I’ve written a lot about stress lately, but I think it’s always something that needs to be talked about, especially this time of year. Between all the holiday parties, shopping, gluttonous consumption of food, and family get togethers, it gets kind of tiresome.
Plus there are always extra things that pop up that stress you out.
I’ll give you an example from my life that popped up. I just remembered last Friday night that my driver’s license expired on my birthday…which was two weeks ago. I immediately began to freak out about having to take the driver’s exams. Not that I couldn’t pass them, it’s just the thought of having to take them and the slight chance that I might fail. How sad would that be that at 29 years old I would fail the driver’s test? Especially when you think about all the people who have driver’s licenses who you wonder how they passed the test in the first place.
Well, to make a long story short, my stress was unwarranted because I didn’t have to take the exams. To be totally honest the people at the DMV probably didn’t want me taking the exam anymore than I wanted to take it. I could never work at the DMV.
So what’s stressing you out lately? Is it just everything that goes along with Christmas or is there something extra? Did you have something that popped up that took a little more of your free time away? Do you have work related things that need to be done before the end of the year? Is it all of the above?
What’re your plans for relieving that stress? Do you have any plans? You should because stress is a killer…literally. Too much stress can lead to heart issues, ulcers, fat gain, stomach pain, emotional eating or drinking and/or general tiredness. Yes, I said fat gain. Too much stress will make you gain fat.
I have a couple ways that I try to relieve stress. The one that’s my favorite, that I don’t get to do very often (or never), is to do nothing. I’m kind of a lazy person deep down and I like to do absolutely nothing if I’m too stressed. That doesn’t happen very often anymore because I have a 1 year old. Plus I can’t get my brain to quit working and just relax.
So that leaves the second option…working out. If I’m stressed, I will take it out on my workouts. I really try to work extra hard in my workouts in an effort to take all my stress and frustrations out on the exercises.
Take yesterday for example when I was trying to roll out my Fat Loss To Go eBook. It was very stressful and I needed to vent. I had a little 30 minute break in my afternoon so I locked the door to my training studio, turned the music up and had a really good workout. I was totally spent when I was done and I felt great. My head was clear and I was able to get on with the rest of my day.
Working out when you’re stressed is one of the healthiest ways to beat your stress. I can think of no better way actually, but I’m kind of biased I suppose.
You should try it sometime. The next time you’re stressed, carve 20 minutes out of your day to devote to exercise and go to it. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a cardio workout or if you want to work with some weights. I would prefer you work with weights, but if cardio is all you can do, that’s fine. You can’t have any interruptions, though. I know that’s a lot to ask, especially this time of year, but you just have to do it.
If you don’t have 20 minutes in your day – carve out 10 minutes. You can still get in a killer workout in 10 minutes. In fact, my Fat Loss To Go program (www.fatlosstogo.com ) comes with a bonus that includes nothing but 10 minute workouts. Some are nothing but bodyweight workouts, while some use weights.
Here’s a quick example of a 10 minute workout I did today when I got home…because I didn’t have time to fit in a full workout. I warmed up for a couple minutes, then did a mini-circuit of the following 3 exercises – 20 decline push-ups, 20 lunges and 20 Chops. I did that circuit as many times as I could for 10 minutes. That’s it…I was done and it kicked my butt.
The point is to just do something productive and healthy when you’re stressed and not to let it stew or lead to emotional eating or drinking. Whether it’s exercise, taking some time out to be lazy, getting a massage or spending some extra time with your kids, it doesn’t matter…just do something that doesn’t involve more stress or bad habits.
In case I don’t sent another newsletter out before Christmas, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Like I said, this can be a very stressful time of year, but don’t let that cloud the reason for the season.
Have a good week!
