At least that’s the number 1 reason why it has taken me so long to cure Candida. Working long hours, little sleep and resorting to quick snack food all lead to stress.
Stress in turn weakens your immune system.
And with Candida it’s even worse than that.
Your body is actually digging into it’s own sugar reserves in times of stress, feeding yeast even when you are not eaten any sugar! How mad is that!
We all know that stress is detrimental for your health. But it was only through my recent detox that I’ve come to realise how much it really lowers your immune system and prevents healing.
Watch out for Hidden Stressors:
Projects Take However Much Time You Give Them
Have you ever booked a holiday and got everything ready a few days beforehand – and yet you somehow ended up shuffling clothes and bits and bobs around right until the last moment?
That’s what tends to happen to me.
What I’ve come to realise is that it doesn’t matter if you give yourself weeks to complete a project or days. Somehow you’ll always end up with jobs to do right up to your deadline. Regardless how well prepared you are.
This concept is called Parkinson’s Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Tip to Avoid Last Minute Stress:
So next time you plan/ prepare for something follow these 3 rules:
- Give yourself plenty of time (quadruple the time you think things take)
- Stick to a clear schedule or agree to stop working on your task when you have reached a certain benchmark.
- Remind yourself that what you have done is good enough.
What’s the worst thing that can happen if your task is not 100% completed to your expectations? In 99% of all cases you can always improve and improvise at a later date. Really!
Being overwhelmed, hectical and panicky is too high a price to pay in the name of perfection. Treasure your well being.
When you have Candida your energy runs out quickly. Some days you feel ok, other days you are too lifeless to even open the fridge door. It’s normal to feel that way!
What living with Candida was like for me:
I often felt so drained that I had to ask my bf to cook dinner. I simply had no energy for it, not even to make a scrambled egg!
And when I felt all foggy it was even worse, as I couldn’t even figure out what I could possibly eat, let alone cook. It is so frustrating and demoralising. It feels like you cannot rely on your own body any more. As if you had done something wrong.
Nobody, who hasn’t had Candida, can understand what you are going through. How tough it is, and how even the simplest tasks can become a mission.
- Realise, that trying to keep up with the same amount of work you have achieved before you got ill, is going to wear you out.
- Focus on the most important things, get those done, then sit down and rest.
- Reserve your energy for educating yourself about candida, deciding what to eat and preparing food.
When you are stressed you are hindering your healing. Remember that the next time you “just need to get this done!”
The Dangerous Effect Prolonged Stress Can Have on You if you have Candida:
If you are constantly stressed then your body is going to be busy maintaining your state of health, rather than healing you.
Constant stress leads to adrenal fatigue – feeling lethargic, needing a coffee boost to get going – are all warning signs that your thyroid can’t keep up with regulating your hormones level.
So if you’ve been suffering from Candida issues for a long time but you are sticking to the candida diet and you are still not getting better, chances are that you are experiencing a lot of stress in your life, and that’s holding you back. Of course there could be other reasons at play, but to be sure you must eliminate stress first.
So minimise stress wherever you can. And don’t beat yourself up when you reach your limit or you do get stressed. It’s part of your recovery.
Cook double the amounts, freeze small containers of soup, allow yourself time to relax.
That’s what will help you heal!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Sandra, you nailed it perfectly, I thought you were repeating my life. So true, I have always been a go getter, now I am lucky to get half of my things done. My husband bless his heart, never minds if I don’t get it done. Thanks again for message, Kathy
Thanks Kathy, did you get this emailed to you? That would mean that the blog is automatically emailing my posts out independently from me, haha, how confusing! Have you ever had double messages from me then?
My daughter is 13 and is a stress head, we have been struggling to get results following the diet as strictly as we can, I took her to a new naturopath yesterday who put some of her blood under a microscope and discovered worms in it. What next. She has been unwell since she was 7, but only diagnosed with candida 7months ago.
Nathalie
Hi Nathalie, sounds like you’ve had some stressful times, too! I know that a combination of Wormwood, Cloves and Green Black Walnut Drops is helpful to treat Worms. So unless your naturopath has suggested a specific treatment for the exact ones she has got, I’d take those. I bought mine already mixed in a dropper bottle from Amazon. As it turned out, I didn’t have any worms, so I stopped taking them after a few days. I think you are meant to take them for at least 2 or 3 weeks and then again after a week’s pause. The drops also work as antifungal, so are useful against candida. Worms can make you super restless. I bet your daughter will be less of a stresshead after the treatment.
Sandra