Understand some basic science:
Understanding the basic biology of your body and hormones can help motivate you to make different food and lifestyle choices.
During ‘the Pause’ you experience the effect of a shedding of our neurochemical amour. THERFORE it is a time to carefully consider, relationships, career, and understand our traumas. Our traumas and childhood learnings are the underlying behaviours that have served us well (well, we have managed at least), or not, until now. Now things are changing, and the old patterns may not be serving us well anymore.
Your body and brain are changing. It is REWIRING (your biology is different) and when we
·* Don’t understand the science
* We are not ready for it
* Feel blind sighted by our body and
* Search for fast solutions (with frequent ‘failures’ along the way)
It feels like chaos! Be careful to not disempower yourself. There is not one solution There is YOUR solution. It is trial and error NOT failing!
A woman’s body is moving from the reproductive phase to the productive phases and biological pruning is occurring to get rid of what we do not need but the rewiring creates consequences (sweating, tiredness, brain fog etc) – To be productive, we literally need to give less FU%#S and focus on what is important.
The decline of estrogen (understood to be the beginning of PERIMENO) creates a higher level of vulnerability to mood changes and disorders (like depression and anxiety, especially if you have a predisposition), as estrogen and progesterone help regulate moods and emotional stability (by pushing the neurons to make more of two of our well-known neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin.
DOPAMINE the feel-good hormone released in the brain – creates pleasure and motivation to keep doing things – sugar triggers the release of large amounts of dopamine into the brain which becomes the reward, then you consequently want more reward, so you constantly look for more sugar because your brain forgets how to process dopamine naturally.
Dopamine dumps when …
DO: Participate in activities with repetitive movement (surfing, dancing, swimming, drumming), do a colouring mandala or a jig saw that rewardingly unfolds a picture, increase social interaction, positive new experiences, meditation, rest, achieve a rewarding goal.
EAT: consider dietary supplements of omega 3 and 6, almonds, eggs, yogurt, protein, dark chocolate.
SEROTONIN is a message carrier – low levels of serotonin is thought to play a role in depression, anxiety. 90% of your serotonin is produced in the gut – 10% in the brain. It can be obtained by the foods you eat containing the amino acid tryptophan. Serotonin plays several roles in your body, including influencing learning, memory, happiness (mood) as well as regulating body temperature, sleep, sexual behaviour and hunger.
Serotonin surges when …
DO: We write in a gratitude journal, we exercise, massage, meditation, we get natural vitamin D (the sun), get into nature, cardio exercise.
EAT: eat foods with tryptophan (salmon, pineapples, nuts, seeds and better when mixed with healthy carbs).
Cortisol - the stress hormone will interfere with the nervous system to cause your body to believe you are in survival mode – your body does not focus on weight loss when cortisol is dominant. Your decision making is not clear, fair or respectful if you are in survival mode (or in a threat response).
Cortisol can become dominant over the other hormones, as they are made at the same time. Stress and their causes (your triggers), adds to an internal physical and emotional imbalance.
If you could look inside your body and see what stress is doing to your body, you would try hard to reduce it. Take notice of how you feel, what symptoms are showing up - is it manageable and modifiable stress?
When stressed, the brain signals the body to release glucose for energy, prompting the pancreas to release insulin to manage blood sugar levels. Excess glucose, if not utilized for immediate energy needs, is stored as visceral fat, particularly around the abdomen. This is not only annoying but increases health risks.
Managing stress:
1. Breath awareness, meditation, being in nature can bring calmness and relaxation
2. Hydration
3. Nutrition
4. Physical Activity
5. Adequate and quality sleep
6. Reduce stimulants: social media, Caffeine, Alcohol, Drug use
7. Manage work stress – increase awareness about burnout
8. Counselling for – grief, anxiety, relationship issues, emotional management