This gets long, and very personal, but if it helps anyone
going through something similar, it’s worth sharing!
As I have mentioned before, this is a blog chronicling my
wellness journey. It’s a never-ending process of self-growth and knowledge.
Sometimes it may mean contradicting things that I have written in the past, and
I may change my mind about what I write today in the future. Especially with
exercise routines, it’s all about what works best for you day to day.
A few weeks ago or so, I wrote about how I survived my
summer desk job. By survive, I meant barely. For some reason, sitting for that
long stressed me out so much that my entire body spun out of control. It was as
if every normal function simply stopped working. One day I found myself staring at the ATM, unable to remember my pin. I was bloated, uncomfortable
in my body, and my heart literally felt like it was pumping out of my chest all
the time. Looking back on it, I don’t
think it was quite the sitting that was the issue, but the stress that I was subjecting
myself to by being so concerned by that, and from having to fit so many things
in during the summer.
I tried to combat my
inactivity with intense workouts whenever I could, hoping to make up the
difference. The thing with intense, aggressive workouts is that it
increases your stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Living in such
stressful conditions all of the time, whether it is mental stress from day to
day life or stress from intense workouts, can result in a chronic overload of
cortisol and depletion of adrenaline. Depletion of adrenaline often results in
extreme fatigue. Chronic cortisol overload can result in fatigue, the
accumulation of fat (especially belly fat), muscle loss, and more. Tons of
intense exercise also increases your appetite, which, when combined with
stress, can result in cumpulsive eating which outweighs one’s workout.
Anyway, it became clear this was happening to me. I was
pushing and pushing, and seemed to be going backwards. Not to mention I felt
like I was on the verge of a mental breakdown one to many times. It was then that I looked at those around
me, like my Mom, who didn’t work out nearly as much as me, and looked great,
just by keeping a clean diet and only eating when she was hungry. I on the
other hand, felt totally outside of my body, and sometimes would eat when I
really just didn’t need to, knowing that I was uncomfortably full, but needing
something to calm me down.
I had read an article
by Tara Stiles many times before called “Why exercise and burning calories
won’t help you lose weight” (link below). It was all about what I was going
through, talking about how living so aggressively makes us eat aggressively and
just wrecks havoc on our bodies. She
argues that moving in a way that makes us feel good, reducing stress, will help
us reconnect with our bodies and eat properly. Nutrition is the key to
maintaining our happy weight. Now, like I said, I had been aware of this
article for months, going back to it, and not really believing it. “She’s so
tiny, she just must not eat” is what I thought. Truth is she eats just what her
body needs, and her hormones are in balance, so she is not swollen and
fatigued. This is just like what I saw in my Mom and others, who did not force
themselves around so often. They just lived naturally and ate intuitively.
A few weeks ago, I reached a point where I just couldn’t
take anymore. My body literally screamed for a break. And so, I finally took Tara’s advice and stopped
the intense workouts. I focused on yoga, walking, and meditation, and tried to
keep my heart rate normal at all times. Within a few days I started to
heal. My heart rate calmed down and the swelling all over my body went away. I
learned how to recognize when I was truly hungry and when I was full. About a week and a half later, I was back
to my happy weight where I felt comfortable, by doing much less exercise than I
was doing before. Today, 3 weeks later, I have maintained my healthy state
by moving with ease. In fact, business clothes I bought while I was at my peak
stress level were too big when I got here! Yoga
is still a workout, building killer strength, flexibility, balance, and
more. It is simply one that reduces stress instead of causing stress (for me at
least). It makes me feel graceful and confident. Being in such a tough grad program, it has helped me stay calm, happy,
and balanced. I used to not want to do my hard workouts, but this is something
I truly enjoy. Along with honoring my body with a whole food, plant based diet, it has healed me in the most amazing way.
Do your workouts bring you joy and peace? Are they helping
you create healthy habits in the rest of your life? Or, are they stressing you
out, and causing unease? Everyone is different. Everyone has his or her own
“soul mate workout”. Have you found yours? Experiment. Listen to your body, and
nourish yourself with your favorite exercise and the proper amount of
unprocessed, nutritious foods. Let me know what happens!
Here is Tara's article which much of this story is based off of. She has an amazing blog and collection of yoga videos to help you get started! http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5128/Why-Exercise-and-Burning-Calories-Wont-Help-You-Lose-Weight.html
Be Well.
Love, Julie
No comments:
Post a Comment