36- Unpacking Stress: Finding Strength in Life’s Chaos

In this episode of 'Miles From Her View,' host Kat, founder of KatFit Strength, delves into the pervasive impact of stress on our mood, body, workouts, and overall health. Kat discusses how chronic stress can manifest in various physical and mental symptoms, affecting everything from energy levels to weight gain. She emphasizes the importance of stress management, recovery, and practical ways to build resilience without overwhelming your schedule. Kat also provides actionable tips for creating boundaries, decluttering spaces, hydrating, and incorporating small, manageable steps into daily routines to combat stress and support overall wellness effectively. Join us as we explore how to take control of our stress and achieve stronger, healthier lives.

00:00 Introduction: The Impact of Stress on Your Life

00:31 Welcome to Miles From Her View

01:24 Understanding Stress and Its Effects

02:44 The Importance of Recovery

04:58 Practical Tips for Stress Management

14:44 Creating Boundaries and Decluttering

25:01 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

26:42 Conclusion and Community Engagement

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Transcript

Kat: 0:00

You know, those days when you're running on fumes, your patience is thin and your body feels like it's dragging through quicksand. Stress isn't just messing with your mood. It's messing with your body, your workouts, and even your results. Today, we're diving into why stress is a sneaky villain, keeping you stuck and how small actionable changes can help you feel stronger, calmer, and more in control. If you're tired of feeling like you're always one step behind this episode is for you. Let's get into it. Welcome to Miles From Her View, the podcast where we dive deep into the unfiltered reality of fitness, strength, training and nutrition within womanhood and motherhood. I am your host Kat, founder of Catfish Strength. I'm a career strength and conditioning coach, entrepreneur, lifelong athlete, and a mom of two active boys. In each episode, we explore the unique challenges and triumphs faced by women navigating the complexities of life from juggling family and career. to prioritizing self care. We dissect the systems and the habits that shape our health and wellness. Join us for real stories, authentic advice, and genuine conversations. As we empower each other to embrace our journeys and find strength and vulnerability. Welcome to miles from review. This is the first podcast of 2025. I'm Kat, your host, and I'm so excited to talk about today's topic. Stress is something that just sneaks into every corner of your life. Your life sneaks into mind, whether you can help it or not. And we're going to go over some things on how to help you mitigate some of that stress so that it does not have a greater effect on you. Whether you're feeling that impact of that endless to do list, that emotional load of keeping your family on track. I feel that or that pressure to crush it at work and keep that career moving forward. Stress, Doesn't take days off. Here's the thing though, with stress is it's not just in your head. Stress shows up in your body. It shows up in how you sleep, how you feel when you wake up, how you show up in your workouts, and even how you fit your clothes. Yep, that's right. Stress can influence your hormones, digestion, and metabolism. And it's so wild, and honestly, I do think it's cool how it's all interconnected. The good news is, while you can't always control the stressors in your life, You can control how you respond to them. And when you do, it's like giving yourself the gift of more energy, better recovery, and even, even stronger results with your training. So let's break it down today. We're going to be covering how stress affects your body and workouts. Why recovery? Is the secret weapon to be honest that most people ignore and the practical ways to reduce stress and build that resilience. without adding more to your plate. Trust me. I know you're busy. I may not know what your 24 hours looks like, but I know you're busy. If you're tuning in, chances are you are a mom who's in the thick of it. Whether you have babies and toddlers or you have grade school children where you're doing the mommy taxi or your kids are in the process of being Launched out into the world and going off to college. There are still a lot of things happening and stress is just not going to go away. We've all had those days where you're dragging, your brain feels foggy, and your body just doesn't want to cooperate. I know I have them too. That's just not mom life or getting older. Chronic stress could be the culprit of that and here's how it can show up. Low energy levels, You know, where you feel like coffee or any other sort of caffeine is just not going to get you to wake up or get moving. That's in your body called the adrenals saying, Hey, we need a timeout. We need to recharge. Maybe you're feeling belly fat increasing chronic stress built up over time Elevates your cortisol levels which leads to fat storage around the midsection Yes, take a sidestep here. It can also be caused by by perimenopausal menopause. That's a whole other area and another podcast, so I don't want to keep bringing in themes. Chronic stress can cause belly fat. Whether or not you are eating the appropriate amount of calories or working out the, by the guidelines, et cetera, 150 minutes per week, strength training, it can cause belly fat to stick around. Weird cravings. Stress can make you crave sugar, carbs, salty snacks. Stress is your body just wanting more and not getting that nut down time. So let's talk about that recovery here. Active recovery is a fancy term. Moving your body while it's recovering. And slower recovery is a big thing. So if you've been training and you're pushing your body, or you just feel like you can not recover from workouts, It might be because your body is managing all the stress and too busy to repair muscle. Those are some key areas, but these are ways that stress is showing up in your body. It doesn't just affect day to day, but it can keep you stuck in a cycle where you're always feeling on and never fully recovered. So that is why rest Rest, recovery, and stress management are non negotiables in my programs. And you might have heard, going back to the perimenopause and menopause, is rest and recovery or stress management or getting those cortisol levels, cortisol is a big buzzword out there that you might hear getting those cortisol levels down is so important, especially after women the age of 40. It's important all the time, but the reason why after the age of 40 is Our hormones are fluctuating, our estrogen goes down, and I don't want to say our body gets more sensitive. It's, we have less wiggle room in which we can, you know, get away with it. And I don't want to put women under this microscope that we're the only ones affected by this. Men, a hundred percent are affected by this as well. The chronic signs of stress also are in these ways too. I do feel, and yes, I'm speaking primarily to women, that women are put under that microscope, that we're the only ones that have the problems. Most, if not all, I feel. That's my opinion there. Fitness programs are advertised to women with these slogans of cortisol workouts and, you know, all these different titles. You insert them, you've seen them, and especially being around the new year, they are out in full force. Men are not immune to this. Okay. Yes. Our hormones change midlife. Guess what? Men's hormones change in midlife too. A hundred percent they do. So it's, it's not isolated just to you. So I don't want you to feel as though, gosh, this is, This is me. I'm a woman. This is what my life looks like. Absolutely not. All right, let's get back on track here. So why is the role of recovery and stress management so important? Recovery is where magic happens with the body. Every time you lift weights, go for a run, spin class, you're breaking down your body. Anytime you move your body, even if it's in daily life, Recovery is where those adaptations that you created when you're lifting weights, when you're going for a run, when you're spinning, when you're walking, whatever, movement, swimming, dancing, when you are doing those activities, the body rebuilds itself to get stronger through recovery. But if you're not getting quality recovery, Because you're overstressed, underslept, or skipping rest days, you're going to be missing out on those gains. Let me pause for a moment and ask you a couple questions. Are you honoring your rest days? Are you giving yourself permission to slow down? Or are you grinding through your workouts, thinking more is always better? Those are really important questions, so I'm going to repeat them again. Are you honoring your rest days? Are you giving yourself permission to slow down? Or are you grinding through your workouts thinking more is always better. So I'm going to answer them from my lens and hopefully give you some examples. So honoring your rest days, what does that look like? It does not mean So for me Sundays typically are my day off from a structured workout on those days does not mean I'm on the couch all day. I'm moving. It means there's no structured workout I will do if I feel the need yoga or light stretching, but it's just a daily movement day Focused on letting my body recover now the second question how I implement that are you giving yourself permission to slow down? This one does not Always mean in a moment of rest like the rest day so permission to slow down We're gonna take it in a workout context if I show up to a workout and I'm gonna put it Well, I'll do a running one and I'll also do a strength training one Just so there's two contexts there Even if you're not a runner apply it to the movement that you do whether you know spinning swimming walking, etc. If I show up to a run, warm myself up and I'm going through it and I feel like I'm running in slow motion, maybe I am hitting the split times I need to, but they're harder. Maybe I'm actually off my typical pace for an easy run or whatever the case may be on that day. I will slow down or, and this is part of a slow down, I will end The run or the workout because those indications of me feeling like I'm running underwater, feeling like I am just. Running in slow motion, or my pace is being off, dictate to me that there is additional stress happening. That there might be some chronic fatigue that just might have been built up that I need to slow down, to pull back, so that my body gets that rest there. Now in a strength training situation, this may look like the weights I typically use just feel so heavy. I'm not able to complete the sets and reps. So what do I do? I back off on the weight. I go down a few pounds, or I don't do the last set. Or if I'm feeling like just the weights all feel like a bajillion pounds, I end the workout and switch to mobility. Just taking it down. Giving myself that permission to slow down, to step back, to honor the capacity in which my body is at that day. This kind of goes into the second part. Are you grinding through workouts thinking more is always better? I used to think that, oh, I need to double down. I need to push harder here. When my body felt like it was underwater, I'd be like, I've got to push harder. This is unacceptable. You know, I would ignore What my body was telling me to push harder, which then created more stress, more fatigue, more exhaustion. And you know what? Runs didn't get faster. Weights didn't move up. I didn't progress in weights. I actually, more at a plateau, more injuries cropped up, more illnesses happened because of the chronic fatigue and stress that I was carrying because my body wasn't able to repair. So that's where recovery is where the magic happens. And I talk a lot about recovery and. Sometimes I get that gets misconstrued that you never push yourself hard, which is absolutely not the case. With active recovery, think walking, yoga, life stretching, mobility, something that is A lighter movement than you typically would do in a workout. Some Sundays for my rest day, I'm more active than other days. Other Sundays, I am not active because my body needs more recovery. Getting that internal like focus on what do you need is going to help you there. Sleep, sleep is recovery. Sleep is vital. Getting quality sleep helps with recovery. And helps with stress mitigation and lowering those cortisol levels. And another aspect of recovery is restorative practices. So foam rolling, mobility, stretching, or even, and this is my absolute favorite, just lying on your back and breathing deeply. Why that is my favorite. It's because it just allows me to release so much tension. And sometimes I don't feel like stretching, but it allows me to check in with my body and just give myself that good reset or even close your eyes, lay on your back and do some deep breathing is huge. It just helps reset the whole body. It helps decrease the angstiness and the nervous system. It just feels so good. And you don't have to do it for hours. Maybe 30 seconds to a minute, which does feel like hours, especially if you have that one feeling, that busy running feeling going on in your body. You're busy. I get it. How do I do this? And I'm gonna put some thoughts in your head. You're probably like, I don't have time for bubble baths and meditation retreats, and I can barely even eat in a daily day. Okay, I get that, but I'm talking about taking really small doable shifts that bit into your life. Like I mentioned before, laying down with your eyes closed, if you can, if you have an office sneak away and do that, if you can, I'll admit, sometimes I do that before a workout because it allows for a little bit of a break from work transition, life transition or whatnot, into my workout. And even though I feel maybe there's some stress, maybe my kid did not pick up his shoes for the 900 time that I've asked him to do it. And it's one simple thing. And he snapped at me and it just created that angst. That physical stress and annoyance and anger. So I'll calm myself before going into my workout. Trust me. I don't know why kids can't pick up their shoes. If someone could figure that out, that'd be awesome. Message me if you have a trick. Reducing stressful inputs can help create an overall reduction in stress in life. So setting boundaries. This one is going to look different for every person. So I can't give an example, but you're going to have to assess in different areas. Where the boundaries need to go for you. Boundaries are not walls. They're actually bridges to more energy flow for yourself. Most people think of boundaries as, I have got to keep everyone out, and I have to be on this protected little island. No, think about, like, you're the castle in the center. There's the moat around. What we want is, when we create a boundary, we're going to create a bridge of energy flow that comes into us. And at the same time, we're There's, you know, an in and out. If there's so many bridges going to that castle to you, you have no energy reserve. You just have constant in and out, in and out of energy and there's nothing keeping to you. So it's boundaries are creating the bridges that you want. To give away the energy that feels good to you. And there's that drawbridge. So there are like drawbridges to build on this analogy here. So there are like drawbridges. You get to say yes or no, and you're in control of that. So that's where those boundaries are. It's like bridges that you control. So there's those drawbridges from that castle, which is you. Creating those boundaries within your day where you feel that energy given away is going to help manage your environment. I know this comes with producing some energy or doing stuff. Declutter one space at a time in your house. Clear a space that can help you feel less overwhelmed. Okay, I can hear you. I hear my own self when I say this is, but I live with people. I live with kids. You know, I'm just talking about how my kid never picks up his shoes. I'm not one who likes clutter. I don't function well in a cluttered space. That's me. Maybe you resonate, that resonates with you. Look at your area in your house, declutter what you can. No, you can't control others, which is really, really tough. My kids, for the longest time, you know, we were, the way our house was set up, their playroom was a bit more out of sight, which was amazing. I didn't care if the playroom got cleaned up. Honestly, I was not the mom who had said, You have to clean up your toys at the end of the night. I didn't care. It created more stress in my life. Wasn't that my kids could never clean up their toys. They would when I would ask them to. I just didn't care. That was something that I set a boundary at for myself. That it brought more stress in my life when they were little to have them clean up the toys every single time. Knowing that cluttered spaces stressed me out and We had a setup when we moved to our current house that they could be out and it did not disrupt my peace. Evaluate your spaces there. I understand it's a balance and control area. One partner tends to be a little more clutter embracing and the other tends not to be. Find that balance. It is going to take time. It's not an overnight situation. I'll give a little example. My husband's office, his desk, I don't know how he works like this, but it looks like a paper explosion. But he works like that. So, whenever I go into his office, there is some Minor cohabitation in the office that I need to do things. It would be overwhelming for me. Like I said, I don't function well in clutter. And there was other things that were my clutter too. His office just became the dumping ground for things just by nature of where it's located in the house. And this winter break, we took three hours, went through everything. And my goodness, that space feels so much better. Now the trick is how long will it stay clean from his desk? The stuff that I needed to mitigate and get out of there has been done. So it's now a clutter free thing. I don't want to let you know that space has taken us a few years to get to, to clean up. So I get it. This may not be the easiest one to help. The final one is. Limit news and social media. It is hard. I have to be on social media with my business. I'm trying to limit that. Leave if you're feeling drained and anxious or don't go on it. If you're feeling really drained or anxious, building a stress resilience help you. So we'll create a new consistent routine. So again, think of it as like your morning coffee or your pre bed wind down. These routines help your brain to Chill out. It helps your brain say, Hey, this is time for me to relax. This is time for me to focus. That helps create a safe environment with the brain and reduces stress. Another one that's easy is hydrate. Water is amazing. Water helps the whole body. It decreases overall body stress. So dehydration makes stress feel worse and when you hydrate, you're going to feel so much better. You're also going to sleep better, which again is going to allow for better reduction in cortisol levels. So how much water do you need to drink? Well, you want to aim for about half your body weight in ounces daily. Now, if you're consuming, so start with a baseline. If you're consuming, I'm making this up, eight ounces of water a day, don't start with pulling out a random number 80 ounces from the get go. You're going to be in that bathroom every five minutes and you're going to be like, well, this sucks. I'm not doing it. Increase it gradually over time until you're meeting that half of your body weight in ounces. Daily and then if you're sweating if you are You know working out your demands of water are going to go up. This one is my favorite move your body It may sound counterintuitive because we just talked a lot about rest and recovery moving your body Reduces your stress levels. So it does not mean every workout has to be intense And it shouldn't be intense. Every workout shouldn't be intense. And if every workout is super, super intense, message me. We'll talk about it. Get outside to walk. It decreases those stress levels. It doesn't have to be. a long walk, okay? None of this has to be an hour, two hours. Get outside five minutes on your lunch break. Get outside or just stand outside breathing. You know, I'd like you to move your body. Get outside when you can, even in the winter. I hate the cold. I'm outside. It is refreshing. It will help you feel better. All right. Your mom most often, likely if you're listening to this, It is really hard to take care of ourselves. I am right there with you. If you do not take care of yourself, your body will stop and oftentimes it's at a time when you don't want to. It will stop in ways of being so utterly fatigued or give you an illness or injury to tell you to stop. When life is very action packed, I'm in the thick of it, my kids, If you've been listening or in that middle school age, I am in my mommy taxi era. They're staying up later, which means I have to stay up later. What do we do? How do you mitigate things? One, bedtime. Bedtime is always a tough time. I mean, no matter what age I think your kids are at, it's always tough. I can't speak to after middle school, the, the season I'm in. But tag team it. If you have a partner, take turns putting the kids to bed. So one of you can get a little bit more me time. I know when my kids were little and They would be agreeable to this. We would say, hey, we're going to do it earlier bedtime. My older son would be able, you know, teeth brush, et cetera, in his room, and he could read. Because we, both my husband and I, needed that downtime. And he, like I said, he would be amenable to that. So look at it in tag team bedtime. Plan it out. Maybe your partner's I'm making this up. Monday and Wednesday nights, their days are more stressful and yours are lighter. You take over bedtime on those. Maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays, you, you need the downtime. And Fridays, it's a family downtime together. So look at your schedule. And if you have a partner, plan on ways to share and the responsibility because it is a partnership. Batch cook meals. This one is amazing. Not only it helps. It helps. Take away that question of what are we going to eat, but it helps reduce that stress. So, look at what meals you can batch cook. I know for me, the easiest meal to batch cook, especially on a Sunday, is breakfast. So, I do a lot of quick, easy, you know, nutritionally dense, packed breakfasts for the whole family. So that way, I get my workout in in the morning, my husband is there with the kids, it's just one less thing. Everybody knows what the food is. It's right there. No one's relying on one person to do a big task. And then pick one thing. So if stress management feels overwhelming, just start with one habit. Laying down, closing your eyes, and taking five deep breaths in the morning. Or in the afternoon, or evening. Wherever feels great for you. Taking a walk, no matter how long that is. One minute, two minute, 10 minute, take a walk. Remember, there is no smallness, too small to start. You've gotta do what works for you. Ignore all the BS that you see on socials that say if you're not doing X number, what? Or this or that you're failing or you're never going to lower those cortisol levels. No, that stuff is put on there to sell things. That stuff is put on there to keep you feeling like you have to buy, to keep you feeling like you can never lower your cortisol levels. You can never manage your stress. But you can. Focus on what works for you and ignore all the flashy stuff. So pick one thing that feels good, that feels tangible. Drop the shoulds and that unrealistic expectation and realize you're starting where you are because that's meeting you on your terms and that is going to be the recipe for success. Because if you start with laying down on the floor, closing your eyes and taking. Two breaths is going to lead to five breaths. If you start with a one minute walk, it will lead to a 10 minute walk. These things build over time. It's when we focus on huge things or I should be doing or XYZ person on social media tells me I have to be doing this. And that's the gateway to stress mitigation. Well, it belittles what works for you. So here's what I want you to do. This identify one area of focus. Maybe it's getting more sleep, drinking more water, or taking a minute or two for deep breaths. Second, start small. I already went on a little tangent about starting small. You don't need to overhaul your life. Pick one thing and do it consistently for a week. And then do it consistently for the next week, and the third week, and the fourth week, and the fifth week. And when you feel like you have the capacity for more, add one thing again and keep doing the thing you were originally doing. In addition to that thing, the final thing is celebrate those wins. Celebrate it. If you don't have anyone to celebrate it with, message a podcast, message me, email me, kat at kat. fit, kat at kat. fit. Let me know. I'll gladly celebrate it. Write it down. Write it down when you do, when you meet your water goal. When you take a walk. Acknowledge it. That's huge. It is huge to acknowledge what you're doing. Because if you're not acknowledging what you're doing, who else is going to acknowledge it? Celebrate it. Start small and just identify that one area to focus on. Start with one. Start small. Celebrate. Stress is inevitable but burnout isn't. You do have the power to manage your stress Protect your energy and show up as your strongest self for your family, for your goals, but above all, and most importantly for you, I can't stress this enough. I'm here cheering you on and let me know if you're tackling how you're tackling your stress this week. Like I said, send a message to the podcast or email me at cat at cat. fit. Share your wins. I want to know. I want to celebrate you. So until next time, keep moving forward one small step at a time. Thank you for joining me on another episode of miles from her view. Your support means the world to me, and I truly appreciate you being a part of our community. If you found today's episode helpful and want to stay informed about all things CatFit Strength, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You'll receive exclusive insights, tips, and updates straight to your inbox. To sign up, simply visit the show notes or the subscription link. To discover more about CatFit Strength programs and how you can ignite your fitness journey, head over to our website at www. catfit. com. There you'll find everything you need to invigorate your path to strength and resilience. Once again, thank you for tuning in and I can't wait to connect with you in our upcoming episodes. Take care and remember, act to take the next step.