It may sound counterintuitive because you think if you expend a lot of energy, you should get thin, but that isn’t necessarily true. When you spend all your energy running around like a spinning top, over-exercising, skipping meals and sleep, giving of yourself indiscriminately all the time regardless of how tired and worn out you are, things go awry.

The frenzied energy expenditure results in a rapid destruction of your delicate internal hormone balance, sending your body into overproduction of the hormone cortisol, inflammation, and insulin resistance, which erodes your internal organs, leaving you sick and fat. That’s why conserving energy is the first rule to follow to better yourself.

Before you make a commitment, before you say yes, stop and think. Do not react to every little thing in your life. Pause and give yourself time to make decisions that spare your energy and keep you in perfect balance.

The fact is that there is no reason to rush into making decisions in any area of your life.

Let me give you an example. I ran a trauma center as my first job out of training. I saw people badly hurt from car accidents, gunshot wounds, heart attacks, and strokes. For these people, the seconds in which decisions are made determine life or death outcomes. They needed immediate and expert care. If they didn’t get it, they simply died.

I left the trauma center more than 25 years ago to go into private practice and have been a clinician ever since. I have seen tens of thousands of patients and have lived among family and friends for a long time. At no time in my professional or personal life outside the ER have I been in a situation where reacting within seconds made a significant difference or improved outcome.

I promise you that you will never be exposed to anything in your life where your immediate reaction will make a significant difference.

So please, stop reacting. Once you stop reacting, you stop wasting precious energy. Once you stop wasting precious energy, your body gets healthier, because it produces hormones that provide protection, which stops inflammation and keeps you from getting the spare tire around your waist.

That is the result of wasted time, energy, and stress that we so often identify as adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency.