My Reset Journey - dealing with stress, lack of sleep and energy

Hey friend, welcome to the very first episode of My Reset Journal.
I’m Stephanie, founder of Nummies, mom of two, business owner, and full-time overthinker. If you’ve ever felt like you were juggling a hundred things, running on empty, and wondering if it’s just you… I’m so glad you’re here.

This space isn’t about perfection. It’s about what’s really happening behind the scenes when you’re trying to raise kids, build a life you’re proud of, keep it together for everyone else, and quietly wonder when you started feeling so off.

I created Nummies, about 3 years ago, because stress was stealing my life. And for a long time, I didn’t even realize it. I thought it was just “being busy.” I told myself it was a tough season. I blamed my hormones, my schedule, my inbox, my kids' endless snack requests.

But what I’ve learned over the last few years is that stress isn’t just a bad mood. It’s not just a rough day. It is not a one time thing, you get over it and you are done with that stage. It’s a ripple effect that touches every part of your body, your mind, and your energy. Most of us are carrying it around without even realizing how heavy it’s become. And It can happen over and over again if you don’t learn how to deal with it for good. 

So in this first episode, I want to take you back to the moment Nummies started, when I knew something had to change. When the signs of stress weren’t just background noise, they were screaming for my attention. And I hope by sharing this, you’ll start noticing what your body’s been trying to tell you too.

 

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The #1 Sign My Stress Was Ruining My Life (and I Ignored It for Years)

I’ll be honest with you, it wasn’t some big, dramatic breakdown moment.
There was no public meltdown in the grocery store aisle, no tearful scene in my car, no obvious rock-bottom wake-up call.

It was slower than that. It was a quiet, suffocating, creeping kind of overwhelm.

It felt like the weight of the world was sitting on my chest. Like every single task, no matter how small, from replying to a simple email to figuring out what to make for dinner, was a mountain I didn’t have the energy to climb. And my brain? It felt like it was stuck in molasses.

I’d pick up my phone and forget why. I’d walk into a room and just stand there, staring, completely frozen because I couldn’t decide what to do first. Simple decisions felt impossible.

And I wasn’t just tired, I was bone-deep exhausted. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, hormonally. And that’s the dangerous thing about this kind of stress: you can still have beautiful moments. Sweet memories with your kids. Days you laugh out loud.
But underneath it all, there’s this relentless, heavy hum of overwhelm. Like a constant background track you can’t turn off.

I kept telling myself:
“It’s just a busy season.”
“Once this project is done, I’ll finally rest.”
“Next week will be easier.”

But here’s the truth I learned the hard way, if you don’t slow down, your body will eventually force you to. And I believe with my whole heart that the Universe keeps giving you the same assignment over and over until you finally take it seriously. Until you look it in the eye, face it, and handle it.

That was the #1 sign my stress was ruining my life.
It wasn’t a panic attack.
It wasn’t a full burnout.
It was a relentless, suffocating overwhelm. The brain fog. The wired-but-exhausted nights. The inability to think clearly, sleep deeply, or even feel like myself.

And if you’re nodding along right now; if you’ve felt like your brain’s stuck in a fog, your patience is razor thin, your to-do list is impossible, and you don’t even know where to start; you’re not broken. You’re not weak. And you are definitely not alone.

Overwhelm isn’t a personality flaw.

It’s a signal. A warning from your nervous system that you’ve been living in survival mode for too long. The first step for me was recognizing this wasn’t normal. That living in a constant state of fight-or-flight, just-get-through-today mode wasn’t healthy, sustainable, or necessary.

That realization kicked off my reset journey.
But here’s what no one tells you, life will keep testing you until you figure out how to manage stress the right way.

Even though I thought I was doing “my part”,  taking supplements, doing my occasional walks, I hadn’t really addressed the deeper root: my routine, my nervous system, my boundaries, my mindset.

And when the next life storm hit, a deeply personal, emotional stress I wasn’t prepared for that’s when the real truth showed up.

Because here’s the thing: Stress and unexpected life changes are a brutal mix if you haven’t truly taken care of your stress patterns. 

This time, vertigo showed up.
A literal spinning room, dizzy spells, nausea, inability to drive, care for my kids, or even stand in the shower without holding the wall. And it was terrifying.

It was my body saying:  “You didn’t listen to the whispers. Now you’ll listen to the scream.”

That was the moment that made me rethink everything. My routine, my stress response, my priorities, my energy, my life… and even Nummies.

Because as much as I love my products, I’ll tell you this with total honesty: a supplement alone won’t save you. It’s a tool. A beautiful, powerful one.
But it only works when it’s part of a bigger shift in how you care for yourself.

I had to learn how to actually rest.
How to say no without guilt.
How to rebuild my daily rhythms to support my nervous system, not just power through it.
How to swap coffee for calming adaptogens. How to recognize when my body needed movement and when it needed stillness.

And slowly with patience, small rituals, and a hell of a lot of grace for myself — I rebuilt.
And that’s why I created Nummies the way I did.
Not as a magic fix, but as a simple, effective, supportive tool to help women like us feel calm, clear, and steady when life gets loud. No matter the stage you are in. Like a true system. 

Because it will get loud.

And now, when the universe throws those inevitable stress curveballs, I have a system.
A reset ritual. A way to catch the overwhelm before it catches me. And I want the same for you.

Here’s What Happens to Your Cortisol When You Never Slow Down

We hear about cortisol all the time, the so-called “stress hormone”,  but most of us don’t really understand how it’s quietly influencing everything in our bodies.

When I started diving into the science behind what was happening to me, what I learned blew my mind. And it made me feel less crazy for the things I was experiencing.

Cortisol isn’t bad.
In fact, it’s essential. It’s what wakes you up in the morning. It gives you energy when you need to slam on the brakes or handle a crisis. It’s a survival hormone, designed to keep you alive when danger strikes.

The problem is when it never turns off.

Your body was never designed to be in a constant state of stress.
But in today’s world  with never-ending to-do lists, notifications, financial pressure, hormones, kids, deadlines, and unpredictable life curveballs  our brains can’t tell the difference between a life-or-death emergency and everyday stressors.

So that cortisol stays elevated.

And when it does, here’s what happens:

• Your digestion slows down. (Which is why stress and gut issues are so connected.)
  

• Your hormones get thrown off balance. (Think mood swings, weight gain, PMS, and irregular cycles.)
  

• Your sleep becomes shallow and restless. (Even if you’re exhausted.)
  

• Your skin can flare up. (Hello, stress breakouts.)
  

• You crave sugar and carbs. (Because cortisol triggers blood sugar fluctuations.)
  

• Your energy tanks by mid-afternoon. (Ever notice that foggy, can’t-think, wanna-scream slump around 3 PM?)
  
  

And most importantly, your nervous system forgets how to downshift.
Your body gets stuck in this low-grade fight-or-flight state, which keeps fueling the anxiety, overwhelm, and exhaustion loop.

For me, it explained so much.
Why I was waking up tired.
Why I felt wired but exhausted at the same time.
Why no amount of coffee could fix my afternoon crashes.
Why my patience was razor-thin.

It wasn’t that I was failing.
It wasn’t that I was “bad at handling stress.”
It was chemistry. And the beautiful thing about chemistry is, it can be changed.

Once I understood that, I stopped blaming myself and started supporting my nervous system.

And no, it didn’t mean moving to a mountain cabin or quitting my life.

It meant simple, doable shifts:

• Swapping my afternoon coffee for adaptogens and functional mushrooms.
  

• Saying no to one thing a week.
  

• Putting my phone on airplane mode after 7PM.
  

• Learning how to actually rest without guilt.
  

• Creating a reset ritual that worked for me  which eventually became Nummies.
  
  

And slowly but surely, my cortisol came down. And I finally felt like myself again.

Why We Normalize Exhaustion, and How I’m Breaking the Cycle

Here’s a truth that hit me like a brick once I finally slowed down enough to see it:
As women, we’ve been conditioned to wear exhaustion like a badge of honor.

I remember telling myself for years:
“This is just what it means to be a working mom.”
“This is adulthood — you’re supposed to be tired.”
“Once the kids get older, once business slows down, once life settles, then I’ll feel better.”

But let me tell you, life never settles. There’s no magical finish line where you suddenly get eight hours of sleep, your house stays clean, your inbox is empty, your hormones are balanced, and your stress disappears. And waiting for that mythical day was costing me my actual life.

The world around us praises productivity, hustle, and being everything to everyone.
But here’s what I learned the hard way: If you don’t make time for your wellness, you’ll be forced to make time for your illness.

That’s not just a cute quote on Instagram. It’s real. And I lived it.

The vertigo, the brain fog, the mood swings, the exhaustion so deep it felt like my bones were tired, it was my body forcing me to finally listen.

And I don’t want it to get to that point for you.

So I started breaking the cycle.
Not with a grand, life-altering overhaul. But with small, doable, daily decisions.

Here’s what that looked like:

• Leaving the dishes in the sink because my nervous system needed a walk more than my kitchen needed to sparkle.
  
  

• Saying no to events, projects, and obligations that drained me, even when guilt tried to creep in.
  
  

• Stopping the endless scroll and turning my phone on airplane mode at night.
  
  

• Making sleep a sacred priority, no matter how long my to-do list was.
  
  

• And most importantly, giving myself permission to rest before I was completely wrecked.
  
  

I realized rest isn’t indulgent. It’s responsible.
Calm isn’t a luxury. It’s medicine. And exhaustion isn’t a badge of honor. It’s a warning sign.

And with every small decision, every choice to reset instead of power through, I started to feel like myself again. And the more of us who model that, the more we give other women permission to do the same.

Your Invitation to Reset With Me

If any of this hits a little too close to home , if you’ve been feeling that heavy, relentless hum of overwhelm… if your afternoons are a chaotic blur of exhaustion, mood swings, and sugar cravings… if you’re constantly putting yourself last while telling yourself you’ll rest later…

You don’t have to live like that.

And you don’t have to wait for a breakdown or a scary health scare to start making a change.

The truth is, this isn’t about being perfect. It’s about listening to your body’s whispers before they turn into screams. And giving yourself permission to take up space, to rest, and to choose calm over chaos.

That’s what my reset journey has been about.
And honestly, it’s why I made Nummies. I wanted something simple, natural, effective, and easy to reach for in those “I can’t do this anymore” moments.

So if you’ve been craving a reset, a little calm in the middle of your chaos consider this your sign.

👉 Shop Nummies here and give your nervous system the reset it’s been begging for.