"I feel like I'm stressed out, but I'm still not moving forward the way I want to."
GOOD STRESS vs BAD STRESS — The truth you need to know
I've had a lot of conversations with women lately who tell me the same thing: "I feel like I'm stressed out, but I'm still not moving forward the way I want."
And I understand. I've been there too. Doing everything, training, giving my all... but still feeling drained, exhausted, and totally disconnected from myself.
Spoiler: not all stress is bad, but when you don't know how to handle it, it can be
Well, let's get to the point, there isn't much time hahaha...
Stress is a natural response from the body. Literally, it's designed to help you survive. When your brain perceives a threat or challenge, it goes into alert mode: cortisol levels rise, your heart races, you energize, and you prepare to react.
The problem is that we're not escaping predators these days. We're trying to survive between work, family, social media, workouts, relationships, expectations... and our bodies continue to react as if it's an emergency.
Good stress — the one that drives you
It's the kind of stress that gives you energy, focuses you, and pushes you to perform better. Like when you have an important presentation or you're preparing for a race. Yes, you feel pressure, but the good kind.
This type of stress can help you grow, improve your performance, your immune system, and your focus. But there's one caveat: you need recovery afterward. If you don't rest, it becomes something else.
Bad stress — the one that shuts you down
This is the kind of pain many women experience without even realizing it. It builds up little by little, day after day, until you realize you can't take it anymore.
You sleep poorly, you're bloated for no reason, you exercise but don't make progress, you're exhausted, irritable, impatient... and disconnected from yourself.
This type of chronic stress begins to disrupt everything: your hormones, your digestion, your mood, your sleep, your physical progress.
How do you know if you are in one or the other?
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you recovering well after training or do you feel like you're getting more and more tired?
- Are you sleeping soundly or do you wake up exhausted?
- Do you have stable energy or do you live on coffee and cravings all day?
- Is your menstrual cycle regular or is everything strange?
- Are you connected to yourself or are you just surviving on autopilot?
If you get several "no" answers... it's time to pay attention to yourself. And no, it's not laziness. It's not that you're doing something wrong. It's that your body is asking for help.
And since I like to give you tools that help you find the version of yourself you dream of, here I leave you...
Simple things you can do right now to regulate your stress levels (and they work):
- Go to sleep before 11 p.m. Your body needs it more than you think.
- Go for a walk without your phone, without distractions. Just you, your body, and your breathing.
- Take deep breaths at least three times a day. It sounds simple, but it regulates your nervous system.
- Don't force yourself to train hard when you're exhausted. Sometimes, lowering the intensity is the key to progress.
- Set limits. Not everything deserves your energy.
It's not about eliminating stress. It's about recognizing it, regulating it, and understanding when it's working in your favor... and when it's getting the best of you.
Taking care of yourself is also about listening to yourself. Stopping in time. Being honest with yourself.
And if you felt like this was just what you needed to read today... it probably was.
