Somebody stop the train! 7 Key Strategies for Coping with Stress

Lately I've been having conversations with my friends about how quickly time seems to be going. We all seem to be having the same experience of time just FLYING... It feels like even in just the last 3 months, someone flicked some cosmic switch and just put us all in warp speed. Do you feel it too? There is just sooo much to do, and we feel perpetually "on"... busy beyond busy, yet a feeling of never really making a lot of progress. And, while friends are on our minds, and we still feel connected to each other, a month can easily pass without so much as a phone call... maybe a quick email exchange here or there, but no real face time or even phone time. When we speak, we pick up where we left off, but as we're talking, we catch ourselves referring to things that have happened in our lives as if the other person knew about them... when we realize we hadn't talked since before "X" happened, we are snapped into the reality that "holy crap, we really haven't talked in a while, eh?" I'm glad to know this isn't just me feeling this way, and the fact that we're all going through this together is somewhat comforting, and allows us to give each other the breathing room without anyone taking the lack of contact personally. But shoot, it's exhausting isn't it? AND... I miss my peeps! AND... dun dun duuuuuun... we're only about to go into the holiday season! Let the madness begin! Sigh. Anyone else getting a headache? I need a nap.

At times like this, we may be feeling a multitude of effects of being in the "Warp Zone." For example:

• Physically - tired & depressed, or alternatively tired & "wired," headaches, difficulties with digestion, having an increase in appetite or cravings for sweet & fatty foods, feel like you can never get enough sleep, perhaps catching colds or sore throats more easily
  
• Mentally - low mood/apathetic, or anxious, irritable, and time-pressured, problems concentrating or remembering things
• Spiritually - somewhat disconnected, perhaps you look back at your day (or even just what you were doing in the last hour) and it's all just a blur... especially activities involving interacting with other people, if you look back on it a couple of hours later, does it feel like it was way earlier in the day or like several days have passed since the interaction?

These (and there are more) are all signs of chronic stress. Stress is the absolute #1 underlying factor in the development dis-ease and lack of vitality and wellness. Short of adding more hours to the day or physically slowing time down, there are some things you can do for yourself - body, mind and spirit - to help mitigate the effects of stress:

1. Breathe. Get PRESENT. Ever notice how when we are kids, a day feels like a week, a week, is like a month, and summer feels like it goes on forever, but it seems like the older we get, the faster time speeds by; A day is nothing, in fact we wish we had more time... a week flies by like a day used to feel, and the summer... it's what we were looking forward to back in March and April a the first signs of spring, but suddenly in autumn we're looking back and realizing it's gone already and we didn't even take advantage of it. This happens because as adults, we are always focusing so much on the future - what we have to get, want to get done, need to get done, or "can't wait for." When your head is always in the future, your body and soul go with it. You are no longer present in the here and now, so you don't experience it fully. Bring your focus back to the present moment. Remind yourself to do this several times a day. Give yourself even just 2 minutes to take some deep breaths, look around and notice the sights, sounds, smells... look out a window (or better yet, go outside), talk to someone and get back in the moment, and regain some perspective.
2. 
   Honour your body's need for sleep and rest. If you aren't getting enough rest, you are going to burn out, mentally and physically. When you're under periods of stress, your body needs more recovery time, and your brain needs a break. You're going to crave sugary and fatty foods, you're going to feel depressed or anxious, and let's face it, you're not going to be nearly as productive or as effective in anything you do. Your workouts will suffer, your work performance will suffer, and your motivation to do much outside of work will suffer. This makes it harder to do the next step.
3. 
   Stay organized. Make lists, and prioritize. Recognize there ARE only so many hours in the day. Take the pressure off to be a super hero, take a stand for your "only human" self, and give yourself a break. If you have a tendency to run a to-do list in your head all the time, do yourself a favour and just write it down. Use electronics to your advantage; for example, you can use the "tasks" function in Outlook to remind you of important tasks - when something comes up that you need/want to follow up on, schedule a task for that date/time and let it pop up to remind you. Or use a dayplanner and do the same thing. And, please make sure you put at least ONE thing on that list EVERY DAY and EVERY WEEK that is fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating for YOU.
4. 
   Eat a well balanced, nutrient-dense diet that is nourishing to body and soul. Much like getting enough rest, your body, mind and spirit cannot go on well without getting adequate nutrition to support the demands you're making to keep going at that pace. Eat more fruits, veggies, whole grains, and beans and legumes. Eat a little less animal protein. Eat grounding foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips and beans. Soups and stews are easy to digest and comfort the body and soul.
5. 
   Take B-vitamins and Vitamin C. These vitamins are depleted under periods of high stress. B-vitamins in particular help your body cope with stress, and boost your energy and support digestion and metabolism of carbs, fat, and protein. Vitamin C helps as well, and supports the immune system which can become compromised by excess stress.
6. 
   Take adrenal support supplements and/or 5-HTP. The adrenal glands are the body's stress-glands. They product stress hormones that help your body release extra energy to keep you going. But they can become overworked and fatigued when stress goes on too long. A nutritious diet, b-vitamins, and adequate rest are important. Avoid caffeine, it adds more stimulation to the adrenals. Try "adaptogenic" herbs (adrenal supporting, helping your body adapt to stress) such as Relora, Rhodiola, or even adrenal glandular formulations. 5-HTP is a hormone that supports serotonin production, so if you are feeling depressed, this can help. However, consult a doctor before taking it if you are already taking SSRI medications for depression.
7. 
   Less screen time, more face time. The relationships in our lives are what make life worth living, aren't they? So while life seems to have sped up with more and more demands on our time, remember, you will never on your death-bed wish you'd spent more time at the office, or catching up on your tv shows, or playing internet games or surfing the net. Time spent connecting with friends and loved ones and colleagues alike is ALWAYS time well spent, and help us get present and reconnected to ourselves. Make sure you take some time EVERY DAY to connect with at least one important person in your life, even if just for 10 minutes (the more the better).

As the holidays approach, use these strategies and CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE how you want to spend your time, and how you want to remember them. Be present, take the pressure off, and prioritize yourself, your health, your relationships, and your enjoyment of the time that you have. I know it feels like it's not possible and not in your hands to choose how your time is spent. If that's the case, then perhaps the first priority for you is in fact to prioritize YOURSELF. No one else - and certainly no job - will do this for you. You have to own it, and make it happen. The reward is priceless.

Diet is "DIE" with a "T"

That is a direct quote from my Garfield the cat placemat from when I was in Grade 4. And wow, here is proof that you really can find just about anything on the internet:


Of course in the past 20 years, we've really started to "get" this concept. Garfield was ahead of his time. Let me quote, well, everyone: "Dieting does not work." Plain and simple. Anything you're going to do to an extreme, and/or for a temporary period of time, and/or which removes major food groups from your daily food intake is a diet. Ergo, it won't work. Oh, well sure, of course it will get you results. At least for a while. So I guess in that sense it does work. You DO lose weight when you completely cut all grains out of your diet. You DO lose weight when you only take in 1000 calories a day. You certainly DO lose weight when you wear a chain of garlic around your neck to ward off the evil spirits that call your name when cake is near. But does that mean your diet works? I guess if you just want to lose weight for a specific event like a wedding or New Year's Eve or something, and you don't really care if you gain it back later, then yes, it works.

Personally, I hate regaining weight. There is nothing that kills my mood and outlook on things more than realizing after working so hard to lose weight and change my diet, I've slipped back into old habits and regained some of that hard-won prize. And I've done it enough times to know it is just so much easier to keep doing what it takes to manage my weight than to have to corral my spirits to do it again... and again... and again. So, it stands to reason that if I'm going to just keep doing what it takes to lose weight, it better be something I can actually live with.

How about you? How many times have you lost and found the same 10, 20... 50+ pounds? It's taken me a lifetime to accept the fact that any quick-loss plan (ie: more than 2 pounds per week) is not going to get me the long term results I want. The lure of those diets is strong. Who wouldn't be compelled to go on a diet that promises fast results, especially when your pants are creating a muffin top that really qualifies as an actual cake, and double-especially when it "worked" last time.

One myth I'd like to debunk right now about the "results" those programs create is that you're actually losing fat when you lose "7 lbs in 7 days." Sure, a couple of those pounds are fat. But most of it is actually "water-weight." Usually these kinds of results occur when you cut "carbs" (starches and sugars) out of your diet. This depletes your glycogen stores ("reserve" glucose stored in muscles and the liver used for energy to fuel your daily activities), and since glycogen draws water into cells, you lose a lot of water on these plans. So while it looks great on the scale, and ya, you're a little less puffy, it's not fat. And I don't know about you, but I want to lose fat. Why am I going to deprive myself of all those yummy and healthy and appetite-satisfying whole grains and fruit (and yes, the occasional cookie), which makes me feel jealous of my carb-eating friends, makes me irritable and easily fatigued... all just to lose a few extra pounds of water? Pffft.

So what's the answer? Oh, I bet you know the answer. It's nothing groundbreaking. I know I'll sound like a genius when I say it, but really, it's pretty common sense. In fact, I'll quote, well, everyone: The key to long-term weight RELEASE (not "loss" because usually we want to find what we lose) and maintenance is - drum roll please - Balance & Moderation. That means balanced intake of all major nutrients (fat, carbs, protein), and moderate amounts of "treats." I like the 80/20 rule (or 90/10 if you only have a small amount of weight to release): 80% of choices should be healthy, and 20% can be less than ideal. This promotes health, vitality, a natural return to a healthy body weight, and keeps you sane! It's something you can maintain for life, which means you don't have to fear gaining it back again. You will no longer be "die-ing" with a "t" but LIVING with vitali-T (ba dum bum).



But whyyyyyyy don't diets work? Why do we regain weight? [insert foot stomp and pouty face here]
The reasons are plenty, but they all boil down to "because I couldn't sustain my die-t forever."

Cravings and Blood Sugar
OK so, this is basically the crux of the problem, right? We could and would gladly live on the 80/20 plan, if only we didn't have cravings that drove us to stuff our face in a pint of Haagen Dazs. "Moderation" is a great concept. In practice, it can become a little outta hand before we know it. So how do we conquer the cravings so we can keeping "living with vitalit-T?" One of the key things we need to manage is our blood sugar. You're probably thinking "well, I don't have diabetes or hypoglycemia, so I'm good here." Bzzzzt, wrong! (that was a buzzer, like on a game show). Everyone has fluctuations in their blood sugar throughout the day. It's part of the system that triggers the hormones that kick hunger and eating into gear. Ravenous cravings over which you have little control are often the result of wild spikes in blood sugar caused by eating high glycemic foods (high in simple sugars), such as well, sugar, refined carbs like white bread, white pasta, white rice, and to a lesser extent certain fruits like pineapple, bananas, and watermelon. Eating cookies for a snack gives you a surge of sugar into your bloodstream very quickly... and within a couple of hours, you get a sort of rebound effect that results in a crash in blood sugar and your energy and willpower along with it. This is a sure way to set yourself up to crave for more cookies.

Diets = stress
We are our ancestors' children, and since the fittest (most suited for their conditions) survive, we inherited the fantastic ability to store fat very easily. Afterall, they had to survive famines, and freezing temperatures at least part of the year, so the ability to store body fat was essential. When we diet, it's really a self-imposed famine... even if you're not following a VLC diet (very low calorie - less than 1200 calories/day for women, 1600 for men), you are operating within a "diet mentality" which is one of deprivation and starvation.

Add to "diet stress" the regular ol' daily grind type of stress - too much to do with not enough hours in the day, not enough time or money or energy to do the things we really want to do, not enough love in our relationships.... getting the idea? Chronic stress tends to come from LACK, or at least our PERCEPTION of lack. Dieting fits that mold perfectly too.

And like an alcoholic who is driven to drink, stress will drive you to eat. And to eat foods that make you gain weight the fastest. It's hard wired in our biochemistry, an inheritance from all those who came before us who needed to survive harsh uncertain conditions. Unfortunately it doesn't do us much good today, when food is literally everywhere. And it's not just twigs and berries we have out our fingertips. We can get the really good stuff that helps us gain weight fast - sugar and fat, fat and sugar.

Conditioning of our brain, biochemistry and behaviour
Every time we've made a choice of something to eat, we have the impact of that food on our bio and neurochemistry. Hormones and neurotransmitters are released in response to certain foods that trigger the reward centres of our brains, and drive us to seek out those foods. In a short matter of a few repetitions of eating those foods and getting your "fix" even the conditions around the food (location, people, activity, time of day, emotions, etc) will begin to act as triggers that compel you to satisfy the demands of the brain and body for the reward (literally opiates). Add stress on top of this and you see further why you're reaching for the Doritos and Mars bars.

So, what now?

Again, I think you know the answer. Balance, moderation, variety, 80/20. FEED yourself - fuel your body, nourish your mind, nurture your soul. Take a look at my article posted in July about the Ten Keys to Manage your Weight Naturally.

For anyone who is ready to make the change to get off the diet rollercoaster, and really feed themselves, but is overwhelmed at where to begin, or isn't sure she can really really do this for the long haul, please take a look at Spring's Inspire Yourself workshop. We've got proven strategies to help get your body working with your mind, and empower your mind to start running the show. If you'd like ongoing support in a group environment, we also have an 8 week Weight Release workshop that is coming up in the fall, where in addition to learning "motivational" strategies, you will also get more information and tools on food and nutrition for weight release. And of course, if you prefer one-on-one support, contact us for a complimentary consultation to talk about your needs and goals (use the sign-up form on this blog-site or at www.springrenual.ca).