Ten years ago, I remember feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. It was just after my eighth year of medical training, and I’d just found out I didn’t pass my second medical boards. I was absolutely mortified. To some people, that might not seem like a huge deal, but I couldn’t have felt more low.
Before that, I thought of myself as a leader in medicine, and my identity had become intertwined with my prowess in science. But at that point in my life, I was also mom of two and a business owner, so I had immense pressure to perform.
However, every time I would sit down to study, I would not be able to focus—my mind was going at 1000 mph. I was skipping on sleep so that I could expand on my practice, spend time with my children, and then I would pick up my books at 10 o’clock at night.
Basically, I was wildly overwhelmed and sleep-deprived. Anxiety was a big part of my life, along with as fatigue, poor gut health, and all-day fatigue. My identity, health, mindset, and mood were all in desperate need of repair.
In any case, when I learned that I would have to retake the exam, I used this as a motivation to change my whole life approach. I made a goal: By the time I took the exam again the next year, I would be a healthier version of myself. As a physician, I started to dig into the research, and use my nutrition degree as a jumping-off point.
Here, three changes that I implemented from that point forward:
1. I set better boundaries.
I realized was giving everyone my time except for myself. I felt depleted because I was not able to save time to recharge on a daily basis.
I had no boundaries on my time, on my energy, on my work, and on my mothering. This was leaving me with poor health, little time for myself, and anxiety.
As a solution, I decided to set up a schedule and be very stringent about who I lent my time and space.
2. I established health practices.
Based on my research, I decided to adjust my diet, and make three valuable changes:
3. I worked on syncing my body and mind to the earth’s rhythms.
It’s so shocking to me that we have a biology that matches sunlight and darkness—yet we ignore it. Before my health revamp, I was getting little to no sunlight, staying up very late, and eating late meals. When I understood the biology of circadian rhythm, I changed all of that. Our own biological (circadian) rhythms modulate 80% of our biological processes, and we optimize them when we get sunlight in the morning and darkness in the evening. This, coupled with early dinners and overnight ”circadian fasting” truly helped support my overall health.
After making these three somewhat simple changes, I watched my life and health improve. I wish I’d discovered these tools even earlier, but I’m so grateful they’re integral to my lifestyle and routine now. I hope my journey inspires you, too. It’s my passion to share my knowledge and research with my community to help them lead better lives now, and in the future. (P.S. I passed my boards the second time around with flying colors.)
