Six Ways to Make Life with a Sensitive Body Easier

Ever feel like taking care of your body is a full-time job? In this episode, Laura unpacks the hidden work behind living with a sensitive or chronically ill body — from planning mornings around sleep quality to navigating food sensitivities, remembering medications, and balancing energy through the day.

Fresh off a family trip, she shares real-life stories of how unpredictable days, limited food options, and the pressure to “keep up” add up to invisible labor that few people see. But this isn’t just about the struggle — for each challenge, Laura offers simple, doable tips to make life easier.

 You’ll learn six simple tips that help you reduce overwhelm, support your body’s needs, and approach daily life with more flexibility, ease, and self-compassion. 

This episode will leave you feeling seen, supported, and empowered to care for your sensitive body with less guilt and more grace.

Transcript

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Hi, my chronically misunderstood warriors. Welcome back to another episode of the Chronically Misunderstood Podcast. Well that ended up being a longer break than I intended. But I'm back and this week I wanna talk about the invisible labor of taking care of a sensitive body. We are gonna talk through different aspects of our days and what that struggle looks like, but I don't wanna stop there and get stuck in the dumps about how hard it can be. For each area of life we talk about. I'm going to give you a little tip to make your life a little easier. This episode is perfectly timed because I recently returned from a week long trip to Vancouver, Canada with my family. The reality of traveling for us has become a bit more complicated as now two of us are dealing with chronic illness issues. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to walk through what it looks like to manage our health and how hard the invisible labor is for those of us living with chronic illness. It is definitely easier to manage all the things when we are at home in our own environment, and I think sometimes we forget the extent of our systems, our routines that help us to function. But travel reminds me of all the little things I do and items I need to be able to keep us functioning and feeling well. Let's just start with, the mornings a day can be really defined by how well we sleep, whether we wake up, rested, or in pain, that one factor can change the plans for the entire day. We may plan to go on a walk, a hike, or just to the store, but if we sleep poorly, we have to adjust our entire day. That makes it really hard to commit to plans with friends or family, and we often feel like we're going to disappoint people when we wake up and can't participate. On this trip, we were sleeping in two different houses with different beds, different pillows. The blankets were different, temperature was new. So many little details that can impact our sleep and our days. So how can we support our mornings better? Tip number one is to create two different morning routines. First, plan out a low energy morning ritual. What sounds warm and cozy, soothing and restorative for me. On a bad morning, after my kids leave for school, I go back to bed. Two more hours of sleep can make a huge difference. Then I might have a warm tea on the porch or cuddled up on the couch. Relaxing music, a book painting. Give yourself full permission to let go of any guilt or pressure and just rest, rest your body, your mind, and your nervous system. Now, one note of caution. Don't spend the whole time scrolling. It can be a break and give us some dopamine, but it's not truly resting or restoring, and I always feel like I should have just slept instead of scrolling. Now give a little thought to a steady energy day and how you want to start the morning. Now, don't overdo it, trying to make up for the low energy days, or you will just crash again. Add a mix of slow restorative care and one or two things you want to do that you can't do when your energy is low. So for the mornings, build two morning rituals. All right. Let's shift to food. The thing that often takes up half our brain space and a topic I could really talk about for hours. One of the biggest challenges for me when I'm fatigued is food. It's not the one meal that's the problem, it's the meal after meal, day after day. It just never ends. And that's how it feels when we're at home. For this trip, it was lovely because I didn't have to cook, but eating out has its own challenges. There's less control over options, and we have to pay attention to what makes us react, how foods are prepped. The oils used, hidden ingredients to simply go out to breakfast. We have to do a lot of research In advance. It's not just go to the local diner. We have to check if there's anything safe on the menu, and that takes some effort. Yelp is not a great resource when it comes to food sensitivities. For this trip, I really struggled with breakfast. One of us was struggling with sensitivities to eggs and that severely limits breakfast options. I didn't want to go to a restaurant where we can only eat one or two things. It can be really depressing and not a great way to start off the day. We see all the tasty things on the menu, all the things other people are ordering and we can't safely participate. For some reason, meal envy seems extra hard with breakfast probably because of all the sugary things you see on the breakfast plates. Waffles with fruit pancakes, syrup, donuts. Our solution this time was to eat at one breakfast place for all the mornings that used Tallow for cooking has lots of gluten-free options, including gluten-free waffles and English muffins for the eggs Benedict and had enough non egg protein items to work for us. But admittedly watching people eat an egg benedict was tough for the egg sensitive kiddo. Even at home, safe foods take constant work For years, feeding my son with sensitivities was practically my full-time job. That constant vigilance contributed to my own stress and text my body, and even though I am a nutritionist and really understand the importance of nourishing our bodies when my energy was at its lowest from chronic fatigue. Prepping food for myself was just unrealistic, and I often skipped meals or just added carby, processed snacks. Simplifying meals by eating the same thing repeatedly might be better than not eating at all, but it can backfire too. Sensitivities can build, or conditions like MCAS means leftovers, increase in histamine and cause more reactions. If only each of us could afford a full-time chef. But since most of us can't hire a chef, let me give you another tip. Tip number two is to make the whole bag and freeze. What I mean is this, if I have the energy to bake the chicken, it doesn't take any more energy to bake two or three pounds of chicken than it does to make two pieces. Now I have lots of protein cooked and ready to eat. The second step is to freeze the extras right away. For those of us with MCAS, leftovers have more histamines. So freezing keeps histamines from rising and gives us quick food to heat up on days when we are tired. If this sounds way too hard, ask for some help. Have your partner prep this for you or even ask a friend if they could make a big batch of something for you. So many of the people who love us don't know what would actually be helpful and they would love to feed us. Now before we keep going, remember this, my goal with this episode is not to discourage you, but to give voice to the reality of the work we are doing on a daily basis. As you continue to listen, start to think about what part of this invisible labor is working for you and what is the biggest struggle. Could you get some help? Could you get a housekeeper? Could you get meal delivery? Could we build a system or routine to ease the mental burden? Now I want to talk a little more about food and meds, and then I'll give you an example of a couple new routines I added this week to make things easier on me. Next we're gonna talk about medications because this is one that sneaks up on all of us. Like just this morning after my kiddos went to school, I looked at the pill sorter and realized I forgot to give my son some of his supplements. Ugh, there are so many things to remember. Right before our trip, my 11-year-old had started a new medication. We needed to test how well he tolerated different foods with the medicine and whether it was making a difference. I was actually really surprised at how much anxiety that caused for me. When we are at home, we can control the food safety and we eat a variety of foods that don't cause reactions, but that doesn't really tell us if the meds are working. So we let him eat more things, and for the most part, he did okay, but a couple times his tummy was hurting. I worried a lot about what would happen if he ate something that made him sick, that it could ruin his whole day, and maybe even our plans during the week. Taking medication sounds simple enough, but timing is a whole thing. If I can take all my meds first thing in the morning, I can usually remember it as part of my rhythm, but if it requires special timing, I'm sunk, which is exactly the situation with this new medication that my son needs, which has to be taken 30 minutes before eating. This means constantly paying attention to timing, planning ahead and bringing it with us. On the fifth day of our trip, we were at a wedding. My intention was to bring the medication and give it to him before the reception meal. I forgot, I didn't want to restrict him at the special event. So he ate food he normally wouldn't, and the next day he really suffered. Ironically, this did make it clear the medication was helping, which is great, but it also meant that he felt awful for most of the day. For those of us with brain fog, neurodivergence, or other challenges, remembering all these little details is exhausting, invisible labor, and so I bring you tip number three. Tip number three is to bring the medications to you. That might sound strange, but let me explain by walking you through a couple of changes I added this week. Now that we are back home from our trip, I am trying to figure out new routines for this new medication and the timing requirement makes it hard for the mornings and the evenings. On Tuesday he had basketball practice until late, but I didn't bring the medicine or water, so he had to take it when we got home and then had to wait 30 more minutes to eat dinner. That didn't work. The first morning I tried to give him the medicine when he came down for school, and then I realized there was not enough time for him to wait 30 minutes after taking it, before eating breakfast, fail again. So that's when I decided I needed to get creative and the meds do not need to live on my kitchen counter downstairs. I needed to bring the meds to us first. I brought half the medication upstairs next to the water dispenser in my room. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I don't even turn the lights on. I fill the water cup, add the meds, and then walk to his room, wake him to drink it and he can go back to sleep for 20 minutes before he needs to get up to get ready and come down for breakfast. For the evening meds, I got a small water bottle for the car and I put some of the meds in the car so that he can take his meds as soon as we leave basketball so that by the time we get home he can eat dinner. So that is what I mean by tip three is bring the meds to you. Where do you spend most of your time? In bed? On the couch, upstairs, in your office, in your car. Put the meds where you are most likely to take them. Make things easier for yourself. Now, this next one is hard for me. As I was thinking about the details required in my daily life. I wanted to include symptom tracking in the list, but it's actually one of the things I've really struggled with. It's such a challenge for me. When I'm doing fine, I don't think to record what I ate or how I feel. I only notice the need to track once I feel bad, but that's too late because it's usually the thing I did before that set me up for the crash. That detailed level of tracking required to see trends is very hard for me to maintain. Are you able to do it better than me? Could you get a big paper calendar for the wall so that you can see the big picture of your symptoms? Have you tried bearable or visible band or another symptom tracker? Do you have an aura ring or a whoop band? What works for you? Tip number four is to consider your tracking style. Do you like paper and pencil, or do you like digital apps that can remind you to record your symptoms? Or do you prefer a more passive tracker, like the visible band or, or a ring that can monitor your body without your input and you can add notes when you need to. Okay, so that's mornings, meals and symptom tracking. Let's zoom out a little bit and talk about recovery in energy pacing. From the outside people might think we're not doing very much. But the reality is that even just maintaining our sensitive bodies requires extensive invisible work. I don't know about you, but at this point I am an expert planner. For any day involving in an activity appointments or family events. We have to plan so carefully. That might mean napping in order to go to dinner later, or pacing out energy so that we can attend something important on this recent trip. I honestly didn't know if I'd struggled for four days afterwards or just need a nap when we got home. Six months ago, the same trip would've cost me a full week of recovery in bed. This time after a lot of treatment and improvement, it only cost me an afternoon nap and an early bedtime. That's big progress, but it still took a toll. So my tip number five is to give yourself a cushion. When you have an event or a trip, don't plan anything for the few days after. Give yourself rest and care. If you actually feel better than you expected, then that's great and you can add things to your days. But if you need sleep and you have appointments or commitments and you have to cancel, it makes the cost feel so much bigger. The last area of life I wanna talk about today. And one of the things that has been critical to my own healing has been a real honest look at my nervous system and stress response. I was so used to being in fight or flight that I didn't even feel it. Feeling completely overloaded was how I felt all the time. I was doing way too much and pushing myself way too far. We're constantly fighting to take care of ourselves, to do what is required and expected of us. That fight or flight state can make us sicker, or at least for sure makes it harder to heal. It's draining to live on guard all of the time. Anxious about physical reactions, stressed about resources, or worried something won't be available when we need it. The level of perfectionism required to operate in the world like other people is so stressful. Managing our bodies stresses us out and strains relationships. Maybe we can't eat safely at the pizza place, or our fatigue makes us too tired for an outing. Friends or family might feel disappointed or even rejected when we can't join in. Yes, sometimes we can mask our needs and push ourselves to participate, but then the cost is high and people wonder, you went to the party, so why won't you come to the park? Explaining ourselves becomes its own exhausting form of invisible labor. All of this takes in an emotional toll. There are highs and lows. Sometimes I feel really down grieving what I missed or what life used to be missing. A girl's night out or a school event for my kids brings sadness and disconnection. Other times there's guilt, feeling high maintenance or particular asking questions about ingredients at a restaurant or worse at friends' houses. And sometimes yes, we do feel more positive, but often there are heavy, negative emotions. Fatigue can snowball into sadness or depression. Outsiders, may say you're just depressed take medication, which can be so helpful. But often it's not just depression. It's a legitimate response to loss or even a physical reaction from gut issues or pain. Our emotions are deeply tied to our physical reality, and the reality can be very hard. So when we talk about invisible labor, it isn't just meals or meds or logistics, it's the constant fight for our health, the stress of being misunderstood, the grief of missing out, and the sheer work of advocating for ourselves. So for our last tip, tip number six is to listen to the stress reaction and test out changes until your body calms. Your body is letting you know who and what is safe or not safe. The more we listen to that response, the more we can respond in a way that calms our stress. When I have pushed too hard and I'm snappy or agitated, or my hands are sweaty, that is my body talking to me. I need to pause and ask myself, what's really going on here? Do I need to change something? Do I need to say no or set a boundary or do I need. To remove myself from this interaction and reset. For example, is the basketball gym too loud for me? Do I feel much more calm when I bring headphones and listen to relaxing music? Or even do I need to do this thing, but I can mentally prepare myself for the recovery I will require after? Let me list all the tips again. Tip one, build two morning rituals. Tip two, make the whole bag or batch cook. Tip three, bring the medication to you wherever you are. Tip four, consider your tracking style. Tip five, give yourself a cushion. Tip six, listen to your stress reaction and make adjustments. I also have this little PSA for you. Before we end today, I want to suggest one little thing. If you see yourself in this episode and have not been evaluated for MCAS, I would highly recommend reading up on it. For years, I was puzzled why people seemed to be able to eat anything with no issues, but we had to be absolutely perfect to keep symptoms at bay. Only in the last year have I realized that for sensitive bodies there might be something else going on. I do plan to write a blog post about MCA soon. If you want more information, I will post the link in the show notes and on Instagram. I'd love to hear your stories. What does invisible labor look like in your life? What accommodations or rituals have worked for you? Share them with me, and together we can remind each other that we're not alone. Until next time, this is Laura, your sensitive cheerleader. Have a good week.