5 Ways to Avoid Total Burnout When You’re Stressed

By Tiffany Lester, MD, for Parsley Health It’s hard to be healthy 100% of the time. When we find ourselves under a mountain of stress, we are a hundred times more likely to experience symptoms of burnout. Between work deadlines, a full social calendar, and family or relationship drama—maintaining a healthy diet and consistent exercise regime can fall to the bottom of the list. This is a vicious cycle. Poor nutrition, a lack of sleep and bad eating habits can only make stress worse rather than better. The Definition of Stress Stress is a conscious or unconscious psychological feeling or physical situation which comes as a result of physical or/and mental ‘positive or negative pressure’ to overwhelm adaptive capacities. When I read this recently, the part of the definition that stuck out to me was that stress can be positive. While stress is often represented as a negative, it’s really all about balance. It’s not about never being stressed out just to be healthy. Stress is going to be there. But you can give your body the tools to be resilient enough to withstand anything that is thrown your way. These tools become vital when you start to experience symptoms of burnout. RELATED: Schedule a free conversation with a Parsley Health expert to learn about our comprehensive approach to mental health. The symptoms of burnout can include chronic fatigue, insomnia, lack of focus, increased irritability, and more. Almost 90% of doctor’s visits are due to stress that presents as hormone imbalance, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. This is not to say that these aren’t real, clinical conditions but there is often a recurring commonality that is due to elevated stress levels. Human beings are resilient. We’re built to withstand much more than we think we are. A sign of good health is being able to tolerate or adapt to many different insults. Health is not about deviating two mm to the left of your routine and then falling apart. The good news is that there are ways you can build up your tolerance to stress. These are some of the tips I give my patients to increase their resilience to withstand everyday stressors. 5 Ways to Stay Healthy-ish When You’re Stressed and Near Burnout Go to bed. Staying up late to finish a presentation or waking up super early to fit in a workout before your day starts can actually do more harm than good. Sleep is the only time your body can fully rejuvenate. When we aren’t sleeping this depresses our immune system making it more likely for bacteria or viruses to take hold. And none of us have time to be sick! Take adaptogenic herbs. Herbs like maca, rhodiola, and ashwaganda have been used for centuries to combat stress. Their adaptogenic qualities help the body become resilient whether your cortisol levels are high or low. Do yin yoga. Have you heard that sitting is the new smoking? We sit to work, to eat, to watch TV, to scroll Instagram. All of this adds up to tight hip muscles, poor posture, and back pain. Combat this with a yin yoga class once a week to relax the brain and body while releasing stored tension in the muscles. Get acupuncture. Not only can this calm your nervous system but you also receive a built-in meditation. While the needles are in, you can lay quietly while focusing on your breath or a chosen mantra. Take magnesium. This is the most common mineral deficiency in America. Magnesium is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions in our body. Taking a daily dose of this vital nutrient can relax your tight muscles and calm your monkey mind so you can focus on your mile-long to-do list. Don’t know if you are close to burnout? Take our burnout quiz. If your score is high, our highly trained doctors at Parsley Health can help with state-of-the-art diagnostic testing and a comprehensive work-up with our health team. This piece was originally published on Parsley Health. Parsley Health is a groundbreaking medical practice of highly trained doctors and health coaches in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Parsley Health takes a smarter, whole approach to helping you live a healthy life. You deserve a better doctor. Sign up here to speak to a health expert to figure out how Parsley Health can help you achieve your goals today.

Are Your Sleep Habits Messing with Your Mental Health?

Think getting enough sleep is just about making it through the workday with energy? In this excerpt from “The Sleep Revolution,” Arianna Huffington explains the research-backed connection between sleep and mental health. The title of the chapter says it all: If You Value Your Brain, Get More Sleep One of the most important recent findings is that sleep is essentially like bringing in the overnight cleaning crew to clear the toxic waste proteins that accumulate between brain cells during the day. Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, a codirector of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester, has studied the mechanism underlying these cleaning functions. “It’s like a dishwasher,” she said. Just as we wouldn’t eat off dirty dishes, why should we settle for going through the day with anything less than the full power and potential of our brains? What Nedergaard’s research on mice revealed is that the glymphatic system, essentially the brain’s plumbing system, functions at a much higher rate during sleep and plays a critical role in brain maintenance. As the mice slept, their brain cells actually shrank in size, creating more space for the spinal cord and brain fluid to flow throughout the brain and literally sweep away the toxic buildup associated with Alzheimer’s. Initial studies have shown that a similar process may occur in the human brain, a fact that could provide a major step forward in the prevention and treatment of dementia. This washing-away of waste chemicals and toxins happens only when we sleep— when we’re awake, the brain is too busy handling our body’s many functions. RELATED: How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Really Need? As Nedergaard put it, “The brain only has limited energy at its disposal, and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states— awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up. You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can’t really do both at the same time.” The consequences of not giving your brain this needed time to wash away toxins and waste chemicals go far beyond simple maintenance. According to Claire Sexton at the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, a lack of sleep over time is associated with a decline in the size of the brain itself. “We found,” she told me, “that poor sleep quality was associated with an increased rate of decline in brain volumes over three to five years. The question is whether poor sleep quality is a cause or an effect of changes in brain structure, or if the relationship is bidirectional.” RELATED: 6 Smart Tips for Better Sleep Beyond Toxins One thing is clear: sleep is profoundly intertwined with virtually every aspect of brain health. Lack of sleep over time can lead to an irreversible loss of brain cells— yet another debunking of the myth that sleep debt can be made up. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Peking University found in a joint study that sleep-deprived mice lost 25 percent of their LC neurons, which are involved in mental alertness, cognitive function, and attention span. “In general, we’ve always assumed full recovery of cognition following short- and long- term sleep loss,” Dr. Sigrid Veasey, one of the study authors, said. “But some of the research in humans has shown that attention span and several other aspects of cognition may not normalize even with three days of recovery sleep, raising the question of lasting injury in the brain.” Up until recently, she added, “no one really thought that the brain could be irreversibly injured from sleep loss.” RELATED: 5 Foods for Brain Health A 2014 study from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School found that the less we sleep as we grow older, the faster our brains age. In Alzheimer’s patients, the brain ventricles— chambers that hold cerebrospinal fluid—widen as the brain shrinks, and the grooves and folds of the brain become more pronounced, creating gaps. Researchers found that lack of sleep in older adults increased the pace of brain-ventricle enlargement and decreased cognitive performance, the very markers of brain aging associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s. Two studies from Uppsala University in Sweden highlighted this further. One study showed that men who self-reported a sleep problem were one and a half times more likely to contract Alzheimer’s. The other revealed that just one night of sleep deprivation leads to an increase in two rare molecules in the brain (NSE and S-100B) that are signs of brain damage. (If you want to go to sleep now, feel free to put the book down!) Sleep is also intricately connected with our general mental health. Researchers from Canada and France found that consistent early bedtimes may reduce the risk of mental illness. The underlying mechanism involves our ultradian rhythms—cycles within our body’s twenty-four- hour circadian day— which govern body temperature, hormone regulation, and appetite. These rhythms are regulated by dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with the reward and pleasure parts of our brain. Sleep disturbances interfere with our dopamine levels, leading to an imbalance associated with bipolar and schizophrenic disorders. Then there’s the matter of longevity. As of this writing, “Miss Susie,” Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York, is the world’s oldest person at 116 years old. When asked for her secret by a reporter from the New York Daily News, she replied, “I sleep.” She then proceeded to demonstrate her nap style. Reprinted from The Sleep Revolution. Copyright © 2017 by Arianna Huffington. Published by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

How Gratitude Transformed One Woman’s Relationship (and Could Do the Same for You)

Bestselling author Jo Piazza traveled to 20 countries on five continents during her first year of marriage to try to figure out how to craft a happier marriage with her new husband right from the start. The following is an adapted excerpt from her new book How to Be Married of what she learned from interviewing dozens of women during a month-long trip to India to discover how to maintain gratitude following her own terrifying health diagnosis. I was finding it really hard to be grateful for just about anything. I’d been married just six months when my doctors gave me a terrifying health diagnosis. They informed me I had the same gene that caused my dad’s muscular dystrophy, a disease that crippled him in his forties and led to his death in his early sixties. I was told I would show signs of the disease within a few years. I was only thirty five and I had just married a man who loved climbing mountains and skiing and hiking and doing anything at all with a pair of strong legs. We’d fallen in love on an adventurous trip in the Galápagos Islands, hiked a small mountain to get engaged and had plans to spend the rest of our lives chasing after one another through rugged terrain around the globe. As we shuttled in between doctors’ appointments and saw specialists who drew what felt like a pint of blood at a time, I had a hard time looking at the bright side of things and enjoying my year as a newlywed. Sometimes the universe has a better idea of what you need than you do. Just as I was at my lowest, I received an assignment to travel solo to northeastern India on a reporting trip—a voyage that would last almost three weeks. RELATED: How to Stick to Your Workout Routine While Traveling Did I need to go all the way to one of the least-traveled areas of India to find out how important gratitude is for my marriage? Did I have to travel thousands of miles from home, in cars, trains, planes, and boats to figure out that despite a shitty medical diagnosis my life was pretty goddamn sweet and that I should appreciate it? It turns out I did. Cultivating Gratitude The concept of gratitude weaves its ways into almost every facet of Indian culture and relationships. This doesn’t mean that Indians go around thanking everyone for everything all the time. Rather, the concept of gratitude in many Indian traditions is about giving earnest thanks, expressing humility towards someone and letting go of your own ego in order to cultivate more bliss and joy in our own life and in the lives of others. It’s about feeling grateful instead of talking about it. RELATED: These Simple Positivity Practices Are Linked to Better Health As soon as I landed, I immediately fell in love with India’s riot of colors and smells and her warm and welcoming people. Everything was brighter and more intense. It was hot and dirty and beautiful and exotic all at once. I was quickly welcomed into a traditional home of a woman who belonged to the Mishing tribe, an Assamese farming and fishing village where the houses stood on tall stilts to keep them safe from the frequent floods of the Brahmaputra River. I stumbled, trying to climb the narrow ladder that led into the raised hut, using a long bamboo rod for balance. The simple room was meticulously neat, sarees carefully folded on a shelf over the bed, pots and pans precisely stacked in the corner. Lae, a forty-five-year-old woman with small eyes and a broad face offered me tea. We began talking about life and the weather, politics and kids, and, husbands and marriage. “What does it mean to be happily married here?” I asked her. Lae squinted at me and laughed from her belly. “You westerners make marriage too complicated. Be happy for the things marriage gives you. We have our husbands. I trust my husband. We have our pigs and our goats. We have our children. We are happy. You want too much. Be thankful, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.” Strong words coming from a woman living on the banks of a river that regularly sweeps away entire villages in the blink of an eye. “How do I show I’m thankful?” I asked Lae. She looked at me as though she didn’t understand the question and I repeated it for the translator. Lae gave a small shake of her head. “You just feel it.” RELATED: How to Create a Mindful Morning Routine (No Meditation Required) Over and over the women I met in Assam kept telling me I had to seek a blessing for my new marriage and offer thanks for my husband at the Kamakhya Devi Temple in Guwahati, a sacred place of pilgrimage for India’s 830 million Hindus, particularly women. It was early in the morning when I began my walk to the temple, perched high on a hill. We passed women in brightly colored sarees walking to work, beggars laying prone and naked in the streets and boys play cricket in the gutter with a stick and a deflated tennis ball. Street dogs with peculiar poise and confidence pushed their way past us as if they had somewhere very important to be. Voices and sounds blended together in a frenetic jumble that echoed through the narrow streets. I asked one of the temple priests, a bald and spectacled man with a calming demeanor, what most women who came to the temple asked the goddess for. Were they very specific? “Most ask for a long and prosperous marriage and then give thanks for it,” he said with a wide smile. “That’s it?” He laughed. “What else do you need?” To make my blessing, I was given two small terra-cotta pots with candles in them and two sticks of incense. It was imperative, the priest told

How to De-stress for a Zen Holiday Season

The entire holiday season can be an exercise in learning how to de-stress. From talking politics at the table to the mania of shopping-baking-decorating to managing your budget. But here’s a tip to allay your worries: you don’t have to skip it all and book a silent retreat in order to find calm. By simply following the core principles of living a nutritious life, it’s possible to balance your hormones and tap into your inner Zen. Start with these five research-tested tips. How to de-stress during the holidays 1. Sleep Deep. Lack of adequate sleep is linked to mood disorders like anxiety and depression and also to weight gain, which can raise levels of cortisol, that nasty “stress hormone” that throws your mind and body out of whack in major ways. If you’re having trouble establishing a consistent routine amid holiday commitments, try outfitting your sleep space with tools like a Sunrise Simulation Alarm Clock, which will wake you gradually with the light of a simulated sunrise so you hop out of bed with maximum energy and keep your circadian rhythms in check. 2. Live consciously. All it takes is five to ten minutes of peace per day. Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, and in modern times has been shown to effectively reduce stress. Set aside a block of time and stick to it, whether that means just sitting still and focusing on your breath, trying a guided meditation via an app, or even going on a quiet stroll through the park. Just remember, don’t get caught up in meditating the “right way,” which will just lead to more stress. Do what is best for you. 3. Eat empowered. A sugar rush from refined carbs makes you feel good in the moment, but when the blood sugar comes down, you feel depressed and beat yourself up for having eaten that third cookie. Instead, focus on making sure your diet contains specific nutrients associated with stress relief. Dark green leafy vegetables and whole grains contain folic acid, a B vitamin, which is considered a mood stabilizer and a precursor to serotonin—a “feel good” hormone. Almonds are rich in vitamins B2 and E, magnesium, and zinc, nutrients associated with fighting the free radicals linked to stress in the heart. Plus, crunching down on them can be satisfying in managing feelings of aggression. 4. Nurture yourself. Pampering yourself may take up a little time, but the relaxation benefits will be worth it. Essential oils have been used in traditional medicine for centuries, and breathing in certain scents can make a huge difference in your mood. A couple days a week, take two extra minutes to light a therapy candle, apply a calming, scented moisturizer, or to give your pillow a spritz of relaxing lavender-scented spray. 5. Sweat often. Research has shown exercise can be a super effective strategy for reducing anxiety, and it boosts endorphins, which can make us happy and distract us from our daily worries. It also has other effects that can tangentially help you de-stress, like helping you sleep better at night and boosting self-confidence. One easy way to get motivated to move more? Try a fitness tracker like the FitBit Charge, which will give you fun feedback on how much you’re walking, running, and even breathing. Again, it’s all connected.   This blog was created in partnership with Withings.    

Do You Suffer From Disordered Eating?

  Do you think about the consequence of a meal far after it’s over?  Do you weigh yourself at least once a day, thrown off by the slightest change in the number? Do you restrict foods or entire food groups that limit the amount of food you consume? Do you skip meals, use laxatives, or attempt to fast? If any of this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from what’s known as disordered eating. Disordered eating includes a wide range of thoughts and behaviors that, according to the DSM-IV (a fancy diagnostic classification tool used by the medical community) don’t warrant a diagnosis of a specific eating disorder, like anorexia nervosa or bulimia. However, it should in no way be minimized or thought of as less destructive or mentally invasive. Both eating disorders and disordered eating carry harmful consequences. Because disordered eating is less “extreme” than anorexia or bulimia in terms of endangerment to life, many people, including those suffering, don’t realize the impact it has on their mental and physical health. People may begin to socially withdraw, often saying no to dinners/dates. Sometimes the suffering can manifest itself in anxiety or depression. Often, constant denial that there’s anything wrong exists. The symptoms are harder to detect than a traditional eating disorder. Because this condition is more “silent” than a traditional eating disorder, it’s less likely to picked up by family and friends. Many people suffer for far too long before realizing that the inner pain and conflict they feel isn’t “normal”. Others consider their feelings of guilt and shame to be completely normal, and live their entire lives without getting the help that is available. The Signs and Symptoms of Disordered Eating Rigidity around food and exercise regimen Feelings of guilt and shame when making what’s considered to be “poor” eating decisions Emotionally driven eating Preoccupation with food, body, and working that causes stress and negatively impacts other areas of life Dieting Misusing laxatives/diuretics/colon cleansers Denial of physical hunger and satiety, usually for the sake of losing weight How Did Disordered Eating Happen? In my opinion, disordered eating is the result of the messages we see and hear in magazines, commercials, and television that have left men and women suffering. 1200 calorie diets have been drilled into our head for years.  Home economics, health class, and the science courses have failed to fully teach the science of food and relay the importance of individualized needs. We live in an “Eat this food, don’t eat that food” society, which frequently contradicts itself. Ever been told avocados are healthy, but then told they make you fat? We make 200-300 food choices per day. Without a clear understanding of what a food will do to our bodies, our perplexity intensifies. How to Recover From Disordered Eating First, you must identify that you’re living in pain, and that the pain isn’t normal. Whether that be negative self worth, obsession with food, binging, or a refusal to eat in restaurants or outside of your home. Second, accept that you’re not to blame. This is 100% not your fault. These feelings are so abundant that they can pass as the norm for many people. Social media has become a part of our routine, and with millions of messages flooding our brains daily, we’ve become more susceptible to eating disorders and disordered eating. Third, understand that it’s possible for you to improve your relationship with food and your body.  If you want to get out of the messed up relationship you have with food, the power is yours. Fourth, seek help. Whether from a psychologist or a Registered Dietitian, make a plan with a health professional who can steer you in the right direction. The process of recovery may take anywhere from a month to a few years. Be patient with yourself and the process and know that you’ll soon be able to focus on the important things in life. About Lisa: Lisa Hayim, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian and Mindful Eating Expert in New York. She holds her Master’s in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from Columbia University. She works in private practice, helping clients and patients learn to eat real food and make choices mindfully. Lisa believes that healthy is a complete state of physical, mental, and social well being. When we nourish our bodies with whole foods and learn to be mindful, we are not only preventing and combating disease, but effortlessly learning to appreciate our bodies. Follow Lisa on Instagram @TheWellNecessities, or head to TheWellNecessities.com  or plant based recipes that are 5 or less ingredients!

Why Bad Words Can Make You Fat

Sayings like “having willpower”, “eating in moderation”, and “guilt free” are thrown around all of the time. They’re generally thought to help you, to guide you in the right direction when it comes to eating healthy. But rather than empowering, inspiring, and helping you achieve your health goals, what if I told you that this “inspiration” might actually be sabotaging your valiant efforts towards becoming your healthiest self? These terms—dare I say “bad words”—are used…overused…even abused! And they can be detrimental when it comes to supporting your weight goals and even your happiness. For my clients, I find that these terms are too vague, are negative energy, cause them to think about and focus on unhealthy foods even more, and at some point, put them in a losing situation. While these words don’t have to be completely thrown out of your vocabulary, it’s important to realize how even simple words can have a huge effect on your health. Why Bad Words Can Make You Fat

9 Reasons Why the Beach is Healthy

I know I’m not alone in my mad love and passion for the beach. A lake is fine. A river is nice too. But, c’mon, there is nothing like the ocean to completely reinvigorate a body and soul. When it comes to living a Nutritious Life, I speak to my clients about stressing less, living consciously, sleeping deep, nurturing themselves and so on. Why? Because it’s not all about the food (although watermelon and chips and guac are quite delicious at the beach). Taking care of your body has to do with more than what’s on the end of your fork, and there’s nothing like a day at the beach to zero in on keeping your Nutritious Life alive. Whether you’re struggling with weight loss, emotional eating, ditching sugar, or any other food issue, give yourself a break today and get your toes in the sand. You just might find it affects your waistline better than you could have imagined. 9 Reasons Why the Beach is Healthy for You 1. It’s good for your joints and skin There’s nothing more therapeutic for your joints and muscles than a soak in salt water. The ocean heals little nicks, cuts, and scrapes, and if you take a minute to exfoliate with a little sand, your skin will be grateful for days. (Just remember to reapply sunscreen after time in the salt water and sand.) 2. You can take a walk A walk can be even better than a run when it comes to clearing the mind. I find there’s nothing more cathartic than a long walk on the beach (versus walking in the city, which can trigger emotions worse than road rage). It doesn’t have to be fast, and it definitely doesn’t require a watch, a Fitbit, or any kind of app. Unplug. Walks on the beach are kind of perfect any way you do them—with your kids, your partner, or alone. There’s no goal, no rush, no race, no place to be. Relax and find some seashells along the way.   3. It’s easy to do a body check We know we should all be doing body checks, but many of us pass over our bods when our minds are overcome with the thought of only having five minutes to hop in the shower, shave, and blow dry our hair,  all before getting the kids to school. As you put on your sunblock, start with your face and work your way down your body, taking time to pay attention to your skin and looking for anything you might not otherwise notice. It’s a good practice to get in the habit of doing more regularly. 4. It can be a natural tech detox Honestly, my colleagues would never believe me, but I really do love that the beach is entirely destructive to technology. It feels good to relax without a computer, phone, and tablet for a few hours. Some of my most creative moments have come when I’m undistracted and left alone with uninterrupted thoughts. I’m able to focus entirely in the moment without worrying that a ding, blip, or ring will pull me away from my escape. Save your money; don’t go buying protective cases. 5. It’s a great place for a nap Ever notice dozers everywhere at the beach? You won’t need your synthetic sound machine to catch that much-needed shut-eye. Sleeping at the beach to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore is like music to your ears, as long as you’re far enough away from the kids playing playing on the next blanket over. Sleep deprivation messes up the hormones that regulate hunger, causing an increase in appetite and specific cravings for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. A beach nap (in the shade!) is a therapeutic way to log some hours. 6. It’s a turn-on There are few things sexier than a day at the beach. Once your senses are stimulated, you’ve relaxed, and you’ve unplugged from your daily routine, you don’t have to leave the good vibes in the sand. Just remember to get all the sand off before jumping between the sheets. 7. You can soak up the vitamin D This vitamin is crucial for our health and wellness, yet an estimated one billion people worldwide are deficient. A day in the sun is the perfect way to meet your daily intake goals. The sun can give you even more than a good mood and a summer glow. Because vitamin D is synthesized in the skin, healthy exposure to sunlight in small doses has been proven to support bone growth and also prevents calcium loss in mature bones. 8. You can mix up your workout Does your daily workout routine feel mundane? A day in the sand is a perfect way to mix up your fitness routine because the possibilities are endless. Make an effort to join in on the game of beach volleyball, frisbee, or soccer with the kids. Try paddleboarding, or hop in the water for an aerobic exercise that can relieve your joint pain and burn those extra cals. And the best part? Beach workouts are like boutique workouts without the high price tag, so your wallet will stay heavier. 9. It’s social There’s something to be said about leaving everything behind and truly being present to enjoy your surroundings, including the people in them! It’s easy to get caught up in your normal daily routine. A New York City street bustling with people can actually be lonely when everyone is walking with headphones and a one-track mind about getting somewhere on time. At the beach, I find people pull out more civility. Families connect. Friends play. Lovers relate. There’s a different community for the day—one made up of people who are all out for a nice time. It is noticeable to me when I am on vacation or at a local beach for the day. Reconstruct your pillars. Dig out your umbrella. Add to my list. See you on the sand,