Do you feel stuck in your grief?
Are you constantly tired and unmotivated to do anything?
Do you wish there was a natural way to help you relieve some of your depression symptoms?
I’m going to share with you three lifestyle habits that are contributing to your depression symptoms without you realizing it.
The first is drinking too much caffeine. This was a vicious cycle that I found myself stuck in. When I was feeling so tired and I just wanted to have some energy, I would have a cup of coffee. Then another and another. Whether you reach for coffee, soda, or an energy drink to get that boost of energy, it’s not helping you.
A little bit of coffee everyday is okay.
But so often, I was reaching for coffee, after coffee, after coffee just to get me off the couch, just to move. What I realized was that was actually contributing to some of my depression symptoms because when we have that spike of energy from the caffeine, what comes after? A crash. So it was really only contributing to my depression symptoms of chronic fatigue and feeling unmotivated to get off the couch because it wasn’t a way to get sustained energy.
The second lifestyle habit is eating way too much sugar. Sugar does the same thing. If you’re eating too much sugar, it spikes your blood sugar and when your blood sugar spikes, it then crashes hard. When that crash happens, it’s making you tired. And when you’re tired, dealing with grief, and feeling unmotivated to do anything, sugar just amplifies your depression symptoms.
The third lifestyle habit is relying too heavily on processed and packaged foods. I know when I started out in my grief journey after my son died, sometimes I didn’t feel like eating, and other times I didn’t want to stop eating. I would binge-eat my feelings away. I didn’t care anymore. And you know when you’re eating your emotions that comfort food only feels good while you’re eating it and not after. Processed foods are filled with inflammatory oils, many times added sugars, and artificial sugars. This leads to inflammation in your body, and when your body is inflamed you start seeing health challenges arise. Once you finally stop eating, the guilt and shame set in about eating all that junk food. Then you start feeling physically sick, and when you’re feeling that way you don’t want to talk to anybody. You don’t want to move, and you’re feeling unmotivated to do anything.
Each one of these lifestyle habits leaves you feeling the same, if not worse, than you did before you decided you needed them. The issue with these habits isn’t that you used them to cope. You were doing the best you could after your child died. The issue is that these became habits that are now keeping you stuck in your grief and aren’t helping you grow through your grief. I was in this place not that long ago too. You are not alone.
This is one aspect I work through with my clients to help them overcome these habits with accountability and awareness. I help my clients celebrate themselves and love themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for. It’s worth it to feel better, feel healthier, feel more vibrant, and have more energy.
Where are you at in your journey?
