I Need a Nap-How Stress Can Zap the Life Out of You!

 My last few days have been incredibly stressful….ya know those days where you get up in the morning and immediately need a nap?? I’m sure there ARE people who haven’t had that wonderful experience :)  but I suspect we've all had events in our lives that sucked the life right out of us. I've had one of those weekends (well, maybe weeks? or years???) where I was exhausted by life…too tired to even think about exercising or eating right. Honestly, the only physical activity I’ve done for the last 3 days is wring my hands, shed a few tears, and shake my head.

Once again I found myself saying “this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do”! Hmmm….maybe I should stop saying that :)  Without boring you with all the distressing details (you’ll have to buy the book-haha!) OR letting your imagination go crazy trying to figure out what the issue might be; let me just say that I'm referring to ongoing challenges <insert scream> with our 29 year old son. Many of you know of our trials over the past years...look up perseverance and there we are!

per·se·ver·ance [pur-suh-veer-uhns] –noun  
1. The Smiths   2. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

 The reason I bring all this up is that, well, partly cuz that’s what’s in my head right now, :/ but mostly, once again, I am reminded of the physical effects of stress on the body.  Stress can result in headaches, heart palpitations, insomnia, heart disease, high blood pressure, immunity issues, gastro problems…and….guess what? -you got it-stress can grow your belly fat! Stress produces Cortisol and excess cortisol can cause abdominal fat. Yipee.

Knowing all the health risks, and knowing that there is no way to avoid stress (wouldn’t THAT be nice?), here’s how I tried this weekend I skipped a couple planned workouts, cut myself some slack about it, and when I found the energy, I went for a long walk. I will not let stress define me, consume me-or kill me! And tomorrow I go back to my regular workouts!  Here are some of my other ideas (mostly healthy) that I’ve used one at a time or all together-haha!:

• Take a walk
• Take a nap
• Laugh
• Let people care about you
• Practice stress relieving breathing techniques
• Memorize an encouraging quote and repeat as often as necessary
• Have a glass of wine
• Paint a room (yes, there was a time that every week rooms were painted or repainted)
• Watch a silly movie
•  Listen to music

 Wow! Quite an extensive list I have…..I guess that’s what ongoing stress can do….

What’s your favorite stress relieving trick?