On this post I will give you my summary of 2021.

This year has been about elaborating further around the four pillars of health that is my base for a long-term healthy lifestyle: sleep, food, exercise, and stress management. I love to study and to also put my obtained knowledge to use and try different things in practice. I also love to share my experiences and insights with others. That is what this blog is about and to inspire and motivate others to focus on their long-term health.

Det kvinnliga perspektivet

One thing that I feel I have excelled at during 2021 is to adhere to my hormones. I struggled in the beginning when I came to insights around my ability to handle stress in the luteal phase. I was frustrated with this fact. No matter what I did I still had reduced quality of sleep and reduced HRV. But as the year passed I more and more adapted to my hormones. Also since bumping up my protein intake I am not as insulin resistant in the luteal phase. This means that I am not as likely to put on weight despite eating both more calories and carbohydrates.

Exposure to daylight increases deep sleep

Another interesting thing that I have noticed is the importance of coming out and getting daylight. By exposing yourself to the sunlight it sends signals to the brain that now it is daytime. This helps regulates the circadian rhythm (cortisol / melatonin) to an optimal level. This in turn increases the quality of your sleep. The quantity of your sleep is of course important. But the quality of your sleep, meaning the amount of deep sleep, is extremely important. It is during the deep sleep that your body truly heals itself.

Cortisol / Melatonin

Cortisol should be at its highest in the morning and like a ski slope go down as the day goes on. By the end of the day it should be at its minimum and instead you should get a rise in melatonin. Melatonin is the sleep hormone but it is important for a lot of other mechanisms as well in the body. Important to add here is also that in the evening you should stay away from blue light because this impairs the melatonin production. Blue light exposure comes for example from TV-screens, computer screens and mobile screens.

Going forward

Peeking into 2022 my focus will be to continue my lifestyle around long-term health, it is making me stronger both mentally and physically each year. Also I will continue to dive deeper into women’s specific health needs in regard to our cycle and fluctuating hormones.

With this little summary I want to wish all of you a happy new year!