Prevent Burnout at Christmas
I have spent the last few months giving free lunch and learn session to businesses and corporate teams on burnout and how to prevent it naturally. On the back of these sessions, I was asked to be the guest speaker at The Professional Business Networking group on how to prevent burnout at Christmas. So I decided to distil this talk for you here and share my burnout survival toolkit.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a ‘pervasive mental health problem in the workforce’ characterised by fatigue, nervous tension, low mood and loss of interest or motivation. The causes of burnout are complex and unique to each individual but there is usually one common denominator: chronic stress.
Stress comes in many forms. At Christmas time it might be the rush to meet end of year targets or the general overwhelm of this time of year:
When am I going to get chance to do my Christmas shopping? Will they run out of turkeys?
But it can also be the stress of excess: We eat more, we drink more, we might exercise more thinking we need to work off all the extra calories. We overcommit ourselves and we go, go, go….
At a physiological level its all the same: Your brain perceives all of these things as stress and responds accordingly.
The Stress Response
Let’s get specific about what is actually happening in the body:
The adrenal glands
Your adrenal glands, located above each kidney, are receiving signals from the brain to produce your stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones essentially put your body in survival mode – historically so you could escape from a predator. At the same time these same hormones down regulate functions that your brain considers non-essential during stress i.e. digestion, immune function and reproduction.
If the brain is repeatedly asking the adrenals to produce cortisol, signs and symptoms start to appear:
fatigue
anxiety
poor sleep
brain fog
IBS
frequent colds
females cycles on the blink
weight gain etc etc.
We aren’t designed to be in survival mode all of the time.
Your body is amazing and can cope with this for a while. But left unchecked, chronic stress places considerable strain on the adrenal glands and ultimately affects the body’s ability to adapt and cope which can lead to what is commonly termed “burnout”.
How to Prevent Burnout Naturally
I’m going to give you a whistle stop tour of my mood boosting method, to show you how it can be used to prevent you from burning out at Christmas:
Nourish
Eat more veggies to replenish stress-depleted nutrients
Stress depletes levels of vital nutrients such as vitamin C, B vitamins and magnesium. Eating your greens has never been more important than now! If you usually eat two portions a day, increase this to three over the festive season.
If you struggle, consider including a daily smoothie to increase your veg intake or use a super green powder such as Naturya Blends or Golden Greens and mix this with some water.
Magnesium supplementation may be required during stressful periods. I like to recommend Nutri Advanced Magnesium Glycinate as it is highly absorbable and well tolerated. Take two per day before bed. This will also support sleep.
Magnesium can also be absorbed to a lesser degree through the skin. Consider relaxing in an Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) bath to relax and keep topped up with this important mineral.
Support Balance Blood Sugar
If the mince pies and the quality street are everywhere at the moment, keep some nuts handy at your desk. If you have a sweet, have 2 or 3 nuts at the same time.
It may seem counter-intuitive that I am asking you to eat more but the protein and healthy fats in nuts, may help to slow the sugar release into your blood stream which can:
Keep you fuller for longer
Reduce cravings – so overall you might eat less
And most importantly help to stabilise blood sugar, reducing the demand on the adrenals to produce cortisol
Support the liver to process the extra alcohol
Ensure you are obtaining:
Antioxidants from brightly coloured fruits and veg
High quality protein and B vitamins from organic meat and dairy, wild caught fish, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds
Cruciferous vegetables (Yes eat your greens again).
If you think about it a Christmas dinner is actually perfect for supporting liver health!
Again you might need a supplement to give your liver a helping hand in Dec. Look for products containing alpha lipoid acid and N–acetyl–l–cysteine alongside liver supporting herbs such as milk thistle and artichoke. My absolute favourite product combining all these goodies and more is Pure Encapsulations Liver G.I
Engage
This step is usually about supporting mental health and preventing burnout by engaging in physical activity and hobbies outside of work. Doing the things you enjoy, that make you happy. However this is usually not an issue at this time of year!
My top tip here is actually lay off the cardio for December!
Exercise is a stressor and raises cortisol, placing increased demand on your reserves. That desire you feel to offset the extra calories is actually not helpful. Cortisol makes us cling to weight, usually in the abdominal area and stress is linked with weight loss resistance. Hammering the gym when you are stressed might actually contribute to weight gain and not weight loss!! So switch intensive cardio for resistance training, yoga, Pilates or walking.
Restore
Offsetting stress with rest and relaxation, taking the pressure off your adrenal glands.
At Christmas stress is unavoidable so it is important to off-set it wherever possible. Do this by finding some “me-time” every day.
Breathe: Take my one minute challenge – take 6 deep breaths in for the count of 5 and out for the count of 5.
Sleep: I can’t emphasise enough how vital getting enough sleep is at this time of year. Create a sleep haven in your room. Spritz some essential oils to help you wind down. I love Tropic’s So Sleepy Spray
Reframe
This step is all about identifying any limiting beliefs that may be holding you back and catching and reframing negative thought patterns.
Change the narrative in your head
Consider all the things you are telling yourself you have to do or have to be at this time of year.
Remind yourself that you don’t have to be anyone other that yourself.
You don’t have to do everything.
What you have done is enough. Who you are is enough.
Where to Buy:
I hope you found these tips useful. Below you will find all the details of where to buy the burnout survival products I mention in the blog this festive season.
All the supplements, powders and bath salts mentioned are available at The Natural Dispensary. Enter my name Rachel Philpotts when creating your account and use code RAPH10 for 10% discount. Alternatively if you would like me to send you a cart with all the products mentioned so you can simply click and buy, then pop me an email rachel@re-nutrition.co.uk. I would be happy to help.
You can buy the Tropic So Sleepy Spray via my Ambassador Shop.
