14TH NOVEMBER 2018
4 Ways to Combat Stress
Life for all of us seems more and more stressful all the time, chasing deadlines, paying bills, screaming kids, bad drivers, boyfriends, girlfriends, gender neutral friends, Donald Trump and Brexit!
Sometimes its all too much to cope with, but fear not; there are things you can do to combat stress.
Sleep is number one on the list.
Sleep deprivation is bad for your mental function and general health and feeling tired automatically puts you in a stressed state. Take naps if possible and try and overcome your box set addiction and get to bed an hour earlier at night. Getting enough sleep is one of the best health practices you can start and who doesn’t love a lie in at the weekend!
Get out of town!
Leave the concrete behind and find a nice piece of countryside. Research has shown a significant decrease in the stress levels of people looking at trees, there has even been a study showing that patients who had a view of trees from their hospital bed recovered more quickly from surgery.
Food can be both the cause and a relief from stress
Not getting enough calories, usually when dieting, can be highly stressful. Calorie-deprived individuals become more irritable, anxious and emotional, this leads to the body producing more cortisol which then leads to more stress. Eating properly is key to minimising this effect and eating green leafy foods can produce the opposite. They are packed with essential nutrients that can lead to higher production of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that will make you feeling great.
Working out
Hitting the boxmaster, heading to a BodyCombat class or running on a treadmill: working out will make you feel better. It's probably the last thing you want to do (bring on the duvet!) but I promise it works wonders. It doesn't have to be in a gym either. A brisk walk outside will do wonders for your mental health.
Stress seems like it's going to be a part of 21st century life for the foreseeable future, maybe it's time to consider your strategy to cope with it.
