Libby WeaverSquirrel in a Wheel Syndrome: How to Maintain Health and Save Your Nerves in a World of Endless Business. Libby Weaver - Squirrel in a Wheel Syndrome: How to Maintain Health and Save Your Nerves in a World of Endless Business Libby Weaver Accidental Overweight read

Translator I. Okunkova

Scientific editor A. Zvonkov

Editor A. Chernikova

Project Manager L. Razzhivaikina

Proofreaders E. Aksenova, M. Konstantinova

Computer layout M. Potashkin

Cover illustration A. Lyapunov / www.bangbangstudio.ru

All rights reserved. The work is intended exclusively for private use. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for public or collective use without the written permission of the copyright owner. For violation of copyright, the law provides for payment of compensation to the copyright holder in the amount of up to 5 million rubles (Article 49 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), as well as criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for up to 6 years (Article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

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To Christopher with great love and Kate with great gratitude

Our mission is to educate and inspire, improving people's health and happiness. And in this way - change the world.

Dr. Libby and team

Introduction

The book “Squirrel in the Wheel Syndrome” appeared as a result of my fourteen years of observations of changes in women’s health and behavior. Never before in my work have I encountered so many women who are torn apart in their desire to do everything that is expected of them. Never before have I seen so many problems with the reproductive system. Women are nervous all the time. Many people feel tired. Tired but excited. Constant time pressure and a feeling of lack of time, combined with an endless to-do list, have such significant consequences for women's health that I had to write a book about it.

Women feel like they need to rush ahead (whether they realize it or not), and this affects their health in the most dangerous way. Never before have sex hormone-related issues like polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, infertility and difficult menopause (not to mention debilitating) been more pressing. If you look at the chemical processes in our body and turn to scientific research, stress is to blame.

I am concerned not only about hormonal imbalances, adrenal glands exhausted from long-term production of stress hormones, a sluggish thyroid gland and how this affects us and those around us. I'm just as concerned (if not more) about why this is happening. Only by understanding the reasons can you change the situation. Why do women behave in such a way that their health gets worse? The answer should be sought in the biochemistry of our body and worldview.

Once you understand what is happening, you will see that the choice between “rushing” and “not racing” depends on beliefs, and you behave according to these beliefs. And until you review them, you will live as before.

When you perceive your life as complex, all problems - regardless of the circumstances, the scale of the difficulties and their threat to life - seem significant. How you react to small problems is how you react to big ones. The body cannot keep up with the changes required of it modern world. It is necessary to understand this and set aside time for rest - daily, weekly and monthly in order to truly gain strength. Just as the body cannot go long without sleep, the psyche cannot work for too long without quality rest. Otherwise, as the results of scientific research and intuition suggest, the matter will not be without consequences.

All species living on our planet evolve with each new generation. Each new generation is better prepared to live in the prevailing conditions and environment. The problem is that the environment is now changing at a rate never before seen in human evolution. Speaking of evolution, I do not want to start a debate about divine origin and Darwin's theory. I just want you to think about what we demand from our bodies.

Humans have existed on Earth for 150,000–200,000 years. We developed slowly and steadily, we were nomadic, we lived off the land. We were hunters and gatherers, and only the seasons, climate and weather conditions influenced what we eat and what we need to do during the day. People ate mostly raw food as it existed in nature and performed tasks necessary for survival. The basis of the diet was raw plants, and sometimes they were supplemented with richer food obtained by hunting and gathering.

Around 7,500–10,000 years ago, people began to stay in one place for longer periods of time, and very primitive forms of agriculture emerged. For the first time, people began to grow crops and consume animal milk. For the first time, meals became regular, since there was no need to look for food, and agriculture provided supplies. However, the rhythm of food and life was still based on natural cycles: the harvest was seasonal and depended on the mercy of nature, and it was possible to “work” only in daylight.

While the changes occurred gradually and continuously, the body's chemical processes kept pace with them. The next most significant change in lifestyle occurred in the 19th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Labor was mechanized, and villagers began to move en masse to the cities. On Agriculture a huge burden fell on providing food to the population, which continued to grow, and daily work began to require less movement, since people now worked not on the land, but in factories. The lifestyle began to depend on the place of residence and the amount of earnings.

Fast forward to today. The last twenty years, with the advent of the Internet and cell phones, have been the fastest period of change in human history. Not so long ago, when you left the house to go shopping, take your children to school, or drive home from work, you could not be reached. And today cell phones not only ring, but also emit signals when messages arrive. Email and comments in in social networks. Most women I know don't sit quietly in the car waiting for a red light; they check text messages, emails, etc. last news on your favorite portal. There were times when, standing at a red light, we could think about something, look at the sky, feel grateful, or listen to a good song on the radio. There was more spiritual food and rest in our lives.

Today, many people eat "food" from a bag containing non-food ingredients because they have no time. Food has to be convenient or people won't eat it. And the sooner you eat, the better. But deep down you understand (whether you admit it to yourself or not) that reckoning will come. You've been hiding your head in the sand for the last twenty years if you don't know that your diet should be based on fresh foods and that you need to eat a lot more vegetables. The majority of people choose unhealthy food not out of ignorance, but out of conviction. But instead of reconsidering their beliefs, they think they need more knowledge. Of course, sometimes information about food, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can be of great benefit. But, in my opinion, inspiration is no less important - that high spirits and desire to take care of yourself - which changes beliefs.

I do a lot of people watching, especially at airports. They step off the moving walkway and instead of moving faster to the gate, they stop. They were tired before they even got to the plane! Many devices have been invented to help us move faster, but not all of them are healthy. They don't let us move. Today people do not need to climb stairs because there are elevators, escalators and moving walkways. We don't even need to go to the store to buy food, let alone collect it in the field or kill it in the forest. We order groceries online and have them delivered straight to our homes. I don't blame anyone. This is just one observation of how quickly and dramatically the world in which we live has changed. We have become guinea pigs in many areas. Never before have people spent their entire lives eating food grown with pesticides or regularly holding a radiation-emitting device so close to their brain. Never before have artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives been present in a person's food throughout their entire life. I'm ready to cross all my fingers and toes in hopes that this is all safe. But my intuition tells me that this is not so.

At the cellular level, we are no different from our ancestors. Each generation evolves a little to better adapt to life in its environment. However, the pace of evolution cannot be compared with the rate of change in the world around us. Consciousness and thinking have evolved to keep up with life, and we can write an email while talking on a cell phone while remembering to order a cake for our child's birthday (note that I'm talking about buying it, not bake), but on a biochemical level we are the same as we were 150,000 years ago. Our subconscious also remains the same, which, as research shows, is a million times stronger than the conscious mind. The subconscious - the part of the mind that is inaccessible to comprehension - makes the heart beat and hair grow; it knows how to heal a cut without your participation... and all these processes are amazing in themselves! I don't believe that the nervous system, which has a huge influence on every cell in our body, every hormonal system, every organ, every aspect of fat burning and the feeling of time pressure, can keep up with the changes that are happening at this point in human development.

We are torn between cell phones and email, laptops and wireless modems. And at the same time we want too much from our body. Never before has mail been so fast, nor has the communications system made us available 24/7 if we let it. Never have we had so little time to cook our own food. Never before have we held a phone to our ear or headphones in our ears for so long, so even when we exercise, we're both distracting and overstimulating. We have not yet fully realized that the things that seem urgent and the speed at which we live lead to catastrophic consequences for health, especially for the nervous and reproductive systems.

We have found ourselves so far from our roots that many consider such things as either unaffordable luxury or nonsense such as eating seasonal products, the habit of sometimes walking barefoot and feeling the ground under your feet, turning off your cell phone at a certain time in the evenings, not answering email messages. mail every three minutes and have a weekly rest day in which you don’t even check your mail.

We seem to have lost sight of the guiding thread of nature - not only in relation to nutrition, but also to the way of life in general. In my opinion, Mother Nature knows best. Not so long ago we treated colds with garlic and lemons. Now we take a pill and run on because we can’t afford not to go to work. People go on vacation for a week, and seven days before that they complete a three-week work quota. They return even more tired than before leaving, and immediately have to clear out the backlog of mail and other errands. If you look at it from the outside, it seems like we've gone crazy, right? To start living differently - healthier in every sense - you need to realize that this is necessary. And make the appropriate decision. Natural foods are more nutritious, and nutrients are what keep us alive. Having more free time, we can devote it to relationships with loved ones - and this makes us happier and kinder both to ourselves and to others.

Without realizing it, you demand from your glands and organs, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, adrenal glands, thyroid gland, ovaries, uterus, brain and digestive system cope with this race. This pace of life, of course, has consequences. This book was born out of my observations and reflections, as well as scientific data about what the present moment requires of us and what harm it causes us.

We are not equipped to cope with constant stress - perceived or real, long-term consumption of low-quality food and a sedentary lifestyle at the computer with cell phone at the ear. As I said, this is just the tip of an inglorious but amazing iceberg, and women need to know the dangers of this lifestyle and why we become hostage to this race. Awareness is the first step, and some of the information contained in this book will likely be new to you. The other part will help you remember what you already know.

In this book, I used numerous examples and stories from the lives of real women of different professions, backgrounds and marital status. The most typical scenario described here would be that of a working heterosexual mother. However, there are many other heroines: with different jobs, lives, sexual preferences, marital status, socio-economic situation, as well as the presence or absence of children. I tell stories to get the point across, and sometimes I summarize and retell what I hear most often, which will also be one of the stories.

There will always be twenty-four hours in a day. And how to spend this time is up to you. The idea of what needs to be done during the day depends both on the biochemical processes in your body and on your beliefs. And you have to learn new things about both. Take the journey with me and you will begin to gain new understanding and, most importantly, application of the strategies and rituals offered here for a healthy future.

Chapter 1
What is “exhausted woman syndrome”?

"Exhausted Woman Syndrome" describes the biochemical effects of constant racing and the health effects of having too many urgent tasks to do. It doesn’t matter whether a woman needs to do two things or two hundred, she is in a hurry to finish them. She is excited to the limit and does not spare herself in the daily battle for success. She always has a lot to do, and she rarely feels like a winner and master of the situation. The passionate desire to control every little thing leads to the feeling that she has no control over anything at all - not even herself. At times she feels like she can’t cope, whether she talks about it out loud or keeps it to herself, while her stomach is already cramping from tension. It’s good if her sex hormones are balanced. Most women with this condition suffer terribly during menstruation, which may be irregular. Well, those who are entering menopause feel exhausted.

Women, whom I lovingly classify as “thyroid types,” extol coffee so much that they feel like they can’t live without it. They say it clears up brain fog, gives you some energy (better than nothing) and helps you move. They almost always say that coffee improves their mood. Women of the “thyroid type” are less nervous than others. It takes a lot of caffeine to make them nervous. They often suffer from fatigue. And not just tired - they were tired to the core. While most women feel tired in the late afternoon, exhausted women typically feel exhausted in the late afternoon and early evening. But if they don’t go to bed until ten, they get a second wind and find it difficult to sleep until two in the morning.

How many of these statements below describe you? Just for fun, count their number and determine your level of exhaustion.

Exhausted woman

She loves coffee to such an extent that she feels miserable if she doesn't get her daily dose. She tells herself that she needs him for energy, for her brain to work, or for her to make herself move.

When asked how she feels, she replies “terribly busy” or “all on edge.”

Stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol - are more often present in her blood than absent.

She has low progesterone levels.

She has menstrual problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome, heavy periods with blood clots, irregular cycles, PMS, or debilitating menopause.

She craves sweets, especially in the middle of the day or closer to the start of her period.

Often feels overloaded.

Has poor short-term memory.

She always feels like there are too few hours in the day.

He reacts too painfully to many things, even if he doesn’t show it.

She often feels tired and at the same time nervous.

The thyroid gland is either hypoactive or hyperactive.

He cannot sit down because he will feel guilty. Unless she has absolutely no strength left, then she will rest a little, but will still feel guilty.

Sleeps too little.

Sometimes sleep does not bring the desired rest.

Instead of going to bed, he finishes urgent tasks late at night.

Irritable.

In the car she always wants to go faster, even if she doesn’t need it.

He is indignant at why everyone is driving slowly, even if they are not.

She does not have time for privacy, for herself, she says that this is selfishness or a luxury that she cannot afford.

Has a to-do list that never ends and worries about it.

Easily panics.

Often has digestive problems such as flatulence or irritable bowel syndrome.

So exhausted, especially in the afternoon, that she feels like she can’t cope with her life... The only salvation seems to be sugar, caffeine or alcohol.

She does not notice the special moments that happen in her life. Life seems like chaos.

Laughs less often than before.

It's hard for her to relax without wine.

Thoughts are vague (my head is foggy or “messy”), but I notice this only on rare days when my head is clear.

She scolds herself for being bad wife(mother, friend).

Constantly strives to win the love of others, sometimes without even noticing it.

He worries if he doesn’t have his phone at hand, constantly looks at it so as not to miss an important SMS or call, and even takes his phone with him to the toilet.

When she goes on vacation, most of the time she thinks that she should unwind, but she doesn’t really rest, and the vacation turns into a continuation of her ordinary life.

She returns from vacation even more tired than she was before leaving.

Breathes quickly and shallowly, lacks air, and often sighs heavily.

Poor appetite or, conversely, brutal, especially at night.

She may blame others for adding unnecessary worries to her or “complicating her life,” although most of the stress arises from internal tension.

Trying to get as much done as possible during the day, she checks her email in the bathroom, while standing at a traffic light, or late at night.

Often feels guilty.

Doesn't ask for help.

It’s difficult to refuse, and if he does, he feels guilty.

0. This book is not for you. But don’t rush to put it aside; most likely, it will be useful to one of your friends!

1–4. You cannot be called an exhausted woman. Use this book to determine which parts endocrine system may need your help. For example, if you experience PMS, apply the strategies suggested for this condition.

5–7. You've taken the path of a frazzled woman! Implement the strategies I offer to support both your physical and emotional health, reduce your stress levels, and improve your well-being!

7 or more. Hello, exhausted woman, nice to meet you. I will try to help you overcome stress.

Physical health of an exhausted woman

Several body systems take part in your endless race:

Nervous system.

Endocrine system, which includes:

Adrenal glands (where stress hormones are produced);

Ovaries;

Thyroid gland;

Pituitary gland, main switch (brain department).

Digestive system.

Living in a hurry affects any of these systems—or all of them. Solving problems in one of these systems will make you feel better. However, if you continue to live at a frantic pace, your health will continue to deteriorate. One of the main goals of this book is to help you understand the biochemical processes occurring in the body. In the following chapters, you will learn how to determine not only which system needs attention and special care, but also what you can do about it.

When your biochemistry (for example, sex hormones) is acting up, it is very difficult to change how you feel. You suffer from constant fatigue, often have breakdowns, have outbursts of anger - or all this happens to you at once. The body is constantly receiving signals from the environment and from itself about the chemicals (hormones) it needs to produce, and it will take a long time to get it in order. It is necessary to slow down the pace of life and get rid of the feeling that everything should have been done yesterday.

I will cite an article I wrote for a newspaper. Perhaps you recognize yourself in her heroine.

Exhausted woman syndrome
Take a deep breath and come with me on a journey into the world of food and hormones, thoughts and sensations, energy and vitality. Of course, there are many variations on what we'll talk about, but I think you'll get the idea.

The typical breakfast I see a lot of women have on a regular basis is jump out of bed, gulp down a bowl of processed cereal, and run to work. Blood sugar levels soar and the pancreas releases a burst of insulin. This is the first situation of the day when you have deposited fat. You've been breathing shallowly all morning: you're stressed, you have deadlines to meet, and your to-do list is endless. After the peak blood sugar rise after a quick breakfast in the mid-morning, blood sugar levels plummet and the ability to concentrate decreases. With relief, you look at the clock at half past ten. You didn't get much done. We tried to parse the email, but were not particularly successful. But half past ten is time for morning tea. And you can afford to get up from your desk and go to a cafe - with a colleague or alone.

You justify buying a cupcake and a big latte because you have a long day ahead of you and you'll probably go to the gym in the evening. This is the second time that day you've gained fat, this time thanks to coffee and muffins. You return to the office and get back to work, but after an hour or two you start fidgeting again. You are dreaming about lunch. Your blood sugar levels dropped again after you spiked them with a snack. You look at your watch again... Thank God it's lunch time! And you go to the cafe.

You know that your stomach feels better on days when you don't eat bread for lunch, but you tell yourself that you have a lot to do and need to eat lunch quickly. A sandwich, bun or roll is always quick and easy. You swallow your sandwich. Now you want something sweet. So-so. Maybe chocolate? No, not now. Fruit. Great choice, you think. And inside you, the sugar level rises again and, therefore, insulin is released (the third fat deposit of the day). Within half an hour you feel completely exhausted, that you are bloated, and you scold yourself because you seem fat. You're actually just bloated, but because of the discomfort and gas in your belly and the "fat" in your stomach... abdominal cavity you feel like a cow. You work in an open-plan office, so you hold in gases because they smell. Colleagues may be grateful to you (without knowing it), but you feel more and more bloated and the size of your belly increases.

The psychological process that goes on in your head after lunch, when you think about what you ate in the first half of the day, causes huge harm to your health and cortisol levels, and therefore your waistline. It seems to you that all you have done all morning is eat and sit. You remember the dress you hoped to fit into for the holiday in three weeks. Even if you just ate breakfast, a muffin, a roll and drank a cup of coffee, at this moment it seems to you that today you have especially fat thighs, that you will never fit into this dress. Also, even though you were going to the gym in the evening, you will be late at work because you did so little in the morning. You're thinking about that membership that cost an arm and a leg, but you haven't been to the gym in three months. You feel worthless. You again think about the “giant” (as it seems to you) amount of food that you ate that day, and you hate yourself and your fat belly. And suddenly a flash of light! A thought flashed through your mind, which immediately made your soul feel lighter. Suddenly you felt like you were in control again. What was that thought? Sitting at the table with a bloated belly after lunch, you decide you'll skip the afternoon snack! You immediately feel better because you have found how to stop endless food and a growing waistline. How little a woman concerned about her own figure needs to make her happy!

Your blood sugar and insulin have been jumping back and forth all morning, and by refusing an afternoon snack, for some reason you decided that the picture would change. Will not change. Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, your blood sugar dropped again and you felt exhausted. The momentary joy of the thought of giving up your afternoon snack has passed, and you are so hungry that you are ready to eat your own hand. Blood sugar dropped below zero. What food do you think your body craves in this situation? That's right, about sugar. Almost nothing can raise your blood sugar faster, and your biochemical survival mechanism knows it.

But you promised yourself that there would be no afternoon tea! And now I’m so hungry that I can’t stop myself. But if you give in and eat something you promised not to eat, what emotions will you experience? Guilt. What stress hormone is produced when you feel guilty? Cortisol. When there is a lot of it, it becomes a hormone for storing fat reserves. You are caught in a vicious and debilitating circle. Have I already mentioned that you feel exhausted?

You give up and eat the sweets that come to hand. Some women satisfy their nutritional needs at this time of day by drinking a second cup of coffee. But black coffee is unlikely to help now. I want to add milk... you need something “nutritious”! Those who choose coffee feel relatively good because they didn't give up and didn't eat, but deep down they know that extra coffee isn't the best option either. New clients say these words to me every day. But they console themselves with the fact that “at least I didn’t eat.”

Those who eat immediately feel better as blood sugar and then insulin rise again. Hello, fat storage number four. And then self-flagellation begins: “You are hopeless. You have no willpower. Look at your belly." “I won’t, I said, I won’t and now I did it again” is a typical phrase of exhausted women and a manifestation of the “and here we go again” syndrome. It’s half past seven, and you’re sadly sitting at the table, trying to finish the work that you didn’t do during the day because you were busy thinking about food, sports, dresses, a fat belly and how not to pass gas. You don't go to the gym because it's late. You still have work to finish, if you leave work at seven fifteen, there is nothing to eat at home, you need to go to the store, and then you will be home at eight, you still have to cut vegetables, which takes so long, and then you still have to cook dinner, eat and clean... So by the time you finish all this, it will be already half past eleven, and you probably still have things to do around the house. But in the morning you need to wash your hair and straighten your hair, so you should get up early. And the next morning you get up and everything repeats itself, and you wonder why you can’t lose weight even though you don’t eat “as much,” and why you always have no energy. The reasons lie in biochemistry and psychology. And, of course, if you add lack of sleep... What a cocktail! This combination of factors encourages fat to be stored rather than burned and converted into energy, and controls the highs and lows of energy and joy.

A lot of women behave this way. I may have exaggerated some (or maybe not!), and there are many variations of this scenario - involving children, partners, parents, friends and work outside the office - but I meet women of all ages who live this way every day. by day. The stress may or may not be intense and traumatic, but every day you are trying to juggle different activities and roles with no end in sight. This scenario is typical for adults between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five, but it is most noticeable between the ages of thirty and fifty-five. Often its cause is the desire to be able to do everything, everywhere, to please everyone - this is probably the behavior that was encouraged in childhood. This is why you are loved and you enjoy helping others. You find it difficult to put your own interests first, and when you do succeed, you feel a nagging sense of guilt. You're exhausted, and the only time you don't feel that way is when you're running on adrenaline.

The cocktail of hormones produced under the influence of the “here we go again” syndrome and the exhausted woman syndrome consists mainly of cortisol and insulin. This monster cocktail interferes with the production of progesterone, so your body becomes estrogen dominant, causing you to have heavy periods with clots and PMS. This causes low thyroid function, so you drink coffee, wine or both to perk you up and relax, your liver takes a regular beating, but you don't eat enough vegetables. Add in jumbled emotions and chaos, and you have what I call Exhausted Woman Syndrome.

On the one hand, you can begin to change your health picture through food, through changing your diet, which will help stabilize blood glucose levels and insulin production. However, on the other hand, it is clear that it is not only about nutrition. The feeling of being trapped even when you pause when you know deep down that there is no point in running, the unconscious need to please, and angry self-talk are all internal emotional factors that cause us to choose the wrong foods and drinks. . It's time to slow down, my dears.

Usually, fat is not deposited during the day. Everything we eat during the day is absorbed into the bloodstream and burned in the intestines. During rest (relaxation) and at night, when there is nothing to spend glucose and fat on, they go to storage - into adipose tissue. Therefore, refusing an early dinner leads to increased appetite at night, before bed, and 90% of this food goes into the thighs and stomach. – Here and further, except where otherwise noted, approx. scientific ed.

Libby Weaver, "Squirrel in a Wheel Syndrome: How to Maintain Health and Save Your Nerves in a World of Endless Business"
Publishing house Alpina Publisher, 2017
ISBN: 978-5-9614-6058-2

Publisher's abstract: Dr. Libby Weaver has been involved in women's health for over 17 years, proper nutrition and lifestyle. Her first book, Accidentally Overweight, became an instant bestseller in Australia and New Zealand. She dedicated her next book to “exhausted woman syndrome.” This term, coined by Dr. Weaver, describes women who strive to be in control and get things done, while worrying about not having enough time for anything. At the end of the day, tired but full of determination, they are confident that tomorrow they can do anything. Insomnia, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances or excess weight - all these are consequences of the crazy rhythm of life. Consequences that are often tried to be treated without paying attention to the reasons that caused them. Libby Weaver encourages women to stop and reconsider their lifestyle and beliefs that prevent them from breaking out of the vicious circle of eternal haste and time pressure. In her book, she talks about the impact of the adrenaline rush on the endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems. The author offers effective strategies to help restore strength and improve both emotional and physical health.

What Weaver can't help but credit is identifying the problem. With considerable eloquence, she describes her patients who are exhausted to the point of insanity by an overly stressful lifestyle, losing memory, attention, health of body and psyche... They do not have enough time for anything, but they are in a constant rush. Many readers recognize themselves in this portrait. But what kind of means are offered to them?

Avoid alcohol.
Avoid coffee and caffeine-containing products.
Reduce your consumption of sweets to a minimum.
Do yoga, qigong, meditation - good advice, but, excuse me, when? What time?
Take vitamins and dietary supplements (as an allergic person, I powerlessly protest here)
Solve endocrinological problems. Most women have endocrinological problems.
Do not give in to the temptation to redo everything, but relax: every day, every week, every month. This, by the way, is reasonable.
Coping with feelings of guilt, they are so meaningless.
Be constantly grateful, because some even drinking water no - no comments.
Don't chase material wealth. No home is worth the mental exhaustion.

And when it turned out that the dominance of the sympathetic nervous system is to blame for debilitating emotional reactions, and in addition to intense training, sweets, alcohol and caffeine are to blame for its dominance
a) guilt, sorry for the tautology,
b) failure to put one's own interests first
c) and the desire not to be rejected, expelled...
But excuse me, the sympathetic nervous system, as we know from school, dominates in situations of stress! So I see no reason to put the cart before the horse.

What am I getting at? Over the past few years, I have noticed around me a fascination with various strategies for organizing time and space. Women - almost exclusively women - learn to fold and throw away things, limit their “wants”, plan a schedule, carve out minutes, either for rest or for another task, for which they will be paid zero rubles and zero kopecks. This is how my grandfather mocked my grandmother when she began to count and transfer money: “Do you think this will make it bigger?” I do not deny the importance of organization, but no matter how you organize work, it remains work. No matter how you revise your beliefs, no matter how you adjust your lifestyle, you still don’t do less plowing. Really, I don’t know if it’s worth reading.

Libby Weaver

Translator I. Okunkova

Scientific editor A. Zvonkov

Editor A. Chernikova

Project Manager L. Razzhivaikina

Proofreaders E. Aksenova, M. Konstantinova

Computer layout M. Potashkin

Cover illustration A. Lyapunov / www.bangbangstudio.ru

* * *

To Christopher with great love and Kate with great gratitude

Our mission is to educate and inspire, improving people's health and happiness. And in this way - change the world.

Dr. Libby and team

Introduction

When you perceive your life as complex, all problems - regardless of the circumstances, the scale of the difficulties and their threat to life - seem significant. How you react to small problems is how you react to big ones. The body does not keep up with the changes that the modern world requires of it. It is necessary to understand this and set aside time for rest - daily, weekly and monthly in order to truly gain strength. Just as the body cannot go long without sleep, the psyche cannot work for too long without quality rest. Otherwise, as the results of scientific research and intuition suggest, the matter will not be without consequences.

While the changes occurred gradually and continuously, the body's chemical processes kept pace with them. The next most significant change in lifestyle occurred in the 19th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Labor was mechanized, and villagers began to move en masse to the cities. Agriculture was under enormous pressure to feed a population that continued to grow, and daily work began to require less movement, as people no longer worked on the land, but in factories. The lifestyle began to depend on the place of residence and the amount of earnings.

Fast forward to today. The last twenty years, with the advent of the Internet and cell phones, have been the fastest period of change in human history. Not so long ago, when you left the house to go shopping, take your children to school, or drive home from work, you could not be reached. And today, cell phones not only ring, but also emit signals indicating the arrival of email messages and comments on social networks. Most women I know don't sit quietly in the car waiting for a red light: they check text messages, emails and the latest news on their favorite portal. There were times when, standing at a red light, we could think about something, look at the sky, feel grateful, or listen to a good song on the radio. There was more spiritual food and rest in our lives.

The book “Squirrel in a Wheel Syndrome” appeared as a result of my fourteen years of observations of changes in women’s health and behavior. Never before in my work have I encountered so many women who are torn apart in their desire to do everything that is expected of them. Never before have I seen so many problems with the reproductive system. Women are nervous all the time. Many people feel tired. Tired but excited. Constant time pressure and a feeling of lack of time, combined with an endless to-do list, have such significant consequences for women's health that I had to write a book about it.

When you perceive your life as complex, all problems - regardless of the circumstances, the scale of the difficulties and their threat to life - seem significant. How you react to small problems is how you react to big ones. The body does not keep up with the changes that the modern world requires of it. It is necessary to understand this and set aside time for rest - daily, weekly and monthly in order to truly gain strength. Just as the body cannot go long without sleep, the psyche cannot work for too long without quality rest. Otherwise, as the results of scientific research and intuition suggest, the matter will not be without consequences.

While the changes occurred gradually and continuously, the body's chemical processes kept pace with them. The next most significant change in lifestyle occurred in the 19th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Labor was mechanized, and villagers began to move en masse to the cities. Agriculture was under enormous pressure to feed a population that continued to grow, and daily work began to require less movement, as people no longer worked on the land, but in factories. The lifestyle began to depend on the place of residence and the amount of earnings.

Fast forward to today. The last twenty years, with the advent of the Internet and cell phones, have been the fastest period of change in human history. Not so long ago, when you left the house to go shopping, take your children to school, or drive home from work, you could not be reached. And today, cell phones not only ring, but also emit signals indicating the arrival of email messages and comments on social networks. Most women I know don't sit quietly in the car waiting for a red light: they check text messages, emails and the latest news on their favorite portal. There were times when, standing at a red light, we could think about something, look at the sky, feel grateful, or listen to a good song on the radio. There was more spiritual food and rest in our lives.

At the cellular level, we are no different from our ancestors. Each generation evolves a little to better adapt to life in its environment. However, the pace of evolution cannot be compared with the rate of change in the world around us. Consciousness and thinking have evolved to keep up with life, and we can write an email while talking on a cell phone while remembering to order a cake for our child's birthday (note that I'm talking about buying it, not bake), but on a biochemical level we are the same as we were 150,000 years ago. Our subconscious also remains the same, which, as research shows, is a million times stronger than the conscious mind. The subconscious - a part of the mind that is inaccessible to comprehension - makes the heart beat and hair grow; it knows how to heal a cut without your participation... and all these processes are amazing in themselves! I don't believe that the nervous system, which has a huge influence on every cell in our body, every hormonal system, every organ, every aspect of fat burning and the feeling of time pressure, can keep up with the changes that are happening at this point in human development.

Without realizing it, you are asking your glands and organs, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, adrenal glands, thyroid, ovaries, uterus, brain and digestive system to cope with this race. This pace of life, of course, has consequences. This book was born out of my observations and reflections, as well as scientific data about what the present moment requires of us and what harm it causes us.

We are not equipped to cope with constant stress - perceived or real, long consumption of low-quality food and a sedentary lifestyle at the computer with a cell phone to our ear. As I said, this is just the tip of an inglorious but amazing iceberg, and women need to know the dangers of this lifestyle and why we become hostage to this race. Awareness is the first step, and some of the information contained in this book will likely be new to you. The other part will help you remember what you already know.

In this book, I used numerous examples and stories from the lives of real women of different professions, backgrounds and marital status. The most typical scenario described here would be that of a working heterosexual mother. However, there are many other heroines: with different jobs, lives, sexual preferences, marital status, socio-economic situation, and the presence or absence of children. I tell stories to get the point across, and sometimes I summarize and retell what I hear most often, which will also be one of the stories.