All About Weight Blog

Stress is created within us. It is not something that others do to us. Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to handle when you keep them in perspective. Next time you begin to reach for food when you are clearly NOT hungry, take a moment to ask yourself the following questions:-

• Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I have more time to figure things out?
• Will ‘force feeding’ myself really help me solve this particular problem??
• Do I really know what is going on here, or am I making assumptions?
• Am I worrying about things that might not even happen?
• Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this situation?
• Am I trying to control something I can’t, like what other people think, say, or do?

Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel overwhelming, and you’ll quickly find that the mountains that seem impossible at first can quickly become manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb.

Before you begin the New Year, try to do some soul searching and personal healing. Focus on stress reduction this year. You will live a much happier life!

Stress has been so ingrained in our days and in our culture, that we probably don’t even recognize it any more. We may believe that the general underlying sense of uneasiness we feel is normal and acceptable. Or we might blame the tension and stress we experience—in traffic, at work or at home—more on what’s happening “to” us than what’s happening “within” us.

The problem with this attitude is that it brings on a sense of helplessness, that there’s nothing we can do about stress other than cope. When you realize that the stress you experience may have something to do with you, it helps you take control and start to solve the problem.

The list below will help you recognise if you are a highly stressed personality and give you something to think about when setting your new year’s resolutions. How many of these qualities do you regularly exhibit?

1. Over-planning each day. Do you feel the need to stick to a strict schedule? Do you live in fear of falling behind or overlooking a task?
2. Doing several things at once. With too much to do and not enough time, it’s easy to think that “efficient” means doing everything at once.
3. Extreme need to win. Do you feel like a failure if you don’t come out on top—even when the only competition is your own expectations?
4. Excessive desire for advancement. Highly stressed people need confirmation from outside sources that they’re doing okay and performing well.
5. Inability to relax without feeling guilty. Do your weekends become opportunities for “accomplishment” and “getting something done?”
6. Impatience with delays. When you’re under pressure, everything in life takes on an urgency to get everything done as fast as possible.
7. Over commitment. Are you chronically late or forgetful of commitments? Does your schedule cause problems in personal or professional relationships?
8. Highly competitive drive. Have you forgotten what it’s like to have fun for fun’s sake? Have you “grown up” so much that playtime actually causes you anxiety?
9. Compulsion to overwork. Is your office more familiar to you than your backyard? Do you find yourself missing out on what you might otherwise deem “meaningful”?

The countdown to Christmas has begun. The shops are full of tempting treats promising us all that Christmas has to offer, reminding us of our childhood, family gatherings, warmth and happiness. As we select the multicoloured wrapped chocolates in the shape of balls, bells, angels and santas, we believe that we will be fulfilling the dreams of our youth. As we place the many markers of what Christmas means to us in our shopping baskets, we can almost smell that pine tree scent that defines the season. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, indeed! However, let’s forget the fantasy sold to you by the stores and look at the reality of your Christmas.

Yes, it is about the children but it is also about you. After Christmas, the number one complaint and source of stress is the sheer expense of it! The second is about the amount of food consumed and the resulting weight gain. Your children will be happy with any amount of sweets and chocolates so why not opt for less this year. Use non food items to decorate your tree. Leave small bowlfuls of sweets instead of large ones and alternate these with a selection of colourful bite-sized fruit and vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, melon balls, tangerine wedges and carrot sticks.  These can also be offered to visitors instead of, or as well as, a very small selection of nuts, biscuits (cookies) and pastry goods.

Cutting down on in-between meal snacking will make you less sad at the end of the day and will have reduced the amount of garbage for you to recycle.  Give yourself and your family the best present of all- a healthy Christmas!