, infertility, gut problems, fatigue, and more.
When you're stressed or not eating well, your thyroid slows down its hormone production. This causes the adrenal glands to step in and release more cortisol and adrenaline to keep your body going. As a result, your metabolism slows, making it harder for your body to detoxify, heal, and maintain a strong immune system.
This response is helpful in the short term but harmful if it continues for too long. Unfortunately, many of us live in a constant state of stress due to various pressures, leading to low thyroid function and overactive adrenal glands.
But there is hope! By taking simple, effective steps, we can support thyroid function, enhance nourishment, and reduce dependence on stress hormones.
Some signs or symptoms you may be experiencing if your stress response is activated.
Oftentimes, busy women like ourselves, don’t even realize we are stressed because it has become our normal. But your body is responding to stressors all the time
Not hungry in the morning.
If you wake up with no appetite, you probably begin your day already running on stress hormones. When your body is in a state of survival there is not time to be hungry - your system suppresses hunger so you can run or fight.
Gut issues, constipation and/or bloating.
When you're in a constant state of flight or fight your body struggles to digest food properly. You need nutrient dense foods and minerals for your digestive system to function optimally, but stress hormones take away energy from your digestive system and when your digestive system lacks energy to break down and absorb food, you get backed up which leads to gut discomfort.
Lack of energy, motivation, and feeling anxious.
When our bodies are running on stress hormones like cortisol for long periods of time it can affect your mood, energy, and anxiety levels. Nourishing our bodies with a balanced diet has a huge impact on how you feel energetically.
Falling or staying asleep.
Waking up between 2-4 am can be a sign your liver has run out of energy (glucose), so your adrenals have kicked in some stress hormones and now you're wide awake and can’t get back to sleep. Eating a balanced diet ensures you are giving your body the nutrients it needs to thrive and survive. When you avoid or cut out carbohydrates, you deprive your liver of the glucose it needs to function properly - and that will affect how you sleep.
These are some of the common complaints I hear from the women I work with. They are tired of having no energy, struggling to sleep well, and feeling overwhelmed. Through coaching I help them find a balance between their health & happiness with simple habit shifts that work for women with busy lives. Other signs you may be experiencing are - cold hands and feet, acne or other skin issues, a low libido, painful, heavy or irregular periods, hair loss, and even a low pulse rate.
As a busy woman you may identify with any or most of these symptoms. I was exactly in your shoes a few years ago. I was unintentionally undernourished leading to many years of heavy painful periods, chronic acne, zero appetite, I was always cold, and had the worst PMS symptoms. As I entered midlife and perimenopause, I started noticing other symptoms too. My digestion was off, I started having strange skin reactions to certain foods, and things that didn’t normally bother me started causing big emotions. I truly thought I was losing my mind when my memory started to get sluggish, I sometimes felt like I couldn’t think of the words to form a simple sentence. But over the past few years I’ve done a deep dive into research about the thyroid, metabolism, adrenals, hormones, stress, and learned how to fully heal and nourish my body in our current stressed culture. I learned that just because my symptoms were common, they weren't normal and there was something I could do to fix them.
Letting go of what’s out of our control
As busy women, we often find ourselves trying to manage every aspect of our lives, which can lead to neglecting our own health and happiness. It's easy to get caught up in the cycle of trying to control everything, from meeting work deadlines to ensuring the house is spotless, and even trying to manage everyone else's happiness. This constant need to control can put your well-being on the back burner.
For instance, you might find yourself stressing over:
Getting every task on your to-do list done perfectly, which leaves you with little time for rest or relaxation.
Ensuring your family eats perfectly healthy meals every day, adding unnecessary pressure on yourself.
Trying to keep up with social expectations and appearances, which can drain your energy and leave you feeling exhausted.
Comparing yourself to others and striving to meet society's expectations, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and constant stress.
There is absolutely nothing about your present situation- even the aspects you can’t control- that prevents you from making little bits of progress today.
By learning to let go of these pressures and accepting that you can't control everything, you can free up time and mental space to focus on what truly matters—your health and happiness.
How you can nourish yourself and help to reduce stress hormones.
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's easy to forget to take care of yourself. However, nourishing your body and mind doesn't have to be overwhelming. Small steps and simple habit changes can make a big difference in your overall well-being. Whether it's finding a few moments to enjoy a healthy snack, incorporating a short walk into your day, or practising a bit of mindfulness, these small actions can add up to significant improvements in your health and happiness. Let’s explore some easy ways to start taking better care of yourself, even with a busy schedule.
Eat a balanced diet: We are often overwhelmed with all the information we see and read about what foods are best. Don’t eat that, eat more of this, but the practice of balancing your plate takes all the guesswork out of it for you, leaving you less stressed about what you are going to eat. Eating a balanced diet ensures your body is getting exactly what it needs to thrive.
No naked carbs: Carbohydrates are not the enemy. But learning how to eat them and how your body responds to them is important. Whenever you eat a carb make sure to pair it with a protein or a fat. When you eat carbs on their own, like an apple, you will likely get a blood sugar spike. When your blood sugar spikes, your body secretes insulin, which is followed by a dip in blood sugar after the fact. You need fat or protein to balance that out, otherwise cravings and overeating will likely follow.
Practice mindful eating: As a busy woman how often do you mind yourself eating while standing over the sink, driving in the car, or eating your lunch at your desk. Practice sitting down and actually focusing on the food you are eating. Chewing and tasting. Mindful eating not only helps with digesting our food and also helps tune into our natural hunger and fullness cues.
Exercise regularly: And that can simply mean going for a walk. While there is a ton of information out there about what you should be doing as a busy woman in midlife, it can all be incredibly overwhelming if we are trying to be perfect. That drive for perfection can keep you frozen and prevent you from doing anything at all. So take the kids for a walk.
Journaling: Journaling allows you to express and process your emotions, helping to clarify thoughts and reduce mental clutter, which in turn can significantly lower stress levels.
Meditation: Meditation promotes relaxation and mindfulness, reducing the physiological effects of stress by calming the mind and decreasing anxiety.
Prioritizing Sleep: Prioritizing sleep ensures your body and mind have adequate time to recover and regenerate, leading to improved mood, better cognitive function, and reduced stress.
Stress plays a significant role in many health issues, particularly for busy women managing multiple responsibilities. This blog explores the nature of stress, its impacts on health, and provides practical tips for managing it, including nourishing your body, letting go of control, and making small lifestyle changes. By addressing stress and adopting healthier habits, you can significantly improve your well-being.
Ready to take control of your health and reduce stress? Download my free guide on balanced eating to start nourishing your body and mind today!
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Looking for more practical life-style tips? Check out "How to have more energy all day - What and when to eat." and "Easy Meal Planning Hacks".
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