UP-LEVELING MY HEALTH IN 2020
I’m a huge sucker for New Years Resolutions, and everything that comes with the goal setting process. When I set resolutions, I stick to the two following rules:
Keep a max of 3 resolutions. Any more, and we tend to either get overwhelmed and discouraged, or we spread our energy too thin we can’t focus fully on anything.
Prepare a game plan. Although there is space for more broad and vague intention setting (I do that too), when it comes to New Years Resolutions, I like to create a plan. This plan includes knowing exactly steps I need to take and what mini-milestones I need to reach.
As you read in the title, one of 2020 New Years Resolutions is to: Up-level My Health.
Why? Despite taking good care of my health in 2019 I dealt with the following…
Stress often took over and left me sleeping terribly (not being able to fall asleep, waking up during the night, waking up feeling exhausted)
My stress-related eczema came back
Teaching a lot of high-intensity fitness classes left me quite physically drained and unable to recuperate from constant muscle soreness (the simple act of walking up a few stairs or up a hill would cause a rush of lactic acid in my legs and burn so much I'd have to take a break…)
My digestion was all over the place. Although it got better by the end of the year, this year I dealt with incessant bloating & indigestion, something I had never previously struggled with
My periods were on a whack, with my average cycle ranging from 14-49 days which, needless to say, is highly irregular
On top of the above I recently did an at-home medical test through Check Your Health (use Victoria10 for 10% off), and although my results were surprisingly good, there were two test factors that were on the lower end. These two aspects were: Free T4 and Triglyceride. Elevating these will be part of my plan for Up-leveling my Health in 2020 below.
My 2020 health goals…
Improve my sleep; fall asleep right when I go to bed, sleep the full night through and wake up feeling refreshed
For my eczema to go away completely
To have healthy, regular menstrual cycles
No more bloating after meals
For my digestion to be so healthy and regular that I go to the toilet every morning when I wake up
To be able to go up a flight of stairs without my legs seizing up immediately
My Plan to Up-level my Health in 2020
NUTRITION: using diet to up-level my health
FOCUS ON BLOOD SUGAR: High blood sugar is a stressor on your body, which can lead to poor digestion, bad sleep and skin issues. I will therefore be focusing on making sure my blood sugar stays levelled. Your adrenals also view mismanaged blood sugar as a stressor and respond by releasing stress hormones (including cortisol). Elevated levels of cortisol are linked to irregular periods and eczema.
Eating lots of healthy fats and keeping carb intake to 1/2 cup per serving.
Portion control. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing…even a very healthy low-sugar meal can spike blood sugar if you eat too much.
Low carb does not mean no carb. When I took my test with Check Your Health I saw that although my T4 Free levels were still in the “normal” range, they were on the lower end. Eating a very low-carb (or ketogenic) diet can further decrease the thyroid hormone levels. I will therefore focus on incorporating a moderate amount of complex carbohydrates and not omitting them completely.
USING FASTING: It is shown to decrease inflammation which may help decrease inflammation which I believe might help with my eczema and reduce muscle pain.
I will keep a regular 16:8 hour Intermittent Fasting. Naturally Intermittent Fasting does put a small amount of stress on your body. This “healthy stress” known as hormesis is a low-dose acute stress which allows your body to bounce back stronger and be more equipped to dealing with stress. Having said that, since I do have a tendency to stress out about nothing, I do not want to put too much more stress on my body. This is why I will not be overly strict on this fasting window, and if I’m feeling too hungry or faint I will break the fast early without hesitation.
Fasting can also help with digestive issues. The mitigator motor complex is a pattern of electrical activity which sweeps through your stomach and small bowel between meal times and clears out undigested matter. Intermittent Fasting can allow this system to complete a full cycle.
*Note that fasting is not for everyone. It may do more harm than good in women with serious hormonal imbalances or with a history of eating disorders.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS: These are fatty acids that you must consume since your body does not produce them. Essential Fatty Acids (especially Omega-3s) are proven to improve sleep quality and regulate menstrual cycles. Essential fatty acids can also have anti-inflammatory properties which can help with muscle pain & eczema.
Increase consumption of Omega-3s by eating a variety of the following: seaweed & algae, hemp seeds, chia seeds, small organic sustainably-sourced fish. The only true sources of DHA & EPA (types of Omega-3) are in fish and algae.
Be conscious of my Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio since this ratio largely determines levels of inflammation. It is common to have an Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio of 10:1, however the ideal ratio is 1:1. Omega-6s are not to be avoided (they’re necessary and part of a healthy diet), but stay conscious of the balance and do research (ex.: Almonds have an Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio of 2008:83 while macadamia nuts have a ratio of 6:29)
EATING MINDFULLY: eating while your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is ON (AKA fight or flight response AKA you’re feeling stressed, or you’re in “hustle mode”) your body thinks it is facing a threat and sends extra blood to the muscles. Your body shuts down digestive function since this is not seen as a priority during a period of stress. This can therefore cause digestive issues and eventually lead to issues with gut permeability (leaky gut) or bacterial build up in the gut (Candida). Eating mindfully, slowly, breathing, turns OFF your SNS and turns ON your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) which allows you to digestive system to work optimally, and allows you to not only properly digest your food, but properly assimilate nutrients.
When eating, put my work aside and focus on eating mindfully. Make sure I’m in a calm state while eating.
Eat slowly; chewing until my food turns into liquid before swallowing. That way I can properly connect to how full I’m feeling and avoid overeating (which can also cause digestive issues and raised blood sugar).
WORKOUT: how I will move to up-level my health
FOCUS ON LOW-INTENSITY: Low-intensity exercises such as walking, yoga, relaxed biking, Pilates, BARRE etc. is linked with regulating blood sugar without putting excess stress on the body. High-Intensity exercise causes cortisol levels to increase, which is linked with skin issues, indigestion and poor sleep, keeping it low-intensity is a great way to keep moving without the stress.
Walk daily for at least one hour. This helps regulate blood sugar and is shown to balance the circadian rythm which in turn helps sleep.
Stand while working whenever possible (yes standing counts and has huge health benefits)
Focus on weight lifting and BARRE when I go to a gym / studio that way I keep the stress load light, but still maintain a healthy muscle mass which improves overall health
PRACTICE MORE YOGA: yoga allows me to connect with my breath and my body which makes me feel a lot more grounded and bodily aware. When I lose the “connection” with my body, I feel less in tuned with my personal boundaries and what my body wants and needs. I’m more likely to over-work (leads to stress; eczema + indigestion), overeat (raises blood sugar, causes inflammation) and over-train (leads to stress + muscular fatigue)
Yoga practice every morning to start the day (even just 20 minutes)
Start my daily yoga practice with deep breathing
Do 1-2 longer yoga sessions/week (either at a studio or self-practice)
REINTRODUCING HIIT: High-Intensity Interval Training is also a type of hormesis (healthy stress) which when done in infrequent, short burst can make your body stronger. I suspect that some of the stress issues I dealt with last year were due to the fact that on top of daily stress, my HIIT sessions were very high-intensity… and way too frequent. I recently listened to a podcast with Ben Pakulski (professional body-builder) and he said: over-training is very uncommon, what’s more common, is people packing extra stress from exercise on over-stressed lives. I genuinely believe in the health benefits of HIIT, however I also think that until I get my day-to-day stress levels in check, I’m better off keeping the extra stress to a minimum. Once I do, whether that’s in a few months or in a few years, I’ll be excited to reintroduce HIIT sessions.
Sticking to Low-Intensity while I’m still dealing with stress-related issues (eczema, indigestion, poor sleep, muscle pain, irregular cycles) unless I’m craving it and feeling really good and calm and/or traveling and want to test out some classes.
When reintroducing HIIT, keep it short. The biggest benefits of HIIT training come from doing it in short bursts (ideally under 30 mins). Doing even a 10-minute short burst of high-intensity cardio first thing in the morning is great for syncing your circadian rhythm (more on that below).
LIFESTYLE: What lifestyle changes will I make in order to up-level my health
NURTURING CIRCADIAN RHYTHM: This is your internal clock, where the functioning of your body changes depending on the time of day, to bring you through a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. A disrupted circadian rhythm can cause digestive issues (your digestive system follows a specific internal clock as well), menstrual cycles irregularities (which follows its own rhythm superimposed with the circadian rhythm) and sleep issues.
I will do my morning yoga every morning. Simply moving first thing in the morning helps kick-start your circadian rhythm as a way of telling your body “it’s morning now wake up”
Try to maintain regular wake up times. I used to wake up at 5:30am every morning, however I found this quite unsustainable, especially since this wouldn’t mean that my day would end much earlier. I would then find myself having to sleep a full afternoon once every few weeks. In order to maintain a more regular, balanced, sustainable routine, I will now wake up around 6:30 on weekdays, and 7/7:30 on weekends that way my circadian rhythm doesn’t fluctuate too much.
Wind-down before bed. If I need to keep working in the evenings, at least make sure that my lights are on dim, and I’m slowly easing myself into a more relaxed state. I try to keep lighter, “easier” tasks for the evening so that I can start slowing down.
Where my blue-light blocking glasses in the evening. Turns out that blue light isn’t all bad, we actually need blue light in the morning and during the day to stay alert (the sun contains blue light), but the issue is when we’re exposed to blue light in the evening. Naturally the sun sets in the evening, and before modern times that set our bodies into “sleep mode”. Blue light (found in our computer & phone screens) suppresses melatonin production (hormone that helps you fall asleep) and can throw your circadian rhythm on a whack. When I’m working on my computer, I throw my blue-light blockers on once the sun sets.
LIVING IN LINE WITH MY CYCLE: As females our bodies change entirely depending on where we are in our cycle. For years I was so obsessed with “consistency is key” that I completely refused to embody any type of fluctuation in my energy or mood. This led to my body basically saying “fine, we just won’t give you a cycle then” (more on that here). The more you live in line with you cycle instead of fight it, the more it’ll work with you. I just finished The Woman Code by Alisa Vitti (highly recommended) which include specific tips on exactly what to do, how to live and what to eat during each phase of your cycle. Here are just a few of the tips I’m going to use…
Keep my exercise for my follicular phase. This phase (right after your period) is when you have the most energy, and you’re body ready to handle hormesis (positive stress). I’ll keep my workouts for this phase.
Eat raw in my Follicular Phase, and cooked during Luteal & Menstrual Phase. Eating raw foods is harder on digestion, however can provide lots of key nutrients. During your Follicular Phase you’re body’s better equipped to digest raw foods. In the lead up to your period and during your period, focus on cooked foods which are easier on the digestive system, since the body is already working hard to prepare for menstruation.
Avoid coffee when menstruating. Although coffee has been linked to hormonal issues in all phases of the cycle, during the Luteal & Menstrual Phase, when your body is particularly sensitive to any imbalances, it’s even worse. Coffee restricts blood vessels which can reduct uterine blood flow, and can worsen PMS symptoms.
Avoid extended fasting leading up to, and during period. I struggle with this one since this is the time when I’m typically less hungry. I therefore try to have more regular small meals in the form of beverages, full of healthy fats (ex.: vegetable soups, matcha with coconut milk)
MANAGING STRESS DAILY: Stress is a reoccurring theme throughout my 2020 health goals, and this is no coincidence. Stress was probably the leading factor which caused the health concerns I dealt with in 2019, and reducing my stress levels will be paramount in allowing me to reach my 2020 health goals. I know I can do everything right from a nutrition and fitness stand-point, but if I still spend the rest of my time being anxious and overthink every decision I make, it will still be an issue.
When I get stressed, stop, take 5 deep breaths and repeat: “I trust myself to figure it out. I’ve always found a way and I will get through this.”
When I get stressed, give my boyfriend a big hug. I genuinely think living with my boyfriend this year will be a bigger game-changer in the state of my health than any nutrition or exercise protocol ever could, simple because the sole act of being near him calms me down so much. Giving someone a hug releases oxytocin, a hormone which in turn reduces stress hormones.