Stress Comes Along with the Territory!

It’s no surprise that we are all under enormous amounts of stress! Often, we put pressure on ourselves to achieve more, and do everything better or faster than we already do. Some of our stress is from outside forces such as an unexpected job loss, illness, death of a loved-one, a spouse deployed to war, while some sources of stress are expected, such as the birth of a new baby or arrival of twins/triplets, but its intensity and duration are unexpected. Honestly, three of the most stressful and exhausting times in my life were the first few months following the births of my twins.

I recently read a valuable article on LiveStrong.com (a blog produced by the Lance Armstrong Foundation) written by Melissa Scholten-Gutierre. LiveStrong.com’s posted articles are consistently RICH in information regarding health, fitness, wellness and finding ways to achieve balance in 0ur lives, and this particular article by Scholten-Gutierre lists:

5 Common Causes of Stress

1. Relationships (dating, planning a wedding, marital problems, divorce, problems between parent and child, everyday demands of family life);

2. Environment (moving, retirement, travel);

3. Death (of a close family member or friend, whether expected or unexpected);

4. Health (being given a frightening or life-threatening diagnosis, difficult pregnancy, new baby(ies), weight-gain);

5. Work (pressures to perform on the job, personality conflicts, fear of losing one’s job or of demotion).

There! We made it into two of the top five, and most impressively into the #1 cause! With all that we take on, are asked to take on, or with what happens in our lives as a result of this fast-paced life in 2011, it’s no wonder we’re all stressed-out!

MayoClinic.com provides one reliable source for understanding stress and finding the ways that work best for you to ease the stress and the symptoms.

I find now with toddlers, and found especially while my babies were all infants, that taking advantage of the times between feedings when they were asleep or at least quiet (and in the care of my husband or of my visiting mother or mother-in-law), I would find a far on the other side of the house and SLEEP. Sleep is so incredibly recuperative and beneficial to our brains, exhausted bodies and nerves, that even an hour to 2-hour nap can work wonders.

EXERCISE, for instance, taking a stroller walk (good fresh air for babies and you), doing some stationary stretching, a yoga video, or whatever gets your blood circulating, your heart rate up a bit, and your breathing deep helps to release the pent-up stress and tension that invariably builds up under the enormous demands of new motherhood. If you’re up to it, and you’re doctor has given you the thumbs up, a good roll in the hay with hubby is a wonderful stress-releaser … for both of you, and you both more than deserve it!

NUTRITION is key for getting back on and staying on top of your game … and when moms have kids to take care of around the clock, we seem to place ourselves last, and often neglect our own nutrition. Make sure you eat well (fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, high fiber, healthy carbohydrates for needed energy), take a daily multi-vitamin, and drink plenty of water. Mental and emotional well-being are directly affected by our physical well-being.

Sometimes, just GETTING OUT for a change of scenery (lunch out with a friend, a walk in the mall, grocery shopping) can cleanse the mind, body and rejunenate the spirit to actually have your looking forward to going home and nuzzling up to your babies for their next feeding … at least until the demands start piling up on you again, in which case, I recommend you repeat the above suggestions all over again!

Blessings!

Oops, Your Stress is Showing!

“I can usually tell if

someone is stressed out or not

just by looking at their belly size.”

– Dr. Mehmet Oz in First for Women

 

Boy, if that’s true, than we’re a stressed-out society! Is it my imagination or does it seem like more and more people, from children to seniors, seem to be harboring excessive amounts of belly fat these days? In an excerpt from a to-the-point article posted on the awareness-building and informative blog, Always sick and Tired (Help me get healthy), popular blog writer and chronic illness sufferer herself Always Sick Chick conveys to her readers after thorough research the following:

“There are obvious ways stress affects us negatively. It can cause irritability, tiredness, loss of energy, loss of appetite or an increased appetite, make us crave unhealthy things such as sugary foods with no nutritional value, etc…  All of these come together and cause weight gain, but it’s the type of weight gain that it causes that makes it different from anything else.

When we are chronically stressed out, our bodies believe we are in peril.  We can thank evolution for this one, as the chronic stress of our ancestors was usually related to famine or extreme danger from a predator.  Such stress meant the body needed to store up fat for fuel to keep from starving or to give extra energy for the fight or flight against the predator.

Today, though, our stress is different.  We are not facing famine.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  Food is plentiful.  So whenever we are stressed, our bodies think we need food, even when we don’t.  And as we eat that double cheeseburger, our body is storing every ounce of fat in it for the famine that it thinks is approaching, or the marathon it thinks we need to run to escape that saber tooth that no longer exists.  The body does this with the help of a naturally occurring steroid produced by the body called cortisol.

You’ve no doubt seen those commercials about cortisol and how it causes stubborn belly fat. They’re selling you pills that don’t work, but their information about what causes belly fat is true according to Dr. Oz.  The cortisol makes you hungry, even when you don’t need food, because you’re stressed out.”

 

I found that the older I became, the harder it was for me to lose my pregnancy and post-pregnancy  weight, and I have had experience myself with stress-induced weight-gain and the inability to lose weight due to stress. It’s so frustrating, and the more stressed I am about the weight, the harder it is to take off … a truly vicious cycle.

Doctors and fitness experts agree that plain and simply: take in less than you burn, and you’ll lose weight; take in more than you burn and you’ll gain. Exercise while eating correctly will increase your metabolism and burn fat and calories while it also builds stronger muscle mass and allow you to have a more efficient metabolism. With more muscle mass, you’ll lose weight more quickly than if you only ate less or made better food choices because muscle burns calories, even while resting.

There’s some food for thought for you!

Blessings!