Hey all. I hope things are going well with you you. Me, I’ve been stressed. There is just a lot of things going on and it’s just a lot to take in. I have been uber stressed and running is the one way I know I can help ease the stress but I haven’t been able to do that.
I’m dealing with some ITBS (Illitobial Band Syndrome) and I don’t know what’s up. I’m still working on it. I was able to run a 3 treadmill miles on Monday but it wasn’t easy. I wore my trust IT band strap which seemed to make things better.
Now I have to find other ways to deal with my stress. I haven’t been doing a really good job with this. There might have been some bread and some other questionable food choices happening here. I should probably take myself to the gym just do something else, but I’m being cautious with my injury I guess. It’s bad enough stress causes weight gain so I really need to rid this from my life.
So here are some healthy ways that I’m dealing with my stress:
- I’m taking some time for myself. This is total ME time that I’m only concentrating on how I need to take care of myself and no one else. It’s really the time that I check out and just kind of relax.
- I listen to music. My Spotify has been on overload lately. I may be listening to too much Justin Beiber (don’t tell anyone). It’s just a nice way to kind of center my thoughts and I usually listen to music while running but we already know that story.
- I make lists. I’m the master of lists. When trying to make a big decision, I always rely on the big pro/con list to help. When I’m stressed, I write out all the things that are stressing me out on the left side of paper and possible solutions on the right side. What I’ve learned though most stressful decisions come from place of not wanting to make a decision at all.
- I talk it out. I hate to associate this with being overweight but I do but I use to hold things in. I wouldn’t talk things out. I would keep it bottled up. When things started changing in the healthier way, I decided that was not a healthy way. It’s a tranformation of mind, body and soul. That is something we need not to forget. Sometimes just talking about the situation can make things better and can clear your head to move forward appropriately.
The emotional eating that was the way I use to handle my stress. I’ve mentioned it several times that I have come a long way from this behavior but it’s always there. From time to time, I do slip but I know I am so much better than I was before. Will I ever rid myself of that behavior? Probably not. It was my coping mechanism for so long; this is really just an issue that I have to work very hard to avoid. It’s all about putting those thoughts into something else.
How do you deal with stress? Do you have any bad stress relieving habits you need to break?
