Stressed Out?

Here's some daily stress management techniques to help you reduce your stress. Chronic stress from office work and daily worries can lead to chronic elevated cortisol levels.  This leads to weight gain especially around the abdomen.  So, reducing your daily stresses and help you reduce your waistline.  Here's some tips on how:

1. ​Change your email program so it checks for new messages only once per hour.
   
2. Whenever possible, leave the cell phone behind.
   
3. Read trash. Get a book or magazine that has no redeeming social value and enjoy it.
   
4. Take daily mini-vacations: Get up every hour or two for a quick stretch and walk around the office.  Take lunch away from your work area.  Take the time to enjoy a healthy meal and relax your mind.
   
5. Take a full day off each week. Take this day to rest, reflect and recharge.  You'll be amazed how much more physically and mentally refreshed you will feel.  Make Sunday a true day of rest.  Do all your household cleaning and chores on Saturday and leave Sunday just for you and your family.  Work in the garden, read a book, enjoy the island.
   
6. Get a massage.  
7. Take a luxurious bath.
   
8. Imagine creative solutions - Use guided - imagery exercises to help you decompress. (You can find these online like YouTube.
   
9. Take a long weekend.  In one study, a three-day, two-night weekend led to a decrease in cortisol levels and overall stress markers as well as a boost in immune system function.
   
10. Take a yoga class.
    
11. Pray.
    
12. Get a pet.
    
13. Crank up the tunes and dance!
    
14. Get some sleep.  Getting enough sleep is far and away the most effective stress-management technique.
    

Reference: Shawn Talbott, The Cortisol Connection, ​Hunter House Inc. Alameda CA, 2007.