Steps to Deal with Stress

Tackle Stress One Step at a Time.

Lifestyle changes that can help with stress.

1.Healthy Living – Diet

The way we feel physically, affects how able we are to cope with stress. Physical wellbeing is closely linked to emotional wellbeing. Quite often when we are stressed we do not eat regularly or we eat snack food which isn’t always good for us.

Tips for a healthy diet include

• Avoid drinks which are high in sugar   or caffeine
• Eat five fruit and vegetables a day
• Drink plenty of water        
• Have regular meals or healthy snacks and do not miss out breakfast

2.Healthy Living – Exercise

It is a fact that exercise improves our mood by working off tension and boredom. By scheduling time for exercise you are making time for yourself and can be a way of:

• Meeting new people
• Broadening your activities Reducing physical tension and thereby improving your sleep

Remember to:

• Choose something you enjoy!
• Build exercise into your weekly routine and reward yourself for managing to exercise
• Try not to allow anything to disrupt your new routine
• Buy a pedometer and become aware of how active you are, aim for 10,000 steps a day

3.Healthy Living – Sleep

Too much or too little sleep affects how we feel when we wake up and how we feel throughout the day. We all have different requirements for sleep as well as different sleep habits so bear in mind what you need and what suits you. If you’re not feeling refreshed when you wake up ask yourself why? A lot of people find it difficult to sleep when stressed, some are disturbed by their dreams and waken suddenly through the night or earlier than normal.

Tips which aid better sleep include:

• Relaxing before going to bed to help you to unwind
• Avoid alcohol or caffeine in the evenings

• Try to switch off your worries by writing them down
• Schedule a time the next day when you will tackle the things that are worrying you, don’t focus on them when you are trying to sleep

4.Healthy Living – Cigarettes and Alcohol

Alcohol is a stimulant which makes falling asleep and reducing stress harder to do. If you do drink alcohol, then bear in mind the recommended weekly limits of 21 units for men and 14 units for women.

Drinking too much can damage your physical and emotional health in the short and long term. As well as affecting your weight, looks and sleep, heavy drinking can lead to a wide range of medical conditions including high blood pressure, liver disease, strokes, cancers and brain damage.

Shayela Anzary