One thing adrenal fatigued and/or health-challenged people face is the struggle to do the things they know will help them.  Whether it’s eating in a more balanced way, reducing stressors, getting workouts in or taking supplements, it can seem daunting to tackle these issues.  Especially if you’re trying to do too many at once!

As a healing adrenal-challenged woman myself, I know what it’s like to know the right thing to do and yet feel like it’s an uphill battle with myself to do it!

The first thing we need to do is cut ourselves some slack. Stressing about getting your workouts in, your meals balanced, your supplements taken, your stress reduced (can we say oxymoron?!) will not help!

If you are anything like me, you can make a plan of attack, but even though you know baby steps to get going is probably the best, you start projecting ahead to see what you’ll need to do next week, next month, 6 months from now, the 3rd Tuesday of the 4th month after the lunar eclipse…  🙂

Before you know it, you are stressing yourself to the max over future choices and changes that haven’t even come up yet!  And you’re still working on baby step 1a.  Why are you worrying about Big Daddy Step 395e?!

This is where we defeat ourselves too often before we even get started–or barely get started.  Let’s take workouts–first of all, don’t plan so far in advance that you can’t flex.  Some days you will feel great and are able to do more. Other days/weeks you’ll need to back off a bit. Build in that flexibility so you’re not discouraged when life happens.

Lest you think just a few moves is “not doing enough”, remember that  by intention and focus on form on just 2 or 3 moves you are laying a great foundation–without taxing your health.  The Terrific Three are Primary Back Stretch, T-Tapp Twist and 1 Hoedown.  For those with health issues or adrenal fatigue, I would suggest to do just the T-Tapp Twist stretch (not the actual move) and a set of Butterflies instead of a Hoedown (it’s a bit less cardio).  Teresa has recommended PBS, T-Tapp Twist stretch only and Oil Wells as great moves for the adrenal challenged, as they help drain the thoracic area and help the adrenals to heal.

Going slowly with focus, kicking out as necessary is acceptable and in fact, preferable, for those with health challenges.

Eating changes can be, well, challenging!  And for those with health or adrenal issues, sometimes making decisions can be daunting.  It has been for me!  I wish I could give credit, but someone on the forums shared  a year or so go about focusing on adding in vs. taking out. So instead of thinking “I need to cut out sugar” think about adding in some veggies that you enjoy.  I like colored peppers, snow pea pods and cherry tomatoes; and although yes, eating more greens is good, starting there is starting somewhere! I even made a healthy version of a ranch/garlic dip.  I hardly ever eat veggies with dip now!  But to start–if it helps you get more in, why not?!  I would just be careful to not use commercially prepared dips (or read ingredients of even “natural” ones) so you’re not shooting yourself in the foot with additives and unpronounceable chemicals! :p

Yes, you’ve heard eating too much fruit can be bad, but isn’t eating fruit instead of a candy bar a good thing?!  So add in an apple and some peanut butter (a tasty apple, like gala, and usually organic has more flavor!).  Eventually you might want to try homemade salad dressings to go with your salads or maybe try green smoothies. But for now, eat a veggie you love.  Add a bit more protein.  Eat coconut oil and some nut butter with that piece of chocolate to help balance things out!  😉

These are just a few ideas for two of the four areas–next time we’ll look at what we can do to take baby steps in supplementation and de-stressing!

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