Types of Stress

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  0:02  
Stress adds cortisol. So that hormone is gonna get you to store more fat, the higher insulin levels are going to get you to store more fat. And so it's just a cycle that tends to repeat itself over and over and over. And the fact that comes along in those situations is that visceral fat, that fat that's, and in and around your organs, and that's the stuff we're really nervous about, you know. And so, stress is a big driver when it comes to that visceral belly fat, which is connected to high blood pressure, diabetes, different types of cancer, and lots of other comorbidities. 

Hey there! Welcome to Your Health Moment with Dr. Fitness. On this podcast, I want to give you the tools to start, continue and never give up on your journey towards health. Whether you struggle with your weight, eating the right food, drinking enough water, exercise, or even time management, you are in the right place. And I'm here for you. If you want to take the next step on your health journey, I'd invite you to reach out to me, and we'll put together a plan that starts right where you are. So get in touch with me directly at www.iamdrfitness.com or my instagram @iamdrfitness. And it's spelled I A M D R fitness. My name, Dr. Fitness. And this is Your Health Moment. 

All right, let the shenanigans begin. Welcome to the first part of stress. And I say first part because we will be doing two parts. Now you may not think that you're stressed. But stress is an unavoidable part of life, all of us experience it. But some of us handle it better than others. I'm one of those people that have been really aware of the stress in my life. From the very beginning, it seems I've been totally aware that, you know, I get stressed in and I feel it, I feel it everywhere I get the butterflies in my stomach. And you know, I get a little nauseous at times when I'm under stress. So I feel it. And in some people, gee, they don't feel it, they don't have a problem with stress, they just handle tons of stress that's coming at them. And they're fine. But others are not fine in there are ways to tell. If you're really handling stress Well, or if you're handling stress not so well. And which is crazy, some people who think that they're doing a great job handling stress, when we really look through it. And as we get into it today, you may think, Hey, I'm doing really great at handling my stress. But as you listen to the points that I'm going to be bringing up, you might reevaluate how well you're doing. So keep that in the back of your mind and keep an open mind as as we get together with this because, um, from the beginning, no, you know, I wasn't doing a good job. So not winning the people that felt really cocky about how I was managing stress. It's one of those things I've really had to learn to do, and work really hard at. And so that's why it's so important to me to share the information that I've learned over the years, and I've helped other people to, to use some of the same tools. But let's get on stress. You know, most of us aren't going to experience stress, I mean, all of us are going to experience stress, but some of us are going to handle it well. And some of us are not going to do a really good job with it. It's everywhere. There's chronic stress, that's a stress that we have, if we are, you know, dealing with financial pressure. And so every month that rent is due and we don't make enough money to pay it. So I've dealt with people that have not had finances and so every time that it comes to either pay a fee that they're paying me they're behind or struggling in. So what's supposed to be helping them to manage stress by exercising and meditating is just adding to their stress. And when it's adding to your stress, there are things that are going on in your head that really need to be worked out and some people don't realize it Now, so when it's chronic, and it's all the time, it's problematic. Now, there's the other type of stress, it's temporary, you're in a traffic jam. You know, someone stops really fast in front of you. It's stress, but it's short term, boom, and it's gone. Okay? Now, when I'm dealing with short term stress, and helping people deal with short term stress, it's a lot easier. Okay? Because we know it's going to go away. And usually, it's not the stress that's going to create health challenges for us. So for example, if you have high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, even blood sugar issues, back pain and different types of pain it in a lot of cases, is there stress involved in that process. And that's one of those areas that most of us have a hard time recognizing that you know, what, these everyday challenges that I'm needing to take more medication for? It's because I'm not managing my stress well, but making that connection is really difficult for people to make. Now, I've worked with I mean, I, I've worked with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of clients. And it least 75% of them, stress was a part of the challenge for them. And most of that 75% had no idea that stress was a challenge for them. Some of them knew they were going through challenges, but never connected those challenges, with challenges with their workout, with challenges with their diet, with challenges with their blood pressure, with challenges with their belly fat, they never connected them. You know. And it's really interesting, watching someone make that connection, that wow, all this stuff that I'm challenged by is coming about, because I'm not managing my stress. Well, it's huge. And one of the things that, for example, one of the things I noticed, is when caretakers, so people that I've worked with nurses, and healthcare professionals, and I work with people that live in their home and taking care of relatives that are challenged, physically and challenged mentally, so they have to be caretakers. That is chronic stress. That's the stress that they're facing on a daily basis. On some levels, they get used to it. But they realize when I get to see them, I'm seeing them because of belly fat issues. Because of mobility challenges. They're either having a difficult time now lifting that family member and doing it safely or they got injured attempting to caretake and I get access to people during those times. And always, stress has been a factor in it, that they just have a really difficult time acknowledging. So and that's a group of people that I have a really I have so much compassion for, because it's difficult when you have a relative that you're taking care of that is either mentally incapacitated or physically challenged. And it wears on your body in ways that's really difficult for most people to even recognize or understand. So just know if you're in that position. Keep an open mind as we continue forward. Okay. Because this is an area that's really I think underserved when it comes to exercise and nutrition programming for people that are dealing with stress, because most people don't really understand it, and most people have a hard time acknowledging it.

Then there's the other people that have chronic stress, but it's not because of finances because they're financially secure. I get to work with them to financially secure. They don't have any health challenges, really, and but what they do is create challenges. So in their world, I'll give you an example. I have a really great client that I work with financially secure, no health problems. But the problem that she created for herself is taking on the role of being caretaker for you know, her children that are not doing as well financially, and not doing that well, with health issues and substance abuse challenges. So, by her taking that responsibility, and kind of not saying no, she brings a great deal of stress onto her life, which impacted her health. So her blood pressure, heart disease, the stress levels were just through the roof for her. And it eliminated time that she used to take care of herself. You know, self time is really important. And so, you know, one of the things that we want to really understand is understanding self time, but don't worry, part two, we're going to really dig into things that you can do to take care of yourself, and to not feel guilty about doing something for yourself. So whether you're financially secure, whether you're dealing with injured relatives, or in some way, it's it stresses there. And when I was little, my grandma used to say, we'd be running around, we'd be making tons of noise. And one of the things that she'd say to us is, you are getting on my nerves, you know, and now my nerves are bad, you all are making my nerves bad. And back then I never understood that to really mean stressing me out. I never made that connection for some reason. But now I realize that when you're feeling stressed the system, and that's really that is really kind of aggravated, you know what I mean? Or what's what's a better way for me to say that the way your body puts stress, the area that first affected in your body is going to be body parts that are related to your nervous system. So through especially like your digestive system, we're always talking about butterflies, you know, your intestinal system, you know, so if you've ever heard the expression about butterflies or felt them in your stomach, hey, that's coming from stress. If you have had digestive disorders, we know Hall SIRs are really connected to stress, diarrhea, diarrhea, appetite problems. So you can either be really hungry and want to eat or you can lose your appetite. And these things really weigh heavily on your health. Besides that, there's constipation challenges and actually diarrhea, stress can cause that. Other common symptoms or signs, if you're not aware of them are being really agitated and cranky, hard to be around. You're always in a mood. Of course, I mentioned blood pressure, headaches, neck pain. So there are a lot of symptoms to be aware of when it comes to dealing with stress. So knowing what those symptoms are, are really important. Important. You know, I had a client who had like in high Oh, have an eye twitch. And she went to the doctor and it turned out that the eye twitch came from stress. And there's this great eye doctor who has done some research on different types of twitching in your eye in levels of stress and she noticed that her patients that had eye twitching when she did a B e6 stress test for them in stress Tess's, they asked her, she asked a series of questions about what's going on in their living situation in their life. And if you score high on it, you know, you have high stress and maybe if you haven't taken one of the stress tests, and you're not in, you're interested, you can do more online. So I don't have that information. But I will post a place where you can do a post it where you can do get information on the stress test. So add me as is another symptom. So if you get acne, really itchy skin is a symptom of you know, I found to that clients that were chronically ill, so every time and they would be sick every so many weeks with a cold or flu clients that were chronically ill, were also high, when we had any discussions about stress. And not they would go hey, I'm really stressed now. It'd be when we talk about, you know how you're doing well, I'm going through a divorce right now, home. So I did death in the family. Home. So when I hear those, you know, I realized wow, that would you know, there's some real challenges here. And, and that may be the reason for the immune system being low, because when you're stressed, it has an impact on your immune system. And so that's one of the things in in there are clients to women clients that have heavier cycles, menstrual cycles, because of it more severe cramps, that it turns out that the hormonal challenges are more severe for some patients when they have high stress levels. So that's definitely one thing to look at, if that's the challenge for you. And I noticed because, you know, these are times where people are not comfortable coming to the gym and working out or having sessions where they're working on their nutrition. So when people are not feeling good, they tend not to do the things that are really good for them. Which always seems kind of confusing, because even me if I'm not feeling good, I'm not at my best, I will select all my workout, aluminum, maybe, you know, eat some comfort foods. So these things are just really pretty common for all of us. There's no judgment in it, it's just great to be aware that it's happening. So rashes, itchy skin. And the big one, abdominal fat. Belly Fat is one of the primary drivers is stress. Because usually people are reaching for comfort foods, which are those carbs that are really simple, are really comfort, great comfort foods, and they contribute to it, the stress adds cortisol. So that hormone is gonna get you to store more fat and the higher insulin levels are going to get you to store more fat. And so it's just a cycle that tends to repeat itself over and over and over. And the fact that comes along in those situations is that visceral fat, that fat that's in, in and around your organs. And that's the stuff we're really nervous about, you know. And so stress is a big driver when it comes to that visceral belly fat, which is connected to high blood pressure, diabetes, different types of cancer, and lots of other comorbidities. So I also worked with the just have so many great people that I've had the chance to work with

mom of five boys. And a husband says she's the only female presence in the house. So there was a lot of stress there. So she would share moments that she had tons of stress, dealing with all the male energy in her home, people bouncing off the wall. And she had to deal with that. And what she realized was, she would get these severe headaches when they would be In one of their more wrung bug, rambunctious moments, we get these crazy headaches. And she just really didn't know where they were coming from, how to deal with them. So she went to neurologist and different doctors. And finally, she spoke with someone who said, hey, it's the stress that you're dealing with. And there was still not a great medical solution to it. I mean, they gave her pills. But until she started working out, exercising consistently, changing her food, that's when her headaches really subsided. And that was really great for her to understand. And it was great for me to see and have that firsthand account, that even when it comes to headaches, of course, tension headaches, exercise is exercising great nutrition kind of wins the day. I had another guy that I had to work with that I met in the clinic not had to work with, I really enjoyed actually working with them. I met him in the clinic. And he had really bad I'm not using names because I'm you know, HIPAA, but I'll tell you, he had really bad halitosis. And so we you know, during COVID, we've been doing the six feet apart from people and everyone being masked. And when your breath is strong enough that people can smell it from six feet away with a mask, it's really a real tough situation, I can only imagine what he was going through during the rest of his day, it could have it was probably crazy challenging. But one of the things that he shared was, his gums were bleeding all the time. So it went to several dentists and several doctors. And it turns out that because of his stress hormone cortisol, it impaired his immune system and allowed bacteria to invade his gums. And up to that point, I never realized that, you know, your cortisol levels could also affect your immune system to the level where your gums are bleeding, and you're losing teeth. And you have really bad periodontal disease. And so, stress put you at higher risk for even periodontal disease. And, you know, most people don't think, are really aware of that. When it comes to back pain, I have the pleasure of working with chiropractors, excuse me, and when it comes to back pain, it's very common, that there are wheat issues. And there are stress issues. And treating those are also very necessary when it comes to really long term success of for treating back pain. So it's interesting that what you're doing with your exercise, what you're doing with your nutrition is key. And on part two, I'm going to introduce proven methods that we've found to help people to reduce their stress to exercise more consistently, and to change their nutrition. But it's funny, none of the consistent exercise for most clients or is even possible until there's some stress reduction work being done. So, it's difficult to get someone to exercise regularly, if they're really carrying a lot of stress all the time or even eat right. Because most of us will use food to kind of make us feel better. And that's really important for us to be mindful of. You may be one of those people that eat when you're sad and don't even know it or eat when you You're stressed and don't even realize that you're using comfort food or the cravings that you have, are because of what you're feeling. It's really common, most of us kind of are aware of that. But when it comes right down to it, when we're in the feelings, were not acknowledging it. So we're in the talk next week on how to do the process, or how to have that process of acknowledging that what's going on and how to move into it. And it's, it's not psychiatry, cotton, it's not psychology. It really is more lifestyle. So we're approaching it from a life Scott a lifestyle, methodology. So the term how we're going to approach it, and you are going to love it. I mean, the thing about, you know, mental health in our country, now, it's not given the attention that it really needs to get in, it's not getting getting the funding that it really needs to get. Insurance companies aren't doing what they what they legally are supposed to be doing when it comes to providing the people they insure with adequate mental health services. So it does put the onus on us to find other ways to really manage our stress levels, and things that you know, can throw our whole mental health game out of whack. So it's important to do that. And another sign too, is when I work with people that are always fatigued. Usually, it's another sign that there is a lot of stress that they're facing and dealing with. So if you can connect to any of that, if, if you're tired all the time, if you're fatigued, if you have headaches. If you are a caretaker, then definitely listen to next week's show because you'll really be happy with the proven strategies that will help you to start managing your stress. And there are eight strategies that I'll be introducing actually nine that I'll be introducing next week. So you'll get this information. And I'll show you how it's worked in my life doing these and I'll also share how it's worked with clients and patients that I've had the privilege of working with as well. So thank you again for listening to the signs and symptoms of stress in the regular man on the street and people that are really trying to do different things with their health and may not be aware of it. So if you have these symptoms and you haven't been aware of them, then definitely listen next week so we can give you some strategies to to get on top of it. Okay, thanks again for listening to your health moment with your host me, Dr. Fitness. 

Thank you so much for listening to another episode of Your Health Moment. Learning what tools will help you to live a life you love is so important. And I encourage you to check out some of the other episodes. If you're ready to take the next step for your health. I'd love to have that conversation. Head over to wwwiamdrfitness.com or go to my Instagram @iamdrfitness and that spelled I am Dr. Fitness to get in touch with me and we will put together a plan that starts right where you are today. My name is Dr. Fitness. And I will see you next time on Your Health Moment.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai