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Coach Tommy

Stress And What Happened To Coach Tommy


Sometime around Mid October I was watching TV at night and noticed a weird halo every time I would blink. What's going on? When I closed my right eye to see if something was wrong with my left eye I noticed it was quite different. Every time I blinked I saw a halo, light was about 50% dimmer, and color was faded. Of course this freaked me out. After speaking to a few clients the next day I decided to make an appointment with an eye doctor. The eye doctor ran me though a few tests and after said to me "I think you have CSCR, there is fluid in your retina. I'm going to sit in my office and get on the phone until I find you a retina specialist that can see you now." Ut oh.


Long story short I got in to see a specialist. He asked me questions like "Is your stress high? Have you had weight gain or trouble with losing body fat? How is your sleep?" My stress and anxiety were so high for so long that I built up too much cortisol in my body. As a result a blood vessel leaked fluid in to my retina creating several vision problems. So how did I wind up here?


Weekly, if not daily, I have a conversation with a client or one of my trainers about mindfulness, wellness, and or stress management. II know cortisol increases, I know the frontal cortex of my brain shuts off during stress, I have enough knowledge. Hell I even teach and preach it but was not practicing it. My self care had been non existent from around March to October when my vision problem began. Eight months of my sleep being off, my chest being tight aka hard to breathe, trouble losing body fat, all the signs. For some reason I just ignored it all and my addictive brain told me keep going, push harder, work more, you don't have time to slow down.


The eye issue was a kick in the butt. A wake up call for me to do something. It was time to practice self care again. Immediately I took a week off for the last week of October. The first two days were very uncomfortable. It was like I was detoxing off stress. By the third day the stress was lifted off my chest. I could breathe again. I was at a botanical garden when I finally accepted everything is exactly as its supposed in the universe and all I need to do right now is exist and breathe. Finally after most of 2021.


So it worked. I took a break and was feeling much better. Now it's time for the true test, what will happen when my schedule resumes? Will I go back to the old routine or will I change the path and add in self care?


In the last month since I've been back I've managed to stay the course of self care. Not by myself, but with the help of those around me. I have set a workout schedule with one of my trainers to help me stay accountable. Post workout I go for a walk or run outside at a park, I practice a 2 minute meditation, try and eat healthfully, and practice a gratitude list 2-3 times per week. Hooray, just for today.


So, if you are stressed, allow yourself the gift of taking a break. Don't feel like you need to add or change everything all at once either. When I begin working with a new client we focus on one to two changes that can be made with movement, nutrition, and wellness. As an example the movement could be as simple as showing up to a work out with your trainer, eating one veggie or fruit per day, and practice a two minute meditation.

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