Setting boundaries changed my life

boundaries create freedom

As a new parent, I was taught that children need boundaries in order to promote independence and safe limits. Somehow between teaching my kids this important life skill I lost my own boundaries for my life.

I allowed others to determine what I should be doing, how I should parent, what I should say, how I should feel and what should be expected of me. In that, I lost my voice and my understanding of what I needed in order to be healthy-emotionally and physically.

Boundaries are a critical piece of how I work with my clients on stress management. So often what we find is that you're allowing a lot of yes to impact the amount of no; and that my sweet friend, is affecting your health.

Boundaries seem to be the missing piece for a lot of women, including my clients. As we continue to say yes to all the things, we say no to something so important, our health.

I’ve shared how I fell into Adrenal Fatigue because of my inability to say no. My clients are struggling with Adrenal Fatigue and other symptoms of stress because they can’t say no.

Say no to the yes

I want you to think about something: when you're constantly saying yes to everything that comes your way, you diminish your impact. As a high achiever you feel that nobody else can do that job the way that you can, you don't feel comfortable with handing it off to somebody else, and you definitely don't feel comfortable with saying no because you tend to worry that people will think you're not capable If you say no to something. However, you aren’t doing your best work because you are so limited and stretched.

Thought for the day: Your yes becomes less.

When you say yes to everything, there is an underlying tone of resentfulness that tends to be underlying in what you do. You know that you shouldn't have said yes but you continue to say yes and you really don't want to do any of it.

You find yourself moving into that project, or that obligation, or that activity, or that event without joy. You're doing this simply because you feel like you had to do it, which then makes you less impactful.

You feel less impactful because you're taking on so much more than you really want to be taking on and you’re missing the passion behind everything you take on. You're taking on so much more than what you are physically capable of taking on…and it’s taking a toll on your health.

When we say yes to something it means that we're saying no to something else. If we're saying yes to another meeting then we're saying no to quiet time. If we're saying yes to another project then we're saying no to family time.

By saying yes you're taking time away from the 24 hours that you're given in a day. So, then the margin of time that you have to yourself, to focus on yourself and your health, is diminished more and more as you say yes to something else.

I have allowed “yeses” to pop up

I know this personally because I have allowed yeses to pop up. I have allowed myself to be reactive and frequently say yes which causes me to say no: I don't have time to go to the gym, I don't have time to meal prep, I don't have time to just sit and be, I don't have time to take a deep breath.

It’s time to be picky: what is it that we're choosing to say yes to? Get very selective on what you allow on your schedule.

Maintain your personal “self-belief” boundaries

the other piece in the boundaries is the boundary on what we're saying to ourselves.

What is the audio in our own head? Something that I like to talk to my clients about when they tell me the things that they're thinking in their head about how they should be more do more; and it's echoing what society is telling us that as women we have to do.

I ask them, would you speak this way to your daughter or your friend? And have you heard them saying these things to themselves or about themselves. What would you tell them? Because what we have going on in our head, the tape that's playing continuously where we're saying we don't feel like we're good enough, we're not doing enough, we should be better or we should have figured this out by now.

Recovering from chronic stress.

Your mind and body are connected, studies and research have verified how you think impacts your health. I have clients coming to me with symptoms of stress and they're chronically fatigued, they're just completely worn out and more importantly they're without joy in their life because they are so wrapped up in thinking they must do all the things for all the people. So, we have to start where the mindset is.

Because stress starts in the mind. You can change the impact you have on your health by placing firm boundaries. When you think about boundaries and the things that you start to say no to, also think about what you're saying yes to in terms of your overall sense of health and joy and peace!

When we put those boundaries in place it's completely healthy and it's necessary in order for you to recover from chronic stress. Start today by thinking of things that you can actually cross off your list, the things that you can say no to in order to open you up to a yes to your health, a yes to your family, a yes to your joy.

I hope that you find your “yes” by saying no.

Here’s to Whole Health. Whole Love. Whole Success. 💜

Genetics? The joke is on me

Let’s talk about the impact that genetics, lifestyle, and stress play on the impact of your health.

Yes, you can beat adrenal fatigue and burnout by paying attention to genetics.

How well do you know your health history?

What is the role that genetics is already playing in your health? Once you know that then you have an idea about the risk.

One of the things that is really important for a coach to know about their clients is their health history from the family.

It's been said that genetics load the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger.

We are seeing a really sick nation right now. That is compounded because of the level of stress that we're taking on in our everyday life. We are stressed and we are sick. So, what do you do if you have a family history of any sort of health issue? like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, liver or kidney issues? What do you do with that information? Today, I give you three key points for you to know what to do with your current situation and how to move forward, so that you are changing the genetic expression or epigenetics for the future generations.

The very first thing is you have to be aware of the risk

The same Ignorance is bliss does not play into your health management people. You have to be aware of the risk. You have to know your family history and you also have to know what your current state of health is. It's important to know what the previous generations have brought forward so that you can change the story for any future generations. Make sure that you are visiting your health practitioner at least once a year and getting an extensive blood panel to know where your critical numbers sit. Awareness is key in lifestyle modification.

The second piece is you have to take inventory of your lifestyle.

Truly assessing what you have on your plate on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis will be truly eye opening. I will tell you when I work through this with my clients this has the biggest impact, when they are really looking at how they spend their day with tasks and actions that they aren't even necessarily seen outcomes from. We have these amazing lives and we're feeling it with things that aren't so fun. As you assess your lifestyle take no. Is it more work than rest. And do you have a space that's been created for you to just be still and to enjoy hobbies that you once enjoyed before.

Stress is costing the nation 300 billion dollars a year right now in sickness and loss of productivity. I would venture to say that genetics has a huge role in the enormity of that number. If we have the family history then we have to know how to modify our life so that we're not compounding our issues that we're genetically predisposed to.

The third thing is creating a plan to take action for change

This is huge because you don't know where you're going. If you don't have a map, If you don't have a plan in place, it's really hard to know what milestones you've hit.
With a plan of action you have the ability to actually change your gene expression by modifying your lifestyle. That's epigenetics. If you have a family of heart disease. Eat more bacon should not be on that plan of action.

Taking ownership of your own lifestyle and managing your stress will have a positive impact on the outcome of your lifestyle and your overall state of health. We have an entire society that is burning the candle at both ends and pouring the gasoline in the middle to speed it up. By knowing your risk and making the necessary changes in your life TODAY you can change the outcome of future generations. Not only that but you're changing the story for yourself. You're not destined to the predisposition of issues that your parents or grandparents passed along.

You can make the change

I bet you're wondering right now, how do I take these three steps?. I don't know where to start. Well that's where I come in. Click here to schedule your free 20 minute stress assessment call where we go through your lifestyle. I help you come up with a strategic game plan on how to move forward towards revitalized Wellness.

You don't have to do this alone. I'm happy to help you. And together let's change your outcome. Thanks so much. I'll talk to you next time.

Stress Management: Meal planning

As we are going through the “Love Your Life” month I realize that one of the things keeping my clients from really loving their life is feeling completely overwhelmed at the idea of meal planning, prepping, and keeping the menu fresh.

Today, I am sharing all about my process. This is what I’ve been doing most recently and I am loving it!!!!! #gamechanger

I am using Trello for my meal planning (and general life organization) video that I am sharing today. It’s free, there is also an app you can use and it is magical!

If you are not using Trello yet, I highly recommend it! It has become an important tool for time management and implementation strategy when setting goals and creating the activities for those goals.

Trello has become my best friend as I get my life in order. You can create customized boards. I have quite a few specific to my business and my home. I break things down by month in my business to keep me focused and organized because I know what’s coming every day, week, and month.

As I plan weekly meals, one thing that has helped a ton is for me to set aside some time on Saturday or Sunday. Sunday seems to work the best for this. I find that it’s a more relaxing time to figure out what we are going to eat for the upcoming week.

I like to have dinner and breakfast options planned out for the week. However; in my case, for my family, dinner is probably the most important to plan. When it comes to breakfast in our house, we tend to keep some quick things on hand. We prepare breakfast burritos to freeze and boiled eggs ahead of time or my kids just grab a bowl of cereal or toast and a boiled egg. I make myself and my husband a green smoothie every morning (one of us likes that more than the other, I will let you guess who doesn’t. HINT: the answer isn’t me).

In the video below I am sharing tips and trick about meal planning. I am sharing my meal options and how my grocery list became smaller and more organized. Typically, you go to the grocery store and forget most items because the list you wrote out is on your kitchen counter (or is that just me?), you impulse shop, and you wander aimlessly because you don’t exactly know what to prepare everyday.

Enter the ever-amazing Trello! (I can’t sing the praises enough)

I am showing you how to create your own organized grocery list on Trello.

I break down the list by:

• Dinner

• Breakfast

• Kitchen Plan

• Snacks

You have everything in one place. You look for a recipe, add the ingredients and even the link you got the recipe from. This is really helpful in case you forgot to add something. And remember how I said there is an app? Now your list and meal plans are mobile!! Cue the singing angels!! 😇

Eliminate frustration at meal time by planning ahead. The way to revitalized wellness doesn't have to be stressful.

Trust me… after you watch the meal planning video you will love me!!!!

It’s crazy how the everyday routine can be so time consuming and stressful! But today, my friend, that changes for you!!

I am sharing some really EASY recipes and methods to turn meal planning into FUN. (FYI-my family LOVES each of these things in the video!)

No more headaches or overwhelm when it comes to think about preparing your own healthy food. You have just learned another way to manage your stress.

You’re welcome. 😘

Here’s to Whole Health. Whole Love. Whole Success. 💜

** If you are struggling to lose weight, be sure to download my free guide “5 Ways Stress Is Stopping You From Dropping A Dress Size” by clicking HERE.

Mindset of Change

A majority of people who are wanting change won’t make the change because they are fearful

As a health and stress management coach, I see this frequently.

As a business owner and HUMAN, I experience this personally.

Why are we afraid?

What are we afraid of? And why are we afraid?

• Fear of failure

• Failure of success

• Fear of opinions of others

• Fear of unknown...we’ve never done it before OR we did do it and settled back into old habits (lose weight and gain it back)

Change isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible

Mindsets are beliefs or thoughts we have been taught or absorbed through experiences in the lives of someone we may or may not know or personally.

Mindsets are simply beliefs, they can be changed.

Have you ever believed something to be true but realize it wasn’t?

-Many inventions have come from a person CHANGING their belief about something. They had to teach themselves to BELIEVE a new truth.  

The lightbulb (Thomas Edison said he found 10,000 ways for it to NOT work, he didn’t consider that failure), the airplane, cars, dishwasher, air conditioning, refrigerators, businesses.

If people just held to the belief, “This is the way it has always been; therefore, this is the way it will always be”...we would not have industrial progress!

It’s time to renew your mind!!

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Our mindset can change, we must make the choice to work at changing it!

5 practical questions

Here are 5 practical questions to ask yourself in order to start changing your mindset from fixed to growth to accomplish a necessary change:

1. What goal am I after?

2. What action can I take TODAY towards that goal?

3. If I had a plan to be successful at [blank], what might it look like?

4. What habits must I develop to continue the gains I’ve achieved?

5. What did I learn today?
   
   I want to encourage you today to change your mindset in order to accomplish the things that you want to accomplish.

Make sure to follow me on Facebook so that you can watch my Live videos on mindset and overcoming burnout.

Until next time, here’s to Whole Health, Whole Love, Whole Success.

💜Ericka

Take action to see results

We get stuck in a place of “wanting” and “desiring” but we don’t take action.

Will this be another year of lost hope when it comes to changing your health, habits, and behaviors?

We get stuck in the place of research… I do this as an Enneagram Type 1. I want to read, plan, doubt the efficacy, read some more, plan even more. In the meantime, I haven’t taken one single bit of action.

I want to make the right choices and have perfect results straight out of the gate. I want the results to come quickly and as painlessly as possible.

TAKE ANY ACTION

I understand where you are too well, in fact it has taken quite a bit of re-learning and training myself to just take action. ANY ACTION!

BUT...I am improving greatly.

A perfect example of not taking action:

I purchased a course on FB ads a while back. Learning how to utilize this tool in my business was important to me. I didn’t want to WASTE money on advertising.

I started the program, as I went through it I wondered if someone else was teaching an easier method because this made no sense to this girl who would rather dream up ideas for business; I didn’t want to get hung up on these technical pieces.

So I started researching again and getting lost in the vortex of Facebook ad land. I became overwhelmed. I no longer knew what to believe. So I just stopped and decided to do nothing.

I came back to the program 2 years later!!!

Guess what? This program was now obsolete! Everything about Facebook ads in this program was pretty much all different...the entire Ad Manager platform was different. Metrics were different! Strategies were different. Set up was different. The program made FB ads even MORE frustrating because it was no longer up to date.

I’m guessing that is what is happening to you in your journey to revitalized health.

You are researching, planning, asking for recommendations, reading, watching videos, getting more opinions. All the while KNOWING that something has to be done but not taking any action.

You’re stuck in a state of self-doubt, you need a mindset shift!

You make progress by working through self-doubt and taking action!

3 ways to take action

Today, my friend, you are changing your story!

Here are 3 ways to take action & gain momentum:

1. Set a goal
   -Go from wishing and wanting and desiring to creating the goal.

2. Create the micro-tasks that must be accomplished in order to achieve your goal

   -What daily, weekly, monthly tasks need to be done in order to move you from where you are right now to where you desire to be?

3. Set a deadline to have a plan
   -Take some time to think about what you want to do. But give yourself a deadline. Because things will take you as long as you allow. Be decisive, set a date.

4. Tell someone about your deadline
   -By telling someone, you are asking someone to check in with you about this deadline you have set for yourself. Tell them why this is a goal and why it is important to you. You are being held accountable.

I would love to hear how you are taking action to gain the results you desire. Share in the comments or tag me on social media!

Here’s to making 2019 a different story! Until next time, here’s to Whole Health, Whole Love, Whole Success.

💜Ericka

Stress Management: Shift your success

I want you to think back to a time when you had stress and it was affecting you professionally, relationally, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I mean, stress has the ability to do that! Stress is a choice and you can decide how much you allow in your life.

A lot of people don't necessarily like it when I say that because they think stress isn't a choice. The belief is stress is something that happens to you and you just assume that negative consequence that comes along with it. I'm here to say no absolutely not!

You have a choice…

Now you might be thinking, “Well, lady, what about those situations that I can't have control. Well, you still have a choice in how you respond. When I work with my clients there are three key things, three questions that I give them in order to ask themselves when they have a stressful situation that they are facing.

Can I change the situation?

When I say change the situation that may be that may mean that you are either removing yourself entirely from that situation which I've done, I've completely just walked away from the situation because I realized it wasn't helping me emotionally or physically and it was making life pretty complicated for those that were surrounding me.

You have the ability to look at a situation and ask yourself, can I change the situation? And even if removing yourself isn't the answer can you change it can you make a situation different by just changing the overall environment?

Can I change my mindset regarding this situation?

This is probably the most important piece because like I said stress is a choice. We have the ability to change how we think about stress. If you have a situation at work that's impacting you maybe you going in every single day with dread and anticipating that it's going to be a terrible day. Maybe that's actually what's instigating the stress within yourself and it's making the situation seem way worse than it actually is.

Can I accept this situation for what it is?

Can I look for other ways to manage my stress while I'm dealing with the situation as it is? If there is a situation and that can be a sickness it can be the death of a loved one. It can be the loss of a job or a relationship, you may not be able to change that situation as it is. You have to maybe accept the past for what it has taught us and move forward in a different light. In the meantime, you have to look for ways to heal and to recover in order for you to manage your stress.

When we take those three questions and we apply it to our everyday life three things happen as a result.

Results

1. The first is that you become proactive rather than reactive. And how good does that feel when you're managing your stress, and you're getting a hold on it rather than feeling like you just have this anxiety around you and your worrying about a situation but you're taking steps to actually be proactive to change the outcome. It's free.

2. You become more focused because you have a plan. One of the things that I work with my clients is that we actually go through a goal-setting process. Their Goal very well just might be to increase energy and we create a plan for them to feel more energetic throughout their day. It could also have something to do with lessening their social obligations that they are committed to. When you have a plan in place it allows you to be much more focused and intentional.

3. You become thankful. Thankfulness begets Joy. It's simply impossible to have a constant state of anxiety if you are in a state of gratitude. Another tip that I give my clients is I encourage them to journal and to find three things every single day that they are thankful for. It can be anything literally anything you are thankful that the sun is shining and you're not covered in snow. I live in Arizona. We don't have snow here so I'm pretty thankful that I don't have to shovel my way out of a driveway every day. Or it can be something as simple as you're thankful for the cup of coffee that you're enjoying in the morning or you're thankful for your favorite pair of leggings. Whatever it is find three things to be thankful for and I guarantee you that completely changes just your approach to your day.

I have some more practical advice. A lot of my clients what I noticed and then women that I talk to is that there is an overwhelming feeling of anxiousness and you're worried, you're comparing and you're trying to do so many things. Simply by changing our mindset and asking yourself those three questions whenever you feel that gnawing feeling in your stomach of you know this is feeling like I'm not in control and there is something bad about to happen.

I have a Bible verse that I continually refer to when I am stuck in a cycle of worry: “Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life ?”

How does worrying, going over the issue again and again with anybody that will listen and in your own mind, how does it change the situation? It doesn't. It only adds to the dynamic of the stress that you are adding in your life.

Taking steps

Today I encourage you to ask yourself those three questions:

Can you change the situation?

Can you change your mindset regarding this situation?

Can you accept this situation for what it is in order to move forward in healing and restoration?

If you are struggling with stress in your life and it is taking a toll on you and impacting how you are performing in life, negatively impacting your relationships, then I am inviting you to come alongside me and other women in our 12-week intensive group program Revitalized Wellness!

Revitalized Wellness is an experience where we get to the foundation of health- managing your stress. We take a look at your mindset, your lifestyle, and your environment in order to make changes in your diet, in your exercise, and your overall stress response in your body.

Today is a new day and today you have a choice to change your perspective on your stress and decide that you are no longer a victim but instead you are taking action. You are going to be focused on a plan for 2019 to make it the best most impactful year ever.

In order to increase success, we must manage our stress. We must make a change because what we have been doing isn’t moving us forward.

I have put together a comprehensive 12-week program that gives you a PLAN for ACTION to manage your stress, move you forward in your health and get to feeling revitalized, my friend! Join the waitlist for Revitalized Wellness

What Is Your Health Worth?

There is a saying: Invest in your health now so you won’t have to pay for sickness later.

We hear the words but are we truly applying them? So often, investing in health doesn’t seem like the “fun” thing to use our money and time for. Especially if we currently struggling in our health. We want the quick wins, the fast-fixes, and the immediate change.

But how often is major change quick?

If we want to move, there is a process…pick a new location, sell our current home, find a new home, pack, move, unpack.

If we are changing jobs or careers, it’s similar to moving…there is a process.

We can change our hair color or hair cut fairly quickly.

We can change our clothes.

We can buy new shoes, new handbags, new jewelry and new makeup.

Those things are quick external changes that last a short while. But that is where we invest our money and time.

It offers a quick change, a feeling of satisfaction. It may even be that same mindset we apply to our health. We look for the “easy” button to health.

“what is the quickest, cheapest, easiest way to change my health?" Yet, we see as a nation…those quick  fixes aren’t working because we are the most obese nation, the weight loss industry is a $70 BILLION market, and stress is costing us $300 BILLION a year in sickness and loss of productivity in work.

Quick isn’t sustainable

Extreme diets or workouts don’t often give lasting changes. Restricted eating plans and intense changes in how we workout aren’t ways to invest in your health for 3 reasons:

1. it’s not sustainable (story of my underrating and over-exercising)

2. we don’t get to the root of the problem (stress, over-eating, hormone imbalance), we mask symptoms

3. we are only looking at immediate gratification and not thinking of long-term benefits or gain

We may lose the focus of why we started and realize this is harder than we keep up with, so we quit. And the weight loss industry shows that we do this on repeat. Make goals, start strong, lose focus and drive, don’t see quick results, quit. Rinse and repeat.

We also think we “KNOW” what we need to do and we can do it ourselves. We just need a little more self-discipline.

Yet, common sense isn’t always common practice. Hearing Brendon Burchard say this at an event I attended a few months struck me. How many times do I “know” what I need to do but I don’t do it? And I am asking for help or just winging it?

In his book “high performance habits”, Brendon addresses the necessity of caring for our bodies in order to improve our performance in life, to live life intentionally. In order to be present, we must feel well.

Invest in your health

Getting to the root of why we feel unhealthy, unfocused, unmotivated is where we need to invest time and resources.

Getting help from a coach to transform how we approach our health is worth the life we create through that investment.

5 reasons to hire a coach

1. they have been in your shoes and have empathy (personalize your coaching)

2. they have a well-rounded approach towards health

3. they see your blind spots

4. they hold you accountable

5. they have been trained and certified to promote lasting change in you, not just a quick win

So ask yourself as you think about how you approach your health & the affect it is having on your life as a whole, “what is it costing me to NOT invest in my health?”

Is it affecting your work? Your relationships? your sleep? your productivity? your focus? your weight? your immune system? Your ability to meet goals? your joy? your fulfillment?

I have a group program I am launching at the end of the end of the month called Revitalized Wellness.

if you are looking for a wholistic approach to health that creates lasting change, then head over to erickaeller.com/revitalizedwellness to learn more about this 12-week intensive group coaching program.

Together, we get to the foundation of health “stress management”. We don’t focus on an eating plan or a specific workout routine, we look at your lifestyle, mindset, and environment to see how it impacts sleep, diet, exercise, and symptoms of stress.

if you are ready to invest in your health for 2019, because you know you were created to make an impact, click the link to join a movement towards revitalized wellness. See you there!

Stress Management: Planner Review

Happy New year!!!!

I wanted to share with you my thoughts on some particular planners that I have.

First things first, I have two books that I really recommend in the scope of time management and really knowing how you’re best spending your time, and again not being busy but being productive, and doing the things that you really feel are leading to greater growth and greater outcomes in your life by some of the goals that you've set.

Book recommendation

The first book is, The Best Yes by Lisa Terkeurst. The tagline is "making wise decisions in the midst of endless demands". How well does that sum up your life??!! It fit mine to a tee! 

Her whole purpose in this book is to help women who are consistently feeling overwhelmed and dangling on that verge of burnout because their schedules are so demanding. She discusses points that I have shared with you before:  where do you want to be in life and where do you want to be spending your time?

What feels the most valuable to you? And knowing that things you are saying "yes" to become a "no" to something else. So, even though you're saying yes to everything there is something that you are saying not now too. 

Is it your health, relationships, productivity, joy....what is it for you?

What we're focused on is the fact that we've basically said “not now” to our health. We're trying to make changes, shift the mindset so that the health becomes much more of a priority rather than all these other little busy nuanced tasks that we're taking on that aren't necessarily serving us in the most positive manner. So that's definitely a good read.

The other one is Make It Happen by Lara Casey. I really like her!! Her book isn't necessarily how to manage your time. It's much more of a how to live your life on purpose book. Her tagline "surrender your fear, take the leap, live on purpose". I love love love this book because she really does dive into those fears that get into our head and it’s like she is in my head!

She tackles the thoughts and obstacles which hold us back from some of the very big goals that we have, the things that we feel we are being called to, that stirring within us.  And part of it is we are simply just not planning and allowing for space to accomplish our dreams and goals. 

We have talked about creating the margin for rest and when we're not allowing ourselves to have that space, it keeps us in this chronic mindset of fear. We start thinking “well I just can't do that because I don't have the time, because I don't have the resources, because I just don't know what the next steps are.”

And so she really helps break it down. She also is the creator of Cultivate of Your Life and they have something called Power sheets. I've never used the Power Sheets but basically they are a goal planning system. So it's really in-depth planning for the entire year. There is also a 6 month version. I've never used them. However, I have ordered to use in 2019 because I want to be much more intentional with my goal setting, and making sure that I have a plan every month to get me closer to the goals that I have.

Within my business and personal life, I have specific goals for each quarter to have steps towards each big goal. You know, those big scary goals that make you want to throw up a bit. There has to be a process of steps to get you from A to Z. One step at a time. Reverse engineer from the final goal to uncover the necessary steps to get to the final destination.

I am a big nerd and I have been watching quite a few YouTube videos, a lot of people have shared how they've been using the Power Sheets this past year and those that are getting ready for 2019 and I've decided that that is the next step that I need to take.

So, again, I haven't used them yet but if you do the research I think that you guys will agree that it's something that you want to incorporate.

Stress Free

This isn't something to put into place to overwhelm you. It's something to put into place to make life become more manageable. This is a tool to make it feel doable and to also be sustainable, so that you have a plan that you're putting into place. Everyday you're taking action towards specific goals.

Whether it's weight loss, organizing your home, paying off debt, getting a new job or promotion, getting into a new hobby, starting a business, … whatever it is there has to be a process! This is how stress management works!

I think that Power Sheets is going to be part of the game changer to become even more focused in on what I need to do for 2019 to make things happen and to hold myself accountable.  

About Planners….

I review the following planners:

-Passion Planner

-Franklin Covey Planner

-Goals Planner by Tools 4 Wisdom

-Moleskine Weekly Planner

What’s the next step?

Talking about 2019 excitement….. Are you heading into 2019 saying “Sayonara, 2018...Not gonna miss you, sucka!”?

Maybe you’re feeling tired of feeling so terrible? You are heartbroken and tired of saying every year “this is the year I get healthy!”.

You think the answer is a new diet and THEN you’ll feel amazing!

But maybe you are frustrated with trying all of the “diets” and workout programs that weren’t sustainable? You’re dead tired, irritated, and you can’t show up as the person you want to be.

You’ve been taking care of everyone else and you keep waiting for “some day” to come for you to change your story.

In order to get a new result, we have to do something different from what we have done before!

Instead of starting with a new diet...start with managing the stress!

We need a new belief system!

I have a 5 Day Stress Detox Challenge starting January 7th!

In 5 days, you gain the roadmap to revitalize your health in 2019!

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5 reasons you are struggling to lose weight

Why can’t I lose weight?

Today I am talking about something that I get asked a ton about and that is why can't I lose weight? So many women out there are struggling with uncovering the magic answer, that mystery pill that's going to solve this problem weight loss, right? The weight loss industry is actually a 60 billion dollar industry, which makes complete sense to me because we are a stressed society and this stress is causing us to gain weight. One of the major symptoms of stress is weight gain.

So many women want to know what the magic answer is to lose weight. I'm here to share my five reasons why you're having a really hard time losing weight because of stress.

My personal experience….

I share these five things because I've gone through them when I talked about, and I've shared my personal stories of burnout. There were multiple errors, there were two burnouts and there were both different reasons. The second burnout was actually from a lot of good things. It was just my inability to say no that really caused me to just hit that wall, and ultimately that is what led to some severe hormone imbalance, and some blood sugar imbalance which led to weight gain. Because Of this I'm able to share the five things, the five reasons on why you can't lose weight.

Stress starts in the mind

The very first one is stress starts in the mind, a chronic stress response is kicked on despite you being chased by a tiger or you just have a really hectic lifestyle. Your brain does not know the difference and if you're going into situations with a negative mindset, or just this over whelming feeling of despair and negativity towards the stress, then that is the first part of the problem because that is where the stress response starts, in the mind. The hypothalamus is telling the rest of your body that there is a stress happening within your body or around your environment and it needs to protect you. So the very first thing that you have to address is your mindset. Often we see that the solution is maybe an extreme diet or an extreme exercise regimen or maybe you just need to eat these magical ingredients in your diet, and that'll burn the fat or you're looking at some weight loss drugs or supplements or even more severe have a surgery and that'll fix it. But my friends I am telling you that stress starts in the mind and in order to drop that weight we have to address Mindset.

A lifestyle change is necessary

The second thing  is a lifestyle change is necessary, I know this is one of the most difficult things that I have to address when I'm working with my clients, because so many feel that there just is not any room to give or there is no way that changes can be made that aren't going to drastically impact their life their family or their work. But I'm here to tell you that even the slightest changes to your lifestyle will make a huge impact. And so I work with my clients to really assess what is on their plate, what are they taking on and what can we either minimize or eliminate to help them so that weight loss is not as difficult. If You don't address the lifestyle piece then you're going to have a really hard time sustaining a weight loss.

Your diet and exercise don't match

The third thing is that your diet and exercise don't match, what I mean by that is that you're not eating to support a healthy stress response. When you are in a stress response your body requires extra nutrients, and if you're not getting that because you're limiting what you are eating or you're limiting the types of food that you're eating or even completely eliminating a certain type of food group, then you are not fueling your body the correct way. The other piece of that is that you're over exercising and under eating. So what you eat and when you eat it matters and that is determined by the amount of exercise that you are doing on a daily basis. And so I work with my clients to talk about the specific nutrients that are really needed to help your body recover from chronic stress as well as kick that fat burning mode on so that you are healing as well as feeding your body for stress and for an optimal lifestyle.

Stress causes a blood sugar imbalance

The fourth thing is stress causes a blood sugar imbalance. Basically, when your blood sugar is imbalanced that makes it really difficult for you to lose weight because you have an excess of glucose in your bloodstream that your body is storing as fat.

Stress disturbs your sleep

The fifth thing that I'm talking about today stress disturbs your sleep. Now this is huge because we have this hustle mentality within today's society, right? Busy is better. Busy is the new black and in fact people wear their busyness like a badge of honor. But there is a fallacy in that thinking especially if you are allowing it to impact your sleep because a lot of people feel that they will sleep when they are dead, right? That's when we will get the rest because we need to do more now in order to be the most productive that we possibly can be. When you are not getting enough sleep your circadian rhythm is completely off balance. You are not in line with what a normal balance should look like; when that happens you are unable to produce melatonin which is the hormone that allows you to sleep and it promotes sleep. You also have a diminished ability to respond to insulin signals which goes back to your blood sugar imbalance. So it's kind of this vicious circle. Basically, what happens is that your hunger hormones leptin which is what tells you that you're full and grilling which tells you that you're hungry those get completely thrown off. There was some research done from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, where they found in their research that if you slept fewer than six hours that it greatly reduced your leptin hormone levels and it increased growling which means you are more hungry but less satiated when you eat. You're basically working against your body when you are not sleeping.

Join my wait list….

Maybe some of these things are triggering something inside of you and you're thinking oh my gosh this is probably the reason why I can't lose weight. I want to invite you to join my wait list for revitalized wellness where I address diet as a key component to stress and weight loss.

Together In this group program that is 12 weeks long, we take a look at your lifestyle, at your sleep, at your mindset, and most importantly we help you figure out why you're not losing weight and how we can get your body recovered in order to get that weight back off.

I would love to have you join me and connect with me on social media and get more information to help you manage your stress every single day.

Is Adrenal Fatigue a real thing?

Hello sisters,

This week we're going to talk about adrenal fatigue. What is adrenal fatigue and what are some of the symptoms? Is it even a real thing?

Why do I know anything about Adrenal Fatigue?

Just to give you a little bit of background information, I have studied under the leading expert for stress and adrenal fatigue, Dr. James L. Wilson, for almost the past six years. Through his education, training, mentorship, and his knowledge, I have been able to help so many women (including teaching other practitioners to the same for their patients) beat burnout, by addressing these symptoms of stress and helping them overcome the obstacles that are preventing them from leading the best life that they possibly can.

Going through my own journey of recovery from Adrenal Fatigue has helped me help others. It also drove me to continue my education; I became a certified wellness coach to focus on guiding my clients through a change model to get to the root cause of stress and Adrenal Fatigue.

I also became a certified nutritionist to help my clients promote healing through nutrition.

What is adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue was coined as the Twenty-first-century Syndrome by Dr. James L. Wilson. It's considered the twenty-first-century stress syndrome simply because of the lifestyle we lead as a society; our constant need to be more efficient, to always be doing more, to always be busy, and to be accomplishing all the time is causing chronic stress. There's very little room for rest.

Adrenal Fatigue is considered to be a collection of signs and symptoms which are often stress related and there have been many studies on the impact of stress to your health. Specifically, there have been some recent studies by the American Psychological Association and the Journal of the American Medical Association, where they have shown that approximately 60 to 90 percent of all office visits to a primary care physician are to address symptoms of stress. That is such a staggering number!

That means that we are so stressed out that we're causing all of these symptoms and a majority of what doctors are seeing in their offices every single day often has to do with stress, and that's just staggering to me because it's completely preventable, for the most part.

What are some of the stress-related symptoms? What are symptoms of adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is really a way of giving a name to something that's happening within your body. Your body is basically under a chronic stress response (fight or flight) and it becomes unable to deal with the demand to respond to heightened stress after a prolonged amount of time.

The busier we are, the frenzied state and emotional distress becomes a playground for inflammation as elevated cortisol tries to bring our body back to a parasympathetic state (rest and digest). Leading to many of these symptoms because of chronic stress, we become a society that is facing the epidemic of burnout.

Chronic fatigue

One of the top signs and probably the most complained about symptom is chronic fatigue. This is a fatigue that is not relieved by sleep. So even though you may get eight to 10 hours of sleep at night, you still feel exhausted throughout the day. You have a really hard time waking up in the morning and, in fact, if this is really true for you, you are often hitting that snooze button or sleeping through the alarm, and then finding yourself panicked and rushed in the morning because you've slept completely through your alarm. Worst part- you're not waking up feeling rested and rejuvenated!

Zero Energy/Energy Crashes

Another symptom is zero energy. You feel completely rundown and totally lethargic and that lack of energy continues throughout your day so much, leaving you completely dependent on caffeine and sugar to keep you going throughout the day. This leads to a temporary burst of false energy that is followed by a severe sugar crash.

And the cycle continues. Coffee. Candy. Crash. Repeat. Welcome blood sugar imbalance.

Brain fog

Brain fog is a terrible thing because it makes you feel like you're almost losing your mind. You can't concentrate on anything, your memory is terrible, and you're just not thinking clearly. In fact, you may even be making some poor decisions because of the fact that you are having chronic stress symptoms.

And it's leading to a decreased cognitive function when stress increases, your brain is working a lot harder and not as efficiently as it could be. You may have trouble sleeping because of the stress and imbalanced cortisol. And even though I previously mentioned that you don't feel rested and you feel so tired all the time, your body is completely unable to wind down. So you lay awake all night long thinking of all the things that you need to do and really wishing that you could just fall asleep.

Your body is not able to regenerate cells and repair tissue because of the stress and lack of sleep, therefore increasing the brain fog.

Sick often

Another symptom is you are getting sick often. Your immune system is compromised because all of the nutrients and the vital minerals that are needed to promote a healthy immune system are being shunted away from the processes of keeping you healthy and to recover faster through a built-up immune system. The vitamins and minerals are being shunted away to protect you during times of stress and aid the stress response system within your HPA axis.

Something to note, the adrenal glands demand the most Vitamin C than any other tissue or gland in the body and that need increases exponentially as stress increases. Vitamin C is critical to the immune system as it gives antioxidant protection

You may also have difficultly getting over sicknesses. Colds and infections linger longer and it seems like you never fully recover. Ever had a month of sickness? This is a sign of stress.

Decreased sex drive

Another symptom of adrenal fatigue and chronic stress is you have a decreased sex drive and how horrible is that?!? I mean at least you could enjoy that, right? Unfortunately, your hormones are completely imbalanced because your body is saying you are so stressed and now is not the time for reproduction. So again, it's shunting away those resources that lead to a healthy hormone balance to instead keeping your body in that fight or flight response.

There can be other repercussions of hormone imbalance: weight gain, fatigue, irritability, increased PMS or menopause symptoms.

If any of these symptoms ring true for you then you very well could have adrenal fatigue. In fact, in some studies, it has been shown that approximately eight out of ten people have some degree of adrenal fatigue. It could be mild, moderate, or severe and any where in between those lines.

If you feel that this is something that you are dealing with I encourage you to download my five signs of burnout, where I go a little bit deeper into some of these signs that could be leading you to a burnout very quickly. If you go to erickaeller.com/burnout, you will get your hands on that PDF immediately!

You can also read more about Adrenal Fatigue HERE.

In the meantime, if you have any questions feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you!

Whole Health. Whole Love. Whole Success.

~Ericka

How did I burnout with filling my life with lots of good things?

Today I am going personal once more as I share about my burnout journey. I am sharing my story about burnout number two that is. If you can believe it, yes, I did it again, but it was completely different from burnout number one.

Last week I shared how I achieved burnout number one by over-exercising and under-eating. I don't know if I call it an achievement but that's what I did. But today I'm talking about burnout number two, and how that happened basically by filling my life with lots of good things. And you might be thinking, “How in the world did she burn out if everything was good?”. Well, sister, hang on! I'm about to share how I hit the wall AGAIN.

In order for me to coach and help high achieving women increase their net worth both financially and relationally, by beating burnout and revitalizing their health, I had to go through burnout. TWICE. Like you, I am also an over-achiever.

So, as a woman who is a wife, a mom, I was an employee, I had my business on the side and trying to be a good friend and have social connections, I was struggling to keep up. It was taking a toll on me. But all of it was really really good stuff. And when I work with women that's often what we find, there are a lot of good things in their life that are happening but sometimes it's just a little bit too much and sometimes, it’s a LOT TOO MUCH.

After I recovered from my first burnout, I did a revamp of my life. I got rid of relationships that no longer served me. I was basically realigning what my priorities were, WHO my priorities were and who I wanted to be, who I wanted to show up as to be the best version of me that I could for my family and those that I love the most.

I was doing that assessment of my life… but also, I am a pretty driven person. I have a lot of goals and a lot of dreams that I want to achieve in life. And sometimes as a high-achieving woman, it's really hard to prioritize because we look at all of these things and struggle to know what is most important.

We take a look at our jobs, our finances, and our relationships. If we have kids that's a pretty big priority alone; yet, we must also place a high priority on our marriages, other relationships, our careers, connections, obligations that we might have, and volunteer work.

Out of all of those things, does any of that sound bad? It doesn't sound bad, It's not bad. But what's not healthy is when we can't say no to certain things. And… that's basically what happened to me in this stage of my life.

And as I was taking things away, I was also adding more. You might remember I had mentioned that I started grad school …that was part of that first disaster, ahem burnout. While that recovery was taking place, for whatever reason, I just thought this is a great time for me to go back to school! What?

And it wasn't even that I was necessarily needing to do that for a particular position in my company or something within my own business that I was looking for. Yet, I was basically hearing that a successful woman will continue her education and will keep going forward with that to continue the corporate climb.

The problem for me in this situation was I trying to recover from Adrenal Fatigue (burnout) and I jumped right into any huge responsibility because I felt like that was expected in order to be successful. Boundaries aren’t my strong point and I've always had a hard time at placing boundaries in my life. And so that's become a lifelong work for me, to put those healthy boundaries in place and to know when enough is enough.

What women in society are facing right now is a superwoman complex where we are being told and believing that we can do all of the things; and we can do them really well. We can be that super mom. We can be that awesome wife. We can have that high powered job or that really successful business and we can be really involved in our community. And we should still have time for ourselves and also, by the way, we need to look perfect while we do all that, right? Our house needs to be Pinterest perfect and our kids need to look like they're straight out of a catalog. That's just not reality; at least for me it wasn't and isn’t.

So what did burn out number two look like specifically? I was focused on being a people pleaser and wanting to make sure everybody was happy all the time and I'm doing the things that I feel like I need to do to get ahead in life. I also had a demanding job and my responsibilities were increasing. I loved it, It was exactly what I wanted to do. I was really good at it but I was also wanting to be a really good wife and a really good mom. That weight on my shoulders was a lot and I wasn't stopped eating well. I was looking for quick, easy meals. Nutrients were not always at the forefront of my mind. I wasn’t asking myself how that food would make me feel. I was also probably eating just to numb the constant feeling of not being good enough. Eventually, I started feeling poorly again.

What I noticed was that fatigue, that never-ending tiredness had started to come back. And then weight gain was starting to come back. But that was coming at a rapid pace! That mental fogginess that I talked about in my other video was definitely back and this feeling of lethargy, and I didn't feel like I was being effective in any role that I had.

I was doing all of the things but I didn't feel like I was doing any of them well. I didn't feel like I was being a good mom, being a good wife, I didn't feel like I was being a good employee, and I was definitely not paying attention to my business the way that I wanted to be. And I wasn't getting out of life what I wanted to be getting. I was basically allowing life to happen to me because I was just letting the schedule dictate what I was going to be doing and when. But it wasn't feeling right to me.

The result of all that was I ended up developing hypothyroidism and I was diagnosed with PCOS, my hormones were completely out of whack.

Thankfully my sleep was still good but I was just feeling an insane amount of tiredness. I wanted to be exercising to gain energy but I was just so exhausted at the end of the day. This manifested in such a huge way where I was just kind of at that breaking point where I thought, “I can not do one more thing”, and that's probably resonating with some of you right now.

Once again, it took me stepping back and evaluating what in my life needs to go, what can stay, what can I delegate, what can I get rid of, what are the things that I enjoy.

So, I basically had to do complete 180 on my life and had to say no to some things and said “hold on” to a few other things for a later time. Some of them it was just time for me to let them go and then there were the things that I absolutely love, like coaching and helping women, that I really wanted to pour my heart and soul into.

I had to make some decisions to do that. But with that, I had to get back in line with practitioners and finding out what I could do to help myself thrive again in my health. I wanted to feel the best. I'm not just doing the best and not necessarily only “look” the best. But I wanted to feel the best. I wanted to have that energy back.

Changing that perspective was difficult. We are engrained to believe that our worth is tied to our appearance. It also took a lot of time for me to really be intentional in my diet, instead of processed foods, I started eating whole, organic and unprocessed foods as much as I could. I focused on making sure that I had a very balanced meal. I definitely now have the carbohydrates, the proteins, and the healthy fats. All of that is part of every single meal that I have. Making sure that I'm taking the steps that I need to take in order to feel well and so that has been truly the game changer for me.

Like I shared before, there is never a time where we just “arrive”. It's more of a continuous lesson and a continuous practice of what's working right now. It may not work tomorrow. It might not have worked yesterday but we're going to try something today.

Always listening to your body and knowing when the time is to rest; rest was definitely not a part of my life. It's OK. Now, I give myself the permission to take a day off or not be hyper-focused on what I am accomplishing.

The reality of life is nobody is going to die if I don't get something done today. It's really taken again a total different mindset shift and I think that's something that we're always working on and moving toward each day. As I share my story of burnout, know that you absolutely can achieve revitalized health! You just need the right guide; you need the right tools.

Revitalized Wellness will be starting again in January. It is a six-week group program that is going to be amazing because it's going to give you all of those tools and tips and resources. I'm going to coach you through of it so that you feel more in line with the person that you want to be.

We are imperfect people looking at other imperfect people but expecting perfection from ourselves. So… let's drop that baggage and instead let's vow to get the help that we need. Asking for help prevents burnout so that we can show up as the best us in all the areas of our lives and effectively creating more success in both work and relationships.

You can join the waitlist right now to be sure that you get first shot at joining Revitalized Wellness in January. Join HERE.

Did you miss the video about my burnout? Click HERE.

How burnout can be caused by over exercising and under eating

Today I'm going to share how burnout can be caused by over exercising and under eating. I'm going to be sharing my personal story of how I experienced my first burnout and that's right, I said my first burn out because there were actually two separate instances, both completely different circumstances of me burning out. But today we're going to focus on over-exercising and under-eating and what that looks like to your health.

As a certified wellness coach, I help high achieving women increase their network, both financially and relationally by beating burnout and revitalizing their health and I having a personal experience of burning out by going after that “ideal body”, you know, that slim perfect figure where there are no bumps, nothing's poking out. Everything is exactly where it should be. You are perky and you are tight and you are super fit and lean, right? There is no wiggle and no jiggle. Is that what we're all going for is? Does that sound a little familiar to you?

I was going after that ideal body and after years and years of fighting with my weight, and it actually all started when I went on the birth control pill in 1999. After that my body was just no longer my own. I had no control, or so I thought, of what my body was doing, and I basically played the weight game from then until 2012. In 2012 I had had enough, I had had three kids, I was not planning to have any more kids. And I said this is the time for me to just basically reinvent myself, and I am taking charge of me and my health by focusing in on my weight, and I'm going after that very ideal, fit, Barbie-esque type shape. So, what did that look like? I threw everything of who I was into working out. I was working out morning and night. I was waking up at two thirty in the morning to get to the gym by three o'clock in the morning. I was doing a little bit of cardio before weights, an hour of weight training and then another hour of cardio when I was done weight training. And then in the evening, I was doing more. Sometimes I went for a 3-5 mile run and sometimes I did a cardio type of workout video.

But often times it was more weight training with a run. That can only be sustained for so long. Basically, I started hitting a wall. I was definitely losing weight. My shape was definitely changing. I had gotten to the leanest that I had ever been. But here's the thing, I technically “looked the best” according to society but I felt the worst that I ever had, and it was awful.

I had also gone through a separation and divorce in 2012-2013. I had gone from being a stay at home mom with a successful photography business that I had on the side to being a single mom and being thrust into the workforce. I got a job working full time for a nutritional supplement company and I had also dove right into a terrible relationship. I don't recommend that by the way. Going through a divorce, becoming a single mom, going to work full time, having a terrible relationship, and then coupling that with insane exercise and under eating led to my first burnout.

Recipe for disaster

I was so hyper-focused on what I was eating. I was eating a high protein, low carb, zero fat diet, and that just does not allow for any energy to be produced whatsoever. I was getting sick all the time. I was irritable, I was cranky, I wasn't sleeping well, and I wasn't performing well at work. I was struggling with mental fogginess, I wasn't thinking straight, I was forgetting things, and that's just not who I was. It was kind of freaking me out a little bit about what I was becoming. Then what I was also dealing with was sickness, chronic sickness; I was getting colds over and over and over, it was taking so long to get over them, and then finally in 2014 I had a prolonged sickness that kept me home for nearly three weeks!! At that time I had to pause and ask myself “what am I doing in my life that's causing all of this sickness and this fatigue in this overall exhaustion?”. I realized that I was not the mom that I want to be at all, I was not the employee that I want to be. I was still trying to run a coaching business on the side while still doing some photography, that was just a recipe for disaster. I was juggling everything and striving to do more.

Call to action

So, I had to literally take a step back, look at my schedule and see what needs to go, what needed to be removed. The very first thing that I let go of was the exercise and the under-eating. I also happened to be working for the foremost expert in adrenal fatigue. And so through my education and my training and working with Dr. Wilson, the reality hit me- I was basically burnt out. I had adrenal fatigue, I had run a cortisol panel to check my hormones to see where they were; and let me tell you, that was a hot mess. What is considered normal was nowhere near where I was at all. So, I took a six month break from any exercise whatsoever, basically, the only exercise that I was doing was pretty much walking the dog. Once in awhile I did some yoga, but other than that there was nothing else. I definitely got rid of the terrible relationship because that wasn't serving me well at all. I decided to just focus in on myself and being the best me that I could be and that started with eating properly.

There is currently an overabundance of people that are scared of carbs right now. When you are burnt out it is essential that you have carbs and fat along with protein in your diet for energy production and healthy hormone conversion.

Your body simply can not create energy if you are missing key nutrients that come from carbohydrates and fats and proteins. So, if you're omitting any of that let me just warn you right now to maybe consider taking a look at your diet. If you are struggling with burnout, chances are that your diet could have a huge impact on your recovery.

So, in time, between working with Dr. Wilson, working with some other practitioners to help me get back on track, and really becoming okay with the way that my body looks (and I won't lie that was a huge work), I began working towards my recovery. I had to work on my mindset, leaving behind the thoughts telling me I was failing because everything in society is saying, if you don't look a certain way then you are not worthy. That's a hard thing to change when you've been hearing, believing, or thinking that for so many years.

What I realized is that my overall outlook on my health will impact my future generations. I have a daughter, what was the example that I was setting for her by being hyper-focused on an ideal body image for me? I don’t want her to have a distorted image of health and think her worth is tied to her appearance.

For the past four years I zeroed in on what healthy looks like for me and learned what I need to do to avoid burnout. That's been trial and error. It's a practice, you never “arrive”. Some days are better than others. I pay attention to what is going on during my current season.

But what I do know is this… as we search for an ideal body and we do things that are more detrimental to get to it, it's not going to pay off in the long run. I'm going to be sharing my story in another post with the details of my second burnout that was totally different; you'll see why when when I share that with you. Today I really just wanted to focus on burn out that is a result of over-exercising and under-eating; you can recover, but it does take some intention in how you treat your body and how you feed your body.

Do you want to learn more? Check out my interview for the FitFluential Radio Podcast : https://fitfluential.com/from-adrenal-burnout-to-stress-expert/

Think you might be experiencing burnout? Download the “5 Signs Of Burnout” information guide to find out if you are burning out and what your next steps should be.

What Do I Eat If I Have Adrenal Fatigue?

As I have coached my clients that are undergoing immense amounts of stress in their lives, I have noticed a common pattern with regard to nutrition. High carb, sugar-laden food that is lacking dense nutrition and only provides an energy crash and endless cups of coffee is the usual diet of those living a modern, fast-paced life.

Leading a life that has never-ending to-do lists and expectations that are elusive, yet continue to leave us striving toward “accomplishment” has a tendency to grab on-the-go meals that can be consumed quickly and typically during a commute. A breakfast consisting of baked goods, bars, packaged shakes, or designated “breakfast” options being sold in the aisles of the grocery store that contain more sugar, preservatives, and white processed flour than the “vitamins & minerals” being touted as being delivered in each delicious bite is the norm.

Friends, if this is you, I beg of you to consider your nutrition in order to begin a road to new energy and mental clarity.

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"  ~Hippocrates

When you are suffering from Adrenal Fatigue, nutrition is critical to recovery. Rather than looking to a prescription or a crash-diet to solve your problems, take a good look at what you are putting in your body. Food is healing and quality is everything. Poor diet can exacerbate the suffering you experience.

There are three things to keep in mind when you are trying to recover from chronic stress and Adrenal Fatigue and trying to understand what is important with your nutrition in order to recover from Adrenal Fatigue.

1. All macronutrients are important and necessary.

With the common and popular diets eliminating an entire macronutrient group, carbs are getting a really bad wrap. What people need to understand is that carbs are an essential source of vitamins and minerals that provide energy; one of the top symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue is chronic fatigue. Therefore, you NEED carbohydrates to create ATP (energy) without creating more stress internally.

However, not all carbs are equal. The carbs you want to eat will consist of whole, unprocessed foods full of fiber (flax, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and cruciferous vegetables).

You will want to combine a fat, protein, and complex carbohydrate with every meal. Combine fat, fiber (carbs), and organic protein when creating your meals. This offers longer satiation and a more balanced blood sugar level that doesn’t leave you with a crash an hour later.

2. The sweet limitations of fruit

People with adrenal fatigue and blood sugar problems should go lightly on fruits, especially in the morning. But if you exercise early in the day, it may be possible for you to handle a small amount of fruit for breakfast. Exercise elevates cortisol and aldosterone levels, which in turn raise sodium levels in your blood, allowing for greater tolerance to the effects of fruit.

However, be very careful of fruit consumption and if you notice that you become more tired, thick headed or start to experience other symptoms of either low blood sugar or low adrenals, then eliminate fruit in the morning. Any fruit that you do eat should be organically grown. Many people who suffer from adrenal fatigue are sensitive to chemicals in foods.

Here are some recommended fruits for those with adrenal fatigue: papaya, mango, plums, pears, kiwi, apples, and cherries. Fruits to avoid would be bananas, raisins, dates, figs, oranges, and grapefruit.

3. Caffeine Prolongs Exhaustion

People with adrenal fatigue often crave caffeine or cola beverages because of the stimulatory effect of the caffeine. The difficulty with this is that caffeine also over-stimulates the adrenals, which leads to further fatiguing when the caffeine wears off. Therefore, many people with adrenal fatigue get through the day by kicking their adrenals with several cups of coffee and beverages containing caffeine or by combining caffeine, sweets, and chocolate (which contains caffeine and a caffeine-like substance). Although this makes them feel better temporarily, this regimen will eventually exhaust the adrenals even more, leading them into further difficulties.

Now they have a vicious cycle repeating. They need coffee to be productive, they crash, they are exhausted and need more caffeine and sugar. And on and on it goes. Therefore, avoid or limit caffeine containing foods and beverages.

Replace your coffee habit with herbal teas, mushroom elixirs, and lots of water.

Next steps…

If you’re confused about what to eat, remember this: lean protein, carbs (in the form of greens and fiber) and fat. Every meal. It’s key to recovery.

For You…

Need a breakfast or lunch that is quick to make, packed full of vitamins & minerals and gives the nutrition you need to support a body in stress? Here is a quick, cheat sheet to print and hang in your kitchen for powerful smoothies that help to promote Adrenal Fatigue recovery. Click the image below to download!

Avocado Deviled Eggs

This is such a quick and easy snack! It also happens to be a favorite breakfast to make myself.

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs

1 ripe avocado

1 Tbsp. Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

salt & pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut eggs in half. Remove the yolk and place in bowl with avocado and mayo. Mix yolks, avocado and mayo together. Scoop the magic mix into the halved egg whites. Sprinkle paprika (optional).

Make sure you “mmmm” at least five times while eating. *note: this will give you 3 servings of 4 egg halves. Sometimes I eat 6 halves. Eating the whole batch at once is very tempting, but 6 eggs at one time may make your family not want to be near you later. Ha!

Noatmeal Porridge

This is so hearty and filling and it stays with you all morning. It’s the PERFECT comfort food for Fall.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) water or Coconut Milk

• 2 tablespoons hemp hearts

• 2 tablespoons almond flour

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

• 1/4 teaspoon granulated stevia (or any kind of sweetener you like, to taste)

• 1 pinch sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Stovetop Method: Add all ingredients except the vanilla to a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly, about 3 to 5 minutes; stir in the vanilla. Serve warm.

2. Microwave Method: Add all ingredients except the vanilla to a large cereal bowl that’s microwave-safe. Microwave on high until thickened, about 2 minutes; stir in the vanilla. Serve warm.

   
   Note: I added pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dried cranberries, shredded coconut and cinnamon as topping. I also like to add more almond milk. This is completely optional but why would you delete magic? Muy delicioso!!

Low-Carb Mind-blowing Pancakes

These are completely mind-blowing and you truly won’t even miss all the naughty carbs from regular pancakes. Still a treat and not as depleting.

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs, large

• 2 oz Cream cheese

• 2/3 cup Almond flour

• 1 tsp Baking powder

• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp Sweetleaf - stevia sweetener

• 2 tsp Vanilla extract

Liquids

• 1 tbsp Water

Condiments

• 1 Butter and syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all ingredients to blender. Start with eggs and water and cream cheese so you don't have anything get stuck at bottom.

2. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed. Let batter sit for 2 minutes.

3. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat. For each pancake, pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter onto skillet.

4. Once you start to see little bubbles form, flip and continue to cook until pancake is browned on each side. Continue until you have used all pancake batter.

5. Serve pancakes topped with butter and syrup!

How Does Stress Disrupt Blood Sugar Balance?

Your body and brain depend on balanced levels of blood sugar (glucose) to steadily supply your cells with fuel for energy. Stress normally drives blood sugar up to power a “fight or flight” physical response via the adrenal stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol converts energy stored in your body into glucose so that your blood sugar rises to energize that anticipated surge in activity. As your blood sugar goes up, insulin is secreted by your pancreas to move the glucose from your blood into your cells.

This extra glucose is meant to be used up by a strenuous physical response to the stress, which restores blood sugar back to normal. In the prehistoric world, stress typically came from physical threats against which a short burst of activity increased the odds of survival. However, in the modern world stressors are typically ongoing pressures against which physical activity is seldom used or useful.

If your life is stressful, especially with a diet high in refined carbohydrates and without regular vigorous exercise, the consequent repeated or chronic blood sugar and insulin elevation you experience can create problems over time that prehistoric humans probably never had to face.

When this is occurs too frequently, your cells become more resistant to insulin to avoid the toxicity of excess glucose. This can leave too much glucose in your blood and too little in your cells. To maintain balance, your body converts and stores the excess blood sugar as fat – usually around your abdomen.

Paradoxically the decreased amount of glucose getting into your cells triggers hunger and you may find yourself craving carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrate consumption spikes your blood sugar up and the vicious cycle of blood sugar imbalance and insulin resistance continues – an added stress with ever greater negative consequences for your whole body over time. When it comes to blood sugar, maintaining balance is the key for good health and steady energy.

Tips for Keeping Blood Sugar Balanced

• Keep a daily account of everything you eat for a week. In one column, list every bit of food, drink and medication that you take and at what time. In the second column, list your symptoms and the time at which you experience them. Very often you will see a correlation between what you have consumed and your symptoms. When you do, eliminate those foods or drinks that you notice are contributing to your behavior and note the difference. Important: do not stop any medication cold turkey. If you believe that your medication may be contributing to your symptoms, contact your physician. A diet diary is your personal blueprint: a clear overall view of what you are eating, digesting and assimilating. It can be the first indicator that something is wrong and, perhaps, a very inexpensive way of correcting a very simple problem.

• Eliminate the “main offenders” from your diet. These include sugar, white flour, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, junk food and fast food.

• Exercise caution when eliminating certain substances from your diet, especially ones that are addictive. For example: if you tend to drink a pot of coffee a day, gradually decrease your consumption over time. The same is true for tobacco and alcohol. If you are addicted to tobacco, alcohol or other substances, it’s often best to quit under the guidance of a professional. There are many physicians and support groups helping people deal with all sorts of addiction, which can be very difficult to beat on your own. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

• Replace the bad foods with good ones. Aim for a diet that focuses on the natural: Lean meats, whole grains, brightly colored vegetables and some fruits (those with lower amounts of fructose). Instead of focusing on the foods you can’t have, focus on all the foods that you can have. You’ll soon find that healthy foods can have an addictive taste as well, but without the negative effects.

• Eat 4-6 small meals throughout the day, with snacks in-between. This helps balance blood sugar and energy levels throughout the day. Reminder: do your best not to overeat. Having smaller meals at more frequent intervals can help avoid overeating.

• Be prepared: have food with you at all times to balance blood sugar. Keep healthy snacks at work, at home, and anywhere you spend a lot of time. Having healthy snacks and food on hand will also make it harder to cheat by hitting the drive-thru or a convenience store.

• Be careful of how much fruit you consume. Fruit is generally considered healthy, but can be detrimental for those with hypoglycemia. Many fruits are high in natural sugar, which can further disrupt blood sugar imbalance. Generally, fruits are better to have at lunch are later in the day. Avoid dried fruits altogether, as they are quite high in fructose.

• Be mindful of natural sugars occurring in some natural foods, or foods marketed as natural. Fruit juices, smoothies, and yogurts (especially those with fruit) often contain high levels of sugar. Natural or not sugar is sugar, and your body will react to an excess regardless of source.

• Build up a library of cookbooks. These can help give ideas of healthy, low-sugar recipes. Sometimes coming up with food plans can be frustrating, so keep helpful resources on hand. Bookmark recipes and meal ideas on your tablet, phone or laptop for quick reference. There are many websites that offer free healthy recipes, including ones that focus on hypoglycemia-friendly foods.

Material for this blog sourced by Adrenalfatigue.org
Photo by Audrey Fretz on Unsplash

5 Ways to Prevent Burnout

Work-related stress is at an all time high and progressing steadily. It has been estimated that 75-90% of patient visits to primary care practitioners are due to stress-related illness.* Stress and busy have become synonymous; while being touted as a badge of honor.

We have become a society that is always connected to technology, never taking a break for fear of missing out on something (FOMO anyone?). We have businesses to build, sales to make and connections to create. Who has time to stop and relax? The ironic part is that without the rest, our best efforts are ineffectual.

Stress causes fatigue, sleeplessness or over-sleeping, feelings of lethargy and depression, weight gain, headaches, muscle pain, digestive issues, low libido, increasing symptoms of PMS and menopause, irritability, poor skin and tissue health, hormone imbalance, chronic sickness, and the list goes on and on.

So if a person is suffering from these symptoms and has an inability to manage stress, how effective can they be in their daily work? We simply can’t do the great work we are passionate about when we feel terrible every single day. The question then becomes, how do we manage stress and prevent ourselves from burnout so that we can continue to build business and increase success?

Here are five strategies that will get you on the right track:

1. Have a plan

Most people that struggle with feelings of overwhelm and stress don’t necessarily have a plan of action on how they will tackle the day. We may stroll into the office and get sucked into the email matrix for hours on end, responding to email, sending email, reading more email, responding and sending a bit more. Instead of doing the deep work that moves the needle in their business, we become daily email managers. When working without a plan of action, it’s easy at the end of the day to wonder what in the world we accomplished. The best sales reps have a distinct plan each day. They know who they are talking to and the purpose of the conversation. There are outcomes from each activity that will lead to achieving goals. To manage your day, use these tips to create a plan that will have you working with purpose.

• Work with intention

• Use a calendar or planner to stay on target for the day, week, month, and year

• Work with an objective in mind

• Plan each quarter backwards from your goals.

2. Prioritize your to-do list

It’s very easy (and normal) to brain dump all of the things we need to do each day and week on a list and hope for the best when it comes to accomplishing the tasks we listed. When the list is arbitrary and without focus, it’s hard to feel productive and easy to feel pressured. In order to conquer the overwhelm, start with three tasks on the list that you feel will push your business and success forward, rather than simply “busy work”.  Getting caught in the paperwork matrix distracts us from the deep work that generates revenue. While I could organize my desk over and over or arrange files and pens (ROYGBIV is how I roll), it doesn’t replace the activity of actually getting on the phone to talk to prospects or creating content for my programs. After I prioritize my to-do list, I use these prompts to move forward:

• How much time is needed (realistically) to complete the task?

• Add the task with the given time to my daily schedule to make sure that I have the dedicated time per task.

• Focus on one task at a time (no multitasking) to maximize my attention and effort. The best work comes when the distractions are minimal.

3. Delegate

As a first-born, I have held onto my responsibilities in a very serious way. Because let’s be honest, nobody can do things the way I can do them. I take pride in my work, I am very detailed and thorough. It just never occurred to me that someone else could help ease my burden. At the same time, I have felt resentful that I am doing all of the work. While in college, being assigned to a group was a nightmare for me. I loved being in charge and I took on way too much because I couldn’t leave my grade in the hands of a stranger. Then I would be stressed out because I had so much to do. Change the scenario to marriage & family. I relish the systems I have in place and border insanity if someone in my family veers off from the way I do things. I want my kids to put the clean sheets on their beds; yet, when the bed covers aren’t as taught as I like them, I have to fight the urge to re-make the bed! Friends, if you are nodding your head right now in understanding, here is some sage advice. STOP IT. Seriously, save yourself from unnecessary anguish. There are people who love you and want to see you succeed; they want to help you in any way they can. Let them help and feel the burden of your tasks lighten.

• Ask for help (and let out a sigh of relief)

• Work in your strengths- these are things you should hang on to! This is your voice and your addition to your work

• Pass things on which don’t require you personally to be accomplished-these are things that aren’t necessarily your strengths and can be better handled by someone else.

4. Manage your health

This is the part that most business people push to the back burner, especially if you are pretty healthy to begin with. When we get busy and put our heads down in our work, the last thing we think about is how much exercise we can get in and how many whole food meals we can consume. Yet, this is the part of our life that we should take the MOST serious. I have seen way too many executives that are on the verge of burnout because health has just not been the priority. Success is on the rise, so we continue to push harder towards greater success. Or maybe the numbers are not in alignment with the goals, so we drive ourselves to do more. We start work earlier and stop later. We start losing sleep, become dependent on caffeine and sugar to keep ourselves awake, eat food on the go and at our desk or in our cars. It doesn’t take long to feel the energy drain and the chronic fatigue to kick into high gear. What you may not be considering when you tell your health to please hold, is that your health is what drives success. If you feel terrible, you can’t possibly do quality work. You don't think clearly, you don’t have the extra drive to give when it matters, you miss details, you aren’t prepared or organized. You allow the competitor to have an edge because you are not at your best. To prevent the burnout, health must take priority. The good news is that wellness doesn’t have to be complicated:

• Plan exercise at least three times a week (do anything you enjoy)

• Plan your meals ahead of time-minimize sugar and processed foods

• Sleep at least 8 hours a night

• Schedule your wellness exams each year

• Write in a gratitude journal each day, highlight things from your day that you are thankful for or which brought you joy.

5. Rest and Restore

Rest is necessary to recover and revitalize. Planning rest time is just as important as planning your time to prospect. Make time in your calendar each week to do absolutely nothing that resembles “work”.  How each of us experiences rest will differ so try out new things and see how you feel. Some people love tackling home projects while others like to be outdoors to experience nature. Try these on for size to recover during your week:

• Read a book

• Work on your hobby

• Take a walk, a nap or a bath

• Have lunch with a mentor

• Take a day trip or plan a long weekend

Grasping these five points will give you stronger business acumen and push burnout to the outer edges. Let’s take charge of our success by managing our stress and letting go of the standards that society says we must have in order to gain success.

If you want to take your business to the next level, then you need to join the waitlist for my program Revitalized Wellness. I give you the roadmap to avoid burnout, increase energy, feel revitalized and increase your productivity. Join the waitlist here. 

Stress Management: Goal Setting

Did your 2018 start out like so many other years? Full of promise and a fresh start? Did you make a list of all the things you will conquer this year? Are you like 80% of the population that has abandoned the resolutions already? 

A lack of a plan leads to leaving the goals in the dust by the end of January and thinking, "I'll get it next year!". 

If you are struggling to stay on track with the goals you set at the start of 2018, this is the episode for you. Fine-tuning your goals to be specific, targeted and time-sensitive is an essential start to the goal-setting process. In order to manage your stress, goal-setting and planning are imperative.

Goal setting can be overwhelming, especially if you are focused on many new goals. When you are overwhelmed, it's hard to stay focused, especially if there is not a plan behind each goal. 

Today we break down 3 strategies to manage your goals so that you feel equipped and confident with a plan to accomplish them.  Starting with a few goals in the areas of life that are your biggest priority is a great place to start.

The overwhelm is no-more with these goal setting strategies. Tell me what goals you have and if you have a plan to accomplish them!

Stress Management: Hormone Imbalance

As I coach women that need help to manage the stress in their lives, we often discuss some of the "clues" or symptoms that drove them to work with me. Number 1 reason: weight gain. As we dig in, I have been able, with help from friends like Candace Burch, to uncover a hormone imbalance. Stress can play a HUGE piece of hormone imbalance that leads to so many symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, irritability, mental fog, melancholy, and a TON of other not so special things. I decided to interview my friend and trusted hormone advisor, Candace Burch from Your Hormone Balance. This interview is LOADED with helpful information and I promise you that you will want to get your hormones checked right away. Spoiler: Candace gives a GENEROUS code to my friends, because my people are the best!! 

I interview Candace Burch, Hormone Health Educator, about hormone imbalance in pre-menopause and peri-menopausal women. Finally some answers! We discuss the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery and could have gone on forever!

I dare you to NOT love Candace! You just can't!! No way! She is a wealth of information and so very awesome-she truly understands what each of us struggles with! 

If weight gain IS a struggle, hormones could be the bozo to blame! There could also be a few other tricks that you are playing on your body making weight loss difficult. Download my guide, "5 Critical Mistakes Preventing You From Weight Loss" to find out what could be keeping weight loss at bay.