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8 Top Tips For Stress Relief + A Great Infographic

Stressful situations are all around you; a deadline at work, an argument with a loved one, or a surprise bill in the mail all easier to handle if you have some tips for stress relief. These are considered temporary stresses and will come and go during your lifetime.

To cope with any kind of stress, your best bet is to start off in “a better place”. By that I mean you should do things in your life to help you feel confident and good about yourself. That way you’re better able to cope with any stressful situations that come along, and you may even begin to calmly handle situations that previously stressed you out. Here are some tips for stress relief:

Top Tips For Stress Relief

Is your stress real or is it mostly created in your mind? Step away from the situation for a moment and ask yourself if you’re taking it too far and making a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes it’s helpful to ask yourself, “What would Gandhi (or someone you admire who is laid back) do?” Calm yourself down and talk yourself through it as if you were having a conversation with that person you admire.

Sometimes you have to do something that you simply don’t want to do and this can make you feel stressed. If you must do this thing, don’t procrastinate because this causes the stress to build. Break the task down into smaller, manageable bites and start it. Sometimes just the act of starting can bring stress relief. When possible, get someone to help you or even pay someone to do it for you.
ways-to-reduce-stress-full

It’s also worth mentioning that poor time management can cause stress. Plan your tasks ahead of time so that you complete them without feeling rushed or forced. You may want to look into actively learning some time management skills.

When stressed, it can be helpful to talk to a friend who is centered, calm, and helpful. Chose someone who can help you put it all in perspective, not someone you can drag down with you. If you don’t know anyone like that, it’s okay to pay someone, i.e. a professional, to help you sort it out.

Can you change what stresses you? If you can, then take action to change it even if you’re afraid to. Taking action is a huge stress reliever. If you can’t change the stressful situation, then realize no amount of worrying about it will help.

Taking care of yourself is very important in preventing and dealing with stress. Learn how to do relaxation breathing, meditation, or yoga. Drink lots of water, get enough sleep, and eat healthy whole foods. Do what you can in these areas, but don’t stress about it if you’re not perfect.

Another big stress reliever is to volunteer and help others. This takes the focus off you and on other people with problems much bigger than yours. You feel good about helping, plus it puts your own worries into proper perspective.

Relief from stress can come from talking to someone who can help, taking care of yourself, taking action instead of dwelling on the problem, and helping others. By following these tips For stress relief you can learn to deal with the stressful situations that come your way.

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Study Shows Sweetened Drinks Increase Diabetes Risk

In a new study done in Sweden and released last month there was a definite risk increase found for certain people to get a type of diabetes.

Out of all of the forms of diabetes we know usually of two. These are both caused by pancreas not converting sugar into insulin in one way or another.

Type 1 Diabetes is the one that we can be born with, while Type 2 Diabetes is the one that we get when we don’t exercise and eat badly.

Please don’t shoot me for that comment, I know it is not entirely accurate but that is really the way we in society tend to define them.

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults Study

sugar and diabetesThere is another kind of diabetes called Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, also called LADA.

LADA is a form of slow progressing autoimmune diabetes that occurs in adults, similar to type 1 diabetes, where the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin and some experts consider it a hybrid of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The Swedish study found that people that had two or more servings a day of sugary drinks had a much higher incidence of this LADA form of diabetes. This study did not tell the difference between types of sugar so orange juice and a glass of Coke would be the same in this study.

I have seen many studies that seem to show that diabetes is on the rise in the US and around the world and the incidence of Type 2 diabetes is skyrocketing thanks to the obesity epidemic in many of the countries in the western world.

The documentary Fed Up goes into a lot of detail about the link between sugar and disease and about how our bodies just do not know how to digest and get rid of all the sugar that we tend to eat.

The other problem is that there is a large lobby in the food industry that is very vocal in saying that sugar is not a problem at all. They will never accept that sugar is a problem.

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Alcohol And Exercise

Alcohol and Exercise are linked, but not in a good way. On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably think about going out and having a few drinks with friends to relax and wind down. Even though you may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks, there are some things that you should certainly keep in mind.

Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day for exercise, and since you are exercising on a regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won’t really hurt anything, right? Before you decide to rush out to the local bar, there are a few things below that you should think about before you make your choice about going out to drink some alcohol.

Alcohol And Exercise

Alcohol and Exercise
Alcohol and Exercise

Research has proven that even small amounts of alcohol will increase muscular endurance and the output of strength, although these types of benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, the problems will begin to surface.

All of the negative side effects associated with alcohol will easily outweigh any possible benefits that it can have. No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison that can really harm your body if you aren’t careful.

The negative side of alcohol can reduce your strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your muscle growth as well. Alcohol will also have an effect on your nervous system and brain.

If you use it long term, you can cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced which will result in a loss of strength.

Alcohol and Blood Cell Damage

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and probably will damage them. With alcohol users, inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common thing. Over periods of time, some of these cells that have been damaged can die which will result in less functional muscle contractions.

I found one study that showed that alcohol consumption even with a regular exercise regiment would reduce testosterone secretion

Drinking alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of your muscles after you exercise, which means that it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also have many different effects on your heart and circulatory system as well. When you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to see a reduction in your endurance capabilities.

Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels to dilate. The loss in heat can cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore become slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol cause a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Due to alcohol interfering with the absorption of several key nutrients, you can also become anemic and deficient with B type vitamins.

alcohol-metabolism

Alcohols Effects on Liver and Kidneys

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on your liver can cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well. During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted. This can lead to heightened water retention and no one who exercises will want this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in moderation and never drink before you exercise, as this will impair your balance, coordination, and also your judgement. Think about your health and how you exercise – and you may begin to look at Alcohol and Exercise from a whole new prospective.

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