The impact of being a Modern Day Woman.

Things have changed. We are no longer staying at home to do the gardening, baking bread from scratch and raising our children with the help of a village. Instead, we are taking on the traditional role of a mother, coupled with the modern role of a career driven woman.

Times have changed. Cost of living has gone up, mortgages feel so out of reach for some, salary increases aren’t rising nearly as fast as inflation. Everyone’s busy, the village we once could have relied upon are also busy trying to keep their head above water in this modern world.

We have changed. Our culture is different now. In the Western world, we don’t switch off. Living in the age of the digital world, we are always readily available, no matter what. We leave work just to get calls from work, on the way home to do more work. We don’t take sick leave anymore. Instead, we work from home when sick, in hope we will still somehow recover with little to no rest. Life demands are higher now. Work life balance isn’t really a thing now. Hustle culture is idolised and those who appear to have some kind of ‘balance’ are demonised.

What hasn’t changed is our bodies biological make up. We still need 8 hours of sleep each night. We still need fresh air and sunshine. We still need exercise, a nourishing diet and to keep hydrate. The difference now is, this isn’t a priority for most. Attending to work demands, life demands, family demands, social demands all feel much more important now. What it leads to is a league of woman who are burnt out, rundown, overstimulated, under nourished and ultimately their health is suffering.

Being this busy, this over committed, presented with so much information all the time, so many decisions to make, so many things in life to consider, takes a toll. Not just on our mental health but our physical health too. I’m constantly meeting women who are just outright tired. They’re exhausted and instead of resting, sleeping and switching off, they are doom scrolling for hours in bed because they can’t switch off. They are so over stimulated from the day, they can’t stop thinking. So instead of finding ways to wind down, they wind themselves up by scrolling social media where they are presented with more information to consider, more things to think about and are forced to feel even worse than what they already do.

Women’s period health is declining. More women now than ever are diagnosed with conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, infertility and abnormal period pain. Women are suffering with PMS each and every month, feeling more stressed and overwhelmed in the lead up to their period, yet health professionals won’t make the connection between our diets, lifestyle and hormones.

We aren’t meant to be this busy, this consumed and this overwhelmed. The physical impact this modern-day world is having on our health is crippling. Living in a state of constant stress will have a direct impact on our hormones, our gut health, our nervous system and our overall wellbeing. This invisible mental load we all feel but can’t see is real and it’s detrimental to our health; physically, mentally, emotionally.

Something has to give, but what? We are so jam packed in our day to day lives that we can’t physically take on the task of prioritising our health too, can we? In order to make a real difference, we need to follow the old one in, one out rule. What I mean is, we need to focus on swapping one behaviour for another.

Swap doom scrolling for hours in bed for reading, journaling, meditating or talking and connecting with your partner.

Swap coffee first thing in the morning for a glass of water.

Swap ordering quick and easy meals that are calorie dense and nutrient deficient for things like fish and salad from your local fish and chip shop, a salad bowl/ burrito bowl from the Mexican takeaway joint on Uber Eats, chicken wraps with fresh ingredients from the corner chicken shop instead of chips and fried chicken. Better yet, learn how to cook a healthy meal in 20 mins or less. I get we are busy but we can choose to make the healthier choice when we are conscious of it.

Swap the wine afterwork for a cup of chamomile tea, or better yet invest in a good magnesium powder to sip before bed.

Swap the TV out for talking and connecting with the family.

Swap saying yes to everything and pick only a few social events a month so you have time to rest and relax too.

Swap screen time after dinner for a walk.

View your week in whole, think about where you spend your time and prioritise things that will serve your health, not hinder it. Learn to set boundaries with your devices, your work demands and those around you in order to prioritise your health and wellbeing. We don’t need to be this tired, this rundown and this burnt out. We choose to be without even realising it.