How to deal with stress

How to deal with stress
 
 
WHEN EXPERIENCING STRESS, how do you overcome emotional eating or loss of appetite, extreme laziness, sleepless nights or unexplained mood swings?




There will be days when you just don’t feel like doing something or you just want to forget about your health and weight-loss goals.



Stress over work



Strategy: Plan your vacations three to four times a year.



You might be too tired and exhausted from your job or responsibilities as a parent. You don’t even have the time to plan your vacation or get a massage on a weekend because you work 24/7. So there will be times when you just want to shut down your world and quit exercising and dieting.



But don’t give up. It’s time to rest for a while, plan a short vacation with your friends or family. Plan for a three- to five-day vacation every three months. During this period, don’t think about work, responsibilities. Just pamper yourself. The first vacation period is usually during Holy Week, the next one is by end of June, then September and, lastly, during Christmas break. This is a good reward system for all the hardships plus accomplishments that you’ve done for the whole year. It’s not too late to mark your calendar with your planned stress-free vacation treat.



Strategy: Modify your goals and learn how to balance life.



Perfectionists get easily disappointed and stressed whenever they don’t reach their goals, so they end up giving up so as not to feel too much pressure from feeling like a failure. People who develop eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia are those who pressure themselves to always look their best.



If you’ve been exercising everyday and strict with your diet, try to enjoy life, eat what you like in moderation, rest from exercise for a day and avoid thinking about your fitness goals.



One of my clients who just finished two full marathons decided to refrain from setting running goals and focus instead on training to maintain her fitness level and enjoy exercise. She will start setting a more serious goal six months before her next full marathon.



Feeling down



Strategy: Be honest about your feelings—talk to someone or write it down.



You’re already at the peak of your fitness condition or have lost so much weight, but something unfavorable comes your way and you break down. Reasons for feeling down include relationship issues, self-esteem issues, losing something important, or experiencing unexpected events which might affect your plans.



Last week, I lost one of my prized possessions given by an important person. It was unexpected and I felt so disheartened about it. In times like this, I just talk to my best friend who is my husband, and then voice out right away my deepest thoughts and feelings. Since he knows me very well, he will not stop until I feel better by making me realize all my blessings. Because if you try to deny your real feelings or you just keep it to yourself, you may just prolong your agony or, worse, you might end up eating bags of chips. If you can’t tell your concerns to another person, write down how you feel and the action plans you can do to ease the pain.



E-mail the author at mitch felipe@gmail.com
By Mitch Felipe-Mendoza


Philippine Daily Inquirer

DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 05/18/2010