ANCHOR ARTICLE: Written for KATARINA KISELI by Val Roskens Tews

You have hit a wall and you’re wondering what you’re missing…

You’re going to the gym…

You’re working out all the time…

You’re on that cleanse…

You’re drinking your water…

You’re doing everything “right” – but it’s still not working!

You’re not feeling good nor healthy.

Remember being told you should try these different diets, buy all the planners, hire the fitness trainer, buy the inspirational books, and have a two-hour morning routine? And oh yes – make sure you’re fit!

How does it make you feel when receiving all of these mixed messages? Overwhelmed, discouraged, frustrated….?

Increasingly women are now calling out to have more balance, to have fertility naturally, to maintain youthful hormones, and to feel good no matter what age through all of the cycles of their lives. They are seeking other options. They don’t want these quick fixes. They don’t want solutions that make them feel worse about themselves!

The cost of “success”

Do you remember hearing from a young age that to succeed as a woman you had to work twice as hard as a man? If you could just push yourself far, take the hardest classes, get the top grades, get involved in all the activities, then you would succeed.

However – it came at a cost! The cost that you may not realize until you’re older. That cost can include: adrenal fatigue, burnout, hormonal wackiness, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), endometriosis, and/or various kinds of infertility.

Society’s lie of success is that you have to follow certain “rules,” like work harder, work longer, never give in to anybody, and be fit. But it’s not working. Instead it’s backfiring. It’s like you are this powerhouse with no feelings. You may be experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue, physical and mental exhaustion, burnout, or perfectionism.

Why do any of these matter? Because they directly affect your health. Your adrenal glands and hormones may be unable to process properly (adrenal fatigue). You may end up in a state of physical and/or mental exhaustion. You may stop liking the things you used to like. You may no longer find joy in what you used to have joy in (burnout). You may end up not enjoying life anymore and lack personal efficacy, meaning that you don’t feel like you can do it anymore!

This is why hormonal balance is so important. Adrenal fatigue and burnout cause your body to overextend and overwork, building up cortisol (the stress hormone).

Holistic ways

There are holistic ways to deal with this. Warning: It goes against the productivity culture, however. You won’t be doing 20-minute Pomodoro timers. You won’t have an intense two-hour morning routine and then go right into your office work. You’re not going to schedule so many things because that just causes more cortisol.

It’s important to live in balance with your masculine and feminine energy. It’s only one side of the coin when you’re pushing, working hard, doing all that. It’s also necessary to explore creativity and play. Take time off to allow your mind to wander. You need to find joy in life. All of these different facets help to lower stress.

You need to remember you’re not a machine.

The lie is that in order to be successful, you have to look a certain way. You have to be skinny, fit, no wrinkles, nice hair, always put together. There are huge industries playing off of “body image” such as diet and weight loss. The focus is on being/staying young, but that can come back to haunt you, because these industries are setting you up to fail. The irony of all that is the people who live the longest are actually doing none of this.

It’s also important to understand circadian and infradian rhythms. Briefly, circadian rhythm is your 24-hour biological clock that women and men have. It’s the sleeping-wake patterns of your body. The infradian rhythm is anything more than a 24-hour cycle. For females, in the age range of 12 to 50, it’s roughly a 28-day cycle.

Reclaim your life

Reclaim your life back by choosing to be healthy, happy, and successful – your way. And this is a reminder that quick-fix solutions don’t work.

To honor your circadian rhythm, you need to eat adequate meals, sleep appropriately, and follow the sun by sleeping at night and waking up in the morning.

You also need to learn your body. Figure out your actual needs, such as when are you hungry, not when somebody says you should be eating. When are you full? When are you thirsty? When are you tired?

It’s important to really listen to what your body tells you. Do you understand the language your body is speaking to you? You need to know instead of just fighting past it and doing something because you must.

It’s also an awareness. For example, you get famished every day around 11:30am, even though you eat breakfast. You need to check what kind of breakfast you’re eating – is it high in sugar and carbs? Is your blood sugar stable? You need to have an energy balance.

You don’t have to struggle alone!

Here’s the key: you don’t have to struggle alone. It’s about balance, but it’s also about finding others to help and support you!

Connect with me and subscribe to my email newsletter. Let’s get a conversation going about a real way to approach this. {LINK TO SUBSCRIBE}

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Contact information for Katarina Kiseli

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarinakiseli/
kat@katkiseli.com