Stress

Stress… sometimes it is really obvious that we are feeling the effects of stress. We feel tired, we seem to get sick all the time, we don’t sleep well and we feel irritated or overwhelmed. Sometime the effects of stress are less obvious. We put on weight, we cant seem to get as much out of our workout, we cant even think about working out. At times like these we often turn to coffee, chocolate and food in general to stimulate us, pick us up and get us going. Sadly that’s just what we don’t need. We don’t need to pick our selves up for an hour or so only to crash again. We need deep down at the foundations of our energy an overhaul.

Today I was in a beautiful clothes shop where both the sales assistant and a customer were bemoaning their weight gain.   In a very insightful moment the customer said “it’s stress isn’t it. How can you help over eating when you are stressed?”  I was at the time listening to Brendan Brazier on my ipod talking about stress and what it does to your body. Needless to say I took it as a sign so here I am writing a post on it.

Stress is caused by many things, external and internal, from our thoughts to our environment to our diet- it can all cause stress. Exercise causes stress. Food can cause stress.

Quite simply if we eat food that is heavily processed we cause our body stress. If we eat fresh raw minimally processed food we support our bodies and gradually we out weigh the stress with great nutrition.

I could go into a bunch of scientific proof about what your body does when you eat cooked refined foods and adrenal stress but to me it is a no brainer.  Pizza, burgers, chips, bread, pasta… it is all junk. Yes it might taste good, why wouldn’t it but that doesn’t mean anything in terms of being good for you.  I used to coach people with addictions- there is a lot of stuff that feels good that most people will point out are just outright bad for you, body and soul.

So what is good for you? Think long term, deep foundations. Raw food every day even if it is simple salad will nourish you in a way that the Standard American/Australian Diet of heavily processed and cooked food does not.

Could you have a salad with red, green, yellow, and purple vegetables?  Could you have a green smoothie once a day? Could your salad dressing be made by you instead of out of a bottle? Could you enjoy a simple fruit salad?

What if you did just one thing every day? Swapped a few key things or just decided not to eat any more refined wheat or sugar? Do you think that in a month or two you would notice the difference. That after some time your body would have more energy since it isn’t fighting a battle with processed food.

Maybe then you would have the energy to find that exercise that made you feel great. Whats yours? Yoga? Running? Netball? Do you want the fun of a team, the camaraderie of a couple of close friends or the time to yourself to think?

Is it a little everyday or a couple of times a week?

Would you feel better? Would you look younger? Don’t underestimate how badly stress ages you prematurely. There is nothing like good living to put a glow in your skin that you just can’t get over the counter.

So what do you say? Are you worth it?

Ready to stop stressing your body out and do something positive, one step at a time?