Stress and your Adrenal Glands
So it's been a busy couple of months. Sketchfest, Fringe, Under Pressure, Tattoo Convention, Pop Montreal plus my full-time day job. I've willingly signed up for all those but holy blueberries do I need a break.
Last night after spending 6 hours wandering around Pop Quarters, taking down posters and stacking chairs, I hit up a couple of shows. Peter Hook (of Joy Division, playing Joy Division) at Club Soda, TSC post-Sunday Night Improv hangs, and finally The Raincoats up at Cabaret du Mile End to top it all off. It was the last night of Pop Montreal and I wanted to take full advantage of my all-access pass. That I did. Friday I saw The Shaky Aches at L'Esco, Dark Dark Dark at Quai des Brumes then on my way home I stopped by and caught the tail end of Graven at Barfly. Saturday night was equally fun, lots of bouncing: totally stoked to see The Static Jacks at Casa del Popolo, then caught By Divine Right at O Patro Vys, grabbed a slice of zza and popped on back to Casa where I saw a bit of Trust, got overwhelmed by the lack of space and flashing lights, so I got some air with a friend and returned later to catch The Darcys, who were awesome.
Not a single disappointment all week, especially since I got to see Arcade Fire twice, plus their openers, Grimes, Kid Koala and Karkwa. Well technically I heard those last two, as I was busy handing out cups of H2O at a water station on Thursday at the free show. What a great night.
All this time, I've been fighting off a cold for a week and Saturday I felt like I had the flu. My feet felt swollen, my nose was blocked, and I couldn't see "me" when I looked at myself in the mirror. (That ever happen to you? It's creepy.) But I went out anyway, stubborn and somehow feeling obligated. I've been borrowing energy since August, and now my body's fed up and needs a break.
At some point, you've got to tune in and take note of what's going on, otherwise you'll wind up exhausted and sick for serious. I should have done that a few weeks ago and then I wouldn't have gotten sick. But getting sick was probably what I needed so that I'd finally stop doing stuff. It's like how a smoker gets bronchitis for like 6 months at a time. There's no way you can heal yourself while you continue to add to the problem.
Those little ailments that creep up out of nowhere caused by stress, can be attriubuted to our adrenal glands, small triangular glands attached to our kidneys. They are responsible for our fight or flight response. In prehistoric times, they'd provide us with adrenaline when facing a predator let's say, but in today's time our brains still don't know the difference. It responds the same way, only the preditor takes on many shapes and forms. Each time it gets stimulated, the glands produce cortisol, the stress hormone and overproduction will lead to adrenal fatigue. Once that's happened, your body pretty much starts to give up on you. Symptoms can include feeling over-tired, poor digestion, brain fog, food cravings, depleated immune system, difficulty sleeping, the list goes on. That's what brought me to the doctor's office in the first place, prior to my discovery of a raw food lifestyle. I was walking around like a zombie only back then I didn't want to accept I was just a stressed out 26 year old.
As if accepting that we're stressed means we're failing or something. Can't cope with it. I think it usually just means we're not managing our stress effectively, everyone deals with their fair share. Nutritional stress makes up the majority of contributing factors when it comes to adrenal fatigue, and the more processed your food is, the more stress it causes, and there's obviously the many things in life that affect us emotionally too. Too much work, debt, unhealthy relationships and too little time to deal with it all. Brendan Brazier breaks it all down really well, you can read some here. He's a vegan triathlete and actually got adrenal exhaution (past fatigue) from over-exersizing which resulted in weight gain and illness. Hence the Thrive Diet. Awesome guy.
Anyhow, incorporating living foods will take less of a toll on your adrenals, as well as avoiding stimulants such as caffeine (which Brazier describes as borrowed energy). Prioritize the essentials on your to-do list and don't take on more than you can handle. You owe it to yourself to pace yourself and go easy on your spirit. Oh and go to sleep at a reasonable hour (I should take my own advice).
I've wanted to keep busy for various reasons, mostly because it dawned on me finally to get involved in things that interest me, but now I have to deal with the aftermath of 8 months of serious burning-the-candle at both ends. My stomach's wonky, I've been getting daily headaches, I crave sleep and my muscles ache. I get through the day with the coffee I drink and know that it's time to up my green intake.
You know that person in your office or on the bus or wherever that walks around miserable and complains and swears and sounds neurotic and hates everything? Picture that person in macro form sitting on top of your kidneys. Would you really want that monster in charge of your life? Hell no. For more on your adrenal glands, check out: http://www.thatsfit.ca/ .
I'm about due for a cleanse. Keep ya posted.
Katie
Last night after spending 6 hours wandering around Pop Quarters, taking down posters and stacking chairs, I hit up a couple of shows. Peter Hook (of Joy Division, playing Joy Division) at Club Soda, TSC post-Sunday Night Improv hangs, and finally The Raincoats up at Cabaret du Mile End to top it all off. It was the last night of Pop Montreal and I wanted to take full advantage of my all-access pass. That I did. Friday I saw The Shaky Aches at L'Esco, Dark Dark Dark at Quai des Brumes then on my way home I stopped by and caught the tail end of Graven at Barfly. Saturday night was equally fun, lots of bouncing: totally stoked to see The Static Jacks at Casa del Popolo, then caught By Divine Right at O Patro Vys, grabbed a slice of zza and popped on back to Casa where I saw a bit of Trust, got overwhelmed by the lack of space and flashing lights, so I got some air with a friend and returned later to catch The Darcys, who were awesome.
Not a single disappointment all week, especially since I got to see Arcade Fire twice, plus their openers, Grimes, Kid Koala and Karkwa. Well technically I heard those last two, as I was busy handing out cups of H2O at a water station on Thursday at the free show. What a great night.
All this time, I've been fighting off a cold for a week and Saturday I felt like I had the flu. My feet felt swollen, my nose was blocked, and I couldn't see "me" when I looked at myself in the mirror. (That ever happen to you? It's creepy.) But I went out anyway, stubborn and somehow feeling obligated. I've been borrowing energy since August, and now my body's fed up and needs a break.
At some point, you've got to tune in and take note of what's going on, otherwise you'll wind up exhausted and sick for serious. I should have done that a few weeks ago and then I wouldn't have gotten sick. But getting sick was probably what I needed so that I'd finally stop doing stuff. It's like how a smoker gets bronchitis for like 6 months at a time. There's no way you can heal yourself while you continue to add to the problem.
Those little ailments that creep up out of nowhere caused by stress, can be attriubuted to our adrenal glands, small triangular glands attached to our kidneys. They are responsible for our fight or flight response. In prehistoric times, they'd provide us with adrenaline when facing a predator let's say, but in today's time our brains still don't know the difference. It responds the same way, only the preditor takes on many shapes and forms. Each time it gets stimulated, the glands produce cortisol, the stress hormone and overproduction will lead to adrenal fatigue. Once that's happened, your body pretty much starts to give up on you. Symptoms can include feeling over-tired, poor digestion, brain fog, food cravings, depleated immune system, difficulty sleeping, the list goes on. That's what brought me to the doctor's office in the first place, prior to my discovery of a raw food lifestyle. I was walking around like a zombie only back then I didn't want to accept I was just a stressed out 26 year old.
As if accepting that we're stressed means we're failing or something. Can't cope with it. I think it usually just means we're not managing our stress effectively, everyone deals with their fair share. Nutritional stress makes up the majority of contributing factors when it comes to adrenal fatigue, and the more processed your food is, the more stress it causes, and there's obviously the many things in life that affect us emotionally too. Too much work, debt, unhealthy relationships and too little time to deal with it all. Brendan Brazier breaks it all down really well, you can read some here. He's a vegan triathlete and actually got adrenal exhaution (past fatigue) from over-exersizing which resulted in weight gain and illness. Hence the Thrive Diet. Awesome guy.
Anyhow, incorporating living foods will take less of a toll on your adrenals, as well as avoiding stimulants such as caffeine (which Brazier describes as borrowed energy). Prioritize the essentials on your to-do list and don't take on more than you can handle. You owe it to yourself to pace yourself and go easy on your spirit. Oh and go to sleep at a reasonable hour (I should take my own advice).
I've wanted to keep busy for various reasons, mostly because it dawned on me finally to get involved in things that interest me, but now I have to deal with the aftermath of 8 months of serious burning-the-candle at both ends. My stomach's wonky, I've been getting daily headaches, I crave sleep and my muscles ache. I get through the day with the coffee I drink and know that it's time to up my green intake.
You know that person in your office or on the bus or wherever that walks around miserable and complains and swears and sounds neurotic and hates everything? Picture that person in macro form sitting on top of your kidneys. Would you really want that monster in charge of your life? Hell no. For more on your adrenal glands, check out: http://www.thatsfit.ca/ .
I'm about due for a cleanse. Keep ya posted.
Katie
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