MOTIVATIONAL MOMENT: Lower your cortisol, stress less ✌

Life can be stressful, and stress can increase our cortisol levels, which in turn can prevent us from getting into a rest and digest state. It can be a cyclical cycle. Sam Wood is here to share how you can lower your cortisol levels and feel better. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Sam.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
What in this is your motivational moment for this week,
and we're going to talk about how to lower your cortisole.
Some of you may have heard of cortisoles, some of
you may have not. Cortisole is the hormone in our
body that having the right amount is really healthy, but
having too much can be unhealthy. People think all stress

(00:24):
is bad. Stressing your body is a good thing. Builds resilience,
it builds fitness, it builds strength, all of those kind
of things. You know, we put our body under stress
when we're running fast, when we're lifting weights, when we're
in an ice bath, whatever it might be, and that's
a good stress on the body. But if there's too
much of that and the cortisole levels get too high,

(00:44):
that's when we have detrimental levels. And that's where our
hormone balance, if you like, becomes so important. So if
we have high levels of stress that increase our cortisole levels,
that can lead to weight gain, particularly around our tummy
and face. It can allow for fragile skin and other
things to heal really slowly, so it slows down the

(01:05):
healing process that can be acne. There can be female
facial hair. There can be a regular menstrual periods. Your
body can always sort of stay in that fight or
flight mode, which we know causes burnout and stress and anxiety.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
So it's good to stress our body out.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Please, please, please don't think that it's not, because for
most of us we probably don't give ourselves anywhere near
enough of the good stress, but we have too much
of the bad stress. So how can we lower our
quartersole levels so that we keep it at the right balance.
Number one, have good sleep hygiene, wake up and go

(01:44):
to sleep at the same time every day, cool dark room,
all of those things you've heard me speak about many
many times. As soon as you get up, go outside.
Going out into the sun straight away helps to lower
your quartersole levels and regulate your circadian rhythm.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
This is a big one.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Don't go on your phone for the first half an
hour after you wake up, which let's all put our
hands up. I bet nine out of ten of us,
if not ten out of ten of us, say I
do that.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
So that is a game changer.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
It's when I've been working on myself exercise good one. Sam,
Fancy that now it doesn't all have to be high intensity, because,
as I mentioned, some of the high intensity exercise does
increase quarters old levels. So three of the workouts a week,
get out of your comfort zone, really push yourself, get
that heart rate up, see what you're made of.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Three other exercise sessions.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Maybe just think of the movement sessions. How will I
move my body today? And I'm not going to worry
about intensity. You don't have to smash yourself every single workout.
Do some deep breathing throughout the day, a very simple
thing that we have full control over to help pull
those quarters old levels down. Now, this is a really
good one that I don't think enough of us do.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Play. Have some bloody fun.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Whether it's with your kids, whether it's with your friends,
whether it's taking up a sport an older age, tennis, golf, whatever.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Play.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
It is a critical part of life that too many
of us forget about. Drink some canon mal tea really simple,
powerful nutritional tip to reduce those cordsole levels.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Watch your caffeine levels.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Don't drink coffee until after breakfast, or replace it with
a green tea.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
I don't do this. I'm putting my hand up.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I love my coffee as soon as I get up
maybe for me, that's one I'm not willing to sacrifice,
if I'm being really honest with you. But the evidence
suggests from a quartersole level perspective, and this is the thing.
At quartersole level, it's not like one thing tips us
over the edge. It's an accumulative effect. So if you're
doing all those other things really well, then your cordsol

(03:55):
levels are going to be nowhere near the overflowing danger meter.
So you can probably have your in the morning and
still be totally fine. But if you're not doing any
of the other things, and you are really stressed, and
you aren't exercising and all these other things, and you're
not sleeping well, then you probably are quite close to
the edge, and the coffee early in the morning could
be the thing that tips you over the edge. So

(04:16):
then when we look at foods that actually help reduce
the quartersole levels, dark chocolate, whole grains, legumes, lentils, probotics,
green tea, getting them at some point in your weekly routine.
All of this stuff has been proven from a nutrition
perspective to help reduce our quarterisole levels. So what is

(04:47):
your listener to USK for this week?

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Will it?

Speaker 2 (04:49):
I could have given you a bigger picture one, but
your listener task is going to be about not getting
on your phone. You are not to get on your
phone for the first thirty minutes that you wake up,
for seven days straight.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
I want you to do it.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
I want you to report back in and I promise
you good things

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Will start to happen.