I officially hit my lowest Whoop score in the past 30 days, coming in hot at 44%. Ouch. I violently shook my wristband and convinced myself it was broken. I looked up the return policy. I’m healthy, I got 9 hours of sleep, how is this possible?
I quickly went through my mental checklist, trying to figure out what I had done ‘wrong.’
- Alcohol free for 14 days (YES! I deserve a cupcake for that).
- 9 hours of sleep (NAILED IT!)
- Only 3 disturbances
- 3 mg of Melatonin before bed
- No screen time (BYE BYE NETFLIX!)
I’m doing ‘ALL THE THINGS’ to get a solid rest and recovery score. What gives?
Stress is an interesting thing my friends. We can check the boxes for all the things; limiting alcohol, caffeine, proper sleep, meditation, breathwork, exercise, etc but our body still experiences and responds to stress.
To shake off my crappy 44% recovery and low mood, I went for an early morning swim/bob in the harbor. The cold water will surely be a reset. Nope. I came home and did a 20 minute high intensity workout. That usually gets me on track. It didn’t.
I still felt a heavy cloud and now as you can imagine, I’m ticked. Look body, I have a LOT of things to do today, so let’s get on track asap ok?
I finally sat down with my mint tea and acknowledged the inevitable.
I couldn’t swim away from the stress or do enough pushups to get it out. What is so stressful in my life? I realize I downplay stress because I have a ‘handle on it,’ or ‘don’t have it as bad as others’ and always try and lead with gratitude.
But that doesn’t mean my own set of stressors doesn’t matter.
I started to go through my laundry list, the 44% recovery and my body’s reaction to it subconsciously made sense.
HERE ARE 5 PERSONAL STRESSORS IMPACTING MY LIFE AT THE MOMENT:
- Finances and a new mortgage
- COVID; the health of my family, my friends, the WORLD!
- Am I living my purpose? (the ole’ daily question).
- Getting my podcast episodes out on time
- House renovations & never-ending projects. So much for a holiday weekend.
WHAT ABOUT COMMUNITY STRESSORS? YEAH I HAVE THOSE TOO, AND THESE ARE NOT SMALL.
- Dismantling racism and systemic oppression
- Plastic pollution and the health of our oceans
- Climate change
Oh shit, well when you put it like that yeah, that’s heavy.
My mantra on low days is always simply to ‘push through’ and focus on forward momentum.
I will even say it out loud if I need to. And on this day, I needed too.
Push through MF!
So my challenge to you, if you’re reading this and you can relate to this heavy cloud, is just to pause for a moment and acknowledge it.
Instead of trying to escape it or push it down, write your stressors down on a piece of paper, then rip it up if you want. Say it out loud to your partner or a friend. GET IT OUT.
DM ME if that helps! I’m here to listen!
In my opinion, I believe we don’t acknowledge stress because we feel it equates to us being a failure, or the inability to handle something. We all know that’s not the case.
Life happens. We got this. The juggles, struggles and everything in between.
FORWARD.
So cheers to finding a better balance for the upcoming weekend, but remember it’s not about a perfect balance, because there’s no such thing as perfect.

Ohhh, this resonates! I always downplay my stress because I feel I have no reason or right to be stressed, when I’m living what others may think is the perfect life! But it’s amazing what we can hide behind a laugh or a smile! I’m definitely digging out my journal to lay down my stresses and get them out of my head xx
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here Jacquie, and for taking a moment to read! Gosh, so true how you say we can hide behind a laugh or a smile! I’ve heard that’s called ‘deflecting,’ something I definitely do! HAHA! No pun intended!