The Stress That Kickstarts Adrenal Fatigue Can Be:
- Physical: You experience infections or suffer allergies and food sensitivities. Excessive sports like marathon running and over-exercising can cause or worsen adrenal fatigue.
- Emotional: Caused by issues like work pressures, financial or relationship problems. Past unresolved trauma and abuse. Feeling unworthy, not good enough, pushing yourself to over-achieve all the time.
- Chemical: Your liver is overloaded by toxins coming from xenoestrogens, antibiotics, prescription drugs or you have lived or worked near places that are highly toxic. Chemo and radiation can also contribute.
- Spiritual: You feel a lack of purpose or direction in life.
- Dietary: A period spent overloading on caffeine, carbs and high-sugar foods can stimulate repeated cortisol release, setting up the adrenal fatigue pattern. Chronic gut issues like constipation, diarrhea, bloating, IBS, leaky gut and unaddressed food sensitivities can also cause adrenal fatigue.
Whatever the trigger, if the resulting hormonal imbalances are not corrected and the stress continues, your adrenal glands may end up completely and utterly taxed and worn out. Then the very hormones meant to give you energy and keep you alive if youre under threat, can start to compromise your health. And eventually, they become depleted.
What Im Doing Now
Dr. Justin really helped me, but I wont say its easy. Heres my prescription:
- no caffeine or alcohol
- a strict-ish diet that resembles the paleo diet and the bulletproof diet
- follow the protocol for 6-9 months
Dr. Justins healthy meal tips are here. For some, it might be a huge life change, especially if you dont like vegetables. Ill be honest . . . Ive struggled. I love vegetables but I hate cooking.
Most of the time Im good, but I have lazy days. I dont eat fast food, but sometimes I dont eat as many veggies as I should. Im working on it!
What I find interesting about my new eating plan is the amount of fat. Ive always shied away from it, but its good. So I have my big jar of coconut oil. And my new attitude! If youre wondering if the caffeine and alcohol are hard to avoid yes. Not the alcohol, but the coffee. I truly love coffee.
But in the last month, Ive only had it twice. In the next 30 days, Im going for zero cups. I can do it!
Hi friends! I wanted to provide an update on my health and how things are going since I originally wrote this four years ago. Im 44 years old now and life has changed significantly. So where am I at now? What has worked? And what hasnt? Lets review. There might be some surprises.
From January 2019 October 2020 I worked for an ecommerce retailer in the local area. It was very important that I stay local and not have a stressful commute, and it only took me 15 minutes to drive to work.
Could Trying To Be Perfectly Healthy Have Made Me Sick
Note: This post covers how I learned about adrenal fatigueand discuss some of the controversy surrounding it. In Part Two, Ill talk about the steps I took to recover.
Although Im an Emory-certified health coach, Im not a medical professional. This post is based on personal experience and is not meant to be a substitute for professional care. As always, do your research and speak to a certified healthcare provider before making any major changes to your diet or lifestyle.
Ive always been an on-the-go, type-A, semi-perfectionist kind of person. Growing up, I was always active, playing sports and working hard in school. After college, I moved to Manhattan, where I lived for over six years. My days were packed with workouts, work, events, and socializing . I tried to stick to a healthy-ish diet, but inevitably, plenty of pizza and late-night chicken tenders were involved as well.
At 24, I also started training for half-marathons, running long distances nearly every day, in addition to everything else on my plate.
Sure, I was probably burning the candle on both ends, but isnt that what youre supposed to do in your twenties?
A couple years ago, my busy life started to catch up to me. Id also experienced some major stressors, such as a breakup and a move to a new city.
Although Ive never been a morning person I felt far more exhausted than Id ever felt in the past. Every morning, Id lie in bed, hitting snooze three, four, or five times after my alarm went off.
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Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Story From Exhaustion To More Energy
I recovered from a severe adrenal fatigue and this is my success story.
In this adrenal fatigue recovery story Ill give you some background info on my problems, a list of symptoms I had, and briefly list the treatments I did. Ill also talk about the big turning point in my recovery.
NOTE: I have removed some of the adrenal fatigue pages from my site. They are redirected to this one. If there is some info that you are curious about, you can contact me.
Ill give more specific information about supplements and other treatments in other blog posts.Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Planis a great place to start.
Who Should Try The Adrenal Fatigue Diet
Everyone! Seriously. Whether you have adrenal fatigue or not, the adrenal fatigue diet is a healthy eating plan, says registered dietitian Maggie Michalczyk, R.D.N., founder of Once Upon A Pumpkin.
She explains: Veggies and whole grains are a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, of which most of us are not getting enough. “Adding more of these foods to your plate will help boost your energy and improve digestion, whether you have adrenal fatigue or not,” she says. .
Additionally, prioritizing high-quality protein can increase iron levels, which can combat symptoms of anemia and vitamin B12 deficiency, which can also make you tired, says Lisa Richards, C.N.C., nutritionist and founder of The Candida Diet. Plus, “healthy fats may reduce inflammation in the body, which is known to cause fatigue and many serious health conditions that aren’t adrenal fatigue,” she says. .
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When It Comes To Your Health It Starts With Food But It Doesnt And Cant End There If You Really Want To Heal
Even if you think youve got your clean diet dialed in, whether its a whole30, paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian, or whatever, if youre still feeling sick, unhealthy, unhappy, and stressed out, that diet might not be exactly right for you.
And I was the perfect example of that.
When I started eating paleo, and even when I completed my first, second, and third whole30 challenges, I realized I was afraid no slightly terrified of eating even healthy fats and carbohydrates. When roasting vegetables or dressing a salad, I would only use a teaspoon or two of oil, fearing that fat makes you fat, as the media dogma and womens magazines galore had been shoving down my throat for so long.
Luckily, as I buried my head in research on paleo eating, health, leaky gut, and thyroid conditions, I slowly came to realize that fat wasnt going to make me fat at all it would actually help me burn fat. I gradually incorporated more and more healthy fats like avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, and fattier cuts of meat into my diet, which my run-down stomach, thyroid, and hormones welcomed with abandon.
Exercise Doesnt Help Me Lose Weight Or Even Look More Toned
Cortisol is a catabolic hormone. This means that when its released during stress it breaks down protein to use for energy. End result? Rapid and ongoing muscle wastage even though you are working out every day.
Cortisol is also released when you exercise and the higher the intensity or duration of your workout, the bigger the cortisol release.
Heres what that means:
Cortisol from your life + Cortisol from exercise = Excessively high cortisol.
Thats why you may not be looking leaner or more toned after exercised your high cortisol is actually breaking down your muscle to help give your body fuel because it thinks youre in a life or death situation 24/7.
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My Struggle With Adrenal Fatigue
This could have easily been called: My Adrenal Fatigue story: how I ran myself into the ground and totally hit rock bottom by doing everything I thought was healthy. But that wouldnt have made for a very google-friendly title.
This was not an easy post to write, and its definitely not an easy story to share for me.
But I hope youll learn from my experiences, as I have, and hopefully will prevent some people from going down the same path. Sit tight, my friends, here goes a long one.
Adrenal Fatigue & Weight Loss Resistance
I work with women all the time who are doing everything right or have seemingly tried every diet and fitness program on the planet, but theyre still struggling to lose weight.
Weight loss resistance is really common, and its generally an indication of an underlying imbalance of some kind. In my practice, adrenal fatigue is almost always behind weight loss resistance.
Adrenal fatigue interferes with digestive function, contributes to insulin resistance, and contributes to hormonal imbalances in general, another common issue that underlies weight loss resistance.
Adrenal fatigue also has the special ability to lead to a buildup of belly fat, which is one of the hardest kinds of weight to lose, and one that can lead to more serious health problems.
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I Get Chest Pain And Heart Palpitations
Blame it on: High adrenalin, cortisol and aldosterone
When youre feeling wired your stress hormones:
- Move blood out of some organs to others so your heart has to work harder to shift the blood around.
- Make your blood vessels constrict so that you dont bleed as readily should you suffer a wound. This too puts pressure on your heart.
The end result? You may suffer everything from chest pain to heart palpitations . You may also find it hard to get up the energy to exercise, because your heart is already working harder 24/7 just to get through the day.
Keto Diet Adrenal Fatigue
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Your desired weight is the goal that you want to achieve.
Yvonne used to see all those pictures of people who d lost so much weight, but sometimes didn t really believe they were real.
So please treat this as a disclaimer before Keto Diet Adrenal Fatigue proceeding.
Try prepping veggies ahead Ketogenic diet 3000 calories of time instead of Keto Diet Adrenal Fatigue buying pre cut ones.
Studies reported that skipping meals can make you feel hungrier, Keto Diet Adrenal Fatigue and Best Weight Loss Program leads to overeating.
Keep in mind that a healthy rate of weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week.
From this day forward, something clicked in me and I changed my life around cold turkey.
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Here’s What You Can Do To Soothe Your Nervous System And Lose Weight
It’s critical to turn off this fight/flight/freeze response and direct the body into more natural processes. How do you do this? First, see a good functional medicine provider. You can get tests and have a professional evaluate your stress levels and adrenal function. In the meantime, eliminate processed carbs and sugar and make sure you get high-quality rest, which means seven to nine hours a night of unbroken sleep.
Another great thing to do is to start meditating. Don’t worry about being an expert just sit still and breathe. Make your exhales longer than your inhales this activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is all about rest, relaxation, digestion, restoration. And finally, slowly and methodically work on resolving the underlying causes of your stress one at a time. It takes some dedication and patience, but it is entirely possible to heal the adrenals and lose those pesky extra pounds!
The Recurring Infections Start
So I was sick with fever stuffiness, headache, body aches etc. It took me weeks to recover. It felt like I never got back to normal.
Few months later I went to see a doctor complaining about recurring colds and constant post nasal drip. He put me on antibiotics.
Throughout the college years I kept having colds and I had my first ever ear infection. Then another.
The rounds of antibiotics further depleted my immune system. I had a few eye infections too.
Once I got several red blotches on my calf and was put on penicillin just in case. I ended up having an allergic reaction to it: rash all over my body.
I also started to experience spring allergies and had the first sign of developing chemical sensitivity.
In spite of the constant infections, I was still able to live my life.
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Tip #: The Value Of Potatoes
How to lose weight when you have adrenal fatigue all starts with a simple potato. Its like I always say: a potato a day keeps the inches away!
Studies have shown that boiled potatoes are in a class of their own when it comes to foods which curb appetites11.
Working more of these ingredients into your diet, in quick and simple ways, can help you combat adrenal burnout for good. The resistant starch in potatoes, in particular, will also help to heal your gut lining12.
There are so many superfoods out there, but potatoes can call themselves one of the original ones. They have loads of health benefits and can help you jumpstart your adrenal fatigue weight loss. Easy to prepare, easy to enjoy and youll be reaping the benefits in no time.
When it comes to balancing out the relationship between cortisol and body fat, potatoes are a great place to start. Heres how it could look as part of your day-to-day routine
Your Diet and Potatoes for:
- Breakfast: serve a boiled potato beside your scrambled eggs.
- Lunch: another boiled potato compliments any salad.
- Dinner: enjoy a baked potato alongside a lean cut of meat.
- No matter the meal, you can easily work more potatoes into your diet.
Tip #: Long Slow Distance Training
Did you know that you dont need to sweat like crazy to get a good workout? Long slow distance training8 relies on long intervals of low-intensity physical activity.
Through these activities, youre building aerobic strength and endurance that can help stimulate the loss of body fat in your body. All you have to do is one session per week, moving for over one hour at an extremely low intensity.
Take a light walk, go for a hike and benefit your body. This form of training is an opportunity to introduce a consistent hum of fat burning in your daily/weekly/monthly regiment. The more exercise, the merrier, so long as you take it slow.
Key Insight: Take it slow, across longer distances, to keep your exercise routine humming.
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Address Root Causes Of Your Stress
- Seek counseling: if you need to help heal from unresolved trauma or need support for depression.
- Reduce lifes daily stressors: These can add up to big adrenal impacts if they continue day after day. That might mean you get up just 15 minutes earlier so you dont have to rush and have time for breakfast. Or it might mean that you try pull back your mortgage payments so you have more money to get through the week.
A while ago, a woman from our Hormones Balance community contacted me for help with stabilizing her hormones. When she wasnt improving we tried to identify hidden stresses that may be standing in the way of her hormonal balance. She identified that she was suffering stress every morning when she had to walk through an area where she didnt feel safe on her way to work. Once she took a different route, even though it took her a little longer, her stress levels significantly reduced and her hormonal health substantially improved. Its a potent reminder of just how much we are hardwired for survival and as a result, how big even seemingly small stressors can be.
- Address relationship problems and potential abuse: Make time for more intimacy and improved communication with your partner. If youre not in a good place together, read some self-help books together or attend couples counseling. I did a call about abusive relationships , watch it here.
Dont:
What I Did To Help My Recovery From Adrenal Fatigue
I tried a lot of supplements and many of them seemed to work for a while and then stopped working. I think thats common for adrenal fatigue sufferers. What follows is a list, in no particular order, of things that I did and continue to do that seemed to help the most. Im currently in a good place with adrenal fatigue and I am vigilant to not push myself beyond my limits. There are times when I feel adrenal-y and thats when I pull back and take better care of myself with rest, stress reduction and nutrition.
I wrote this post about six months before finding Plexus Slim. Blood sugar and gut health are foundations for good health, but I had no idea. It ended up changing my health and life, so of course I came back and added it to this post so you can decide if its what youve been looking for. More details here
My list doesnt include a particular diet or way of eating, but I know that is important for many people. The list is divided into two parts: physical and non-physical things I did. I know you cant actually separate the two, but it made more sense for two shorter posts.
Go to bed early and be asleep by 10:00pm. For me, that meant heading to bed by 9:00pm. If I stayed up much past 10:00, I got a second wind and didnt want to go to bed and that was deadly for the next day. There are physical reasons for that second wind having to do with cortisol levels.
Plenty of Vitamin C. I usually drank Emergen-C, but now I prefer chewable C from Dr. Schulze.
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