Wake up, get dressed, grab a coffee, go to work, skip breakfast, work more, eat lunch, go to the gym to workout, eat dinner, and REPEAT.
Society has done a good job at teaching people to work hard for their fitness goals. People go on crazy diets or do crazy workouts, and while working out and eating well is important for seeing progressive changes, it neglects other important aspects that can and do affect our progress.
Some things, but not all things that can affect your progress include, stress, sleep quality, and fatigue.
So instead of looking over those aspects today, we wanted to dive deeper into them, and habits that can help us work through them.
Stress
Firstly, we want to remind you that stress is common, and necessary actually to a certain extent. The stress hormone (cortisol) is what actually wakes you up in the morning, and in the morning it’s generally at its highest level compared to other times of the day.
The stress we want to talk about is different though. The stress of being stuck in a traffic jam, running late for work, trying to make ends meet, completing a project. An accumulation of this kind of stress has a long-term negative affect on your health, including high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, depression, and fatigue.
While initially, you may not be hungry, chronic stress can lead to an increase for calorie dense foods. Your body will assume it needs extra energy to battle the stresses you are facing because chronic stress keeps your insulin high. Overtime the body’s ability to burn calories lowers, as testosterone (and yes, even if you’re a female you need it) lowers, and muscle mass lowers.
So how do we work through stress? There is no one size fits all, but here are some of the things we do:
Go for walks - especially within nature, away from the city
Workout
Meditation or breathwork
Journal our gratitudes
Read
Use the Delush CBD Tincture - Cannabinoids are naturally produced in the body, but sometimes not enough. By taking the tincture, it heightens the levels of cannabinoids which will lead to more relaxation and less anxiety.
Sleep Quality
We know you might be thinking, well I sleep 6-8 hours, I’m good! While 6-8 hours of sleep is better than 4 hours, it doesn’t necessarily call for a good quality sleep.
If you sleep and generally still wake up tired, need that coffee in the morning to really start your day, then your quality of sleep is not optimal.
A 2007 Canadian study found that 43% of men, and 55% of women between the ages of 18 to 64 struggled falling asleep or staying asleep. The same study found that around one-third struggled to stay awake during the day.
Poor sleep quality is linked to obesity, poor cardiovasular health, type 2 diabetes, increase in injuries, depression, and irratability. More specifically, a lack of adequeate sleep raises cortisol levels, which will increase hunger throughout the day, cause fluctuations in hormones - which lead to weight gain, a lower immune system, and lower productivity levels.
So what can you do to improve your sleep quality:
Avoid exposure to screens 3 hours before sleep or use blue light blockers. Blue light from TV’s, laptops, and phones, inhibits the production of melatonin which will help you fall asleep
Read before sleeping
Cut off caffeine consumption 10-12 hours prior to your sleeping time
Having your last big meal 3 hours prior to sleeping
Not consuming social media and news before sleep
Taking magnesium before sleep
Using the Delush CBD Tincture, which has show an increase in deep sleep amongst people
Fatigue
Walking around every day and feeling tired shouldn’t be a norm. Sure age may slow us down, but not that much. In reality, you should have the energy to go through your day feeling productive, strong, and energetic.
Chronic fatigue can lead to, poor motor skills, lack of productivity, a lower immune system, and increased risk of injury. Excessively working out, poor sleep, high stress levels, poor nutrition, and poor recovery methods can all lead to chronic fatigue.
And what many people overlook, is that fatigue can be a huge set back to seeing progress in their health and fitness due to poor performance from the lack of energy.
Remember, even mental fatigue can translate to physical fatigue in the long run.
So how do we avoid chronic fatigue:
Prioritize our sleep
Prioritize stress management
Resting and knowing when the body needs rests (when it’s showing signs like soreness, aches and pains)
Eating enough foods and a variety of foods
Taking supplements to fill in the nutritional gaps
Taking breaks during work or studying - going for walks, workouts, reading a book
Doing the things you love - having a hobby
Stretching
Massages
Using the Delush Magic Stick - reduces inflammation and promotes muscle recovery through increased blood flow in the muscles
We want to show you that your fitness and health goals aren’t just about working out and your nutrition. Our lives aren’t shaped around only those two factors, and neither will your health and fitness goals be.
Trying to make all changes at once can be overwhelming and unsustainable, so we encourage you to pick even just one to begin with. The one small habit will compound overtime into a positive change in your life.
We want to quick note that Delush is a local brand in BC, Canada, that focuses on producing the best quality CBD products. We’ve been using Delush, and adding into our routines has helped us see improvement in our overall wellbeing and performance. Definitely go check them out if you want to uplevel your recovery, and day-to-day routine HERE.
Let us know below what you are doing to optimize your recovery!
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