Understanding adrenal fatigue hasn’t always been easy, but as we learn more about it and what we can do to correct it, more and more people are beginning to heal and take their lives back!
What is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe HPA Axis Dysregulation. The HPA axis is what controls the body’s response to stress. The HPA axis (which includes your hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands) produces stress hormones in the body. In other words, adrenal fatigue occurs when these glands get overworked (when we experience prolonged stress) and they stop producing essential hormones, including cortisol.
Cortisol plays an important role in the body’s overall functioning. When under significant stress, cortisol helps redistribute energy to important parts of the body including the brain, heart, and muscles. This is why people are able to flip over a car after they’ve been in an accident to save someone inside. Our bodies are able to perform incredibly under extreme stress—for very short periods of time.
When functioning properly, the HPA Axis regulates the body’s responsiveness to stress, and everything works as it should. However, when the HPA axis is dysfunctional, the body is no longer able to respond to daily stressors and regulate its response to them. When this happens, it’s typical to experience huge spikes and drops in cortisol levels, which usually results in feeling completely wiped out and moody. Most people also experience:
Exhaustion (even when they haven’t been active)
Trouble sleeping (tired but wired)
Depressed immune system (they get sick all the time)
Can’t lose weight (no matter how much they work out or restrict food)
Rely on coffee to get through the day
Depression
If you regularly experience some or all of these symptoms, you might have adrenal fatigue.
While there are a number of reasons you could be experiencing this, two of the most common reasons are over-exercising and under-eating. Specifically, eating low carb for an extended period.
The Truth About Exercise
When you exercise at intense levels 6–7 days a week, you are placing your body under extreme stress. When you pair that with not eating enough—or not giving your body the right combination of nutrients—you can damage your HPA axis and its ability to function properly.
While there are plenty of other causes of adrenal fatigue—lack of sufficient sleep, trauma, chemicals and pollutants, chronic disease, and more—it’s extremely common to see adrenal fatigue in those trying to lose weight or stay fit through extreme over-exercising and under-eating.
What to do if You Suspect Adrenal Fatigue
If you think you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue, consider the following changes for a few weeks to see if there are any improvements. Depending on how severe your situation is, you may need much longer, but implementing some of these strategies should begin to offer some improvement.
Clean Up Your Diet
If your diet is heavy on processed foods, then it’s time to clean it up. Sugars and chemicals are empty calories—they provide our bodies with no nutrients, yet require them to work. In response, our bodies increase cortisol and insulin output, which puts a strain on the adrenals.
If you want to see a huge impact on your overall health, we highly suggest cutting out most processed foods and reducing sugar significantly. Naturally-occurring sugars found in fruits are acceptable because they also contain fiber and other vital nutrients.
Say Yes To Carbs
The FASTer Way to Fat Loss is based on carb cycling and not a strictly low carb/no carb approach because our bodies need carbs to function optimally. Cutting out carbs completely depletes glycogen, which supports brain function and overall energy levels.
If you’ve been eating low carb or no carb for a while now, it’s important to begin adding carbs back into your diet. The FASTer Way program does this in a cyclical fashion with low carb days and regular carb days, so your body learns to burn fat effectively while maintaining your energy levels.
Sleep More
If you are not getting enough sleep, you are placing stress on your body in big ways. You are not allowing your body the time it needs to recover from the day and from your workout. This lack of sleep causes cortisol levels to increase, straining your adrenals. Do your best to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Doing so will give your body the time it needs to heal itself and have a significant positive impact on your adrenal functioning.
Exercise Smarter, Not Harder
There is no need to beat your body down every single day. We suggest two intense workouts per week with the rest of your workouts at a moderate intensity, and including two rest days. This will keep you in the fat-burning zone without overtaxing your body. It is vital to give your body time to rest and recover in between workouts. When you go full-out every single day, your cortisol levels remain elevated much longer than they should. Again, this places stress on your adrenals and can worsen the symptoms of adrenal fatigue.
There Is Hope
Adrenal fatigue is not as uncommon as it may sound, and many of its causes can be reversed with simple lifestyle changes.
If you’re ready to explore these changes, get the support you need to succeed and finally start feeling better—when you join the next round of the FASTer Way to Fat Loss.
FASTer Way clients usually find that they have increased energy levels and sleep better. They see overall improvements in their mood and feel leaner and stronger than when they were eating less and working out more.
When you give your body what it needs each day and exercise in an effective and intentional way, you will not only see incredible fat loss, you’ll see an overall improvement in your quality of life.
The FASTer Way can help you manage the symptoms of adrenal fatigue as you learn to listen to your body, fuel it well, and exercise in a way that makes sense. If you’re ready to beat your fatigue and start having the energy you’ve been missing, then sign up today for the FASTer Way!
Nearly 200,000 clients have already experienced this amazing transformation. YOUR transformation is just a few clicks away. Join us now so you can feel amazing every single day!
Intermittent Fasting and Carb Cycling are the foundation of the FASTer Way program, because they are incredibly effective nutritional strategies. In addition to helping your body burn fat more effectively, they can help repair the damage done by over exercising and under eating. If you'd like to learn more about why they are effective, grab our FREE guide to Intermittent Fasting through the link below!
