Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a fantastic Memorial Day! Here are a few shots from mine:
Bison Sliders
Sweet Potato, Salad and Sliders
Stress and Resilience Test
Recently I completed the Stress and Resilience Test Kit from Life Time, I had an inkling that like many other people, stress might be wreaking havoc on my results at the gym. I also knew I didn’t have as much energy as I could have. I’m a high stress person, I get it and I know it’s bad. I work on it, I pray, meditate, try not to take things so hard, take recovery days etc… Still I thought it would be interesting to check my coritsol and DHEA levels to see how well those things were working.
What is Cortisol?
A glucocorticoid produced by the adrenal glands which rest on top of the kidneys. They help to regulate blood pressure, blood mineral content, and the body’s reaction to danger or stress and help maintain a healthy thyroid function. When cortisol is released in response to stress, blood sugar and liver glycogen (storage form of sugar) increase. When too much stress is produced over long periods of time altered blood sugar control, fat storage (mostly in the mid-section), immune function, imbalances in probiotic flora in the intestines, and altered sex hormone production can occur. – (Information from Lifelab Consumer Guide to Understanding Lab Results)
What is DHEA?
DHEA is also produced by the adrenal glands and helps make the body’s sex hormones and combat stress by balancing the cortisol and protection the immune system. It also increases insulin sensitivity, enhances fat metabolism, increases antioxidant synthesis in the liver and protects against free radicals. It also help with thyroid function (conversion of inactive to active thyroid hormones). It’s also thought to help with immunity, food cravings, memory and cognition and general well being. (Information from Lifelab Consumer Guide to Understanding Lab Results)
Adrenal Fatigue
My curve was the exact opposite of what I expected. I expected the points to be high all day long, I didn’t account for a lifetime of stress built up into my results. Instead, I was low all day long and my DHEA was in the trash. It’s not that I’ve never seen this situation before, I’ve gone over it with many many people before, I just didn’t consider it could be happening to me.
After the initial “oh, crap” thought passed through my head, like dominos so many things started falling into place. Especially the constant injury thing and lack of ability to heal adequately. What’s awesome? I could do something about it.
Nutrition: Up my water game and add pink himlayan sea salt to my water 1-2 times per day to help support production of cortisol. Focus on protein and a lot on healthy fat, stabilize blood sugar using UCAN.
Exercise: HIIT Training anytime up till 5pm, best time would be morning or mid day. Limit Cardio to 40 minutes zone 1 and 2 unless it’s HIIT training at the appropriate time. Heavy lifting strength sessions are always good except past 5pm.
Supplements:
It’s been about 2 weeks since I started the supplements and changing up my workout. Overall I think I’ve had a increase in energy. It’s been hard to tell because I changed my schedule to have longer days and more time off. I don’t think I would have been able to make it through those longer days before. I’ll make sure I keep sending in updates as I go. Have a great week!
[…] out what your curve looks like you can take a saliva cortisol test at 4-5 points through the day (like the one I did). This can tell you a lot about how to increase quality of your sleep: – If you have […]