Three Foundational Steps to Healing Burnout

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight and it definitely doesn’t heal overnight. Instead, it takes starting and making consistent changes to correct the physical, mental and emotional strain that comes from years of overdoing it. Today I will briefly define burnout and highlight the 3 foundational steps to begin the journey of healing burnout.

My name is Carlee Danielle and I am a Women’s Burnout Nutritionist. My perspectives and points of views are typically shared through the lens of a woman in corporate America - the very woman I am here to serve.

Before we jump into the 3 Foundational Steps to Healing Burnout that I guide all my clients through, let’s define burnout. It’s a popular phrase, but what does it really mean? According to Google’s AI Overview,

“Burnout is a syndrome that occurs when someone experiences chronic workplace stress that has not been managed. It's characterized by physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, and can include feelings of: Exhaustion, Cynicism, Negativism, Reduced professional efficacy, Uselessness, Powerlessness, and Emptiness. Burnout can also manifest in physical signs, such as: Digestive issues, Headaches, Increased illness, Insomnia, Loss of appetite, and Muscle pain.”

Solid summary by any standards.

But how big of a deal is this burnout thing? WELL, data from Morning Consult released in February 2024 stated that 50% of working woman say they experience burnout. Younger women are most likely to report burnout.

So what do we do? There are many angles to approach burnout because it’s an all-consuming exhaustion. I personally focus on the PHYSICAL manifestations of burnout with my clients. As we begin to heal the physical body through nutrition and lifestyle adjustments we create capacity in the body to experience many mental and emotional improvements as well.

(Note: I have a few career coaches/life coaches I love to refer clients to who want to invest in their mindset before or after working together on nutrition and lifestyle. Email me for a referral.)

Let’s get practical - what are the 3 Foundational Steps to Healing Burnout

1. Deep Nourishment

Our body demands proper fuel to function optimally. Our body has innate wisdom to heal and protect us. Once we give our body the nutritional elements it needs to thrive, we will see our physical symptoms subside and our emotional symptoms become easier to approach.

Let’s look at a well known motivation theory- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. From the bottom of the pyramid (most foundational) going up (most aspirational) we have physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. It is said that the lower-level basic needs must be met first before higher needs can be fulfilled. With this in mind, it becomes clear that proper nutrition (physiology) is essential to reaching our full potential in relationships and purpose in life - AKA the opposite of burnout!

2. Female Cycle Optimization

Men’s primary sex hormone is testosterone which fluctuates with the circadian rhythm. Women’s primary sex hormones are both estrogen and progesterone which fluctuate with an infradian rhythm (if you know this word, you are in the vast minority!). Men’s hormones fluctuate on a 24 hour cycle similar to the sun. Women’s hormones fluctuate on a roughly 28 day cycle similar to the moon.

But what does this difference in hormonal rhythms mean? Actually A LOT. A hormonal rhythm indicates there are optimized times through out that rhythm for work, focus, rest, and socialization which can dictate when we feel best to compete tasks, exercise, attend a social gathering, tackle a big project, or take a nap.

Our culture and world is instinctively designed to accommodate men’s 24 hour rhythm. The art of living within the 28-day rhythm of a woman has been wholly forgotten. Living outside of this innate rhythm for women creates resistance and stress in the female body. As we learn our own cycle and sync to it’s natural rhythms, we find we can move with the flow of our body instead of constantly fighting it - especially in the work place - which significantly contributes to burnout.

3. Stress Reduction

Stress is anything that puts a demand or challenge on the body. Stress can often be considered “good” (constructive, building resiliency) or “bad” (detrimental, destroying). By focusing on nutrition first, we build additional capacity to respond to stress. But to be truly effective, we need to reduce that stress as well to give the body even more space to heal.

Stress can frequently be considered mental and emotional, but I often find focusing on the physical stressors with clients first to be most productive. Physical stressors can include toxins in the environment, missing meals or going too long between meals, over exercising, or lack of sleep. All of these activities are putting a demand on the body and asking the body to compensate. Once physical stressors are reduced, it opens up massive capacity for burnt out individuals to more readily address emotional and mental stressors that may have felt out of reach to address.

To Wrap It Up

Nourishment, Female Cycle Optimization and Stress Reduction are the 3 Foundational Steps to Healing Burnout that I walk through with each of my clients. Time spent on each aspect varies and we jump around often because my 1:1 services are completely customized to meet my client where they are at and provide the real-time support they need.

Stay tuned for my blog series next week that will break down each of these foundations in more detail. I will tag them here once they are live!

If you are interested in working together, visit my services page

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