Feeling Burnt Out?
If you’ve thought to yourself “HOW is it only the first week of 2025?” you’re not alone. This year has started off FAST, and it doesn’t feel like we got any time to rest or reset before the next leg of this marathon. Feelings of burnout are normal. You’re not “weak” or “stupid” or “just need to get another coffee and power through”. Your body is trying to talk to you.
In today’s chaotic world, we find ourselves running on empty, caught in the relentless cycle of corporate hustle culture, societal expectations, and personal responsibilities. For the high-achieving, driven women in my community, burnout often feels like the norm- a badge of honor for our “busyness”. But this state of constant exhaustion isn’t just about being overworked; it’s a signal from your body that your health is under strain.
Let’s dive into the root causes of burnout and how long-term stress, nutrient deficiencies, environmental toxins, and societal pressures can disrupt your body’s delicate hormonal balance—specifically through the HPA axis.
The HPA Axis: Your Body’s Stress Management System
The HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) is a central player in your body’s stress response. It connects your brain to your adrenal glands, which produce cortisol—the hormone that helps you cope with stress. Ideally, the HPA axis operates in a rhythm: ramping up cortisol when needed (like during a morning meeting or a workout) and calming down when the stress passes. However, when stress becomes chronic, this system can get stuck in overdrive.
If you would describe yourself as “wired” or “constantly on”, your HPA axis is probably shouting GO GO GO! The feedback loop between your brain and adrenals has been hijacked by so many modern stresses (endless phone notifications, emails, traffic, social validation and beauty standards on a massive scale… you get the picture).
Our brain has evolved slowly, but the world we live in has changed at an exponential rate in the past 200 years alone! Our old stressors used to be famine, plague, war, and social isolation (from a group of ~200). Now our stressors are having access to seeing all the world’s famines, plagues, wars, parking lot Karens, corporate success brainwashing, and oh yeah- so and so got engaged… she looks so happy… why am I not happy?
Your HPA axis (along with most other feedback loops in your body) is designed to keep you SAFE… not necessarily happy. So when we’re facing chronic stress, we’re also facing chronic unhappiness due to this HPA axis and all the downstream effects this imbalance causes.
How Long-Term Stress Overloads the HPA Axis
Chronic stress from work deadlines, financial pressures, caregiving responsibilities, or quite frankly- the weight of all the world’s devastating headlines- keeps your HPA axis activated for too long. Over time, this can lead to:
Dysregulated Cortisol Levels: You might experience high cortisol (leading to anxiety, insomnia, and sugar cravings) and eventually low cortisol (resulting in fatigue, brain fog, and low motivation).
Adrenal Fatigue: While controversial in medical circles, many women feel the impact of overworked adrenal glands as extreme tiredness and a lack of resilience to stress.
Hormonal Imbalances: Prolonged cortisol elevation can interfere with reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone, leading to irregular periods, PMS, and fertility challenges.
Impaired Thyroid Function: High cortisol can influence thyroid hormone conversion; instead of T4 transforming into its active T3 form, it is shunted into reverse T3 which leads to hypothyroid symptoms (fatigue, low libido, poor weight management, dry hair, skin, and nails)
Gut Health Havoc: Your gut is ultra-sensitive to stress, so high cortisol can directly impact leaky gut, alter your microbiome to reduce beneficial bacteria, and impair digestion. This leads to a vicious cycle where prolonged stress depletes nutrients, but your gut is now poorly absorbing nutrients from your food to replenish your body’s stores!
Nutrient Deficiencies: A Silent Saboteur
When your body is under constant stress, it burns through nutrients at an accelerated rate. Key deficiencies include:
Magnesium: Known as the “relaxation mineral,” low magnesium levels can exacerbate anxiety, muscle tension, and sleep issues.
B Vitamins: Essential for energy production and mood regulation, these vitamins are often depleted during periods of prolonged stress.
Vitamin D: Critical for immune function and mood stability, deficiencies are common in women juggling demanding schedules.
These deficiencies not only worsen fatigue but also impair the HPA axis’s ability to recover from stress. The vicious cycle continues…
Environmental Toxins: Hidden Stressors
From the air we breathe to the products we use, modern life exposes us to a host of environmental toxins. Common culprits like BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals can disrupt hormonal communication pathways. Many toxins act as endocrine disruptors, interfering with the delicate balance of hormones- from estrogen and progesterone to cortisol and thyroid hormones. Additionally, a heavy toxic load (very common for Americans nowadays) triggers chronic inflammation that keeps your stress response activated, further burdening the HPA axis.
Corporate Hustle Culture: The Unrelenting Pressure
Corporate environments often glorify busyness and reward overwork, leaving little room for rest and recovery. Constant pressure to meet deadlines and prove your worth keeps your HPA axis in a perpetual state of activation. Not to mention, corporate culture is notorious for promoting poor lifestyle habits. Late nights, skipped meals, and lack of exercise—all common in hustle culture—worsen the impact on your body’s stress response.
Breaking the Burnout Cycle
Recovering from burnout and healing your HPA axis requires a multi-faceted approach. In order to put the breaks on this vicious cycle that impacts your mood, energy, digestion, metabolism, and overall wellbeing… we need to get back to the basics:
Stress Management: Incorporate mindfulness, yoga, and breathing exercises into your daily routine to calm the HPA axis. Making a daily habit of consciously shifting OUT of “fight or flight” and into the “rest and digest” (parasympathetic nervous system state) is key to getting your body un-addicted to stress.
Nutritional Support: Focus on a nutrient-dense diet rich in leafy greens, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Keep it simple: nourishing stews, roasted veggies, complex carbs like sweet potatoes, and quality sources for protein and fat. Consider supplements for magnesium, B vitamins, and adaptogens like ashwagandha (she’s one of my favs, especially for my thyroid girlies!). Also… let’s stop pouring gasoline on the stress fire… consider taking a break or seriously cutting back on caffeine, alcohol, and sugar.
Detoxification: Minimize exposure to environmental toxins by opting for non-toxic beauty and cleaning products, eating organic when possible, and using a water filter. Additionally, integrating practices like dry brushing, lymphatic massage, and rebounding help move stagnant lymph that is bogged down with toxins and remove them from your body.
Reevaluating Priorities: Challenge the narrative that your worth is tied to productivity (easier said than done, I know). Set boundaries and embrace rest not only as a cutesy form of “self-care”, but as essential. If you don’t take the time to prioritize your body, our body will pick the time to “reboot” for you.
Burn Out Isn’t Forever
Burnout isn’t just a badge of honor; it’s a cry for help from your body. By understanding how stress, nutrient deficiencies, environmental toxins, and hustle culture impact the HPA axis, you can take steps to restore balance and reclaim your vitality. Healing begins when you prioritize yourself—because you can’t pour from an empty cup. You won’t always have to feel this on edge and exhausted… if you take the time to honor your body and infuse your daily busyness with nourishment and rest. You got this.
