When it comes to combating burnout, nutrition plays a pivotal role in nurturing our resilience and replenishing depleted energy stores. Understanding the impact of diet on stress management is crucial for fostering overall well-being
Did you know that more than 90% of women with fibromyalgia, and about 76% of chronic lower back pain sufferers have suffered psychological trauma? Furthermore, chronic pain sufferers are more than twice as likely to suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms. Through science, we are learning more and more about the connection between severe stress and pain.
Prolonged periods of dieting can make it really difficult to lose weight. Focusing on non-weight goals, and small sustainable changes is the best way to build a better relationship with food and your body.
Allostatic load is a term we are going to hear a lot more about in the future. It is used in the field of psychology and medicine to describe the cumulative wear and tear on the body as a result of chronic stress. It refers to the physiological consequences of chronic exposure to stressors, which can lead to a range of negative health outcomes. The concept of allostatic load highlights the interconnectedness of the mind and body, emphasizing the impact of psychological stress on physical health.
Did you know the brain has a reward system? It’s a primal system that rewards us when we do something that encourages our survival – such as eating food. Unfortunately, when we eat junk food, the chemical dopamine (aka the reward), is released in larger amounts into the brain than when we eat whole foods. Learn more…
What looks like a good nights sleep for one person may be quite different from another’s. Some feel refreshed after 6 hours sleep, some like 8 or more hours. Sleep can be affected by night work, children, illness, pain, depression, anxiety, trauma, life events and many other factors. Not enough, or too much sleep may…
In today’s fast-paced world, navigating the demands of work, relationships, and personal well-being can often leave us feeling overwhelmed and depleted. Burnout is more than the occasional stressors of work or a busy schedule; it’s a constant and persistent state of exhaustion, physical, emotional, and mental. And it demands acknowledgement.
For a long time, the standard suggestion for persistent pain patients was to rest and be inactive to prevent a flare up of pain. Now, guidelines promote physical activity and evidence-based movement as an important part of the treatment plan for chronic pain. When people are restricted from the usual activity and exercise, they become more anxious, tired, depressed and with an increase in pain (which is not helpful). Despite this being the guidelines, it can be tricky to get started with an exercise program when you are experiencing pain.
I’m sure many of us have set new and exciting goals for 2024. Often we set these goals with our rose tinted glasses on. We might overestimate our ability to achieve them, or we might not have fully thought out how exactly we will achieve them. Using a SMART approach to goal setting can help us to work out if our goals are actually achievable or not, and to develop an action plan for how we will achieve them.
