Are Your Body’s Rhythms Out of Sync?

I hope you are not experiencing a food hangover and are feeling great until the next feast.

We are meant to wake up feeling rested and energized. If you wake up daily and need your coffee to become human and to have a bowel movement, something is out of synch.

What is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a hormone produced by our adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys. The human body uses Cortisol to regulate energy and during times of stress. We want it in small amounts to get a deadline complete, or a fun sprint session with your children. We do not want it all day as we go from task to task.

The natural rhythm of Cortisol aligns with the rising of the sun. As cortisol elevates it gives us energy by mobilizing glucose. You cortisol peaks around mid-day and tapers off in the evening as the sun goes down. Lowering your Cortisol in the evening allows sleep and recovery of hormones and organs to follow the same rhythm the next day.

If you try to use carbs and caffeine to stimulate your cortisol, this can throw off the whole day’s rhythm leaving you feeling exhausted. That is why you crash @ 10 am & 3 pm and want that stale donut on the break room table. This programming trains your body to become insulin resistant.

High cortisol and insulin sensitivity:

1. Impairs your immune system and causes asthma
2. Causes wounds to heal slower & increases collagen loss from the skin.
3. Reduces bone formation.
4. Impairs learning and long term memory retrieval.
5. Muscle fatigue, joint stiffness and low energy.

Cortisol regulates our fluid levels and electrolytes. When fluids are out of balance it can make us crave salt & sugar to help regulate the body’s systems.

Ok, I want you to stay up late on fun events, eat pizza from Italy, and croissants from Paris. But we want your body to be prepared for this. Not in training to turn food into sugars and body fat in seconds.

How to retrain your body?

1. Take 5 deep breaths to connect with the core of your body. This oxygen is exactly what every body needs. I swear by these 5 deep breaths, everyone is saying & doing it.
2. Eat healthy fats & veggies with breakfast. Try upgrading your breakfast to options that offer variety and higher healthy fats: Avocado & spinach with eggs, Nuts & coconut milk, Almond butter and apples.
3. Hydrate & Eat first before your coffee & tea, I bet you $20 you will have more energy in the afternoon.
4. Add the Pumpkin Protein smoothie in mid afternoon to recharge for the evening.
5. Meditate, this will help your cortisol come down to normal levels.

70% Off Our Jump Start Program

We are here for you after the holidays. The New Year brings in many options for you and your health. We want to offer the Jump Start Program to you all. This is one of my favorite programs! The Jump Start is not a quick fix. This is a program to reinvigorate your mind and body on one week that you can utilize and implement into your entire life. We are offering the program for $29 for those who sign up in December. We will have daily phone calls to help you commit to your goals and help you feel accountable to them!

Have a wonderful holiday, and we have your back after to help you feel balanced for 2015!
Heather Fleming

Thanks for the cool image Gisela Giardino.