Do you get lightheaded when you go from lying to standing? Do you crave salt? Do you feel like you need coffee? Do you have dark circles under your eyes?

These are all signs of adrenal fatigue. What is adrenal fatigue? It’s a collection of symptoms caused by imbalances in the hormones cortisol and DHEA (which then causes imbalances in other hormones, like thyroid, testosterone, estrogen, and others). But who cares about all that physiology nonsense? You want to know how it affects your weight, and how do you fix it, right? Right. So pull up a chair and listen closely.

Original Source: Here.

            If you’ve heard me at any of my speaking engagements before, then you know I keep repeating that “your hormones determine your body fat far more than calories.” And if you have imbalances in those 2 hormones, it causes your metabolism to slow down, muscle gets burned, you lack energy, and your mood changes (and not for the better, either). All this (and more) can seriously undermine your weight loss efforts.

For one thing, you start to crave foods that aren’t all that healthy for you. On top of that, you don’t feel like exercising, and even if you do, you just don’t have enough energy to put forth your full effort. And no, it’s not a matter of willpower. It’s a matter of your physiology and biochemistry.

If you’ve ever worked with any of our trainers, you know that we use a 4-pronged approach to most goals, that combines:

  1. Exercise
  2. Nutrition
  3. Supplementation
  4. Lifestyle

And although we can’t cover all 4 in as much detail as I’d like in this newsletter (you can apply for a Dream Body MAP Session to do that), we’ll touch on each one of them briefly.

Exercise

             When you have adrenal fatigue, the worst activities you can do are prolonged, moderate-high intensity activities. Things like jogging, aerobics classes, and other similar activities will seriously slow down your recovery. Why? Because these activities are very taxing on your adrenal glands (two almond-sized glands that sit on top of the kidney). And your adrenals are already burned out. No need to tax them further.

The activities that are most appropriate for the person with adrenal fatigue are things like light walking, tai chi, and other things you find relaxing.

Nutrition

             One of the things you want to minimize during your recovery from adrenal fatigue is fruits. Why? Because if you have adrenal fatigue, you already have an imbalance between your sodium and potassium. You don’t have enough sodium, and eating fruits (which are rich in potassium, and very low in sodium) will exaggerate this imbalance.

You also want to avoid the “bad” stuff, like fast food, caffeine (including green tea) and alcohol. All foods that heavily tax the adrenals.

Another critical component is to identify which foods you are sensitive to, and avoid them. By the way, food sensitivities and food allergies are not the same thing, so it’s important to identify which foods you’re sensitive to.

Supplementation

             Some of the nutrients that are the most depleted in the person with adrenal fatigue are the B complex (especially B5), vitamin C and magnesium. By supplementing with those (on top of a high-quality multi-vitamin and omega 3), you’ll give your body the raw materials it needs to make the hormones that you don’t make enough of.

In addition to that, different herbs help different people. There are actually 6 different stress profiles, and different herbs are appropriate for each. The profiles are:

 

Stressed and wired

Stressed and tired

Stressed and hot

Stressed and cold

Stressed and mentally exhausted

Stressed and immune challenged

When we work with our clients who have adrenal fatigue, we determine their stress profile (since everyone responds to stress differently), and recommend the most appropriate herbs.

Lifestyle

             The 2 key components to help you recover from adrenal fatigue are sleep and stress management. According to one of the key authorities on adrenal fatigue, Dr. James L. Wilson, for the person with adrenal fatigue, it’s important to be in bed before 11PM, and sleep until 9AM. I should mention that this is not something to be done your entire life. Just until you recover from adrenal fatigue.

The other component is stress management. So figure out what stresses you out, and how to make it better.

 

When you combine all 4 of these factors, you’ll recover much faster than if you just go after 1 or 2 of them.

Now granted, what I’ve touched on here is just the tip of the iceberg, but due to space limitations, I have to purposely keep if short. If you need help losing weight by solving your adrenal fatigue, you can see if you qualify for the Dream Body MAP Session.

Short Summary

  • Adrenal fatigue is a collection of symptoms that include getting lightheaded when going from lying to standing, salt cravings, coffee cravings, and others.
  • There is a 4-fold solution to adrenal fatigue:
    • Avoid high-intensity exercise, and emphasize more relaxing activities like walking, stretching, tai chi, etc.
    • Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and fast foods.
      • Also, figure out your food sensitivities, and avoid them.
    • Supplement with a combination of the B vitamins (emphasize B5), vitamin C, magnesium
    • Sleep from 11PM-9AM
    • Manage stress effectively