Stress Relievers

What are your stress relievers?  Do you relieve stress with healthy or unhealthy things?  When you are stressed, do you go for a walk or grab a bowl of potato chips? Do you perform breathing exercises or go have a cigarette?  Do you turn on some calming music or consume a 6 pack of beer/soda?  Do you find your favorite chair and read two chapters of a book or waste two hours in front of the television? The problem many of us face is that we resort to unhealthy options to relieve stress that usually cause even more stress on our bodies in the short and long run.  If that isn't a vicious downward cycle, I don't know what is.

For instance, if we look to food whenever we are stressed, we typically gravitate towards unhealthy snacks or meals that only give us short term pleasure benefits and we consume this food even if we aren't hungry.  Shoveling in that food racks up unnecessary calories and does absolutely nothing for you because most comfort food is high in sugar and fat and low in nutrition.   Food should not be there to comfort you every time you are stressed.  If you handle stress by eating food, obesity will follow. 

Reflect on how you currently handle stress and determine what healthy and proactive alternatives to manage stress you can utilize.  Everyone handles stress differently, but there are many things you can do to better manage all that life has to throw at you.