The Stress Monster

Stress is a giant monster rearing its ugly head and forcing you to deal with things that might just be out of your control. You cannot control the existence of stress in your life, but you can control how you deal with this existence. You know the drill. Everything in your life seems to be crumbling all at the same time. Some people exercise to kill the monster. Some people cry and talk to loved ones. Others try to eat the monster away.

Actually at first stress can totally shut down an appetite. The hypothalamus releases hormones suppressing the appetite. As the monster makes a home in your mind over a period of time the adrenal glands release cortisol which elevates the thoughts of eating. The best thing about stress if that you can easily take control of this persuasion to eat a gallon of ice cream! The first thing to do is the easiest.

Banning unhealthy food from your home and surroundings is a must. It might seem hard with family roaming through the house wanting a midnight snack, but making the simple first step will actually help the entire family’s health. You can also keep healthy snacks on hand so you are not reaching for the chocolate in a stress frenzy, but reaching for some pretzels or air-popped popcorn.

Now that you’ve gotten all of the unhealthy food out of sight and mind you need to attack your lifestyle. Alcohol and caffeine at times make the stress levels bubble over creating even more tears and leading to that monster of eating once again. Some people claim they just don’t have any time in the day for exercise. Hey, thirty minutes of exercise a few days a week will conquer the stress monster just as quickly as workouts that last for hours. Your lifestyle is about how you live and how you treat your body. It may seem crazy, but talking to your body can alleviate your stress. Listen to that inner dialogue that just might not be positive at times, and then give it some positive thoughts. You believe what you feel. One thing that might help this is meditation. Sit in a quiet place and just relax. Breathe and let your mind wander away from the world for a few minutes. Studies have shown this will reduce stress and lead you to deal with it in more positive ways.

For some people the stress monster is always lurking in the shadows. The cortisol will still be released in the body during levels of high stress, but it can be maintained by keeping calm and focusing on the positive ways to alleviate stress. Eating that box of cookies will not help kill the monster, but will only make it rear its ugly head again after you find yourself with your head in your hands in guilt.