Stuck In Hustle-Mode? The 3 Key Body Systems That Get A Hit

Hi there! Before I get into this week’s topic, I wanted to do a little announcement. This WEDNESDAY 7th Dec, 12pm-1:30pm Chris & I have been invited to present at Kerryn Powell's Your Time Matters Lunch & Learn. We'll be talking all about getting out of "hustle-mode" by learning to listen to your body - and guess what?

You’re welcome to join us! You can register for the Lunch & Learn here. This webinar is specifically for business owners and high-achievers stuck in hustle-mode - and their body is feeling it. During the webinar we’ll cover:

• How to learn to listen to pain and the messages your body is sending you.
• Understand the 3 key body systems that can burnout, that then lead to body burnout symptoms like energy, mood and gut issues.
• Top 3 things you can do in 2023 to overcome and prevent body burnout, and increase your energy and productivity in your business…without hustling and grinding harder.

Make sure you head here to grab your tickets for the Lunch & Learn. Oh, and in case you wanted to find out a bit more about the amazing Kerryn who is hosting the Lunch & Learn, check out my podcast interview I did with her a few months ago, all about “When Working Too Much Makes You Sick.”

And now…Let’s dig a bit deeper into the 3 key body systems that get a hit when you’re stuck in hustle-mode…

How’s Your Body Feeling At The Tail-End of 2022?

I don’t think I’m the only one who would say the last few years since has been a challenge! It’s crazy how many people’s health issues have flared up since 2020. It’s actually not that crazy, considering the amount of stress the world has been under with all the uncertainties that COVID presented with jobs, businesses, families, mandates, as well as long-haul COVID and jab injuries, war outbreaks, economic inflation and recessions. 

We have seen a huge influx of new (and old) clients coming into our clinic with stress-related body burnout symptoms - fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, depression, hormonal imbalances, gut issues, immune system issues, plus more! At some point, stress is going to get the better of you, and it will show up in our body. Sometimes screaming at you with body pain - food sensitivities, achy body, ulcers, or full-blown auto-immune conditions. 

While many high-achieving professionals suppress these ‘messages’ from the body, and push on to build and grow their business or career, there will come a day where you can’t ignore those messages any longer. The pain will literally get to a point where you have to STOP.

Have a check-in with yourself: how is your body feeling? Like really, if you sat down and listened to your body, are you hearing/feeling the effects of stress? You might be ‘functioning’ ok and getting through your work and parenting duties, but continue suppressing the messages your body is sending you, and you may get to a point where you have no energy left to run/build your business, or to show up as a present parent. 

The 3 Key Body Systems That Get A Hit With Stress

When you’ve been stuck in hustle-mode for too long, trying to do-do-do, make-make-make, achieve-achieve-achieve, please-please-please, without sufficient rest and balance, at some point your body systems will burnout. 

Here are the 3 key body systems that we test for and treat, that get a major hit from chronic stress:

These 3 body systems are the most important body systems that can cause dysfunction in other body systems (like the cardiovascular system, the thyroid, the bladder, etc), and that are the key areas that lead to symptoms, conditions and diseases. 

Let’s go over these body systems and how they are affected by addicted-doing.

The Neuroendocrine System

The neuroendocrine system compromises of the adrenals, the brain, the mitochondria and the sex hormones. 

Essentially, this system influences how you think, feel and act, and is controlled by your conscious and subconscious mind, and how you filter information into your brain from your environment. It’s also very important for regulating the major functions and processes of the body, including energy production and reproduction. If you’re a busy person with a never-ending to-do-list, your neuroendocrine system is likely getting a thrashing. You’ve probably heard the saying: “I’m living on adrenaline” or “my adrenals are fried”. These terms are often thrown about by high-achievers juggling all the things. And they are right - you are likely burning through your adrenaline (brain chemical) and frying your adrenals (depleting your stress hormones). 

When you experience ‘stress’ your body produces adrenaline and cortisol which acts to put your body into a state of alert so you can respond to the stressor. This is normal and natural. But things can go haywire when you experience chronic stress, like the past three years of the pandemic! At some point you produce too many stress hormones and brain chemicals to the point where they start to deplete, leaving you in a constant state of fight-or-flight, unable to respond to stress appropriately.

The Gastrointestinal System

The four main areas that make up the gastrointestinal (GI) system are pathogens, digestive organs, microbiome/SIBO and food.

The GI system is thought of as the second brain. And in fact, it has a strong link with the neuroendocrine system; the gut is constantly sending signals through the nervous system up to the brain (and vice versa). Have you ever felt emotionally stressed, and your gut has started squirming? Yep, that’s the gut-brain connection right there. So imagine if you’re running around with your never-ending to-do list and screaming kids, overwhelmed and stressed-out, what exactly is happening down there in the gut? It’s likely breaking down. 

The more burned-out your neuroendocrine system becomes due to stress, the more likely it is that your gut will start breaking down. Stress puts your gut into a state of fight-or-flight - your digestive organs stop producing digestive juices, your immune system in your gut lining becomes suppressed leading to pathogen overgrowth, and your gut lining can become leaky.

The GI system is the central place where you break-down and absorb foods. If anything goes wrong with the gut, you’ll struggle to absorb the nutrients that other body systems need to function. Which leads to further body system burnout, and yep, more exhaustion, mood imbalances and inflammatory symptoms.

The Detoxification System

The detoxification system is made up of the detox pathways, methylation, oxidation/inflammation and nutrient replacement. The organs involved in the detox system are the liver, the kidneys, as well as the elimination pathways (the pipes/holes you wee, poo and sweat out of). 

While many health gurus tout the gut as being the ‘centre’ of all health, I would argue the detox system is just as important (some might even argue more important). Why? Because one of the major roles of the detox system is to break down nasty toxins and clear them from the body. When the detox system stops working properly, toxins will build up in your system, and basically poison you from the inside out - yuck! The detox system also helps to convert nutrients into a usable form, metabolise hormones, and burn fat. It’s incredibly important for so many things. 

And…you guessed it…stress can absolutely put huge pressure on your detox system. When you’re stressed, you burn up important antioxidant nutrients really fast, as your body tries to repair from the effects of chronic stress. These antioxidants are crucial for detox health. If these deficiencies arise the liver and kidneys will struggle to operate, leading to toxin build-up in your tissues, putting more stress on your body.

Learn More…

If you’re keen to learn more about the effects of stress on the body, join us for the “Stuck In Hustle-Mode?” Webinar on Wednesday. I’d also encourage you to do our Ending Body Burnout Assessment to see where your level of burnout lies, and the root cause contributors. Take the test here!

And, if you’re finally ready to stop guessing where your health issues are coming from, and actually test your body systems to get to the bottom of things, I invite you to book in with me for a “Connect The Dots” Initial Consult :)

Filipa Bellette is Co-Founder of Chris & Filly Functional Medicine. She is an accredited Clinical Nutritionist & Functional Medicine Practitioner. She is also a Ph.D. thought-leader, award-winning writer, and regularly published as a guest blogger & in the media. Together with her husband Chris Bellette, Filipa has worked with over 2,000+ busy, burnout clients in the last 10+ years, and specialises in producing healthy, balanced, and happy Mums & Dads...or as she calls it, a Power Parent! Filipa’s own passion for producing high-performance Power Parents came from her own personal experience of Mummy Burnout, after having babies and juggling the demands of business, family, and her failing health.