How to Rebuild Your Routine When Life Has Wiped You Out

After pouring everything into my recent in-person retreat, coming home felt harder than I expected. I was sleeping in on weekends, struggling with my normal routine, and asking myself, "Why can't I just get it together?"

Turns out, even good things are exhausting, and pushing yourself to bounce back at full speed only makes it worse. In this episode, I'm sharing the four strategies that helped me rebuild my energy and momentum without forcing myself back to 100%. If you've ever crashed after a big season of life, I think this one will hit home.

References

Folly Nutrition Hair Health Gummies (Use code MATTHEA)

Ep. 170. Losing Weight and Losing Hair? Here's What to Do with Dr. Katherine Nolan

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Audio Stamps

00:30 – What Dr. Rentea’s recent retreats have taught her about energy management and rest.

03:21 – Dr. Rentea’s experience with hair loss and the two-pronged approach (prescription + supplements) that's finally making a difference. 

09:40 – Ditching the "restart at 100%" mentality and rebuilding consistency before intensity.

11:07 – Finding your floor. What's the smallest habit you can stick to right now?

12:22 – Dropping the shame. When you're mentally exhausted, comfort-seeking is your brain doing its job. 

13:13 – Ways to reduce friction and make it easy to show up, so you’re not relying on motivation when you're exhausted. 

14:28 – Why it’s normal for your comeback to feel boring.

All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.

If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com

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Transcript

0:29

Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Friends, I'm back. It has been weeks and weeks and weeks since I have last recorded an episode. This is for good reason. At the end of April, I hosted my second in-person retreat. So the first one was in February with physicians, and then in April it was more of my long-term community. And the ladies that came were just incredible, and it was absolutely amazing to spend that time together and to connect in that way. Honestly, I didn't know that a group of women could be so amazing. I've been to a lot of retreats, I've done a lot of things, and this group, I just felt so seen and heard and understood. I mean, as we were going around what everyone was sharing, I could just so deeply relate to everyone. So I put a lot of energy into that retreat. I planned it for a year prior, and then it's more and more planning as the day gets closer. I now have a lot better sense of how to do things. But with that, I just really took some time to not be recording podcast episodes just so I could put my energy toward that. I released a lot of interviews, which is amazing, but I missed talking to you guys. I love this connection. But I have to tell you what the past few months has really taught me. It's really been a master class for me in long-term energy management, it's been interesting because I've had the opportunity to do all these beautiful things, right? This retreat, I did a speaking engagement last week. There's been some, a c- deep connection with women. These are amazing conversations, right? And th- uh, this is all great. But just because good things are happening doesn't mean that you don't get tired. Something that I've really had to honor after this retreat was several weeks of rest, and it was really interesting. I'm not someone who sleeps in on the weekend, and Saturday and Sunday for multiple weekends, I've slept in, and I've needed more time to do crafting. You guys know how I'm into, into all the, all the crafts in the land, and I was doing more of that. I needed quiet walks. I mean, it was just, it was insanity how much rest I needed. What I've really come to realize is that the amount of energy that you expend, it's like you need an equal and opposite amount of restoration time. That's just been a really good lesson to see that, to see it play out in real time, and I feel like, you know, kind of how you know you're just really exhausted is even, simple routines feel hard, right? Your motivation drops. Every decision starts to feel really heavy. And I remember I, after the retreat, I don't remember what happened the week after, and I thought,"You know, it's just not that deep. You just need to get some rest." But the problem is when this stuff's happening, we always say to ourselves,"Well, what's wrong with me, and why can't I just get it together," right? Stuff like that. What I've come to realize also is that exhaustion, it really changes you, uh, mentally, emotionally, physically, right? And so I wanna talk a little bit about that, kinda getting back on track. But first I haven't talked much on the podcast about this, and actually, I want you guys to tell me if you want me to talk more about my own personal hair loss journey that I've been working on. So for about the past six months, I've really worked on it. I see in the clinic Dr. Nolan. She's the one that came on a few weeks ago here. I'll make sure to link it in the show notes. She's a dermatologist, really spoke about the importance of getting lab work done to make sure that something like thyroid isn't wrong or iron deficiency or vitamin D being low so really making sure that physiologically there's not a reason as far as something that we could give you a medication for. And then there are so many different reasons for hair loss. I, for the past six months, have really been working on making sure that I don't have as much hair loss or that I can have thicker hair, just all the things I've been working on. And what's really fascinating is that I think everyone only thinks with hair loss about telogen effluvium, which is when you have stress on your body in some capacity. So it can be a large amount of weight loss. It can be that you get sick. It can be pregnancy. That you're stressed at work, literally anything that stresses the body. So I think people only think about that, but there's also, and I have some of this going on, when she looked with her dermatoscope, which is think of just like a big microscope, looked at my hair, there was miniaturization of the hair follicles. And that really implies more of sort of an androgenic hair loss pattern. So DHT, it's a really potent form of testosterone in the body, and it gradually shrinks hair follicles over time. For example, if we use things like DHT blockers, they're gonna work by lowering that hormone's effect on the hair follicle so that the hair can stay thicker and healthier longer, I really came to realize, okay, this is not just the fact that I've been stressing my body with weight loss over all these years. There's also something else happening here. And so I got on medication. I'm really working to treat that. But the other thing I was thinking about is I really took a big look at the supplements that I'm using. You know, was I taking something that had the right micronutrients in it and the right supplements to support my hair? I had the good fortune of trying... There's a, a brand, I, I feel like they're not new, but they're new to me. So the brand's Folli, F-O-L-L-Y. I'll make sure to link it in the show notes. So I got to try their gummies, and they have two different flavors. Let me get them here so I can... I literally have them next to me so I don't forget to take it. Okay, so I tried both their tropical fruit flavor as well as their sour tropical fruit flavor. Guys, they taste phenomenal. The regular line that's not sour, it literally tastes like you're eating regular gummy bears. You will not taste the difference. And then the sour line, you all know I talk about this all the time on the podcast, I love sour candy. Like, give me Sour Patch Kids, give me Final Boss Sour. You know what, you know what I mean? It was so sour when I tried them the first time a while ago here. My whole face was, like, puckered up, and I was like,"Oh my God, I love it." Okay, but here's the thing that's so cool about it,'cause you know I went down the rabbit hole with this company. Okay, so back in the day, we really couldn't do gummies for things because when you heat up a solution, you denature, means you ruin, some of the ingredients that are in there, so they don't work anymore, and also when you're taking certain supplements, if they can't actually get to where they need to get absorbed best, it, it's no good, it's kinda like you're taking it, but it gets destroyed in the stomach. You've got a heating up process with the gummy, then you've got going through the stomach. They have something really cool about them. Let's go down the nerd rabbit hole for a second. They have a parent company, Genesis Bio, and that is who developed the encapsulation technology for the GLP-1 sustained release tablets, for example, that Novo Nordisk used here recently for the oral medication that they have out. That's what makes the absorption so much higher, because it's not getting totally destroyed in the stomach. So you have this situation where the bioavailability is higher because it's actually getting into the small intestine, So the bioavailability is so much higher because it's actually getting where it needs to go. And then when you look at the formulation of it,'cause again, I've just been rather obsessed with hair care products recently. A lot of the products, the ingredient list, they don't actually have the amount of milligrams to have clinical effect, and they don't actually have the trials behind them, things like that. And so when I was kind of looking up, okay, I wanna make sure it has some DHT blocking elements to it, and I wanna make sure it has this and it has that. Truly, it has everything in it. So yes, I've been doing a bunch of things, right? I did get on prescription medication. I am taking this supplement as well, but I really think it's working, and that's actually really nice because months ago, there was so much hair loss happening. It was horrifying. And so for me personally, it's been really helpful to just help with some of that, the, like, you know, like the, the hormone balancing aspect of things and actually getting the nutrient replenishment that I need, like, you know, helping with the structural support of hair, stuff like that. So there's so many elements to hair. So let me know if you want me to do more of an episode on this, because there's physical scalp health, there's, are you getting enough protein? There are supplements that can help. There are a bunch of different things, and the hair industry is just massive, so we could literally do 10 episodes if you want. So let me know. Tell me when you hear this episode. Write me either on social or write back to the podcast if you're on, if you get my emails, and let me know if you wanna hear more about that,'cause I'm getting really interested in all this,'cause I've had to kinda do a lot of my own research here. And if you guys ever wanted to, because I think they're so awesome, so I reached out to the company, and I have a link in the show notes if you guys ever wanna try it. But it's Follie Nutrition, F-O-L-L-I-E nutrition, all one word,.com/mattea, M-A-T-T-E-A. So if you guys ever wanna check it out for the first time in my life I have done a subscribe and save. I do not subscribe to products for them to show up regularly. I think we do that with, like, toilet paper in our house, but that's about it. And this is the first time I'm like,"Yep, I like it. It's doing great stuff for me," and so I'm really having it come consistently. But just the fact that we have come so far with the technology I just love that. Okay, so that was my little, like, intellectual moment for you. But let's get back to today's episode. So I really wanna just give you a few words of encouragement or some perspective here if you are going through a season where you are just exhausted, and you're finding that it's just kinda hard to keep going. I'm gonna go over maybe, four different points here. Part one. Stop trying to restart at 100%. One of the biggest mistakes when people, when they're exhausted, they try to come back with this intensity. And the is we've gotta get back to consistency before we can crank intensity, it's like Monday morning... Actually, let me give my exact example what happened after the retreat. So I was out of the house from Tuesday through the following Monday. Like I got back, I left Tuesday and I got back the following Monday, so that's a week out of the house, so then the following Tuesday comes and I'm thinking,"Okay, I'm just gonna now go into my regular work week." And I had my husband wake me up at the same time, 5:30, and I'm like,"I'm gonna go do my walk, do my thing." Guys, in the middle of the walk, I was like,"I feel like death. I'm so tired. I could just, collapse on the floor right now." So I was trying to get back to my rhythm, but I had to back down. I had to do less walk. I had to take a nap. It was just, I needed different things. I needed more, carbohydrate-rich food. It's just very interesting when you just hear what your body's telling you, right? I allowed that, but exhaustion, it requires a different strategy, right? So it's not like,"How can I be my best self again?" It's more like,"What's the smallest thing that moves me in the direction I wanna go?" So asking different questions if you're not expecting yourself to come back at 100%, it's so much nicer on yourself. And then number two, it's really focusing on the minimum baseline habit, when we're overwhelmed, I, I wanna tell you to create something that's minimum that you have to get to, not this optimal routine. It-- This is your survival routine. I really peeled everything back. My hydration was not amazing, it's really consistency is gonna rebuild that trust with yourself. Maybe your baseline is you just get some protein with breakfast, but it's not important. You... but it's not, but it's not perfect. You fill your water bottle up, you just start small, and with focusing on that, you get further. The other way of putting this, I interviewed Maggie from MedPump. She'll be on the podcast soon here, she's a third going into fourth-year medical student. The reason I interviewed her is because she is so good with just simple health things in the midst of a really busy season for her, as far as how many clinicals she has and stuff. And she, instead of calling it the baseline minimum like I do, she calls it finding your floor. And I thought,"Ugh, that's so good," because I don't know why it brought a really grounded image to my mind, what is it where you can stand on it and you feel solid, some people use the word grounded. I'm like, figure out whatever term it is, but what is it where it's enough, you're not gonna judge yourself. That is enough. Part three here is, this is the most important one. Please asterisk this and highlight it. Mental exhaustion, it really changes your appetite and motivation. This is really important to understand. We need to drop the judgment because when you're emotionally or mentally depleted, your brain is really seeking. It wants comfort. You know, hello carbohydrates. It wants convenience. Hello processed food. It wants stimulation, maybe sugar, scrolling online, buying things. It wants dopamine. So if you're craving more sugar, scrolling, eating takeout, all that kind of stuff, it's not a character flaw. Your brain is trying to self-soothe. And now, that doesn't mean we stay there forever, but if we can remove the shame, it's really important because that's gonna keep us stuck. There's no what's wrong with me, it's really what would support me right now? And that is gonna create some movement instead of paralysis. Part four here that I would say is just stop waiting to feel motivated,'cause, it's unreliable when you're exhausted. And what we need to work on is this reducing friction. How can we make it so easy on yourself? When you're online and you can buy things in two seconds... I noticed this after the retreat. I got to the point where I was buying something daily, and I had to say,"Hold on. We're not this person that does this, it's like a slippery slope. What I noticed is it's just so easy for there to be an ad, and you think... Let me just take my crafting addiction as an example. There's, it'll be like a really cute little tape example or stickers or whatever, and you click on it, it's right there, and you're like,"Oh, I could have that in a few days," there's no friction. Apple Pay, you just click it, boop boop, you go right through. We need to do that for your life. We need to set you up in that way. Maybe some pre-cooked protein. There's your rotisserie chicken. Maybe you need a week of paper plates. I don't know. I wanna save the environment, but maybe we need to do that. Maybe you listen to a really fun podcast or fun music instead of serious medical things. So I don't know what it looks like to you, but how can we reduce friction in your life that's hitting the easy button? We've got to do that. Otherwise, it's harder to find your way back. All right, last part here, and again, I think this is the other one where I'm like,"I would bold this." The last part here is your comeback is probably gonna feel really boring, I like to use the word monotonous. It's v- it's very quiet, no one knows what you're doing. It's super ordinary. You're starting to drink your water. You're, cleaning up the kitchen. You're going to sleep a little bit earlier. You're doing some partial meal prep, it's not 100%. It's not like the whole fridge is lined up with Tupperware, but you're like,"Mm, I'm gonna get a veggie going and a protein," and then you start to slowly feel human. But healing rarely starts with these dramatic breakthroughs, right? It just starts with these tiny acts of self-respect repeated quietly, I just want you to take a moment and be super nice and loving and supportive to yourself if you are going through a hard season where you're exhausted, you're disconnected. Maybe you just don't feel like yourself. I want you to hear that you can find your way back. Don't punish yourself into this or, need to have high motivation. You're not gonna become this o-other person overnight. I think the small things are really gonna work. We wanna stabilize things first, and then we're gonna rebuild.'Cause I think sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is stop demanding p-performance from a really tired nervous system. You know? It's just like you have no more to give. So let's get some consistency going that is small enough where you can build some momentum, and before you know it, you're gonna be back to the rock star that you are. All right. I hope this episode was helpful for you. I hope you have an amazing rest of the week, and we'll talk next week.