Libby Weaver is randomly overweight. Squirrel in the Wheel Syndrome: How to stay healthy and save your nerves in a world of endless cases

Interpreter I. Okunkova

Scientific editor A. Zvonkov

Editor A. Chernikova

Project Manager L. Razzhivaikina

Correctors E. Aksenova, M. Konstantinova

Computer layout M. Potashkin

Cover illustration A. Lyapunov / www.bangbangstudio.ru

All rights reserved. The work is intended solely for private use. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and in corporate networks, for public or collective use without the written permission of the copyright owner. For copyright infringement, the legislation provides for the payment of compensation to the copyright holder in the amount of up to 5 million rubles (Article 49 of the LOAP), as well as criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for up to 6 years (Article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

To Christopher with much love and to Kate with great gratitude

Our mission is to educate and inspire while improving people's health and happiness. And thus change the world.

Dr. Libby with the team

Introduction

The Squirrel in the Wheel Syndrome is the result of fourteen years of my observation of changes in women's health and behavior. Never before in my work have I encountered so many women who are torn apart in an effort to do everything that is expected of them. Never before have I seen so many problems with the reproductive system. Women are excited all the time. Many experience fatigue. Tired but excited. Constant time pressure and a sense of lack of time, combined with an endless to-do list, have such significant consequences for women's health that I had to write a book about it.

Women feel like they need to rush forward (whether they realize it or not), and this affects health in the most dangerous way. Sex hormone-related issues such as PCOS, endometriosis, infertility, and difficult menopause (not to mention exhaustion) have never been more acute. If you look at the chemical processes in our body and turn to scientific research, stress will be to blame.

It’s not just hormonal imbalances, exhausted adrenal glands from long production of stress hormones, a sluggish thyroid gland, and how this affects us and those around me that worries me. It worries me just as much (maybe more) as to why this is happening. Only by understanding the reasons, you can change the situation. Why do women behave in such a way that their health is getting worse? The answer must be sought in the biochemistry of our body and worldview.

When you understand what is happening, you will see that the choice between "rushing" and "not racing" depends on beliefs, and you behave according to these beliefs. And until you review them, you will continue to live as before.

When you perceive your life as difficult, all problems - regardless of the circumstances, the scale of the difficulties and their threat to life - seem significant. How you deal with small problems is how you deal with big ones. The body does not keep up with the changes that the modern world requires of it. You need to understand this and set aside time for rest - daily, weekly and monthly, in order to gain strength for real. Just as the body cannot go without sleep for a long time, so the psyche is not able to work too long without quality rest. Otherwise, as the results of scientific research and intuition suggest, the matter will not do without consequences.

All species living on our planet evolve with each new generation. Each new generation is better prepared for life in the prevailing conditions and environment. The problem is that the environment is now changing at a rate never seen before in human evolution. Speaking of evolution, I do not want to get into arguments about the divine origin and Darwin's theory. I just want you to think about what we require from our body.

Humans have existed on Earth for 150,000–200,000 years. We slowly and steadily developed, wandered, lived off the land. We were hunters and gatherers, and only the seasons, climate, and weather conditions influenced what we eat and what we need to do during the day. People ate mostly raw food as it existed in nature and performed the tasks necessary for survival. The basis of nutrition was raw plants, and sometimes richer food obtained by hunting and gathering was added to them.

Around 7,500–10,000 years ago, people began to linger in one place for longer periods of time, and very primitive forms of agriculture arose. For the first time, people began to grow cereals and consume the milk of animals. For the first time, food became regular, since food did not have to be sought, and agriculture provided supplies. However, the rhythm of food and life was still based on natural cycles: the harvest was seasonal and depended on the grace of nature, and it was possible to “work” only in daylight.

While the changes occurred gradually and continuously, the chemical processes of the body kept up with them. The next most significant change in lifestyle came in the 19th century with the industrial revolution. Labor was mechanized, and the villagers began to move en masse to the cities. Agriculture took on a huge burden of feeding the population, which continued to grow, and daily work began to require less movement, as people no longer worked on the land, but in factories. The way of life began to depend on the place of residence and the amount of earnings.

Fast forward to today. The last twenty years, when the Internet and cell phones appeared, have been the fastest period of change in the history of mankind. Not so long ago, when you left the house for shopping, took the children to school, or drove home from work, you could not be contacted. And today, cell phones not only ring, but also emit signals about the arrival of e-mails and comments on social networks. Most of the women I know don't sit still in the car, waiting for the red light: they check text messages, e-mails and the latest news on their favorite portal. There were times when, standing at a red light, we could think about something, look at the sky, feel gratitude, or listen to a good song on the radio. There was more spiritual food and rest in our life.

Today, many people eat “food” from a bag containing non-food ingredients because they don’t have time. Food has to be comfortable or people won't eat it. And the sooner you eat, the better. But deep down you know (whether you admit it to yourself or not) that retribution will come. You've been hiding your head in the sand for the past twenty years if you don't know that the diet should be based on fresh produce and that you should eat a lot more vegetables. The majority of people choose unhealthy food not out of ignorance, but out of conviction. But instead of reconsidering their beliefs, they think they need more knowledge. Of course, sometimes information about food, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can be of great benefit. But, in my opinion, no less important is inspiration - that high spirits and desire to take care of yourself - which changes beliefs.

I often watch people, especially at airports. They get off the moving walkway and instead of going faster to the boarding gate, they stop. They were tired before they even got to the plane! To make us move faster, many devices have been invented, but not all of them are good for health. They don't let us move. Today, people don't have to climb stairs because there are elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. We don't even have to go to the store to buy food, let alone collect it from the field or kill it in the forest. We order groceries online and have them delivered straight to our homes. I don't blame anyone. This is just one of the observations about how quickly and how much the world in which we live has changed. We have become guinea pigs in many areas. Never before have people spent their entire lives eating pesticide-grown food and holding a device that emits radiation so close to the brain on a regular basis. Never before have artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives been present in a person's food throughout their lifetime. I'm ready to cross all my fingers and toes in the hope that it's all safe. But my intuition tells me that this is not the case.

When you perceive your life as difficult, all problems - regardless of the circumstances, the scale of the difficulties and their threat to life - seem significant. How you deal with small problems is how you deal with big ones. The body does not keep up with the changes that the modern world requires of it. It is necessary to understand this and set aside time for rest - daily, weekly and monthly, in order to gain strength for real. Just as the body cannot go without sleep for a long time, so the psyche is not able to work too long without quality rest. Otherwise, as the results of scientific research and intuition suggest, the matter will not do without consequences.

At the cellular level, we are no different from our ancestors. Each generation evolves a little to better adapt to life in the environment. However, the rate of evolution cannot be compared with the rate of changes in the surrounding world. Consciousness and thinking have evolved to keep up with life, and we manage to write an e-mail message while talking on a cell phone, while remembering to order a birthday cake for a child (note, I'm talking about buying it, not bake), but on a biochemical level, we are the same as we were 150,000 years ago. Our subconscious mind has also remained the same, which, as studies show, is a million times stronger than the conscious mind. The subconscious - a part of the mind, inaccessible to comprehension - makes the heart beat and hair grow; it knows how to heal a cut without your participation... and all these processes are amazing in themselves! I do not believe that the nervous system, which has a huge impact on every cell in our body, the entire hormonal system, every organ, every aspect of fat burning and the feeling of time pressure, is able to keep up with the changes that are taking place at this moment in human development.

We are torn between cell phones and email, laptops and wireless modems. And at the same time we want too much from our body. Never before has mail been so fast, nor has the communications system made us available 24/7, if we let it. We have never had so little time to cook our own meals. Never before have we held the phone to our ear for so long and the earphones in our ears for so long, so that even while exercising, we are both distracting ourselves and overstimulating ourselves. We have not yet fully realized that the things that seem urgent and the speed with which we live lead to catastrophic consequences for health, especially for the nervous and reproductive systems.

We are so far from our roots that many people consider things like eating seasonal products, sometimes walking barefoot and feeling the ground under their feet, turning off their cell phones at certain times in the evenings, not responding to e-mails mail every three minutes and have a weekly rest day on which you don’t even check your mail.

We seem to have lost sight of the guiding thread of nature - not only in relation to nutrition, but also to lifestyle in general. In my opinion, mother nature knows best. Not so long ago, we treated colds with garlic and lemons. Now we take a pill and run because we can't afford not to go to work. People go on vacation for a week, and seven days before that they complete a three-week work quota. They return even more tired than when they left, and immediately have to clear the accumulated mail and other things. If you look at it from the outside, it seems that we have gone crazy, right? To start living differently - in every sense more beneficial to health - you need to realize that this is necessary. And make the appropriate decision. Natural foods are more nutritious, and it is the nutrients that keep us alive. Having more free time, we can devote it to relationships with loved ones - and this makes us happier and kinder both to ourselves and to others.

Without realizing it, you are asking your glands and organs, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, adrenals, thyroid, ovaries, uterus, brain, and digestive system to keep up with this race. This pace of life, of course, has consequences. This book was born out of my observations and reflections, as well as scientific data about what the present moment requires of us and what harm it does to us.

We are not adapted to cope with constant tension - apparent or real, long-term consumption of low-quality food and a sedentary lifestyle at the computer with a cell phone to our ear. As I said, this is just the tip of an infamous but amazing iceberg, and women need to know what threatens this lifestyle and why we are becoming hostages of this race. Awareness is the first step, and some of the information in this book is likely to be new to you. The other part will help you remember what you already know.

In this book, I have used numerous examples and stories from the lives of real women of different professions, backgrounds and marital status. The most typical of those described here would be the scenario of the working heterosexual mother. However, there are many other heroines: with a different job, life, sexual preferences, marital status, socio-economic situation, as well as the presence or absence of children. I tell stories to get the point across, and sometimes I summarize and retell what I hear most often, which will also be one of the stories.

There will always be twenty-four hours in a day. And how to spend this time is up to you. The idea of what you need to do during the day depends on both the biochemical processes in your body and beliefs. And you have to learn new things about both. Embark on a journey with me, and you will begin to re-understand and, most importantly, apply the strategies and rituals suggested here for your future to be healthy.

Interpreter I. Okunkova

Scientific editor A. Zvonkov

Editor A. Chernikova

Project Manager L. Razzhivaikina

Correctors E. Aksenova, M. Konstantinova

Computer layout M. Potashkin

Cover illustration A. Lyapunov / www.bangbangstudio.ru

* * *

To Christopher with much love and to Kate with great gratitude

Our mission is to educate and inspire while improving people's health and happiness. And thus change the world.

Dr. Libby with the team

Introduction

We are torn between cell phones and email, laptops and wireless modems. And at the same time we want too much from our body. Never before has mail been so fast, nor has the communications system made us available 24/7, if we let it. We have never had so little time to cook our own meals. Never before have we held a phone to our ear for so long, and earphones in our ears for so long, so that even while exercising, we are both distracting ourselves and overstimulating ourselves. We have not yet fully realized that the things that seem urgent and the speed with which we live lead to catastrophic consequences for health, especially for the nervous and reproductive systems.

We seem to have lost sight of the guiding thread of nature - not only in relation to nutrition, but also to lifestyle in general. In my opinion, mother nature knows best. Not so long ago, we treated colds with garlic and lemons. Now we take a pill and run because we can't afford not to go to work. People go on vacation for a week, and seven days before that they complete a three-week work quota. They return even more tired than when they left, and immediately have to clear the accumulated mail and other things. If you look at it from the outside, it seems that we have gone crazy, right? In order to start living differently - in every sense healthier - you need to realize that this is necessary. And make the appropriate decision. Natural foods are more nutritious, and it is the nutrients that keep us alive. Having more free time, we can devote it to relationships with loved ones - and this makes us happier and kinder both to ourselves and to others.

We are not designed to cope with constant tension - apparent or real, long-term consumption of low-quality food and a sedentary lifestyle at the computer with a cell phone to our ear. As I said, this is just the tip of an infamous but amazing iceberg, and women need to know what threatens this lifestyle and why we are becoming hostages of this race. Awareness is the first step, and some of the information in this book is likely to be new to you. The other part will help you remember what you already know.

There will always be twenty-four hours in a day. And how to spend this time is up to you. The idea of what you need to do during the day depends on both the biochemical processes in your body and beliefs. And you have to learn new things about both. Embark on a journey with me and you will begin to re-understand and, most importantly, apply the strategies and rituals suggested here for your future to be healthy.

Chapter 1
What is frazzled woman syndrome?

The Exhausted Woman Syndrome describes the biochemical consequences of being constantly on the run and the health impact of many urgent tasks. It doesn't matter if a woman needs to do two things or two hundred, she hurries to finish them. She is energized to the limit and does not spare herself in the daily battle for success. She is always full of things to do, and she rarely feels like a winner and mistress of the situation. The passionate desire to control every little thing leads to the feeling that she does not control anything at all - not even herself. At times, she seems to be unable to cope, whether she says it out loud or keeps it to herself, while her stomach is already cramping from tension. Well, if her sex hormones are balanced. Most women in this condition suffer terribly during their periods, which may be irregular. Well, those who enter menopause feel exhausted.

Women, whom I fondly refer to as "thyroid types", praise coffee so much that they think they can't live without it. They say that it dispels the fog in the head, gives at least some energy (better than nothing), and helps to move. They almost always say that coffee improves their mood. Women of the "thyroid type" are less nervous than others. It takes a lot of caffeine to make them nervous. They often suffer from fatigue. And not just tired - they were tired to the bone. While most women are tired in the late afternoon, exhausted women usually feel exhausted already in the afternoon and early evening. But if they do not go to bed before ten, then they get a second wind and it is difficult for them to fall asleep until two in the morning.

How many of the following statements describe you? For the sake of interest, count their number and determine your level of exhaustion.

exhausted woman

Loves coffee to the point that she feels miserable if she doesn't get her daily dose. She tells herself that she needs it for energy, so that her brain works or she can force herself to move.

When asked how she feels, she answers "terribly busy" or "all on her nerves."

Stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol - are more often present in her blood than absent.

She has low progesterone levels.

She has problems with her periods in the form of polycystic ovary syndrome, heavy periods with blood clots, irregular cycles, PMS, or debilitating menopause.

She wants sweets, especially in the middle of the day or closer to the onset of her period.

Often feels overwhelmed.

Has poor short-term memory.

It always seems to her that there are too few hours in the day.

He reacts too painfully to many things, even if he does not show it.

Often feels tired and energized at the same time.

The thyroid gland is either hypoactive or overactive.

Can't sit down because he will feel guilty. If only she had no strength left at all, then she would rest a little, but she would still feel guilty.

Sleeps too little.

Sometimes sleep does not bring the desired rest.

Instead of going to bed, he finishes urgent matters late at night.

Irritable.

In the car, she wants to go faster all the time, even if she doesn't need to.

Resents why everyone drives slowly, even if they don't.

She does not have time for solitude, for herself, says that this is selfishness or a luxury that she cannot afford.

Has a to-do list that never ends and is anxious about it.

Panic easily.

Often has digestive problems such as flatulence or irritable bowel syndrome.

So exhausted, especially in the afternoon, that she feels like she can’t cope with her life ... The only salvation seems to be sugar, caffeine or alcohol.

She does not notice the special moments that occur in her life. Life seems to be chaos.

Laughing less than before.

It's hard for her to relax without wine.

Thoughts are vague (fog or "porridge" in the head), but notices this only on rare days when the head is clear.

She scolds herself for being a bad wife (mother, friend).

Constantly strives to win the love of others, sometimes without even noticing it.

Worries if there is no phone at hand, constantly looks into it so as not to miss an important SMS or call, takes the phone with him even to the toilet.

Going on vacation, most of the time she thinks that she should unwind, but she does not really rest, and the vacation turns into an extension of her normal life.

Returns from vacation even more tired than she was before departure.

Breathes often and superficially, lacks air, often sighs heavily.

Poor appetite or, conversely, brutal, especially at night.

Can blame others for adding to her worries or "complicating her life", although most of the stress comes from internal tension.

Trying to get as much done as possible during the day, checking e-mail in the bathroom while standing at traffic lights or late at night.

Often feels guilty.

Doesn't ask for help.

It is difficult to refuse, and if he does, he feels guilty.

0. This book is not for you. But do not rush to put it aside, most likely it will be useful to one of your friends!

1–4. You cannot be called an exhausted woman. Use this book to determine which parts of the endocrine system may need your help. For example, if you are experiencing PMS, follow the strategies suggested for that condition.

5–7. You have embarked on the path of an exhausted woman! Apply the strategies I suggest to support both physical and emotional health, reduce stress and improve your well-being!

7 and more. Hello frazzled woman, nice to meet you. I will try to help you overcome stress.

Physical health of a frazzled woman

Several body systems are involved in your endless race:

Nervous system.

The endocrine system, which includes:

Adrenal glands (where stress hormones are produced)

ovaries;

thyroid gland;

The pituitary gland, the main switch (a part of the brain).

Digestive system.

Life in a hurry affects any of these systems - or all at once. Solving problems in one of these systems will make you feel better. However, if you continue to live at a frantic pace, your health will continue to deteriorate. One of the main goals of this book is to help you understand the biochemical processes that take place in the body. In the following chapters, you will learn how to determine not only which system needs attention and special care, but also what you can do for it.

When your biochemistry (like your sex hormones) goes haywire, it's very hard to change how you feel. You suffer from constant fatigue, often break down, you have outbursts of anger - or all this happens to you at once. The body is constantly receiving signals from the environment and from itself about the chemicals (hormones) it needs to produce, and it will take a long time to get it right. It is necessary to slow down the pace of life and get rid of the feeling that everything should have been done yesterday.

Here is an article I wrote for a newspaper. Perhaps you recognize yourself in her character.

frazzled woman syndrome
Take a deep breath and come with me on a journey into the world of food and hormones, thoughts and sensations, energy and vitality. Of course, there are many variations on what I'm going to talk about, but I think you get the idea.

The typical breakfast that I see on a regular basis with a lot of women goes like this: jump out of bed, gulp down a bowl of processed cereal, and run to work. Blood sugar levels skyrocket, and the pancreas releases a shot of insulin. Here is the first situation for the day when you have deposited fat. All morning you are breathing shallowly: you are stressed, you need to keep up with deadlines, and the to-do list is endless. After a spike in blood sugar after a quick breakfast in the middle of the morning, blood sugar drops sharply and the ability to concentrate decreases. With relief, you look at the clock at half past ten. You didn't get very far. Tried to parse e-mail, but not particularly successful. But half-past ten is the time for morning tea. And you can afford to get up from your desk and go to a cafe - with a colleague or alone.

You justify buying a cupcake and a large glass of latte because you have a long day ahead of you, and in the evening you will probably go to the gym. This is the second time in a day that you've gained fat, this time thanks to coffee and muffin. You return to the office and get back to work, but after an hour or two, you start fidgeting again. You dream about dinner. Your blood sugar level dropped again after you raised it with a snack. You look at your watch again... Thank God it's lunchtime! And you go to a cafe.

You know that stomach sensations are better on days when you don't eat bread for lunch, but tell yourself that you have a lot to do and need to dine quickly. Sandwich, roll or roll - it's always quick and easy. You swallow your sandwich. Now you want something sweet. So-so. Maybe chocolate? No, not now. Fruit. Great choice, you think. And inside you again the level of sugar rises and, therefore, insulin is thrown out (the third deposition of fat in a day). For half an hour you feel completely exhausted, that you are puffed up, and scold yourself because you seem fat to yourself. In fact, you just have bloating, but because of the discomfort and gas in the abdomen and "fat" in the abdomen, you feel like a cow. You work in an open-plan office, so you're holding back gases because they smell. Colleagues may be grateful to you (without knowing it), but you get more and more puffy, and the size of the stomach increases.

The psychological process that goes on in your head after dinner, when you think about what you ate in the morning, causes great damage to your health and cortisol levels, and therefore your waistline. It seems to you that all morning you just did what you ate and sat. You remember the dress you hoped to fit into for the holiday in three weeks. Even if you just ate breakfast, a cupcake, a roll and drank a cup of coffee, at this moment it seems to you that today you have especially fat thighs, that you will never fit into this dress. Also, although you were going to the gym in the evening, you will be late at work because you did so little in the morning. You think about a membership that cost a lot of money, but you haven't been to the gym for three months. You feel worthless. You again think about the "giant" (as it seems to you) amount of food that you ate that day, and you hate yourself and your fat belly. And suddenly a flash of light! A thought flashed through your mind that immediately made your soul feel better. Suddenly you feel like you're in control again. What was that idea? Sitting at the table with a bloated belly after dinner, you decide that you will skip the afternoon snack! You immediately feel better because you have found how to stop the endless food and growing waistline. How little is needed for the joy of a woman who is preoccupied with her own figure!

Your blood sugar and insulin were bouncing back and forth all morning, and when you skipped your afternoon snack, you somehow decided that the picture would change. Will not change. Between three and four in the afternoon, your blood sugar dropped again and you felt exhausted. The momentary joy at the thought that you will refuse an afternoon snack has passed, and you are so hungry that you are ready to eat your own hand. Blood sugar dropped below nowhere. What kind of food do you think your body dreams of in this situation? That's right, sugar. Almost nothing can raise your blood sugar faster, and your biochemical survival mechanism knows it.

But you promised yourself that there would be no afternoon snack! And now I want to eat so much that it is impossible to stop myself. But if you give up and eat what you promised not to eat, what emotions will you experience? Blame. What stress hormone is released when you feel guilty? Cortisol. When there is a lot of it, it becomes a fat storage hormone. You are caught in a vicious and exhausting circle. Have I mentioned that you feel exhausted?

You give up and eat the sweet that comes to hand. Some women satisfy their need for food at this time of the day by drinking a second cup of coffee. But black coffee is unlikely to help now. Want to add some milk… you need something “nutritious”! Those who choose coffee feel relatively good because they didn’t give up and didn’t eat, but deep down they understand that extra coffee is not the best option either. New clients say these words to me every day. But they console themselves with the fact that "at least I didn't eat."

Those who have eaten immediately feel better as their blood sugar and then insulin rise again. Hello fat storage number four. And then self-flagellation begins: “You are hopeless. You don't have willpower. Look at your belly." “I won’t, I said I won’t, and now I did it again” is a typical phrase of exhausted women and a manifestation of the “and here again” syndrome. It's half past seven and you're sadly sitting at your desk trying to finish the work you didn't do during the day because you were busy thinking about food, sports, dresses, a fat belly and how not to pass gases. You won't go to the gym because it's getting late. You still have to finish the work, if you leave work at seven fifteen, there is nothing to eat at home, you need to go to the store and then you will be at home at eight, you still have to cut vegetables, and this is so long, and then you still have to cook dinner, eat and clean... So by the time you finish all this, it will be half past eleven, and you probably have more chores to do around the house. But in the morning you need to wash your hair and straighten your hair, so you should get up early. And the next morning you get up and everything repeats itself, and you wonder why you can't lose weight, although you eat "not much", and why you always have no energy. The reasons lie in biochemistry and psychology. And, of course, if you add lack of sleep here ... Well, a cocktail! This combination of factors promotes fat storage rather than fat burning and energy conversion, and drives the ups and downs of energy and joy.

This is how a lot of women behave. I may have exaggerated a bit (maybe not much!), and this scenario has a lot of variations - involving children, partners, parents, friends, and work outside the office - but I meet women of all ages living like this day after the day. Stress may or may not be intense and traumatic, but every day you try to juggle different tasks and roles, and there is no end in sight. This scenario is typical for adults between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five, but is most noticeable between thirty and fifty-five. Often its cause is the desire to be in time for everything and everywhere, to please everyone - probably, it was precisely this behavior that was encouraged in childhood. For this you are loved, and you like to help others. It is difficult for you to put your own interests first, and when you do succeed, you have an aching feeling of guilt. You're exhausted, and the only time you don't feel that way is when you're living on adrenaline.

The cocktail of hormones produced under the influence of the “and here again” syndrome and the syndrome of the exhausted woman consists mainly of cortisol and insulin. This monstrous cocktail interferes with the production of progesterone, so the body is dominated by estrogen, which causes you to have heavy periods with clots and PMS. This lowers thyroid function, so you drink coffee, wine, or both to cheer up and relax, your liver gets regular kicks, but you don't eat enough vegetables. Throw in the messy emotions and chaos, and you have what I call the frazzled woman syndrome.

On the one hand, you can begin to change the picture of health through food, through a change in diet that will help stabilize blood glucose levels and insulin production. However, on the other hand, it is clear that it is not only about nutrition. The feeling of being chased even when you pause when you know deep down that there is no reason to run like this, the unconscious need to please and angry internal dialogue are all internal emotional factors that cause us to choose the wrong food and drink. . Time to slow down, dear ones.

Usually during the day, fat is not deposited. Everything that we eat during the day is absorbed into the blood in the intestines and burns. During rest (relaxation) and at night, when there is nothing to spend glucose and fat on, they go to the warehouse - into adipose tissue. Therefore, the rejection of an early dinner leads to an increased appetite at night, before bedtime, and this food is 90% going to the hips and stomach. – Hereinafter, except where noted, approx. scientific ed.

Libby Weaver

Interpreter I. Okunkova

Scientific editor A. Zvonkov

Editor A. Chernikova

Project Manager L. Razzhivaikina

Correctors E. Aksenova, M. Konstantinova

Computer layout M. Potashkin

Cover illustration A. Lyapunov / www.bangbangstudio.ru

* * *

To Christopher with much love and to Kate with great gratitude

Our mission is to educate and inspire while improving people's health and happiness. And thus change the world.

Dr. Libby with the team

Introduction

Libby Weaver, "Squirrel in the Wheel Syndrome: How to stay healthy and save your nerves in a world of endless cases"
Alpina Publisher, 2017
ISBN: 978-5-9614-6058-2

Publisher's abstract: Dr. Libby Weaver has over 17 years of experience in women's health, nutrition and lifestyle. Her first book, Accidentally Overweight, became an instant bestseller in Australia and New Zealand. She devoted her next book to "the frazzled woman syndrome". This term, coined by Dr. Weaver, characterizes women who strive to keep everything under control and have time everywhere, while worrying that there is not enough time for anything. At the end of the day, tired but determined, they are sure that tomorrow they can do everything. Insomnia, high blood pressure, hormonal disruptions or excess weight - all these are the consequences of the insane rhythm of life. Consequences that are often tried to be treated, not paying attention to the causes that caused them. Libby Weaver encourages women to stop and reconsider their lifestyles and beliefs, which do not allow breaking out of the vicious circle of eternal haste and time pressure. In her book, she talks about the impact of the adrenaline race on the endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems. The author offers actionable strategies to help you regain strength and improve both emotional and physical health.

What can not be credited to Weaver is the definition of the problem. With a fair amount of eloquence, she describes her patients, who are exhausted to the point of insanity by an overly stressful lifestyle, losing their memory, attention, health of the body and psyche ... They do not have enough time for anything, but they are in an everlasting hurry. Many readers recognize themselves in this portrait. But what kind of means are offered to them?

Give up alcohol.
Avoid coffee and caffeinated products.
Minimize your intake of sweets.
Do yoga, qigong, meditation - good advice, but, sorry, when? What time?
Take vitamins and dietary supplements (as an allergic person, I protest helplessly here)
Solve endocrinological problems. Most women have endocrinological problems.
Resist the temptation to redo everything, but rest: every day, every week, every month. This, by the way, is reasonable.
Deal with guilt, it's so pointless.
Be constantly grateful, because some do not even have drinking water - no comment.
Do not chase after material goods. No house is worth psychological exhaustion.

And when it turned out that the dominance of the sympathetic nervous system was to blame for the debilitating emotional reactions, and in addition to increased training, sweets, alcohol and caffeine, the sympathetic nervous system was to blame for its dominance
a) guilt, sorry for the tautology,
b) failure to put their own interests first
c) and the desire not to be rejected, expelled ...
But let me, the sympathetic nervous system, as we know from school, dominates in situations of stress! So I see no reason to put the cart before the horse.

What am I leading to? Over the past few years, I have noticed around me a passion for various strategies for organizing time and space. Women - almost exclusively women - learn to fold and throw away things, limit their "Wishlist", plan a schedule, carve out minutes well if for rest, or for another job, for which they will be paid zero rubles, zero kopecks. So my grandfather taunted my grandmother when she began to count and transfer money: "Do you think there will be more of them from this?" I do not deny the importance of organization, but no matter how you organize work, it remains work. No matter how you revise your beliefs, no matter how you adjust your lifestyle, there is no less plowing. Really, I don't know if it's worth reading.

Libby Weaver is randomly overweight. Squirrel in the Wheel Syndrome: How to stay healthy and save your nerves in a world of endless cases

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Introduction

Chapter 1 What is frazzled woman syndrome?

exhausted woman

Physical health of a frazzled woman

frazzled woman syndrome

Chapter 1
What is frazzled woman syndrome?