Stress, whether you realize you have it or not, affects the majority of your symptoms. Whether directly or indirectly. Symptoms such as hormone imbalance, infertility, cravings, weight gain, autoimmune diseases, low thyroid, gut imbalances, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, acne, rashes, and the list goes on!
And when we talk to people, we often ask, “how are your stress levels?” – and most people respond with either, “they are high, always.”, OR, quite the opposite, “I don’t have many stressors, really.” And then that latter answer often follows with, “So I just don’t know where this extra weight is coming from” (Or insert “this sickness” or “lack of energy”).
And we’ve realized with this common answer, that a lot of people truly don’t know what stress can look like. We often acknowledge that being nervous (a type of stressor) can cause us to have a stomach ache (butterflies or going to the bathroom), but not often do people look at their stress when it comes to a diagnosis such as low thyroid, low back pain, infertility, a rash, or weight gain.
So, we’ve created a list of all stressors, so you can get a better idea of what may be filling your stress cup, and likely, you haven’t realized it… until now!
Here are the top stressors:
- Poor language to yourself and others (Ex: Victim Mentality and Imposter Syndrome)
- Repressed emotions
- Unresolved trauma (big or small)
- Rushing in the morning (to leave the house or in your car) or between meetings
- Job/boss/coworkers
- Kids/spouse/parents – any relationship that causes emotional turmoil
- Household/environmental toxins (fragrances and other endocrine disruptors)
- Food additives (chemicals, food dyes, fake sugars, etc.)
- Oxidized oils in foods
- Refined sugars or carbs eaten without protein
As you can see – there are physiological AND psychological stressors here. It’s almost always a mixture of both. And when you have more than one of these, your stress not only starts to pile up (remember our analogy of the “stress cup”), but it also starts to compound – meaning your threshold to deal with stress becomes weaker and weaker. For example, when your kids are taking longer to get their shoes on, you’re not so patient and you boil up. Or someone cuts you off driving and you have an explosive reaction.
Each time this happens, your cortisol levels rise. When your cortisol levels rise, your body goes into survival mode – no matter which you’re experiencing from that sympathetic state (freeze, flight or fight). Your body will then hold on to fat (blood sugar dysregulation), ditch the wellbeing of specific hormones (hormone imbalance), slow down liver detoxification (hello skin and gut issues), and suppress your immune system.
So if you’re experiencing any kind of symptom (yes, weight gain or inability to lose weight is a symptom too), always go back to examining what may be “stressing you out” and find some simple steps to learn how to manage those stressors better. And if you are not familiar with any of these, especially the language one, or how to go about reducing toxins, book a connection call with us, we’ll explain in more detail and even give you a free resource to start working on it immediately!
