Stress Kills – Here’s A Plan To Deal With It!

It is funny how stress can effect a person, right? It can be stress from good or bad – I mean, in good times we want to celebrate, in bad times we need some care. Too often people react to the stress and the last person they want to take care of is themselves. 

The worst way to deal with stress is eating poorly, not taking time to get a bit of exercise, or self-medicating with food, alcohol, or drugs. Sadly, most have never been taught how to deal with stress – most put their efforts into taking care of others and sooth themselves by “rewarding” with food because, after all – they deserve some sweetness in life. 

We will all have times of stress in our lives – it always involves people, no matter what you do. Stress can be someone getting sick (and hospital food is not meant to help people get better – the world’s worst food is in hospital cafeterias). Stress can be a co-worker not doing their job, or a boss not being nice, or the finances at home. Stress is endless, and the cause is often something we often have little control over. 

I see the end results, when someone comes to me after dealing with a situation and they have gained ten to twenty pounds and have put their health at risk to deal with another situation.   

I promise you this: you will have stress in your life. If you live long enough, like my 92 year old dad, you will see friends die, or your spouse get sick (like my mom, his wife of 68 years with dementia). My dad has seen it all- and at 92 he is doing pretty well. So how did he do it?

Food is not a way to relieve stress. Food isn’t a reward. This is the time to take care of yourself, and not to turn to food – or drink, or drugs. Stress means it is time to eat better – it is time for you to take care of yourself. All that extra energy you have from the stress is best not exercised by the refrigerator door, but by taking a walk.  For my friends in Phoenix it is already 92 degrees but I promise it is cool in the malls. 

Take time to take care of yourself. Use this time to concentrate on eating better. Take walks to clear your head, to think things through. Sit down quietly and just let your mind ease itself. You need the energy to deal with the stress, so take time to sit down quietly – and if you have a belief then pray, if you don’t then just take time to think about the beach, or the mountain. You need this time, you need to take care of yourself. You are worth it. 

My favourite stress food – blueberries, and lots of them. Sweet, delicious, and a cup is 80 calories. It used to be ice cream- but then my lactose intolerance made that a bit rough. My favourite stress drink – coffee. My favourite quiet moment, walking and thinking about this time of year in Alaska, taking photos of bears catching salmon off the beach.  What’s yours? If you don’t have one, make a stress plan.

Take care of yourself,

Terry