This week I want to address the topic of anxiety and depression. They have skyrocketed over this past year – and with good reason. These are two areas are ones I often discuss with clients in our first appointment together.
Now what do we do about it?
There two areas I wish to discuss this week: one is sleep and the other is breakfast. HUGE shifts can happen when these two areas are taken care of.
Sleep: To function efficiently and heal ourselves daily we must have a solid and stable sleep routine. Your waking up and getting up out of bed time needs to be the same each day. There is really no truth in ‘catching up” on our sleep. When it’s gone it’s gone. But we can rectify many aspects of anxiety and depression by firmly establishing a regular waking up time. We have seen evidence of this first hand with children – when they sleep and eat on a regular schedule they are happy and fun. When they do not, they are more irritable and hard to deal with. We are the same way!
Why is this: the system in the body that helps to balance our emotions (esp. the negative ones) is tied to our circadian rhythm.
Breakfast: we set the tone for our hormone balance and psychological state with a good breakfast every single day. Why is this? If we drink coffee and consume sugary foods we can send our body into a blood sugar spike. Then we have the big dip or fall right afterward – which is why we often reach for the next coffee and donut around 10am. This affects our mood greatly.
Interestingly, I have learned that our bodies cannot be reset again until we have our next night’s sleep. Not great for the rest of the day once we are in this pattern, but it does give us hope.
What is a good breakfast? One that is eaten soon after rising. It must contain healthy fats and quality protein our digestion is slowed done. Sugars and simple carbs digest too quickly and cause the blood sugar spike and subsequent dip.
Reach out to me if you need support in getting these two critical areas into balance. Anxiety and depression are positively affected by just these two things! Try it and let me know your results.