Part 2. Learn what stress does to your body

Welcome to part 2 of the 'Stress is a Mess' episode. Join Bithiah, your wellness coach, as she shares her mission to guide you towards success by prioritizing health and wellness. This eye-opening episode challenges the notion that stress is necessarily a bane and talks about the importance of fostering a balanced outlook.

Unpacking the hidden impact of stress, Bithiah dives deep into the subject of stress hormones, bringing clarity on their role and their potential harm if not managed well. The focus is on understanding the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, what they can do to your body, and the importance of leveraging them for boosting productivity and energy levels.

Through this episode, meet Jenna, Emma, Molly, and Sarah - four characters dealing with stress in their respective professional and personal realms. Their stories shed light on the different ways chronic stress can manifest through digestive problems, productivity issues, detox troubles, and hormonal imbalances.

Get practical and easy-to-follow tips on tackling these potential stress repercussions - from mindful eating, maintaining hydration, and incorporating friendly foods, to prioritizing sleep, practicing mindfulness, and consulting with healthcare professionals. Dispel the glorified hustle culture and discover the authentic path to success by listening to your body and putting your health first.

End this journey with a powerful takeaway: prioritizing yourself and your well-being is paramount. Tune in to ignite a change in your perceptive and actions towards stress, essentially enhancing your journey to wellness.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey y'all, welcome back to part 2 of my Stress is a Mess episode.
It's Bithiah, your wellness coach and your personal cheerleader.
Now are you wondering why?
It's because my mission is to help you feel success by prioritizing your health and wellness first.
Alright, so if you've listened to part 1 of my episode, we got super personal

(00:24):
there, where I shared my life story as a high-achieving corporate girly.
But if you haven't listened to part one seriously hit
the pause button now and go listen to it
you don't want to miss out on that all right
folks so as promised today we
are going to unpack the hidden impact of stress in a

(00:47):
way that hits home and look
stress isn't just a six-letter word we
get it hammered into us that it is
the bad guy but do
we really understand why and i guess my question is are you ready to understand
the why if you had asked me this a couple years ago i would have told you what

(01:11):
do you mean success cannot be reached without out stress.
The more stress you have, the faster you're going to get to where you want to be.
Now, I mean, it is kind of true, but it's not really true, right?
You got to have a balance.
So I guess if you had asked me now, I would tell you how I leverage my stress

(01:36):
hormones to help me boost my productivity and my energy levels.
Really, I've totally changed my mindset around how I look at stress hormones.
And I want to help you guys see the bigger picture as well.
But before you can see the bigger picture and utilize your stress hormones,
you got to really, really understand what stress hormones can do to your body

(02:00):
when it is not managed properly.
So the game starts with hormones, adrenaline and cortisol.
Our body's alarm system, aka fight or flight system,
And they are actually fine in small doses, as I was explaining earlier.

(02:21):
But it becomes a disaster when it just doesn't know when to shut off.
Have you ever had that one friend or someone you know who just hypes you up for chaos?
I'll be honest, I actually don't have a friend that does that.
But I do know someone that has a friend like that.

(02:42):
And to be honest stress is kind of like that friend and when it gets chronic
it just doesn't know when to quit.
Let me share Jenna's story. She's a mid-30s professional juggling deadlines,
meetings, and the constant pressure to excel.
Jenna noticed her digestion going haywire, bloating

(03:05):
irregular bowel movements the whole
nine yards turns out chronic
stress was wreaking havoc on her gut health turning her work-life hustle into
a digestive struggle so for anyone that has faced similar experiences as jenna
a good place to start is by checking in with yourself have you been under huge

(03:29):
amounts of stress lately?
And if you're unsure, that's totally fine.
But what you can do is maybe start a journal or get on an app,
whichever that's comfortable for you.
The idea is to write down how you're feeling every day.
And when things get hard and you find your body going out of tune,

(03:49):
check your past data and go from there.
And here are a few more tips that I want want to share with you guys.
Incorporate mindful eating. Make sure you're always staying hydrated,
so lots of water. Consider adding gut-friendly foods.
Now, I'm not saying that following these tips will help get rid of stress,

(04:11):
but a little love for your stomach can go a long way in calming the storm.
And I'm going to shift gears now to Emma's experience.
She is a rising star in her mid-20s, climbing the corporate ladder.
And when Emma got promoted, she was excited and wanted to prove her worth.

(04:35):
She wanted to show her manager her capabilities by working extra hard and long hours.
And without even her realizing, stress was already taking a toll on her work.
Productivity started going down she was
missing deadlines and would often forget important
tasks which made her feel super

(04:57):
low about herself and those that
really know emma would tell you that she is a brilliant young lady and she has
really good track record as well so what happened there it's no other than elevated
cortisol levels affecting her brain health and productivity.

(05:20):
So for emma and everyone nodding along
a strategy to combat brain fog prioritize your sleep make sure you're getting
your seven hours of sleep well seven hours is the least amount but between seven
and nine practice mindfulness consider breaking tasks into smaller manageable chunks angst.

(05:43):
Your brain deserves a clear runway to shine and only you can do that.
Not your manager, not your spouse, not your mom, only you. So start prioritizing
yourself and well-being.
Let's meet Molly, a mid-40s professional who balances a demanding job with weekend indulgences.
Yummy margaritas chocolate

(06:06):
lava cake lots of
late nights boy was she working over
time and do you know who else was as well her liver see when you're under chronic
stress everything gets amplified so in molly's case elevated cortisol levels
was hindering her her liver's detox superpowers.

(06:30):
And you really don't want that to happen. Because if your liver isn't able to
absorb nutrients and flush out toxins,
and when your food gets your gut, it is going to cause digestive issues because
it's got lots of toxins that hasn't been flushed out yet.

(06:50):
So for all the Mollies out there, a tip to show your liver some love,
limit your alcohol intake, and again, stay hydrated and consider incorporating liver-friendly foods.
Your liver works hard. Let's give it the support it needs.
I'm currently taking dandelion root tea and milk thistle because that's how much I love my liver.

(07:15):
And lastly, let's talk about Sarah, a professional in her early 30s,
and she just can't seem to find work-life balance.
As an entrepreneur, she is super passionate about growing her business and often
finds herself working till late.
Two months later, she finds herself with irregular periods and heightened PMS

(07:38):
symptoms, and she just couldn't understand why.
Well, why else?
It's because when you're cortisol levels are elevated,
it is so contagious that it would also influence your estrogen and progesterone
levels to go out of balance.

(08:00):
And an imbalance in these hormones may contribute to conditions such as estrogen
dominance or insufficient progesterone levels, which leads leads to PMS and irregular periods.
If you can relate to Sarah, a tip to restore hormonal harmony,
practice stress management techniques such as breathing, grounding,

(08:22):
meditation, or the 4-7-8 breath work.
Also, again, make sure you're getting at least seven hours of sleep.
Consider consulting with a healthcare professional. Now,
I know we're all very much used to the hustle culture and how the society has
kind of ingrained into us that to show that you are working hard,

(08:48):
you'd have to down lots of caffeine throughout the day or work long hours or
just get used to not having enough sleep.
But these are the habits that will set you up for failure, not long-term success.
I know success is important, But remember that your body is the one fueling

(09:09):
your ambitious mindset, not the other way around.
Keeping your health in check is the first step.
And if you don't believe me, ask any 7-8 figure successful entrepreneurs.
What is the first thing that they do for themselves?
I hope you've learned a thing or two about how elevated stress hormones affect the rest of your body.

(09:33):
And the question now is will you be prioritizing yourself starting today?
Until next time, take care and thank you for listening.