Episode 20: Supporting Your Body On Really Hard Days

This week, I had a really hard, sad day. Stress and emotions can feel overwhelming, and sometimes it's really tempting to escape from those feelings with drinks or to turn to indulgent food for an enjoyable moment. In this episode, I talk about my approach to those hard days, how to start learning where stress shows up in your body, and how to learn to support your body so that it can process the hard emotions and move forward. If you're on a wellness or weight loss journey, but you aren't addressing your stress it's going to feel impossible to feel your best (I learned this the hard way!).

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Learn more about how I can help you here!
I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Music: “Play Thing” by Ketsa
From Free Music Archive

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

0:02

Hey life booster. This is Dr. Amelia health coach and veterinarian here to help you ditch yo-yo dieting people, pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within. So I am happily to be sitting here podcasting on right now, I'm in a pretty good mood. And that is a pretty big contrast to how I was feeling yesterday. And honestly, even the sporting, I had a vet shift yesterday and, um, frankly, it was just one of those days where. Vet med really sucks. And it was a very sad, hard day. I reached a point in the afternoon when I really just wanted to go home and that's not an option. Um, but I wished that I could, because there, there are times when. We are put in really tough moral dilemmas and we try to do what's best for our patients because my job is to be an advocate for, um, for the pets and my patients. But also my job is to help owners understand the needs of their pets. And sometimes that just doesn't line up. And I. In a situation where I was really trying to fight for the patients. And ultimately it was just a very sad outcome and that was hard. And there are days when it really doesn't matter what your mindset is, whether this is work or your personal life. There are things in life that happened that are shitty and. You know that that's a part of life. And I woke up even this morning and my heart just felt sad. Um, because you know, we, these things, aren't things that you can easily just brush off, but what I wanted to share really. Kind of what my approach was and how I'm now at this point where I'm feeling more positive. I know certainly my mind is still kind of going back to that scenario, but, um, I'm able to be moving forward and feeling good. I've given my body what it needed. And, um, there was. There have been so many times in my life when I was not at that point where I just buried everything and I didn't, I listened to what my body needed in order to kind of fully process the thing, the hard things that I was facing. And so. And give you a little idea. So yesterday reached a point at work. When I honestly just wanted to burst into tears. I just wanted to be able to cry. And for me, when I I'm working in a hospital, I choose to not do that. Um, because that, that to me, allowing myself to cry. Um, feels too hard, because I had this very challenging, appointment. And then immediately after I had like kitten visits and, you know, another case where I needed to be fully present of course, for the client and the patient. And so, I bury those emotions in and as veterinarians in general, we get really good at that. We get very good at hiding our emotions and kind of putting on a smile and being cheerful when on the inside we could be feeling and experiencing things very, very different from that. And that can be really tough. So. as I was just experiencing all of this sadness and the kind of suppressing crying, I could start feeling that showing up in my body. So I've learned that when I am not letting my body cry or like not honoring kind of what it's telling me, it wants to do I get this like really bad, this headache, like right in between my eyebrows kind of. So I knew that I needed to that. That's kind of how that energy and that sadness was manifesting inside of my body because there wasn't an outlet. And so I recognized that I needed to be doing some things to let my mind and my body process that. So once I finally got out of work, It was a beautiful day out, which was nice because the day, like during the day it had been rainy, but the sun hadn't come out. I'm enjoying that, that I can get out of my shifts and it's not still dark or dark yet by that point, that has been really nice. So I, um, That was a way traveling. So I took each Jamison and Woodford each for their own walk and just really enjoyed some fresh air and having the sun on my skin. And that was just a little bit of time to process things. And, even towards the end of my shift, I had been able to. I have just a really wonderful group of friends. We're all there for each other. And Ken just share the days that are hard and, they were just there to listen and to say, yeah, that's really crappy. And that social connection and that feeling of not being alone, that, is huge. And that was just what I needed. so turning my walk, we kind of have a Marco polo where we can connect. So just enjoyed kind of listening to what was going on in their lives. And that was a nice kind of time for me just to distract my mind a little bit, but also To give my body a little warmth physically from that sun. when I got out of the shift, I also put in order and door dash to, get, dinner delivered. That was just like a really nourishing dinner. That I knew it was still going to make my feel, my body feel really good. And yet it just was like a little treat for me, you know, like one little thing that I could offload making dinner. Isn't a big deal and I could have made it quick, but I was getting my, um, fridges getting a little bit bare and I was just like, no, I am going to treat myself to this little thing. And it was just a little happiness boost on a day that felt like. And then I watched a Bridger certain episode, which I am loving. it's just a show that, makes me happy. It's very heavy in the romance. I will warn, there are a lot of sexy in it. Um, but it's, uh, I just, I sometimes you just need a little like. Romance, um, and a show like that. And that was what I needed in that moment. So then went to bed, one. Kind of thing just to note at the end of that day, is that like, while I was at work, I had wanted to just be able to cry so badly. but what I found was that, and I wanted to be able to give myself that release, but what happened by the time I got home with. Like I couldn't, I had that headache for sure. Of like, knowing that that's what I had needed and I could feel like the heaviness in my heart and, and that I needed to. And yet, like, I really just wasn't able to let myself, let my body have that. and so it was just something that I was aware of knowing that that stress and emotions were still. With me, you know, even though they were kind of bubbling up at that point. So, I ended up going to bed a little bit later than normal. So I let myself sleep in a little bit more and definitely just felt, um, just, you know, my heart was heavy this morning. And so I did, I work out and, uh, the Alexia Clark challenge on Fridays, it's a challenge workout, which is always fun. It's like some kind of new. Well, yeah, it's a challenge. Don't really need you to say, say it differently than that. Um, and this was like one that was really cardio heavy, which it was so perfect. Like that was exactly what I needed. So I. A really sweaty workout and that put me in a much better mood. And I could just feel like all of that kind of negative and sad energy and that stress that was kind of bottled up in my body, really getting released, which felt so good. And that is exercise is one of the great, Ways to help your body to complete the stress response. So a lot of the times we think like once a stressor is gone. So the thing that has stressed us out once that is gone, we tend to think, well, okay, then, you know, we should be fine, but when we don't give our bodies time, like our body has to that. Go through this stress cycle and kind of re complete that physiologic stress response. And that's something that I didn't really fully understand for a long time. I did use to only use exercise for stress management and I always would do. Super like hard runs or super intense. Like I did, um, lots of insanity workouts, which I loved. Um, and I still do like them, but like, that was like all I would do all the time. And. In that way, that ended up just being like an added stress that I was doing, because I never was letting myself process things in any other way. And I also wasn't ever letting myself like come down to baseline or recover in like a gentle or way. but in this day, because I have learned like yesterday to do like a gentle walk and to be kind to myself, this workout was exactly what I needed and, it felt good to. I have now actually been, um, just like totally craving salt, uh, having like some salty, nuts and stuff today because I am a salty sweater. I like, especially when I do long runs in the summer, like all sometimes have like actual, like salt crystals on the outside of my body, which, is probably way more than you needed to know about. But it's all about listening to our bodies, right? Fun fact salty sweater. We're we are really getting to know each other, or at least you're getting to know me whether you like it or not. Okay. We need to get back to, to being focused. So after that workout, I sat down and meditated and that is. I now have been able to get to the mindset of like, seeing that as just like this beautiful little pocket of time in a day where all I have to do and what I get to do is just sit in that moment and that's it like, that is the only thing I have to do is just sit there. I can like, see what thoughts come up and I can bring it. And that felt great. And I also, went for another walk today, which I do in the mornings. And I am feeling in a much better place. And. You'll notice. I also had a really nourishing breakfast that was just so delicious. And so that was like a whole lot of things that I just listed right after, like, you know, it was one kind of stressful, very hard event. And I just talked for like the past 13 minutes about what I. Did in order to give my body and mind, time to process. And that's something that I really wanted to highlight, is that a lot of the times we tend to give ourselves like one thing that we get to do to deal with stress as if like it's something that you can just like check off of like, okay, check. Like I did my workout, which is my stress management check, all done, or I vented to my friends, um, and they were there for me. So like check. Yep. I've dealt with that. and that's for so long, what I thought. Stress management was, and I just, it doesn't work that way. We really don't get to decide how much our body needs in order to work through things. You know, sometimes it takes a long time and that's where it really comes down to learning, to listen to your body. And noticing, like, for example, where signs of stress shows up in your body or other emotions kind of like how I'm talking about how I knew that like this sadness and this stress, like that was showing up as that, like really that headache, like when my body was telling me we have this energy that needs to be dealt with and. I continued to also just have that like heaviness in my heart and instead of trying to bury it, you know, because there, for sure times in the past, when I didn't want to feel those things. And so what I would have preferred is to go home and just drink and not feel because when you have heavy emotions, We sometimes just want to escape from them, right. And you just you want to feel numb and you want to feel happy in whatever way you can get that. The fastest and alcohol, a lot of the times can feel like a really great way to do that, but that is not actually allowing our bodies to. Process that all. And ultimately that ends up not feeling good. Like if I had done that and just, you know, been like this has been one hell of a day, I deserve drinks. Then I would have woken up this morning feeling not only sad, but hung over and mad at myself for chewing that. And I've learned to. To be gentler and more respectful of my body because that's what it needs. our society has this tendency for wanting to, to not feel those hard feelings and to escape and to get quick results. Right. And so that is so often why we tend to turn to unhealthy. Stress and emotions are such a huge component of sustainable health. And that is a huge component of all of the coaching that I do, whether that's one-on-one or the group coaching program, the jumpstart program. You have to start. Paying attention to your stress and your emotions and the way that you react and the typical patterns that you have in response to that, whether that's trying to bury them, trying to ignore them, not giving your body time to process them and the way that it actually. Or lying to yourself that you are giving yourself time to, you know, check you've done your little meditating or stress management, and that should be enough. it's really about really working. On stress on a much deeper level and learning how to respect yourself. And that is one of the big things where if you look at all of the different, like weight loss and health programs out there, there's that focus again on calories and nutrition and fitness. But what about what's going on in your brain? Hello. Is such a holistic thing, relationships and money and our careers and our, everything. It all is connected to what's going on in our body and our blood sugar and our gut health. And so that is why as a health coach, a lot of the times my clients call me a life coach too. And it's true because health is your life. And how that is showing up because every, every moment of your life, you are making a decision to do something that is either supporting your body or working against it. How are you navigating life? And so I wanted to share. Just as they experience and an example of kind of what I have learned to do in order to give my body time to process these really hard days in order to be more resilient. And to now feel like I can kind of move forward. I wanted to share this with you because I just want you to get curious about like, how. How much time you're taking really respecting and honoring what your body and mind need when life feels hard and overwhelming and you just, you know, quote unquote, want to go home and escape. It's so easy to feel like we don't have time for that, especially just when it's a really crazy day. Um, you know, or you can see how I didn't in the moment, allow myself to process those emotions because I still had work. I had to do it. Wasn't an option to just like. You know, go up and leave. I had commitments that I needed to fulfill. However, I made time for it. And there is often this thought that it's going to be really time intensive or you don't have time, but I do well, all of those things that I just described may have sounded like a lot, what I really. Um, I want you to see is that they were more choices in how I was navigating time that I had any ways. So for example, I, I ordered food and if I had ordered like some junk, because I thought that like I needed to treat myself, then, that was the same amount of time. It was just that I chose to have a meal that was both going to be really yummy, but also still support my body in a nourishing. I chose when I got home to instead go for a walk with my dogs instead of pouring a gigantic glass of wine, you know? No in this morning doing the workout. That is something that I make time for because that really sets my day up for success. And so I want you to start seeing that stress management and quote unquote self-care, it's not a luxury and it's not something that you. I don't have time for, it's something that you have to make time for, because otherwise that's going to show up in the worst ways. And that is when you are going to be finding yourself, falling off the bandwagon and making decisions that you regret. It's when you're not partnering with your body, because you're trying to escape something. And you are trying to not feel something when you are taking care of all of the needs of your body and mind you are going to feel so much more resilient. And it doesn't mean that every day is going to be all, you know, sunshine and unicorns and happiness hard days absolutely happen. But it's how you respond in the way that you treat your body in those days. That really really matter. And again, one of the analogies I like to share with stress is that stress is like a border Collie, right? Like it needs attention and it needs an outlet for all that energy. And so you may think that you can tell your border colleague, who's asking for a walk to just go lie down. And you may think that they're just like taking a nap, but in reality, in that other room, they could be quietly destroying everything because that energy has to go somewhere. And it's going to get really creative and in order to get your attention, that's what happens with stress. If you'd just say you don't have time for it, it's gonna show up in ways throughout your body, whether that's headaches, whether that's brain fog, whether it's stomach problems, whether it's holding onto weight. And your body's going to keep on talking louder and louder with these uncomfortable signs until you make time to process them. And your body is going to let you know when it's done. And it may be a little bit of a journey figuring out what those things are that it needs, but that's definitely a journey worth doing. And if you were listening to this and realizing that sometimes you are maybe burying the stress or you are turning to food or habits that are a way of. Hiding from, or burying the stress instead of dealing with it, then I am here for, you know, that, a huge part of the group programs, the jumpstart program. We talk about. Just starting with identifying, where is stress showing up? What are the different kind of fear and stress responses that can show up and ways you may not even recognize what are ways to start processing that? How has that been impacting,, your past and, your healthy habits really explore that. And it's a really great time to figure out what your body needs to feel supported. And with the one-on-one coaching programs, we really dive into that. That's a huge part. You know, if you think that working with a coach or a health coach is where I just like tell you what kind of things to eat or like what to do to work out. And, um, it's really, it's so much deeper than that. For one thing I don't. Ever tell you what to eat. I hope you find what you want to eat and understand what your body needs in order to thrive. We explore like how to incorporate movement and your day and your life in a way that you actually enjoy. And that feels good. Um, but we explore so much more. And so much of that is what's going on in your mind and, and where stress is showing up and why life is feeling stressful or hard. And I'm just there for you. That's why I really love the six month programs. Because if you think about what happens in your life during six months, um, you're very likely to encounter some tough times and that gives us the luxury of time. So I can be there for you so that we can talk through it and we can help you figure out how to take care of your body and to support it, during the good times and the hard time. So, if this. Is something that you feel like maybe you could really use some support in this area, just with life. I'd love to chat with, you know, that I, I offer free consults because it's important that I just get to know about you. Learn about what you've tried and where you want to go. and the life boost jumpstart program is starting so soon, April 5th, and it's going to be, uh, it's just the best seven week, seven weeks uh, really understanding your body in a whole new way and really respecting it. So please don't hesitate to reach out to me. It makes me so happy every time I get to hear from you. Cheers to your inevitable health, happiness, and success.