Burnout is real, but there's hope - Mindfulness

Tired, overwhelmed, feeling like everyone around you is a moron, not getting good sleep. These are all common symptoms of being burnt out - a condition that makes it difficult to do things like cook healthy meals, get in workouts and a good night's sleep. Basically, being healthy becomes a major pain in the ass.

Fortunately, there has been a recent study out of Finland that has shown that a mindset shift, and a simple one at that, can alleviate a lot of the problems that burnout creates, and help us stay on track with our health and wellness. Below are the results of a randomized controlled study. 

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How the study worked

After using the Bergen Burnout Indicator (BBI) to identify 202 employees with burnout, researchers split study participants into two groups.

Group #1: In addition to standard burnout treatment, these study participants got 8 weeks worth of mindfulness classes. Twice a day, six days a week, participants did 10-15 minutes of mindfulness meditation. They also brought mindfulness into their daily activities.

Group #2: These burned out individuals received standard treatments, but no mindfulness training.

Over 10 months the researchers measured how five mindfulness skills affected the three main symptoms of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy.

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What the study found

The mindfulness intervention helped alleviate all burnout symptoms beyond standard treatment alone.

Though each of the 5 mindfulness skills proved effective during the first 8 weeks of the study, the study revealed that the "non-judging" skill continued months after the initial intervention had ended. To combat cynicism and professional efficacy, the observation skill was continued well past the study as well.

Takeaways for you

1. Keep an eye out for signs of burnout.

How can you tell if you are or are becoming burned out? The researchers offered a few helpful clues.

Are you:

• Complaining of exhaustion, saying things like, “I’m just snowed under” or “I’m just so run down.”

• Sounding cynical, making comments like, “Who cares?” and “I don’t know why I bother.”

• Lacking confidence, perhaps telling you, “It’s impossible for me to do a good job.”

Here’s a little more detail on how stressors like burnout can manifest. See if you can relate to one or more of the symptoms below.

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2. Talking about relaxation techniques or forcing relaxation/meditation techniques can actually make us feel more stressed

It’s not that we don't believe in the need for, or the power of relaxation, rather, we struggle seeing ourselves in that space. We all can't imagine meditating. Or doing breathing exercises. And the more we feel pressured to do it, the less likely it will be effective.

That’s why it can be helpful to reframe mindfulness as a daily practice they can do in small chunks—and in conjunction with other activities. Try:

• Washing the dishes, observing how the soap and water feels and smells.
• Eating, by slowing down and noticing every nuance of their meal’s flavor.
• Walking, by mentally observng and describing what they see and experience, without reacting to it. For example, they might notice that snow makes a crunching sound under their feet, but not ruminate over the “terrible” weather.

3. If you're interested in mindfulness, the mind-body scan is a great place to start.

This is something that I have recently tapped into with my new coach. I didn't realize how checked out I was of how I really felt until I started this. 

To do it, people just rest quietly and scan their body from head to toe, observing their physical sensations, without judging or reacting to them. Clients can use any number of apps—such as Calm or Headspace—for a guided experience.

Think of it as an experiment or a challenge. What if you tried this for 2 weeks, keeping a log on mood, sleep and stress level. Yes, we love our wearables, but sometimes your Whoop data isn't telling you everything. 

4. As coaches, we look for opportunities to bring mindfulness into our  conversations with you. 

This is a critical piece as to what we do. We work in non-reacting, non-judgment methods that are designed to help you. Because we've been there. And helping you get better makes the life of everyone around you better. So don't hesitate to reach out - for a free consultation email me at guy@crossfitironflag.com or go to www.ironflagfitness.com and click on the nutrition link for a free nutrition consultation. 

Stay strong,

Guy

Does this Stress make me look fat?

 

We didn’t need a pandemic to tell us stress contributes to weight gain.

(Seriously, pandemic: You totally weren’t necessary.)

But why, exactly, is stress a problem?

Honestly, we do tend to eat (particularly processed foods) more and exercise less, but is that all there is to it? What are the underlying reasons why we act the way we do?

Thanks to a fascinating review from UCLA researchers that shows why stress and obesity are so closely related.

In fact, according to the scientists (who provide some real clarity on this subject), stress and obesity are more closely intertwined than most experts even recognize.

Part 1: How stress can lead to weight gain

In the chart below, which I adapted from the paper, provide the science

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The idea: Stress can affect a bunch of “systems” that are involved in weight control.

What’s more, these aren’t just isolated effects. Follow the little arrows, and you can see that each system can affect all the others. (Your nutrition coaches refer to this as feedback loops.)

Let’s dig into the details of each system a little more.

► Cognition

Stress can mess with your mind, specifically executive function and self-regulation. Together, these include mental skills like thinking, planning, and organizing, as well as the ability to focus and manage your emotions.

► Behaviors

No one’s surprised that stress influences eating, physical activity, and sleep behaviors. But even within this system, each of these factors can also affect one another. As the researchers point out: ”Lack of sleep can hinder physical activity, and lack of physical activity can disrupt sleep.”

► Physiology

Here’s where it gets more “sciency.” The researchers outline three ways stress might affect you physiologically:

• It throws off stress hormones. This can make you want to eat more, and can also tell your body to store fat. By the way, the scientific term for this is “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation” (which I didn’t lead with because 😴).
• It motivates you to seek “rewards.” Wait, aren't we always after those? Sure, but the scientists say that stress can seriously crank up your brain’s appetite for feel-good chemicals, such as dopamine. This can drive you to eat foods that are highly palatable (sugar and fat!), or seek out alcohol or drugs.
• It might throw off your microbiome. There’s not a lot of research on humans, but the researchers speculate stress may negatively affect your microbiome—which could make you more susceptible to weight gain. Plus—and we’ll quote the researchers here—“... more eerily, the gut microbiome can affect how we feel and behave.” 

► Biochemistry

Stress may also impact blood chemicals related to weight control, according to the scientists. Specifically:

• Leptin and ghrelin: These are hormones that can affect our hunger and appetite. (Leptin suppresses hunger and appetite while ghrelin stimulates them. Though it’s much more complicated than this, the basics of the hormones do apply. 

• Neuropeptide Y: This peptide may stimulate both your appetite and fat storage.

That’s a lot of factors. Maybe enough to stress you out.

But wait… there’s more.

Part 2: How obesity can lead to stress.

Now, same chart, with one addition: weight stigma.

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Guess what? It creates another feedback loop!

In this case: Obesity leads to weight stigma which then creates… more stress. And on we go.

You might call it a vicious cycle. Or a nasty web. Or one big giant cluster fuck. Because that's exactly what it feels like when we are stuck in this loop. A mess that seems uncontrollable and worse yet, with no hope in sight.

Your takeaways

1. Look beyond eating advice and nutrition plans.

This paper—and the feedback loops it shows—are but one example of why working with clients is usually about far more than just the food, says Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, PN’s Director of Nutrition.

As a coach, I believe in a holistic approach. So we can't just focus on macros. Because no matter how wonderfully dialed in they are, if the underlying issues causing stress are not addressed, then no amount of protein will fix it. 

2. We start by working on the biggest problem first.

This means that looking at your nutrition, or going "food first" may not be the best approach. So we do some probing. We ask questions that aren't food or fitness related. You need to know these as much as your coach does. It helps us develop skills that you can practice which will not only affect stress, but your eating, your sleep, everything. This is about lifestyle change. Removing or addressing the stress is important for every facet of your being. And truthfully, those around you as well. On our own, we typically don't think of developing these skills. Its why having a coach is so critical.

We can help clients see new solutions to old problems.

Here's an example as to what we coach: and why consistently practicing these skills can help control the stress (or remove it) and those dreadful feedback loops.

• Make better food choices
• Eat more appropriate portion sizes and amounts
• Get more deep sleep
• Be more physically active

These all seem simple enough. But each has skills and habits that take time to create and cultivate. Its why I'm here. Its why we have a nutrition staff at Iron Flag. Stress doesn't need to run your life. You can take control back and create the change for the better. You deserve this, and so does everyone you come in contact with daily. A better you is someone who the world needs.

Stay strong,

Guy

How come I can't eat that? - Experimenting with your nutrition for a better life

 It happens to some of us, maybe more than we know. We can, for years, eat things like ice cream, bread, pasta, cheese, etc, and then one day, those same foods begin to cause pain. Discomfort. You think your GI is out to get you.  Or its a "getting older" problem. Odds are, its something that's been lurking for some time and it has finally manifested in a way that got your attention. Food sensitivities. I want to discuss how to do your own testing and find ways to feel better.

Some people—myself included—can clear up their symptoms without giving up a single food.

Put another way, millions of people are convinced that they can’t eat dozens of foods when, in reality, few (and, in some cases, none) of those foods are actually a problem for them.

Let’s start with a few definitions.

What are food sensitivities?

Some people use the term “food sensitivities” as a catchall to describe a wide range of adverse symptoms that can be brought on by eating certain foods.

Other people define sensitivities more narrowly. For them, food sensitivities are what’s left over when the following problems are ruled out

• Food allergies: When the immune system mistakenly treats a component in food as if it were a germ. This can lead to a wide range of allergic responses: hives, swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening drops in blood pressure.
• Food intolerances: The inability to process or digest certain foods. For example, someone who is lactose intolerant doesn’t have adequate amounts of the digestive enzymes needed to break down lactose, a sugar present in dairy products.
• Celiac disease: An autoimmune reaction that triggers gut inflammation and diarrhea when someone consumes gluten, a protein found in many grains, most notably wheat.

Still other people use the word “sensitivity” interchangeably with “intolerance.” They throw around the term IBS (short for irritable bowel syndrome)—trying to indicate that something in the diet is making someone feel sick, but they’re unsure of the culprit.

It’s all pretty confusing, so let’s make it simple.

For the purposes of this story, I’ll borrow a definition from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology: “A food sensitivity occurs when a person has difficulty digesting a particular food.”

I want to take this opportunity to stress that there are food sensitivity tests that you can have done by medical professionals. I have had food sensitivity testing done. While it can be informative, the information regarding what kind of testing and how to read your tests is a post in itself. For today, I want to focus solely on the Elimination diet, which is easily done at home using a journal.

Zero-cost ways to test for food sensitivities—at home

When clients come to me with GI symptoms, I use two different tools to help them connect what they eat with how they feel.

Tool #1: Food journaling

For roughly a month, my clients keep track of:

• What they eat and drink
• How they eat (for example, wolfing down fast food while driving to an appointment vs. slowly savoring a home-cooked meal)
• How much they eat (until just satisfied versus stuffed)
• How they feel, and especially bothersome symptoms such as diarrhea, headaches, bloating, and stomach pain
• How they sleep
• Their stress level 

Once they have 30 days of data, we take a look at their journal entries in search of patterns.

To highlight those patterns, I like to bring a client’s attention to days when they experienced vexing symptoms, such as stomach upset. Then I ask:

“What do you notice in your journal in the 2 to 3 days leading up to that flare up? See anything interesting?”

If applicable, I also draw attention to any stretches of time when they had no symptoms at all—and I’ll ask the same question:

“What do you notice in the days leading up to this good stretch? Did you do anything differently during those days that you didn’t do in the days leading up to the flare up?”

This journaling exercise helps people identify sensitivities as well as see they may not have as many sensitivities as they thought.

For example, after looking over their journal, a client might say, “Whoa, I accidentally had dairy on Sunday, and I didn’t have any diarrhea the next day. That’s really weird. But I did have diarrhea just about every day this other week—and I was eating perfectly then. But I was super stressed out. Do you think there’s a connection?”

Tool #2: The elimination diet

Elimination diets work a lot like a science experiment to help people identify foods that lead to a wide range of bothersome symptoms. And they do pretty much what the name suggests: exclude certain foods for a short period of time—usually three weeks.

After three weeks, clients then slowly reintroduce specific foods one at a time, each reintroduction spaced a few days apart. As they do so, they monitor their symptoms for possible reactions. Unlike food sensitivity blood tests, elimination diets are the gold standard for identifying food sensitivities.

The problem with elimination diets? They take time and effort.

Do I wish I had a fancy, high tech, super science-y way (like a blood test) to give clients a definitive answer? Absolutely. I do. Because a fancy blood test is easier (for most people) than food logs and elimination diets.

Right now, however, this trial and error approach to testing out different foods is the best we’ve got. And, it works. Because we've seen it work, time and time again. Not just the Nutrition coaches at Iron Flag, nutrition coaches worldwide have had success with it as well. 

Now, the hard part is the time and patience it takes to do this. As stated earlier, its not like a simple blood test where you get the results in a few days and Bam! magic, you have answers. Rather, you get to be the scientist in this case, and really get to dial in the changes you see and more importantly feel, with certain foods. Example, I love True Foods Kitchen. And every time I ordered from there, I got their cauliflower. Delicious. But I would feel ridiculously bloated after every meal from there. The last few times I ordered, I didn't get the cauliflower. Results? No bloating. I realized it wasn't me eating too fast or too much, it was that dish. So I don't have to stop eating from my favorite place, just order differently. 

When we journal, it helps to keep the following questions in mind. Because your digestion is directly connected to the points below. Nothing in our bodies happens in a vacuum. It is all connected. While we inherently know this, we often don't act like we do. We tend to see things independently, which clouds our vision when connecting the dots. So when you journal, keep these in mind -

• How long does it take you to eat your meals?
• What’s your sleep like?
• Do you usually eat at home… or do most meals happen somewhere else, say in the car?
• How would you describe your stress level

A journal will show you the whole picture, not just one meal in an isolated state. 

Knowledge really can be life-changing.

Our psychological state and our ability to manage our stress has a much bigger impact on digestion than most people realize. Reread that sentence. The more we know, the better we can live. 

If doing a food sensitivity test is something you'd like to try, hit me up at guy@crossfitironflag.com. I'm happy to discuss it with you to help you eat and live better.

Stay strong,

Guy