The Surprising Impact of Stress on Your Workout

With September here we're all wanting to get back on track with our nutrition and fitness but this tends to be a very busy time of year for many.

Busy can also mean stressful so before you jump into a new hardcore workout program in effort to get "back on track" read this blog first. 

I've been consistently lifting weights for the last 12 years. The gym has always been my happy place. I would leave feeling energized and powerful. Yet 2 years ago that completely changed. 

I would find my motivation to workout waned and when I forced myself, knowing it was "good" for me, I would end up in tears. I had no idea what was wrong with me and I started to beat myself up for it.

This would go on for over a year and it wasn't until I was on the other side of it that I realized why.

So, in case this is you, especially if you're a woman over 40 I'm here to share my experience in hopes you'll feel seen and understood.

It all came down to one word - STRESS.

Let's be real 2020-2023 were beyond stressful years. The pandemic had pushed me into an all-time low in my mental health and my marriage. I was hustling to keep my personal chef business alive and hustling to grow my new business HelloAmino. 

My relationship with my husband was on the rocks as was my relationship with myself and I was in the height of perimenopause but had no idea.

Stress is a part of life. Life isn't supposed to be easy, however we can navigate the ups and downs in better ways than others.

When you're stressed anything that adds to that stress is going to feel awful and I'm here to tell you exercise is stress.

It's usually the good kind of stress. Like fight or flight. For a hot minute your body is stressed and then you recover. 

However, if you're chronically stressed, like I was and many other women are, exercise can tax your system even more.

If you feel worse rather than better after a workout you're likely over stressed.

So, what do we do about it?

Change your goals and change your movement.

I finally stopped resisting that working out was making me feel like shit. I stopped doing HIIT workouts, I pulled back on my lifting and started walking more.

I stopped intermittent fasting (another stress) and started doing things to find joy in my life which often looked like sitting on the couch in the middle of the afternoon and indulging in a TV show I loved.

But most importantly, I started working on my marriage and mindset. 

I changed my goals for my body during this time too. I stopped tracking macros, ate more and allowed my body rest.

The result? 

My leanest self.

While I definitely lost muscle from not lifting heavy for a year I healed my body and my marriage and that resulted in dropping weight. I prioritized my nutrition, improved my quality of sleep and added more play into my life.

Mclain and I took a night away every 6 weeks to focus on each other instead of our business.

In my personal experience the thing that made the biggest impact on my life and stress levels was working on my marriage. When my marriage became strong everything in my life improved.

If you're a mama that has been putting her children first over her husband I challenge you to flip the script.

Now, if you're over 40 it's highly likely you're in perimenopause which means that while lifting weights is more important than ever so is managing stress.

As our progesterone declines our ability to handle stress decreases so we must find ways to manage our stress without the help of this important hormone.

If there's one takeaway from this blog it's this.

Your health and fitness journey isn't linear. There will be times when you're dialed in and times when you aren't and that's OK.

Here's your reminder today to do something that brings you joy.

An "I get to do" not an "I have to do or I should do".

And if you're just starting back into working out, check out my reel HERE for my top tips on just getting back into exercise after a prolonged break.

xo Aelie