Health and Stress

Answer 1

Stress happens. It is going to happen to you whether you like it or not and you really cannot stop it from coming and that fact itself can be very stressful. The thing is even though stressors may come at you rapid fire without warning there is one thing you can do. You can control your response to those stresses.

You may be wondering: what exactly this has to do with your weight loss efforts? Well the way that you choose to respond to stress can have a big impact on your weight and your waistline. Lets take a look at some of the ways that your responses to stress can be a roadblock to your healthy living.

Stress Eating

Some of us eat when we are stressed, or upset, or just plain bored. If you are one of the people who happens to use a little bit of sweet (or salty, or buttery) to help you sooth over your troubled nerves then you will need to keep an eye out for the extra pounds that stress eating can pack on. How do you know if you are a stress eater? Well, do you find yourself in any of the following situations?

• Heading to the break room for a doughnut and a cup of coffee after a hard meeting.

Running out for a snack after you drop your cranky kids off at the babysitter because you need to decompress after hearing hours of screaming.

Constantly having your hands in the candy bowl on the counter when you are waiting for an important call.

If you answered yes to one or more of these situations (or you have found yourself in a similar situation in the last year) you are going to have to face the fact that you are a stress eater. What you need to do to keep yourself from falling back on bad habits you just have to be more aware of your eating habits and find other ways to sooth your frazzled nerves when you hit the breaking point. One great choice, believe it or not is exercise.

The Lazy Factor

When we reach our breaking point a lot of us just want to bury under a pile of blankets. We do only what we have to, and then we just collapse in a heap, having reached your exhaustion limit. Sometimes that is the only thing that you can do, but other times (and especially on a chronic basis) that kind of behaviors will sabotage you and your weight loss goals. Lets be honest because when you get on the scale and figure out that not only have you not lost a pound (and perhaps you have gained a few of them along the way) because of your new behavior patterns.

Now, you can keep an eye on your habits and you can keep that stress from breaking you down and taking you off of your game. Now you can manage your stress and your life all at the same time.