Make Your Exercise Work With You in Healing the Metabolism!

 

Exercise is like lighter fluid for your metabolic fire. A little cardio, a little weight training, and a little stress maintenance every week is crucial to staying healthy. I tell my clients all the time that if I could bottle a product that would give them the same health benefits that moderate exercise and stress reduction give them, I would be a billionaire and we would all be kicking it back on my yacht.

Let’s talk about some tips and success boosters for using exercise to break through plateaus that I’ve learned after working in a clinic for 20-plus years:

Tip No. 1: It doesn’t matter if you walk on a treadmill, use a recumbent bike, or walk circles around your kitchen island as long as you keep moving. But, don’t fast before going fast! What I mean by that is make sure you eat prior to exercising or working out. When you exercise, your body accesses sugar stores in the form of glycogen. It’s an easy access to sugar, and it’s great for crisis hormones. But if you can consume natural sugars from complex carbs—like a sweet potato, brown rice, carrot, vegetable, or fruit—your body can extract the micronutrients from those foods as well as the sugars. Sugar from your muscle in the form of glycogen can be lifesaving in crisis intervention, but it won’t provide the cascade of phytonutrients to help heal a broken metabolism. If you don’t eat and you work out, you’re having a bicep sandwich, meaning you’re consuming the sugar from your muscle and the liver. 

Tip No. 2: Make sure you don’t secrete stress hormones when you work out! Be somewhere that’s visually stimulating or calming, and/or listen to some music, whether it’s Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dolly Parton—whatever brings you joy. This will help put you in fat burning mode instead of staying in fat storage mode. Also, check your heart rate during exercise. When you start to get it above 145, the body signals a little bit of an increase in cortisol, the stress hormone. Ideally, try to keep your heart rate  sustained between 135-145. This doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself; it just means you need more supporting things to lower cortisol during the process, like trying some alternate nostril breathing for one minute between intense cardio bursts to reduce stress hormones during your workout. 

Tip No. 3: I’m always trying to trigger the right hormone cascade through workouts and food to increase the rate of burn for my clients. Sometimes we’ll do a health wish list, self assessment questionnaire, and sometimes the person we’re integrating into the team is going to be a trainer or health coach. When I’m trying to modify the structure of the body, we will splice in parts of the Metabolism Revolution program. The second half of that book gives you all kinds of tools for when life is happening to you and you don’t necessarily feel in control of your metabolic situation (like a pandemic, civil unrest or heartbreak). 

Metabolism Revolution works a lot on the anatomy of the metabolism, while the Fast Metabolism Diet works a lot on physiology. When working out with weights, which is encouraged on Phase 2 and on the Cleanse, make sure weights are heavy enough to create microtears in the muscle, because the hormones that stimulate repair are very important in shrinking fat cells. Remember, when fat cells are really stretched out, our body asks for even more of them. 

Think about this in terms of breaking a plateau when you’re working out with weights: If you can do 10 or 12 reps easily, it’s not heavy enough. Maintain good posture so you don’t hurt yourself, but by the third set, you should barely be able to do three or four reps. This stresses the smooth muscle to evoke metabolism-enhancing hormones to shrink those fat cells!

I definitely did not fast before going fast while I’m out exercising today… I had my Metabolism Shake before coming out. Let me know what you’re eating to feed your metabolism, and what you are going to do to get your exercise in! 

The Member section of my website is loaded with tools to help you heal your metabolism. If you aren’t a member yet, don’t forget to take advantage of my FREE 15-Day Trial where you can access all the support that members and even my celebrity clients use to get where they want to be. While you’re enjoying that, you’ll also get 10% OFF any products on my website for the entire 30 days.

https://hayliepomroy.com/blogs/articles/make-your-exercise-work-with-you-in-healing-the-metabolism

Non-hormonal treatments for menopause: Mayo Clinic Radio

 

 

How to Overcome 9 of the Most Common Bad Habits

March 14, 2022

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Habits pretty much run your life. Nearly everything you do on a daily basis is based on a series of habits you’ve developed over your lifetime. Habits are behaviors that have become automated, meaning you hardly need to think about them. You just do them reflexively. If you’re like most people though, some of those habits aren’t serving you well. They may lead to trouble at work, in relationships, in your physical health, or with your finances. And even though you may want to break those bad habits, you continue to do them and feel like a slave to them.

That’s one of the things superstar singer Jojo—who rose to fame as a pre-teen in 2004 with her smash hit single “Leave (Get Out)”—opened up about in an episode of Scan My Brain with Dr. Daniel Amen at Amen Clinics. The singer and actress, now in her 30s, who abused substances at one point in her life, said she’s too disorganized. She wants to be more organized and she actually likes the thought of getting things in order, but she struggles to do it consistently or to create systems that would help keep her on track. In addition, she tends to criticize herself for “making the wrong choices” over and over again.

The good news is that Jojo—and you, too—can learn to overcome bad habits. Your brain is the key to doing it.

Even though you may want to break bad habits, you continue to do them and feel like a slave to them. The good news is you can learn to overcome bad habits. Your brain is the key to doing it.CLICK TO TWEET

GOOD AND BAD HABITS IN THE BRAIN

Inside the brain, habits are shaped and stored in a region called the basal ganglia. Other brain regions also play a role in your vulnerability to developing bad habits versus healthy ones. One of those regions is the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is involved in impulse control, judgment, forethought, and follow-through. When activity in the PFC is healthy, it helps you develop and maintain healthy habits. When activity in this brain region is low, your impulses can take over, leading to the formation of many bad habits.

9 BAD HABITS AND HOW TO BREAK THEM

There are thousands of bad habits. Here are 9 of the most common bad habits that steal your happiness, health, and relationships.

1. Being disorganized.

Do you struggle to keep your spaces neat and tidy? Are your rooms, desktop, handbags or wallets, closets, file cabinets, drawers, and other areas a mess? Being poorly organized means you’re probably unprepared for daily tasks and things take longer for you to complete because you can’t find what you need. Brain SPECT imaging studies, which measure blood flow and activity in the brain, at Amen Clinics show that low activity in the PFC is associated with disorganization, which is also a hallmark sign of ADD/ADHD.

Break the Bad Habit: Ask a friend or hire someone to help you create organizational systems and schedule 10-15 minutes a day to organize your things. Strengthening the PFC with meditation, exercise to boost blood flow, and nutritional supplements (such as rhodiola, ashwagandha, and green tea extract) can be helpful. If you think you may have ADHD, seek professional help.

2. Biting your nails.

Do you habitually nibble on your fingernails or chew them down to the quick until they bleed? Have you tried to stop but feel compelled to do it? Nail biting (onychophobia) is frequently associated with anxiety disorders. The act of biting the nails is linked with relieving feelings of stress, nervousness, loneliness, tension, or boredom. On SPECT, overactivity in the brain’s basal ganglia is associated with anxiety.

Break the Bad Habit: Finding out what triggers your nail biting is the first step to putting an end to this habit. Then replacing that behavior with another one, such as squeezing a stress ball, can help. Using bitter-tasting products on your nails or wearing gloves may also be effective. Addressing underlying anxiety is a critical part of the process of overcoming this bad habit.

3. Procrastinating.

When you wait until the very last minute to get things done, or you routinely put things off until another time (I’ll do that tomorrow”), it increases stress and often frustrates your friends, family, and colleagues. Procrastination often leads to poorly done, incomplete, or unfinished work, and it is associated with fear of failure, low energy, and perfectionism. A hallmark of ADHD, procrastination is often seen in people with underactivity in the PFC.

Break the Bad Habit: Knowing what you want by writing down your goals is a good place to start to overcome procrastination. Then every day, have a 2-minute “huddle” with yourself to decide what you want to accomplish that day.

4. Snacking.

Do you snack on popcorn while watching Netflix on the couch? Do you nibble on chips while you’re working? Do you keep snacks in the car so you can eat something while driving? Do you snack when you’re anxious or feeling blue? Constantly snacking on unhealthy foods or overeating can hijack your brain and lead to a laundry list of physical ailments.

Break the Bad Habit: Know the cues that spark your desire to snack—times of day, certain people, specific moods, or places you drive by. Know your vulnerable times and build a new routine to help you get through them without snacking. If your eating is connected to anxiety or depression, or if you think you are a binge eater, seek professional help to work through those issues.

5. Complaining.

Are you the type of person who can’t help pointing out what’s wrong with things? Do you complain about the weather, your job, your spouse, the service at a restaurant, and so on? Being a chronic complainer not only brings you down but also brings down everyone else around you. Brain SPECT imaging shows that people with too much activity in the brain’s limbic system (emotional centers) have a tendency to focus on the negative and are vulnerable to depression.

Break the Bad Habit: Actively seeking out the positives in situations can help you overcome this habit. If you’re depressed, psychotherapy may help.

6. Not exercising.

Do you start every day with the intention to exercise then come up with all kinds of excuses for skipping your workout? When you routinely choose other activities over exercise, you make it a habit to avoid physical activity.

Break the Bad Habit: Schedule exercise into your day the same way you schedule a meeting at work or a doctor’s appointment. Then if something else pops up at the last minute, say you already have a prior commitment. Once you start making exercise a priority, it will become a habit.

7. Being late.

Are you typically late for work, appointments, and dates even though you want to be on time? Does it cause problems in your life? Being chronically late is one of the primary symptoms associated with ADHD, and it is commonly seen on SPECT scans with low activity in the PFC.

Break the Bad Habit: Boosting your PFC (see “Being disorganized” above) can help. You can also take advantage of technology by setting alerts and reminders when it’s time to start getting dressed, time to start making breakfast, or time to get in the car to drive to an appointment, for example.

8. Constantly checking your phone.

Are you glued to your phone? Do you get stressed out if you can’t check your messages or scroll through your social media feeds? Smartphone addiction is real. They have hijacked our brains and stolen our attention. Scrolling social media, gaming, streaming content, and other phone-related habits can make you feel worse about yourself and increase anxiety, depression, and stress.

Break the Bad Habit: Set time limits for your phone and take a tech time-out—even 15 minutes at a time can help. Set up blocks and filters on your phone so you don’t receive a constant stream of alerts and notifications.

9. Abusing substances.

Drinking too much alcohol, smoking cigarettes or marijuana, or using other forms of recreational drugs are some of the worst habits you can have. These habits actually change the way your brain functions and increase vulnerability to addiction. Brain SPECT imaging shows that many people with addictions have low activity in the PFC and may also have a prior head injury.

Break the Bad Habit: Enhancing PFC function (see “Being disorganized” above), healing damage from head trauma with treatments like hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), and engaging in behavioral programs such as 12-step programs can help. Addressing any other underlying brain-related issues, such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is critical to overcoming addictions.

Anxiety, depression, ADHD, addictions, and other mental health issues can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, clinical evaluations, and therapy for adults, teens, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 855-298-3579 or visit our contact page here.

https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/how-to-overcome-9-of-the-most-common-bad-habits/

Can Stress Cause Fatigue? by Ari Whitten

 

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In a word, yes! Fewer things will cause tiredness and fatigue faster than intense psychological or emotional well-being. But why? The answer may not be what you think. 

What is Stress-Related Fatigue?

When most people think of fatigue, they think of “adrenal fatigue” – which comes with symptoms like tiredness, lack of motivation, anxiety, sugar cravings, brain fog, and sleep problems. These common health problems have less to do with poor adrenal gland function and more to do with the connection between the brain, gut, immune system, endocrine system, and your mitochondria (the cellular energy generators of your body). 

Symptoms Of Stress-Related Exhaustion

There are about 16 mechanisms by which stress can affect your energy levels, and understanding them is vital in finding a solution to chronic fatigue syndrome.  

Depletes The Endocannabinoid System 

This is a system in your brain, which is responsible for shutting down the body’s stress response and re-establishing homeostasis. 1 When the endocannabinoid system is depleted, we can no longer ward off fear and anxiety. Stress becomes chronic, which allows fatigue to set in. This is arguably the key mechanism of fatigue. 

University of Washington neurologist Ethan Russo has done research suggesting that ‘clinical endocannabinoid deficiency’ underlies migraines, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel disease, and a cluster of other degenerative conditions, which may respond favorably to cannabinoid therapies.” 2

Throws Off Neurotransmitters In The Brain 

Too much stress affects your mental health and results in imbalances of Serotonin, Dopamine, and Acetylcholine. 3 4 These neurotransmitters are important players in regulating mood, tension, energy, motivation, wakefulness, and cognitive performance. Low levels contribute to depression, anxiety, binge eating, addiction, lethargy, apathy, and anhedonia (inability to take pleasure in life). Chronic stress can also cause GABA resistance. 5 GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and rejuvenation. When the brain’s sensitivity to this neurotransmitter is reduced, you have racing thoughts, fears, anxieties, tension, and poor sleep. This again contributes to fatigue.  

Decreases Thyroid Hormones 6

The key to energy production, cognitive function, and muscle function. When you have hypothyroidism, all the cells in your body do not produce energy adequately and, as a result, function poorly. Warning signs for an improperly functioning thyroid are shown through fatigue, anxiety disorders, hair loss, fat gain, pain, etc.  

HPA Axis Dysfunction 

This is the interaction between the hypothalamus-pituitary and adrenal glands. When you are chronically stressed (and the endocannabinoid system is depleted), the HPA Axis becomes chronically activated and starts to dysfunction. It becomes resistant to the negative feedback loops that try to calm the system and is associated with numerous medical conditions including CFS, Fibromyalgia, IBS, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, PTSD, SAD and even Alzheimer’s and Diabetes. 7 8 9 

Lowers Your Intelligence 

Stress can shut down centers in the Prefrontal Cortex, which are responsible for higher thought processes. This allows the amygdala (or Primitive Brain) to take over, resulting in mental paralysis and panic.10 When you lose your higher thinking centers, you also lose self-control and are likely to make poor lifestyle choices, including bad decisions about what food to eat and whether or not to exercise. As poor lifestyle decisions impact energy, this is another way stress can cause fatigue.  

Makes You Hungry And Increases Sugar Cravings  

Cravings result in poor food choices, which usually include highly processed food, low in protein and fiber, but with a high glycemic load. 11  12 This results in inflammation, which directly suppresses the neurotransmitter Orexin (which is key in regulating wakefulness and energy levels). Ironically, Energy drinks especially sap your energy levels.  

Chronic Inflammation

Regulated by the stress hormone cortisol, but over time, chronic stress reduces the effectiveness of cortisol and inflammation gets out of control. 13 Chronic inflammation is linked to almost every disease from heart disease and cancer to depression and Alzheimer’s. It also has a direct impact on energy levels by shutting down Orexin.  

Suppresses The Immune System 

A suppressed immune system makes us more susceptible to infections. 14 When this happens regularly, the body is overtaxed and suffers from chronic oxidative damage in the cells. Many viruses specifically target the Mitochondria (our energy generators), causing a huge dip in energy production.  

Disrupts your Circadian Rhythm and Sleep 15 16 

Lack of sleep cause fatigue for most people. When you are stressed, you may have racing thoughts and poor sleep, it takes you longer to fall asleep, and you have less restful slow-wave sleep. Not getting enough quality hours of sleep leads to chronic sleep deprivation and is a risk factor for other issues such as depression, anxiety, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue, as well as increased rates of dozens of diseases.  

Makes You Depressed 

Mood and energy are very much intertwined. Better moods facilitate better energy and vice versa. Stress can wreck your mood because of its effects on chronic HPA Axis activation 17, imbalances in neurotransmitters 18in the brain, and also from decreasing BDNF (an important peptide in your brain) which keeps your brain healthy. Chronic stress also causes energy regulating areas of your brain to atrophy. 19

Causes Chronic Physical Pain 

Stress causes changes in the structure and function of your brain in profound ways. When you have chronic stress, your brain becomes more and more sensitive to sensations of pain. This can get so severe that even normal levels of touch can be felt as pain. Pain itself then causes more stress resulting in a vicious cycle of pain, stress, and fatigue. 20  21. 

Lowers many Beneficial Hormones 

This includes hormones such as pregnenolone, which is a precursor to both stress and sex hormones. When your body is getting a lot of stress signals, the adrenals “steal” pregnenolone away from being used to make sex hormones like testosterone and progesterone, which have very positive effects on our bodies. 22 When levels of these hormones are reduced, you are more likely to suffer from inflammation, poor mood, weight gain, higher stress and anxiety, and lower energy levels.  

Damages your Mitochondria 

A little bit of stress, like the kind you get from acute exercise, can be very beneficial to your health but, when stress becomes chronic, you will get oxidative damage. As they say, “it’s the dose that makes the poison.” When Mitochondria are damaged, it directly lowers our cell’s capacity to produce energy. 23 The resulting inflammation also damages parts of the brain (the hypothalamus), which produce neurotransmitters, such as orexin that regulate energy levels.  

Causes a Leaky Brain Barrier 

By causing immune cells to release histamine and various inflammatory compounds. These chemicals increase the permeability of a normally semi-permeable blood-brain barrier allowing substances that do not normally enter the brain to enter. 24 Inflammation also wreaks havoc on brain areas related to health and energy, resulting in fatigue, depression, numerous brain diseases, and mood disorders.  

Stress flushes out Beneficial Minerals from the Kidneys 

Stress removes vital nutrients, including potassium and Magnesium, which most of us are already deficient in. Potassium and Magnesium are essential for hundreds of metabolic processes in the body, and depleting these minerals can result in numerous problems, including fatigue, muscle breakdown, irregular heart rhythm, and poor detoxification.  

Stress induces a Leaky Gut 

Also known as increased gut permeability.25 This causes a number of issues, which include increasing the amount of bacterial toxin (or endotoxin) entering the bloodstream and causing inflammation. This process has been implicated in fat gain, anxiety, depression, autoimmune diseases, stress, and fatigue. 26 It can also cause food sensitivities and intolerances, IBS, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), and gut pain. 27 28

In addition, the inflammation caused by leaky gut directly shuts down Orexin, which decreases your energy levels and makes you feel tired.  

Conclusion 

There are lifestyle changes that you can implement to help alleviate the symptoms of elevated stress levels. You can use relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation, consistent physical activity, get enough sleep, surround yourself with loved ones, and eat a well-balanced diet. 

It is important to always consult your health care professional if you have severe physical fatigue symptoms as they may want to conduct further testing, but short term solutions may help!

https://theenergyblueprint.com/can-stress-cause-fatigue/