Two Little Letters that will Help you Lose Weight.
Do you have trouble losing weight in your stomach?
Is your face puffy?
Do you have acne breakouts?
Is your hair falling out?
Is your appetite suppressed or do you crave salt or sweets?
Do you have thinner legs but a wider midsection?
Or your periods are regular?
Do you rely on coffee or caffeine to get through the day?
Are you exhausted all day but feel wide awake at night?
Do you wake up multiple times a night?
Do you have trouble losing weight even though you seemed to have tried everything?
Do you have trouble with depression and anxiety?
If you have answered yes to a majority of those questions, you probably have high cortisol levels!
Hi, cortisol levels are OK if you’re in a dangerous situation. But when you are pushing yourself to your limits over and over and over again, your body thinks you are in a dangerous situation constantly. Your body, then adapts to this and produces high cortisol levels all of the time. This can cause a slew of different problems. One of the most common problems is weight gain and the inability to lose the weight.
You can try almost everything to lose the weight, and it will not budge! The weight seemingly comes out of nowhere, and then sticks to you for years. You end up exhausted and frustrated. You may have tried to eat, healthier, lift, weights, exercise, diet, pills, and almost everything you can think of. But the weight and fluid will not come off until your cortisol levels drop.
There are many different word things you need to do to get your cortisol levels to drop, but the main thing you need to do is start saying “NO”!
If you are in a constant state of stress, think of how you got there. You most likely got there by not saying no to anyone. It probably started off slow and innocent, and ended up where you do very little or next to nothing for yourself. You are probably burnt out and exhausted, on auto pilot, and very rarely have any time for yourself.
If you are a mother, it is very understandable to be worn out. Motherhood is exhausting! But that does not mean that you need to sacrifice yourself for the kids. And they don’t want that either! Your kids want a happy and healthy mother. And your kids need to know and learn boundaries early on. They need to realize that it’s OK for them. Just say no as well.
Your children need to learn by example that it is not only important, but necessary to love themselves. And the only way they learn this is by watching you.
It is OK to tell them no. It is extremely healthy to tell them no.
If your children do not learn how to respect you as a human being, how are they going to learn to respect their partners or other people?
There is a difference between loving your kids and providing for them, and killing yourself to do everything for them.
Think of the last time you told them you don’t want to share a dessert. It may feel heartbreaking to say that you don’t want to share, but it is OK to say that. Of course, you may have to adjust this according to the children’s age saying you don’t want to share to a 15-year-old is entirely different than not sharing with a two-year-old.
It is also OK to tell the kids know to multiple sports! It is completely fine to tell them they can only enroll in one sport. Why have we gotten to this point where we are killing ourselves for these children?
It is also OK to tell family, friends, and coworkers no. If saying, yes, is compromising your body and the rest that it needs, then there is a problem. You only get one life. Your family only gets you for this time. You can never get this time back. Do you really want to be going through your children’s childhood extremely stressed and overworked? Don’t you want to be happy? Don’t you want them to remember you as relaxed and happy?
Not only is saying no important to your mental health, but is also vitally important to your physical health. If you are running around stressed out and overworked, your body cannot calm down. Your body has quarters all levels through the roof, and they cannot come down because you will not slow down.
Once you learn how to start saying no respectfully for yourself, you will start to relax. It might seem scary and actually caused a lot more anxiety at first but overtime your body will start to relax. The reason it causes more anxiety at first is because your body is addicted to the high cortisol. It will seem unnatural and unbalanced to not stay at that constant cortisol high. Just trust the process and keep going.
Eventually, your body will adjust to the new normal and start to regulate. This is the sweet spot! You will start to smile again. It will start to notice things that you have forgotten. Things like the smell of fresh cut grass or the clouds on a cool summer day. You’ll start to see the beauty in life again. There are so many things that we miss out on when we are running ourselves ragged.
When you start, realizing that you are smiling more and breathing deeper, that is a great sign that your cortisol levels are coming down. If you can start to feel yourself getting excited again that’s a wonderful sign.
Things to look for that show, your cortisol levels are starting to come down our:
You notice that you are smiling more.
The puffiness in your face starts to come down.
You are breathing deeper and not as fast. You don’t have the anxious fluttering in your stomach.
You don’t dread interacting with people you start to enjoy being outside again and looking for things that you enjoy.
You start to have memories of your childhood you reminisce, your childhood and early teenage years.
You stop craving salt as much.
Your belly starts to go down you start to have energy.
You start to sleep better.
Your shoulders start to relax.
Your neck pain starts to go away.
You start to make new friends or people come up to you in public.
Animals or a little children come up to you.
You find yourself, laughing more or looking for ways to laugh.
You start to enjoy Me-Time instead of feeling guilty.
You start looking forward to things again.
Do you remember what it’s like to love life.
No, how do you start?
It is hard to start a whole different life when you are used to one. And the key to changing habits in any form is to start very small.
It will be next to impossible to change everything overnight. Not only that, but it will be really hard on your brain and your body. The sudden change will be too hard and you won’t be able to stick to it. Too much of an adjustment too fast is a recipe for disaster and failure.
The way that you can start with little changes is to just start exactly where you are. If you have to drop a child off at practice, for instance, take a few minutes to sit outside while you wait. Put your phone down and close your eyes. Try to focus on the sounds you hear.
One of the best ways to combat high cortisol, anxiety, and depression is to tune into the five senses. Focus on what you can hear, smell, taste, see, and feel. Anytime you take time to slow down, Focus on those five senses. It doesn’t have to be long at first. You can literally sit for five minutes.
You can sit at a park, find a nearby, coffee shop, sit in your car, or even take a little walk. Make sure you do this alone. You need to find your center by yourself without any distractions.
Do this as often as you can. If you work, take five minutes to sit in your car before you leave to head home. Just close your eyes and focus on those senses. You can even listen to soft, soothing music as well.
If you are at home with the kids, all day, sit in the bathroom with a cup of tea or coffee. Make sure the kids are occupied with a movie or safely napping first. But sit in the bathroom with the lights off and just breathe. You can even do this as soon as you get up or right before bed.
If you are a working mom and extremely stressed from work, learn to tell your boss, “NO.” I know this is extremely hard and a very stressful situation, but try it! Remember that if you end up in the hospital or die, your work will replace you immediately. They don’t need you as bad as they think they do. And once you are not there, they will find a way. Don’t wait until something terrible happens to realize you and your family come first.
Your peace, happiness and health should come above all else! You won’t get any recognition for being the person that killed herself trying to please everyone else. You will, however, have a legacy of beautiful children that knew they were loved if you learn to love yourself. You cannot love until you love yourself.
You can do this! You can start taking charge of your life and the happiness you desperately deserve.
Just remember to keep saying no when it interferes with your peace and your health. It is not only important for you, but also for your family. Your family needs you! And they don’t need a stressed out, overwhelmed and anxious mess. It is up to you to start balancing your life so that you can give them a happy and healthy mother.
Of course saying, “No” is not the only thing that will lower your cortisol and fix your body. But it is vital! You could take all of the pills in the world and your body would still be a mess if you aren’t learning to relax and focus on yourself. You cannot learn to master the art of regulating your body and hormones until you learn to stand up for yourself and your peace. Healing your body is so much more about healing your mind than anything else.
I hope this helped you and encouraged you to push towards a happier life.
You deserve it!
You deserve to be free!
You deserve to start smiling again!
Don’t just survive, start to thrive!