the quickness sickness (& a practical snack list)
The ‘quickness sickness’ isn’t an actual disease or an imminent threat to daily life.
More accurately, ‘quickness sickness’ is a catchy phrase that really means: living life at such a fast pace my body is having trouble keeping up and my spirit is dissolving into a fine dust.
Anyone else?
In a time where social media feeds on our sanity like antibiotic-resistant bacteria, income isn’t keeping up with costs, and community is challenging to create, it can be hard to even tell what stress feels like in the body. Still, stress is well-documented to impact all of our body systems and our mental health. It gets trickiest when the demands of life require a higher level of functioning just to survive, let alone thrive.
Are we really built for this?
Bright ray of sunshine today, aren’t I? You might also be wondering, “What the hell does this have to do with nutrition?”
Well, it gets real messy when we try to eliminate foods, spend hundreds on sketchy supplements, or implement a strict diet plan during a stressful time in life.
This is where I meet many, many patients.
If sleep is bad, we’re eating most meals on the go/skipping meals altogether, noticing mood fluctuations, an increase in digestive symptoms, and running into regular cravings, we need to rethink some things. No dietary restriction, mountain of supplements, or superfood combo is going to make the body adapt to an overly stressful lifestyle long-term. Try as we might.
We need to find pockets of time to be slow, to do only one thing at a time, strategically and intentionally. If we keep trying to push through an insane schedule, the body can and will get loud enough with symptoms until we don’t have a choice but to slow down.
Isn’t that annoying, wildly inconvenient news?
It probably sounds basic, sure, but think about it. From the time our eyes open till we pass out mid-doom scroll, we’re bombarded with information. We’re trying to get everywhere as fast as possible, sitting in traffic, wrangling children, setting schedules, comparing ourselves to influencers, and trying like hell to consistently cover the basic needs of being a human.
We don’t have to eliminate the foods we love, consume green powders that taste how a pond smells, or follow an unsustainable diet plan on top of a full schedule to attain the ultimate “health”.
Please know if you’ve been there, you’re not alone, and I’m not here to preach about how, “I’m doing everything right, and you can, too!” That’s cringey and far from the truth. I’ve been on a heavy grind and am working on slowing down, too, when I can. It’s hard but worth being stubborn enough about to turn into something to look forward to you know?
But I do work with a lot of people on lifestyle changes. My approach, like that of many nutrition specialist is to NOT say, “Well, here, just make more time for this super fucking tedious diet and exercise plan! Nbd, right? Good luck!” Here are some things we do that tend to be manageable and help:
Don’t. Go. Too. Long. Without. Food: Sometimes THIS IS HARD, but it doesn’t require perfection. More days out of the week, making sure to not get too hungry can be such a valuable approach. Eating balanced meals/snacks regularly throughout the day supports multiple body systems, stabilizes mood, decreases fatigue, and can decrease evening sweets cravings. It doesn’t mean elaborate meals and snacks. We start with trying to have something over nothing, then we get more precise.
When to Protein: When people talk about how most Americans get too much protein, they often forget to talk about the timing of it. If possible, try to talk with a Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) or Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) about how much to aim for in a day because your needs may be different from the general recommendations. Overall, it does feel safe to say that a source of adequate protein in the morning, within 2-3 hours of waking, benefits most bodies, especially tired, stressed, pregnant, or elderly ones.
Strategic Snack Locations: Plant protein, fat, and fiber-forward snacks in every location of life (pockets, backpacks, purses, vehicles, taped to your children, whereverrr). Preventing hanger benefits from forethought and if a packet of peanuts is already there, it’ll provide maybe a few dozen minutes of satiety and blood sugar stabilization till a full meal comes in. Please know I mean snacks that are non-perishable only. Do not be putting fresh fruit in your winter coats and get squishy pockets. Some of my top, prepackaged, shelf stable as hell strategic snack recs are below:
a protein bar
nut, seed, or trail mix packets
peanut butter packets (they exist, look them up, I’m not sponsored)
crunchy chickpeas
crunchy edamame
olive pouches
jerky
Back-up Snack-up Options: Sometimes, planning ahead isn’t happening. So it goes! Here are some options for snacks to grab from a convenience store/gas station or have around if a fridge is handy throughout the day:
Hard-boiled eggs (and hot sauce, salt/pepper, whatever)
Dips like guacamole, hummus, black bean dip, salsas, and chips, crackers, or vegetables
Olives
Yogurt (unsweetened with mix-ins like fruits or other stuff for blood sugar management)
Lunchmeat (on crackers, with mustard if that’s your thing, or just right into the face from the package)
Cheese and fruit
Nutrition shake
Peanut butter or whatever nut/seed butter with stuff like crackers, fruit/vegetables, bread, etc.
Plan further out: If every day of life is stacked high with to-do’s, adding more to think about might actually be more stressful. If it’s not possible to add in a practice for stress management right now, how about in 3 months? How about in 6? With nutrition we’re always trying to do all the things right away, but we usually have time and the ability to plan further out and/or find someone who can help us do just that.
Strategic Slow Downs: Slowing down doesn’t have to be a full on vacation, a 60-minute or even 20-minute meditation, and it doesn’t have to be more stressful. Our nervous system is hard at work all day, digesting input through all the senses. I regularly collaborate with patients on the smallest ways to pause. For some, it’s closing down the eyes and taking a few deep breaths while washing their hands (we use warm water to trigger the habit). For some, it’s running your hands over the fur of a loving pet and taking a few slow breaths. If you haven’t figured out your true, shoulders drop in relaxation down away from the ears ways to relax in small ways, keep exploring. What fits can be different for everyone. Once you find it, you’re set.
Is implementing these habits a perfect process? No. Are they the answer to all stress and symptoms? Also no. But they’re not nothing. And when it comes to slowing down, giving the body a moment to hit the brakes and just be, we’ll take whatever we can get. Even the small attempts add up.
