Stress Less

http://tfosuccess.com/stress-management/

Ok, so this post is going to be a little different than normal. I want to talk about STRESS. Stress is one topic that I don't feel is talked about a whole lot in the fitness industry. Stress effects everything that you do.


So how does stress effect the body? How does it effect your fitness journey? The first thing to note is that stress activates the stress response in the body. The stress response basically tells your body that it is in danger and to protect itself (think fight or flight). In the caveman days the stress response would save caveman from lions and starvation. The stress response releases adrenaline and then cortisol (hormones). The adrenaline helps the caveman get to safety and the cortisol is released later to helps the caveman preserve as much body mass as possible. Cortisol also stores any food taken in as fat tissues, this is helpful later as fast energy. The body will "munch" on muscle because it is nutrient dense tissue and save fat for the very last. This process was very helpful to the caveman, you should thank this process because it's probably why you are here reading this post today! But the stress response is constantly activated in our world today, everything from the alarm clock to your busy day at work activates this system. So its imperative that you work on decreasing stress in order to help your body function at its peak.

So this is all well and good, but what does it have to do with your fitness journey? Well stress can derail your journey in more than one way. How you deal with stress is important, are you an emotional eater? Do you skip the gym because you have to much to do? Do you skip meals or just forget to eat at times? Stress can also derail results, you can be putting in work at the gym and at home, but stress will keep fat tissue and hamper muscle growth. All in all, stress can reek havoc on your journey, that is why it is so important to know what it looks like and how to resolve it.

So what does stress look like?!? Well its different for every person, and somethings that stress me out might not stress you out. Here is a list of possible signs and symptoms from helpguide.org.

Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms
Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Helpguide.org is a super helpful website that has so much information on stress and ways of coping. I suggest everyone go check it out!

Ok, so the last questions is how do I alleviate stress to help me in my fitness journey? Good questions :-) . This can be done is a number of ways. Meditation and self reflection melt my lil social worker soul...so those are good ones for sure. I also like to use exercise (duh!) to help decrease stress. I do this by switching workouts as well as diet style. I also do things that I like in the gym, I'm not a huge fan of cardio so I don't spend hours on a machine. I try to work in cardio with my weight training sessions. I also try not to worry so much about weight that I'm lifting, all I really focus on is getting a good workout in. It's about quality not quantity.

http://lerablog.org/health/useful-stress-management-tips-to-get-a-grip-of-your-life-in-times-of-financial-crisis/

Another way of decreasing stress is by focusing on what you can control. We get all wound up in things that we have no control over. This also goes for things that have happened in the past. I can't change what happened yesterday, so why stress over it? I use it as a learning tool and move on.

The last way that I will suggest (google stress management there are a million ways!) is to get adequate sleep. Sleep helps not only repair you physically but mentally. You need to get a decent amount (somewhere between 6-10 hours) EVERY DAY!!! Decreased sleep has been shown in studies to directly correlate to increase in fat intake (junk food) and decrease in motivation and physical activity. Sleep will help your overall feeling of well-being as well, win-win my friends!!

http://www.kryptonitereport.com/episode-27-beating-stress-before-it-beats-you-and/

Have a wonderful (stress free) day guys!! :-)