Life shouldn't be as hard as it is. Our American society places upon us these expectations that are virtually impossible to fulfill. We are programmed to think that we must work ourselves to the bone day in and day out for the majority of our lives, so that we can "retire" (if you're lucky) when we are 65 and then really live our lives... if you're not too sick and doped up on 27 different prescriptions with 82 different side effects, that is. This is just plain WRONG. In fact, we are so indoctrinated with this mindset that if someone doesn't work AT LEAST 40-50 hours a week, they are considered LAZY by most other people. The thing is, we are MAKING OURSELVES SICK, and overworking ourselves is the foundation of it. You see, when you work 55-65 hours a week (let alone 40-50), sleep quantity and quality undoubtedly suffer, as does your eating habits (because eating healthy, home-prepared food takes more time), and also your level of activity drops off. Your stress levels begin to skyrocket because of fatigue, malnourishment, and inactivity so you are therefore less able to handle anything upsetting or stressful. Instead of doing things that would be good for your mind and body (like read, meditate, learn something new, or exercise), you are so damn tired and bummed out that all you want to do is to go home, eat some easy to prepare food (or even worse, take out), watch a movie (or even worse, television), and go to sleep. Then, the next day you drag yourself out of bed too early and not adequately rested and do it all over again. By the time the weekend arrives, you are so sick of your reality that all you want to do is go blow a bunch of the money you have risked your health to earn on alcohol and crappy food. And so the cycle begins. Pretty soon you are so completely out of touch with yourself, sick, overweight, and unhappy because of the large scale hormonal imbalances caused by all of this stress. And it all started with working TOO MUCH.
Sound familiar? You are not alone. This is America after all, so the vast majority of the adult population is with you. These are the same people who make up the statistics of sickness and disease- you know: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. Those statistics WILL represent YOU.. if you aren't careful. Some of you are probably such control freaks that you still workout despite your demanding work schedule, lack of sleep, and sub-par nutrition which includes plenty of grains (I'll go into to evils of grains on another post). Well, you people quite possibly might get sick and die sooner. You see, when you are literally running on empty and have hormones that are so out of whack that your body doesn't even know if it is daytime or nighttime, running 5 miles is the worst thing you could do for yourself. When we are exposed to stress and light (as in daylight- or artificial light when we should be sleeping), we produce the hormone cortisol. Most of us have elevated cortisol ALL THE TIME. Exercise is a stressor. So if you already have elevated cortisol from your busy, worker-bee lifestyle and then you hop on the treadmill for an hour, you are only raising that elevated cortisol higher. Too much cortisol equals DISEASE. Oh and it also makes you fat. Do you ever wonder why you exercise all the time yet you don't lose weight, and sometimes you even (gasp!) gain weight? You spend hours upon hours doing "cardio" and you still can't seem to shed that tummy. Well the answer to this dilemma is in your hormones. Your hormones are dictated by DIET, SLEEP, and STRESS. Period. So before you even think about working out, you have to get your sleeping and eating habits in serious check. Otherwise your workout could be detrimental to your health.
As a trainer I have been known to refuse to train clients when they come in after having not slept or eaten well because I know exactly what a workout will do to them and I don't want to be responsible for that. I have learned this after witnessing client after client completely BONK out in the middle of a workout, unable to finish- so now I just don't even go there. If I myself am sleep deprived, feel like my immunity is low, or am otherwise not functioning effectively, I SKIP THE WORKOUT. It has taken me YEARS to learn that this is okay to do- because just like our mentality to overwork ourselves for money, we also have this sick and twisted idea of exercise and how skipping it is just not an option unless you are deathly ill. Which brings me to another point- if you are sick, PLEASE don't be so selfish as to go out in public (work, the gym, or wherever) and INFECT everything and everyone you touch. Stay at home and do yourself and everybody else a favor and just heal yourself. Okay, that was a bit of a tangent... I will make my point now:
If you have any control over how many hours a week you work: WORK LESS. Spend more time with your family (especially if you have kids) and friends. What is the point of working so hard for your family if you are so sick and tired by the time you get to be with them that you aren't any fun to be around? Not to mention, working less (and the subsequent effects) will prolong your lifespan and improve the quality of said lifespan. Do things that make you HAPPY and make you THINK (like, don't just watch t.v. or waste time on Facebook). SLEEP MORE and EAT VEGETABLES. Drink LOTS of water- WATER, not water with some artificial fruit flavored sugar alcohol powder added to it because you, "just don't like water" (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Water is life!!) DRINK REAL, PURE, UNADULTERATED WATER. Only when you have created good sleeping and eating habits should you even consider working out regularly.
Over the next few weeks I will be posting more information on how to achieve optimum wellness.
But for now, let's just start with working less.
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