Stress Out Less to Improve Your Health

Stress decreased by routine

“No stress” – a phrase I haven’t heard in awhile…

Raise your hand if you’ve recently felt stressed out… It is something we ALL deal with. Some of us feel like it’s part of the daily grind, while others may only feel it occasionally, from time to time. 

Stress is caused by internal and external factors. It can be impacted by your personality and general disposition right down to your environment. Regardless of what causes it, stress creeps up on us all at some point. 

What is STRESS, exactly?

From a health perspective, stress is not considered “good” or “bad” — it just IS. It’s part of our lives. 

Literally, it is your brain’s response to any demand from a change in your lifestyle. This might be a physical stressor, such as an injury, or an emotional stressor. Emotional demands can include everything from changes in your lifestyle to your relationships, finances, etc. Anything requiring your physical, mental or emotional energy can lead to stress.

Stressful impacts to your body

Stress itself isn’t going to cause problems. The way you react, handle, manifest and/or manage it is. That’s where the troubles associated with it start. When manifested negatively in your body, it can impact your body and overall health in a lot of ways:

• Bodily impacts: Hormonal changes, headaches, muscle tension/pain, fatigue, upset stomach, sleep problems. 
• Mood impacts: Anxiety, restlessness, lack of focus/motivation, feeling overwhelmed, irritability/anger, sadness or depression.
• Behavioral changes: Increased alcohol/tobacco/drug use; over- or under-eating, angry outbursts, social withdrawal, exercising less often.

But stress also comes in handy during (you guessed it) stressful situations. 

Your body’s response makes you start to breathe faster (sending more O2 to your muscles to fuel movement), then your stress hormones kick in (releasing cortisol from your adrenal glands) helping you heighten your focus and tap into energy reserves. 

Depending on your situation, you may not need these responses. But your body still has the response to it — who’s ever said they were “stress eating?” Cortisol has been released into your body and, when you don’t need it, it contributes to all these negative health impacts…especially abdominal weight gain!

Turning off stress when you don’t need it

So…how can we MANAGE stress to live our healthiest lives? 

Here’s what I recommend you do right now to see where you can make some positive changes:

1. Observe your routine right now (evaluate it for a week or two); what’s causing you the most stress? 
2. Ask yourself – “Are my routines in line with reality and my personal goals?” 
3. Implement a flexible but non-negotiable morning routine to support yourself throughout the day. 
4. Give yourself enough time to sleep 7-8 hours each night, with an established bedtime routine.

Additionally, here are some tips to help you remain consistent with routines that may help alleviate some stress in your life:

1. Schedule your meal times at home (or at least away from a computer/TV)
2. Move more (in whatever way, shape or form you can!)
3. Put down the device, move away from the screens
4. Try saying “NO” more often (it’s a gift!)
5. Set boundaries (at work, home, etc.) to help avoid burnout

Keeping a sense of humor can help you manage stress, too, along with practiced breathing techniques (like yoga, meditation, massage, etc.), spending time with loved ones, and making room for hobbies you enjoy. 

Follow along on IG where I share my best tips to stress less and other nutrition secrets!

Resources:

How to Manage Stress to Find Balance. Nutrition Stripped. https://nutritionstripped.com/how-to-manage-stress/ Accessed 08/21/19.

Stress Symptoms: Effects on your body & behavior. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987 Accessed 08/21/19.