Sharing my tips for dealing with burnout.

Hi friends! I hope you had a wonderful morning. We have a few dates today and after a great winter break we are back to school and the “real world”. We slept in almost every day, watched tons of movies, played Tucson Tourist, ate takeout, got together with friends and family, and just enjoyed the time we had together. I barely touch my laptop, but I’m excited to be using it again today!

In today’s post, I want to talk about burnout, which is a somewhat triggering topic. Many of us know what burnout feels like, and it can be scary. I imagined myself in a state of complete burnout, how exhausted and completely drained I felt and I just wanted to give my past self a hug.

I was a Type A, super anxious kid who spent my childhood into my 20s in flight or fight. Then, I got married, started the crazy adventure of military life (we’re almost done!!) and became a mother. It was a wonderful time, but also a difficult time – I felt like I missed out on a lot of my girl’s baby years because I was dealing with postpartum blues/anxiety and was completely exhausted.

I know this is what led me down the path of mysterious health issues and autoimmune symptoms.

While I haven’t “fully” recovered from burnout, I now have no symptoms and feel a million times better. I’m always improving and learning as much as I can, but wanted to share something that will be helpful for today’s post. As always, this is not medical advice! Just sharing my experience, if you are dealing with burnout please reach out to someone who can help you on your path to health and peace; you deserve to feel awesome <3

How to deal with burnout

Make yourself more Type B

This is a huge thing for me and the hardest thing. I just learned that I can’t be everything to everyone all the time. I can’t do everything, I can’t be perfect, I can’t have a perfectly clean house 24/7, put on makeup and look cute all the time, and say yes to a million social events and children’s events.

Now sometimes I’ll leave the dishes in the sink until morning, I’ll leave the laundry on the chair for an extra day, I’ll look a mess in public and say no to events. I also used to work 24/7, but I no longer answer emails after get off work and try to shut down my computer at a reasonable hour.

A messy house is stressful for me, so I still try to clean it every day, but I set a timer. When it goes off, that’s it. And, the kids are older now and can help even more!

Incorporate things into your day that you enjoy and that work for you

This is very important. It’s easy to feel burned out when you’re busy doing things for other people all day long. You “have” to spend a little time every day doing something you enjoy, whether it’s going for a walk, taking a shower, using a sauna, reading a book, talking to a friend on the phone, drinking juice from your favorite place, anything that brings you a little bit hapiness. Even if it’s only 5-10 minutes, it’s worth it.

Set yourself up for future success

Try doing small things for your future self, like taking the time to put away leftovers for lunch the next day, booking something to look forward to (like a facial or massage), ordering something you use often before you run out Sometimes the only person looking out for you is yourself, so take care of yourself. <3

outsource as much as possible

I’m a firm believer in outsourcing anything of value that your budget and life allow will make your life easier. We had a house cleaner who came every two weeks and saved my life. I’m going to get rid of a lot of stuff in my budget before I get rid of that, haha. Maybe order some healthy meals like Sakara, grocery delivery, laundry service, car cleaning, mobile pet grooming, anything to make your life easier.

Make a list of things you love to do and things you hate doing, and try outsourcing some of them!

One of the biggest components of burnout is feeling like you’re drowning, so find people who can help you feel like you’re drowning.

Focus on the basics

The basics are fresh air, exercise, nutritious food, clean air/water, and stress reduction. Try to participate in some of these things every day. I didn’t walk nearly as much during the break, but I could feel it. When I do these things every day, I feel more balanced and energized.

Functional testing

Functional testing is a game changer for me. When you’re exhausted, you’re also likely to be depleting nutrients (stress depletes nutrients!) and dealing with toxicity, which can affect gut health (impacting the function of neurotransmitters that influence mood!) and the way we absorb nutrients .

When I did functional lab testing, I was able to see the damage stress was doing to my body and work on replenishing it from a base level. If you are interested in testing, please email me at gina@fitnessista.com with the subject “TESTING”. My new plan will launch in February and will include functional testing as well! To gain first access, make sure you are on my newsletter.

So, friends, tell me: What helps you overcome burnout? What books or resources do you like?

XOXO

Gina

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