Do
you ever get the feeling you’re doing everything “right” for your
health and still getting nowhere? Yeah, I know exactly how you feel.
I’ve felt that way dozens of times during the last few years since I
began my health journey. And it is sooooo frustrating!
But even more frustrating is the idea that if something isn’t working for you, then you must not be doing it enough. If drinking eight glasses of water a day isn’t fixing your problems, then drink ten. If running a mile in the morning isn’t helping, then run four miles. And if being on a low-carb diet isn’t working for you, then you must need a zero-carb diet.
This stems from the more-must-be-better philosophy which, by the way, I totally disagree with. Whether or not more of anything is better depends on a lot of factors, which should all be centered around the individual–aka you.
When I started paying attention to my body’s response instead of just blindly following some guru or another, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to uncover so-called “healthy” behaviors that were working against me. I was surprised to discover just how much advice I was following out of habit–sometimes habits that stemmed from tidbits I picked up from who-knows-where when I was just a kid!
So, what determines if a habit is healthy or not? Your body and your metabolism! A truly healthy habit will nourish your metabolism and ultimately evoke a positive response from your body. And if a habit is not doing those things for you, then maybe it’s not so “healthy” for you after all.
What Does it Mean to Nourish Your Metabolism?
Before I get into which “healthy” habits may not be so healthy, I want to explain my idea of nourishing your metabolism vs. stressing your metabolism, a key premise in my new eBook The Nourished Metabolism. Your metabolic health is the sum of all your body’s amazing functions–how your cells use energy, how well your digestion works, the quality of your sleep, your energy levels, your moods, and much more.
Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol throw a wrench into all of these functions and cause imbalances that stress your metabolism. Because chronically high stress hormones interfere with healthy metabolic function, one of the key principles for nourishing your metabolism is to work on normalizing these stress hormone levels by reducing your overall stress load. (This stress could come from many sources such as nutrient deficiencies, deprivation dieting, lack of sleep, emotional trauma, allergies, toxin exposure, not getting enough sunlight, etc.)
Identifying and eliminating (or at least reducing) some of these stressors is an important step to nourish your metabolism. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why some “healthy” habits are actually stressing your metabolism by promoting high stress hormone levels, and in the end, doing more harm than good.
But even more frustrating is the idea that if something isn’t working for you, then you must not be doing it enough. If drinking eight glasses of water a day isn’t fixing your problems, then drink ten. If running a mile in the morning isn’t helping, then run four miles. And if being on a low-carb diet isn’t working for you, then you must need a zero-carb diet.
This stems from the more-must-be-better philosophy which, by the way, I totally disagree with. Whether or not more of anything is better depends on a lot of factors, which should all be centered around the individual–aka you.
When I started paying attention to my body’s response instead of just blindly following some guru or another, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to uncover so-called “healthy” behaviors that were working against me. I was surprised to discover just how much advice I was following out of habit–sometimes habits that stemmed from tidbits I picked up from who-knows-where when I was just a kid!
So, what determines if a habit is healthy or not? Your body and your metabolism! A truly healthy habit will nourish your metabolism and ultimately evoke a positive response from your body. And if a habit is not doing those things for you, then maybe it’s not so “healthy” for you after all.
What Does it Mean to Nourish Your Metabolism?
Before I get into which “healthy” habits may not be so healthy, I want to explain my idea of nourishing your metabolism vs. stressing your metabolism, a key premise in my new eBook The Nourished Metabolism. Your metabolic health is the sum of all your body’s amazing functions–how your cells use energy, how well your digestion works, the quality of your sleep, your energy levels, your moods, and much more.
Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol throw a wrench into all of these functions and cause imbalances that stress your metabolism. Because chronically high stress hormones interfere with healthy metabolic function, one of the key principles for nourishing your metabolism is to work on normalizing these stress hormone levels by reducing your overall stress load. (This stress could come from many sources such as nutrient deficiencies, deprivation dieting, lack of sleep, emotional trauma, allergies, toxin exposure, not getting enough sunlight, etc.)
Identifying and eliminating (or at least reducing) some of these stressors is an important step to nourish your metabolism. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why some “healthy” habits are actually stressing your metabolism by promoting high stress hormone levels, and in the end, doing more harm than good.
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