Hack your hormones

Hack your mood

Alrighty guys. It’s that time of the year when everyone is trying to squeeze out every ounce of summer. Days are becoming darker, and it’s just about time for the real darkness to arrive (especially if you live up here in the north). If you weren’t looking for a relationship before, you’re definitely looking to lock someone down, as cuffing season is upon us. The shift from summer to fall can be hectic, especially for our mood. Feeling sad? Anxious? A bit blue maybe? In this post, we’ll learn about how to hack your mood to become your best self as we enter the darker half of the year.

Happy hormones.

Our mood is a tricky thing. It can go up and down for the most random of reasons and sometimes it can feel like our mood is in control of us, not the other way around. When we talk about mood we need to understand that it’s our sweet hormones who are living it up and cause us to feel all range of emotions. Hormones are essentially the messengers of the body. Some of them tell us to feel hunger, some tell us to feel full, and some of them – the happy hormones tell us to feel happy.

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Serotonin

The crowned king of “happy hormones”. Serotonin is literally called the happy hormone and plays a role in regulating our sleep, appetite, and digestion. Fun fact, 90% of our serotonin production takes place in the gut. When we have a good balance of serotonin bouncing around we feel happier, less anxious, calmer, and more focused.

Natural ways to improve serotonin is to:

  • Exercise. When we exercise our serotonin levels go loco due to the BDNF activity in the brain. This activity creates a protein that makes us feel pretty sweet and saucy inside.
  • Get more sunlight. That the sun makes us happier isn’t really news, and it’s wise to try to catch some rays whenever the sun wants to play.
  • Eat foods high in tryptophan. Trypto- what now? Tryptophan is an amino acid that produces serotonin. With low, or no tryptophans we can’t fully make serotonin which is why it’s important to eat this bad boy every day, since our body can’t make tryptophan by itself. Foods with high amounts of tryptophans are eggs, poultry, spinach, salmon, seeds, and nuts.

Dopamine

Ever felt low? Lacking motivation? And just not excited for things? Dopamine, and more specifically the lack of it might be the blame. When we get a rush of dopamine we feel pleasure and reward, which is why we continue to indulge in behaviors that produce dopamine. This can obviously be either good or bad habits depending on what we are doing.

We want to increase dopamine naturally, and here are some ways to make that happen:

  • Exercise. Yes, once again exercise tops the charts for producing feel-good hormones. Dopamine is not the exception.
  • Complete tasks. You know that rush of accomplishment you feel when you complete a task or project? That’s dopamine. To stick something out and actually finish it is a great way to not only increase dopamine but to build good habits of showing up for yourself.
  • Listen to some bangers. Music can have this beautiful effect on us where we get a sudden rush of joy when that beat hits. What happens is a sweet release of dopamine.
  • Healthy diet. Diet does play a big role in dopamine production and especially getting enough protein and amino acids in the form of tyrosine which can be found in protein-rich foods such as meat, eggs, fish, and chicken. Taking care of your gut by giving it plenty of probiotic foods such as yogurt and fermented food is also a good way to keep dopamine production high.
  • Sleep. Can’t escape sleep. We need it for plenty of things and dopamine is one of them.
happy hormones

Oxytocin

Love is in the air! But not if you’re lacking oxytocin. This hormone is known as the “love hormone” released when we experience belonging, touch, and yea love in general. Oxytocin is especially important for reproductive health and plays a role in childbirth. It’s s also responsible for the feeling of attachment between a mother and child during breastfeeding. Females tend to have a higher level of oxytocin and a reason why we easier form attachments to partners, children, or even pets.

  • Sex. It ain’t called the love hormone for no reason and sex is a sure way to boost those oxytocin levels.
  • Help others. To do acts of kindness makes our oxytocin levels go through the roof. There is indeed no selfless deed because even helping others will make you feel good.
  • Pet an animal. If you don’t have a partner to cuddle up with your furry friend will do just fine. Petting a dog, having a purring cat in your lap, or looking at an adorable bunny eating a carrot will all boost your oxytocin.
  • Good food. Foodgasms are a thing and they also increase oxytocin. Even better if you cook and eat together with someone you care about.

Endorphins

Last, but definitely not least we have endorphins, the hormone responsible to decrease pain and discomfort and make us superhuman for a while. You know that feeling of hyper-focus you get in a stressful situation? Or how you’re able to get up and walk after spraining your ankle? It’s all thanks to endorphins. You don’t need to be Edward Cullen to put a dent in cars, you just need a shit load of endorphins.

Endorphins also give us a lot of pleasure and you could call it the body’s own morphine, which is why we want to make sure to increase it as often as possible in natural ways.

  • Exercise. We can’t escape exercise. It’s simple just good for us on so many levels!
  • Laugh. When I say laugh, I mean laugh. Like from the bottom of your stomach, so much that it hurts! Laugh loud and often.
  • Dark chocolate and spicy food. Like we need another reason to indulge in some chocolate? Sign me up! Both chocolate and spicy food have a positive effect on our endorphins.
happy hormones

Take away

Happy hormones. They might have different names and act in slightly different ways, but the take-home is that they all act to serve the same purpose, and can be attained in similar ways. As the fall and darkness are approaching we should be mindful about getting daily sunlight, exercise, healthy food, and social interactions to feel like awesome sauce. To be honest, this should be a mantra all year round!

Sources

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin

https://www.insider.com/how-to-increase-serotonin

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-increase-dopamine

https://www.verywellmind.com/natural-ways-to-increase-your-dopamine-levels-5120223

https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/oxytocin/

Linnéa KindstromLeave a comment

Nourish your inner child

Do you ever look at a little baby and think “damn, how is that little tiny shit going to become an grown ass person?” That little tiny body is going to expand and turn into this individual who can either do amazing things or fuck shit up completely. Such an innocent lump, just craving some boob milk and love, with a whole life of unknown in front of it. I don’t look at a baby and think  “Omg that’s a cute baby”, no my thoughts go deep.

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We have all been babies, duuh. We have all been children. We have all been through crazy phases of life experiences, body changes, personality changes, and so much more. At what point do we define the end of being a child? When we reach a certain age? When we get into puberty? When we become x amounts of inches tall? Who, what, and when defines the end of our childhood? Well, at a certain point we have to take care of ourselves, but why does this have to mean that we loose this other part of us that was the true person we were when we entered this world?

I love to look at pictures of myself as a child. Yes, I’m just that into myself. I can’t get enough of this version, so I have to revisit the past and check out that cute little sassy child. No, but I think it’s fascinating. Somewhere along my life, I just turned into the person I am now. You don’t realize these changes until you actually look at yourself. And honestly, I frikkin love that little child-me that I see when I look at the photos. She was such a go-getter, bubbly, sassy, creative, she was just such a bad ass!

Self love is something that gets lost in the process of growing up. We become hard on ourselves and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Something that’s so amazing about looking back at old photos is that you see yourself living care free and full of joy. You did you, and that was it. There was never something that made you doubt in yourself, because you just never had the time to think about stupid shit like that. If you had ideas, you made them happen. You played, you laughed, you cried, and you did it whenever and wherever.

When you judge yourself, doubt yourself, or look down on yourself I want you to take a look at a photo of yourself as a child. A photo that you really like and that brings joy to you. Look at this child, would you ever want something bad to happen to it? Would you ever want someone to harm or hurt it? No, right? So why are you hurting and harming yourself with toxic thoughts and actions? Take care of this child. Nourish it, help it to become the best it can be – Nourish you, and help you to become the best it can be. Just as your future self one day will look back at this version of you, and take care of you.

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Linnéa KindstromLeave a comment

Welcome the new, improved YOU

As the last day of the year is upon us, we start to reminisce about the year past, where we are, and where we want to be.We make new goals, out frequencies are higher than the weed doctors on Venice Beach, and we believe that all our dreams will come true as we watch the fireworks paint the sky in colors, and the streets in trash. New Year’s Eve is a magical night indeed. For a few hours we get to present our best selves to the  world, and the new year. We prepare the biggest feasts, we wear diamonds, long dresses, suits, sparkles, red lips, the whole chibang. We dance the night away, we have a few too many drinks, and then we wake up the day after with a torn dress, hiding behind a greasy pizza. Ah, the charm of the crisp New Years day. Hopefully, you made goals for last New Years to not drink so much and to have healthier eating habits.

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Looking back and reflecting on your year is great. It’s always fascinating to see where we are now, compared to a year back. Things we never thought would happen usually happens, and we stumble on situations we never saw coming. We get stronger, we might get weaker, but we always learn a lesson (hopefully). Setting new goals is also great for the year to come. We all need directions in life, we need that sense of purpose. By setting goals for ourselves we are making sure that we are working towards something. It can be to be a better sibling, to publish that book you’ve started but never finished, to participate in a 5 k run, create the best chocolate chip cookies of all time, anything! Your life, your journey. The directions and the goals you set will subconsciously direct you towards the path you are meant to walk. But then comes the tricky part – following up with our goals. We all know the drill, it’s all fun and cute when you take out that pretty journal and write down what you want to accomplish, but then comes the new year, and that greasy pizza new years day, and three weeks in your journal is tossed away in some drawer together with five other journals from the years before.

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Why do we do this? I shouldn’t say that all of us do this, because to the people who actually persist with something, they always make their goals come true. What I’ve realized is that you will go through this process over, and over again. You will set goals, and you will try, and when it dies out, it might be that you’re just a lazy ass who never gets anything done, or it might just be that the goal you  thought you wanted to reach, isn’t what you’re truly meant to be doing. I believe that when you put your mind into something that you believe in, from deep within your soul, you will do it. It’s still going to take time, you will still have obstacles, and you might even put it back on the shelf for a while. But if it’s really your purpose, your gut will tell you that it’s time to pick it up again.

I also think that another important step in reaching your goals is to focus more on the person you want to become. You have to get shaped and molded into the person who are capable of reaching your goals. We often feel like we’re setting the bar too high for ourselves. We get into the thinking of “Eh, I could never be THAT person.” What kind of person would it be that can accomplish your goals? Think about that instead. Work on becoming that person. Trust me, anyone can become any person they want to be, the only thing stopping you is your head. “I’m not confident enough, I’m not outgoing enough, I’m not that, I could never be this, bla, bla, and blaaa.”Bitch please, YES you can be everything you think you can’t, you just have to switch the can’t button to can!!!

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I really do believe that this is where our goals and dreams tend to wash out in the sand. It’s when we feel doubt, and when we act on it. We talk ourselves out of finishing something because we feel stupid, and that we’re not good enough. When we’re setting our goals we are so focused on the thing, the end ahead, don’t get me wrong, this is great, but we never focus on ourselves. We need to focus on how we can become the person who will accomplish the goals instead of only focusing on the goal itself. Your goal should always be you.YOUare the person who have to make sure your dreams and goals come true, so YOU are the thing that you have to focus on. YOU are the tool you need to mold, shape, craft, scratch, improve, beat down, and lift up, and love. You will always be a star in the making. Even when you’re up there shining so bright, people think you made a “Ross Geller” from F.R.I.E.N.D.S (Only real F.R.I.E.N.D.S enthusiasts will get this, I know), you still have improvements to do. You can never stop improving, and that’s something important we all need to understand. Our egos can come in the way sometimes, but we have to push that sucker away.

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Also important, if you “fail” to accomplish any of your goals, please calm down. It’s not the end of the world. Don’t beat yourself up! Get back on that high horse and race away!! Just don’t be too hard on yourself. And have a great New Year! Stay out of trouble, and make sure not to blow anyone up.

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And I had to end this post with two pictures to explain the whole Ross Geller from F.R.I.E.N.D.S thing.

Linnéa KindstromLeave a comment