Stress is a natural part of life, but the burden of stress can wear you down and leave you feeling exhausted, on edge and grumpy. I know I’m definitely grumpy and snappy when I get stressed, and I’ll cry for no good reason!! Managing stress is absolutely a vital part of wellbeing.
Stress is also one of the common reasons clients tell me they are emotional eating or they’ve slipped back into old eating patterns. Part of breaking the cycle of emotional eating is learning to deal with your emotions and life circumstances in new, more helpful ways. I know this can be tough and takes practice, but it’s totally possible. I found a great list of ways to deal with stress on the National Heart Foundation website,based on what how others best deal with stress in their lives and thought they were awesome. These are a few of my favourites.
- Practice a positive attitude and positive self-talk; this will remind you that you can handle difficulties; e.g. telling yourself, I am strong, I can deal with this etc.
- Know that you can control how you respond to stressful situations; e.g. either by anger or not, by worrying or taking decisive action etc.
- Connect with others; surround yourself with supportive family, friends, co-workers; join groups, volunteer, socialise; having support and being with others lifts your mood and helps you better deal with stress when it happens
- Get physical; any type of exercise releases feel-good chemicals into the body, helps you sleep better and contributes to your overall physical health, making you better able to cope with difficulties
- Do something that gives you pleasure; get involved with something that you enjoy; reading, gardening, fishing, music, fixing cars, etc. and do a little bit every day
- Relax and get in touch with your spiritual side or inner you; relaxation, meditation, yoga, faith, are all known to contribute to people’s ability to ‘roll with the punches’
- Laugh; if you are able to laugh at life’s little frustrations you can have increased immunity to stress. Laughing costs nothing and releases all sorts of feel-good chemicals into the body.
You can read the complete list of how to deal with every day stress here.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress, make an appointment to see your GP as this can lead to more serious health issues.
That’s exactly the right word – “Practice” a positive attitude and positive self-talk. It’s not something you do once. You’ve got to keep on it. Thanks 🙂
An awesome read! A positive attitude and positive self talk are crucial in being stress free and feeling fulfilled and happy. I get frustrated when people laugh or imply that changing the way you think couldn’t possibly help them out! Perhaps they have only tried once and given up, or never tried at all! I’ve been working on positive self-talk for over a year now and have noticed a major difference in the way I feel about myself! Another good tip is stay away from sugar! I am a moody b**** if Iv’ve eaten too much sugar! It’s amazing how our physical body and mind reacts to certain foods! I love how you’re getting the message out there, there are so many people that are uneducated in nutrition! Well done!!
Thanks Bridget x Yup changing the way you think is SUPER useful. I try to do this a lot and the more you do it, the easier it gets 🙂 Yeah I definitely feel better when I eat well – I have more energy for sure.