When our senior editor, Ash, asked me to write an article for the blog on something that interested me, a few ideas came to mind.
I knew I could write about the 10 reasons you should be adding turmeric to your meals or the best poached egg hack (although I’m more of a sunny side up gal)… but then I thought that maybe you’d want to hear about the test result that changed my life, literally.
Now, I’m pretty laid-back and although I do love to be organised, I go with the flow and never lose my cool (which a colleague once told me must because I always have good eyebrows!). So when I saw an endocrinologist recently to check how my Hashimoto’s was tracking, I was shocked to discover that my blood tests came back showing seriously high levels of cortisol… what?
For those of you who don’t know, cortisol is the stress hormone – and mine was five times what it should be. My endocrinologist told me that my adrenal system had gone “belly-up” and it was time to take a step back.
Put simply, I was shocked and couldn’t understand what I’d been doing wrong. First up, I’m a nutritionist so I eat really well. I do high-intensity training 5–6 times a week and although work is busy, I love my job and have a great work/life balance. In my mind, I’m doing everything right… right?
When the doctor told me that the things I thought I was doing right were actually the same things putting stress on my body, it wasn’t easy. But taking a step back and tweaking my lifestyle has been the best thing I’ve ever done. Here goes…
Exercise less?
This one was a hard pill to swallow. I was told to swap weights and squat jumps for yoga and gentle walks. And, I wasn’t allowed to set foot in a gym! I love exercising and have always been really active so at first, the thought of not being able to do it made me stress out even more. But slowly I accepted the challenge and agreed it was time to give my body a break. I started walking to and from work each day, dabbled in a little yoga and Pilates, and to my shock – my body actually felt and looked better. And without effort, something else started to change….
You snooze, you definitely don’t lose.
Taking a step back from my exercise regime meant instead of crawling out of bed at 5am to fit in a boxing class before work, I was getting in a extra hour or two and hitting my eight hours of sleep a day. The science backs me here too, with numerous studies illustrating that a lack of sleep is linked to elevated cortisol levels. This taught me to listen to my body – and if it needs rest, take it.
Goodbye fat…
Surprisingly, I also lost body fat. Now, while weight loss wasn’t my goal by any means, who would have thought that taking a step back from exercise and getting a little more sleep could have this result? Considering cortisol signals your body to store fat, especially in the abdomen and around the organs, it makes sense that over-exercising and putting excess stress on your body is actually counterintuitive if your goal is fat loss. This taught me that when it comes to exercise, it’s all about quality over quantity.
So, what does a nutritionist eat?
True to my profession, I eat really well and LOVE cooking. My meals are always packed with loads of fresh veg, lean protein and good fats and growing up across the road from my Greek grandparents meant that whilst most kids were having Fruit Loops for breakfast, I was having greens with lemon and olive oil on toast (seriously!). I’ve also been lucky that my mostly Mediterranean diet has meant that naturally, I don’t really touch the sweet stuff – which is super important when it comes to keeping your cortisol levels at bay.
Sugar is especially taxing on your adrenal system, causing your body to produce excess cortisol when you get that “sugar crash” after a high. I won’t get into the deep science now – you can read about it more here– but basically, if you want to control your cortisol, you gotta ditch the sweet stuff!
And now?
I guess you’re probably waiting for me to give you the fairytale ending of “my cortisol levels are now normal” and I lived happily ever after. But I don’t see my doctor for another few weeks to get my results, so you’ll have to stay tuned! In the meantime, I can tell you one thing – I certainly feel better.
This whole experience has taught me that it’s okay to skip the gym, abs are made in the bedroom just as much as in the kitchen (I’m talking about more sleep, relax), and while I do believe that balance is key, food is just as much about enjoyment as it is about nourishing your body. Which is why, alongside my love of JERFing, I enjoy the occasional glass of red wine, the odd ricotta cannoli from Papa’s Pasticceria in Haberfield, and my favourite wood-fired margherita pizza with extra olives.
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