Stress This!

Stress is a weird word in my opinion.  People work better under stress, unless they are stressed, then they have poor performance.  Bones need to be stressed to stay strong, but you can get a stress fracture.  So my question to myself today is, how do we draw the line on stress?

Stress heightens, strengthens and invigorates.  It induces hormones of fight or flight and oddly enough can induce feelings of strength, confidence, fear and even love.  Then you reach the too much point, the over 5 on the meter of comfort, you push too hard, do too much, or have one too many problems.  This week is a stressful week for me, let's just say I have a lot going on, and didn't start with the greatest mental status.

Here's my advice, but PLEASE, add comments with your own thoughts.  I love to hear and learn how others deal with their stress.

First, get sleep.  Nothing takes away performance, alters mental status, or inhibits body changes like a lack of sleep.  If you have a killer week or month or life, get your rest.
Second, drink water.  I won't beat this one down.  :)
Third, add feverfew, ginseng, st. john's wort, Omega 3, or B vitamins.  These can all aid your ability to get through it.














Forth, eat small snacks to keep your body regulated.  Low fat dairy, fruit (bananas, berries and melons are great), and veggies are an excellent way to stabilize and in some cases add serotonin (the happy hormone) to help you keep going.
Fifth, keep short term goals and rewards.  This offers breaks in the stress.  If I get this done I can play online for 10 minutes, or if I get through this week I will go for a bike ride with my family.  If you set rewards in your mind that are also good for you it helps to build the positive feelings about those activities.

Chin up, we'll make it.  Or we won't and then it's someone else's problem!  Either way.  :)  See you soon!