(Though I wrote about this in my newsletter this week, I’m expanding it here.)
I was recently listening to a Huberman podcast where he talked about stress, and how the normal response to stress is to stop eating. However, when you have chronic stress, your body rewires itself and you start wanting to eat when you’re stressed, in particular, craving sugar and fat.
About nine years ago, I used to have the normal response to stress, that is, stress made me stop eating. Then, I started having massive amounts of migraines. I remember sitting on my couch after about a year of 12-15 migraines a month, during the middle of a migraine, with a massive work deadline looming, and realizing that all I wanted to do was eat chocolate. I thought it strange at the time, as I was aware that I usually had no appetite when I got stressed.
So I believe that I slipped into chronic stress back in 2016. Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten myself out of it. There have absolutely been stressors in my life over the years. 2017 I got rid of the migraines, but also built TH1 which was very physically demanding. 2018 my hormones decided to get all wacky, 2020 I blew out my knee, 2021 I built TH2 and had knee replacement surgery, then there was all the stuff with my eyes, as well as last year which was horrible.
I don’t have a lot of things in my life that should be causing my body to respond as if I’m in chronic stress. It’s just a pattern, a habit. Anything stressful happens, even small things, and my body really overreacts.
What can I do to change this?
According to Huberman, exposing myself to small bouts of physical stress while keeping my mind calm will help with the rewiring of my body’s reaction to stress. There are several ways to do this, such as breathing exercises, cold exposure, or interval training.
Because I’m lazy, I’m starting to use the Wim Hof (or Tummo) style of breathing, doing deep breathing exercises every other day or so. (Wim Hof didn’t invent this style of breathing, however, the practice is different from Tummo because the intent is different. I’m not trying to warm myself or bring fire internally. I’m really focused on keeping my brain completely relaxed and being mellow while doing this practice.)
In addition, I’m doing regular check-ins throughout the day, ascertaining the amount of tension I’m carrying in my body and trying to release it. This has been the most mind-blowing aspect for me.
I didn’t ever think that I was tense. However, my body is tensed up all the damned time. I never actually relax. No wonder my body thinks I’m under chronic stress.
I recently had a bad night’s sleep where I was struggling both to go to sleep as well as stay asleep.
When I did my check-in, I would have thought that I’d been fighting for my life all night based on how tense I was. Took a lot of work to release that during the day. Again, this is an overreaction that is happening physically that I need to rewire.
For the most part, my sleep is so much better than it’s ever been at any time of my life. I had two bad nights this week, while every other night was good sleep verging on great sleep. However, at this point, when I realize that I’m starting to have a bad night, I need to take something. The amount of stress that I have to deal with the next day just isn’t worth it.
So that’s my practice for the next couple of months. Lots of deep breathing exercises. Daily (sometimes hourly) check-ins with my body, working on keeping myself physically relaxed. Taking care of my sleep, doing all the things that I know help me achieve actual good sleep.
What are you working on these days? What’s your primary focus or practice?
(PS. If you want more of my regular blatherings, you can either sign up for my newsletter or join my Patreon!)