Reduce Stress with Exercise, Not Booze

 Your stress meter's moving at whirligig speed. Maybe you're anxious about giving a huge presentation tomorrow, or your best office bud just got laid off and everybody's wondering who's next. Should you exercise or head home thinking, "Boy, I need a drink"?
Will that mixed drink, bottle of wine, or beer really take the edge off your stress, or will it make matters worse? Maybe both.
We've seen evidence that alcohol and high anxiety feed off each other. Yes, having a drink when you're a bundle of nerves can lower your levels of the stress hormone cortisol, but in some people (you?), drinking when super tense underscores the dark side of whatever stressed them out and leaves them in a state of depression. In other people, intense stress overwhelms alcohol's relaxing effects, so they react by having another drink . . . and another.
Our bottom line is this: If you're just kicking back with friends or family, a drink (one for women, up to two for men) can be a healthy pleasure. It eases your risk of heart attack and stroke and makes that almond-crusted trout even tastier.
But (and it's a big but) if you're stressed to the max and know from experience that alcohol bites back when you're tense, walk instead. A 30-minute outing cuts stress and anxiety by 30%. Plus, you'll burn calories rather than drink them. That'll improve your mood when you step on a scale.

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12-Step Stress Management Plan Learn How to Keep Chronic Stress from Aging Your Body

Keep Worries at Bay

Did you know that stress is one of the biggest agers of your body? Most of us have it. The issue is how we respond to it. If you let nagging, unfinished tasks hang over you, or you constantly feel your life is spinning out of control, it can wreak havoc on your body. That's why it's important to learn how to manage the stressful elements in your life -- the tough boss, the rebellious teenager -- and how to tone down your body's physical response (e.g., rapid heartbeat, anxious racing thoughts) to them. Here’s a plan to avoid letting your worries burden -- or bury -- you.

 

 

 

Identify the Source of Your Stress

You can't tackle stress unless you know where it's really coming from. Daily annoyances are easy targets, but are they really what's bothering you? Lashing out at your kids bickering or the car that won't let you merge, for example, may be a reaction not to those things but to something else, such as an extra assignment piled on at work. The first step to managing stress is pinpointing the true culprit.

On the verge of a meltdown? Keep emotions in check with these five strategies.

 Ever feel like you're on an emotional roller coaster? Life can bring on a variety of emotions, both positive and negative, that range in intensity from mild to severe. If you don't have a handle on them, they have a way of getting a handle on you. Try these 5 strategies to keep your emotions in check.

1. Let it out
   Emotions like to linger. Sometimes you have to kick them out. Bottled-up feelings of sadness or anger can sap your energy and interfere with your relationships and other areas of your personal and professional life. So let people know when something's bothering you. If you're having trouble verbalizing, try purging yourself of intense emotions by pouring them out in a journal. If sadness lingers, see your doctor..
2. Count to ten
   Emotions are powerful. And they can surface at any time: at work, at the grocery store, out with friends, at the dinner table. When you find yourself in emotionally charged situations, step away and count to 10 before you say or do anything. This will give you a chance to calm down, assess the situation, and consider the possible positive and negative consequences of your reactions and comments.
3. Say when
   Emotions love overachievers. If you have a tendency to take on too much, watch out! Resist the temptation to be Wonder Woman or Superman by handling everything on your own. Ask for a helping hand. Break large projects into smaller portions and delegate, even if they are just small tasks. And do it BEFORE you get overwhelmed. Learning how to recognize and express your limits is vital to avoiding meltdowns.
4. Talk to yourself
   Emotions are sneaky. One minute you're fine, the next you feel yourself sliding downhill. Worry creeps in. Something, or maybe several things, didn't go as well as you'd hoped, and you're headed down a dark path. Before you get too far into the darkness, talk it out with yourself. Ask yourself what you can learn from the situation and how you can plan more effectively for similar challenges in the future.
5. Fuel up
   Emotions don't play fair. They attack when you're most vulnerable: when your schedule is packed with events, chores, and responsibilities. Make sure you first take care of basic needs like food, water, sleep, and exercise. You'll find it much easier to stay calm, cool, and collected when you're exercising regularly, eating healthy meals, and getting enough sleep.

Focus on the Moment

With so much going on around you, it's easy to get distracted. The trouble is you tend to miss critical details when you’re distracted, which can make you stressed and uneasy. Being mindful -- really tuning in to the present, not the past or the future -- can help you focus on handling the tasks at hand. Spend some time every day noticing the things most people tend to ignore, such as breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions. Try breathing exercises, or chi-gong (qigong) or yoga to help focus your mind and body. This won't happen overnight, but with practice, you'll notice a difference.

Make a To-Do List

Writing down a to-do list takes just a minute and saves you more time than that. Creating a clear (and realistic) game plan for what you want to accomplish helps you tackle your day, so you don't get bogged down in the unimportant details that eat up your time. The payoff: less stress and more time to enjoy the coffee you just poured. 

 

Don't Just React, Work on a Resolution

Every emotion has an "urge to act" that goes with it. When we feel afraid or anxious, we avoid things. When we're angry, we're tempted to lash out or yell. Unfortunately, neither of these behaviors actually solves the problem, so take a different approach and you may just feel better. Worried about something? Tackle it instead of ignoring it. Angry at someone? Don't lash out, be empathetic. 

 

Release Muscle Tension

As everyday stress builds up, your muscles tend to tighten up, which can add to your distraction and stress. Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves flexing and relaxing your muscles to help relieve some of the physical stress that builds up in them. Starting at the bottom of your body, tense the muscles of your feet and then relax them. Work through the different muscle groups of your body one at a time -- your legs, stomach, back, neck, arms, face, and head. And breathe.

 

 

Build Stronger Muscles

After focusing on flexing and releasing, you may realize that some muscles could use strengthening. Whether you use dumbbells, machines, resistance bands, or your own body weight, strength-building can help you stay one step ahead of stress. Lean body mass (that's muscle, not fat) makes your blood pressure normal more quickly after a stressful event, and that takes a load off of your heart and arteries, especially when you think you have more work than time or more problems than solutions

 

Exercise Away Stress

Getting your heart pumping and body sweating is the best way to avoid sweaty palms and a racing heart when you're under pressure. Yep, exercise is one of life's greatest stress relievers. Not only can it help you stay calm when you feel anxiety coming on, it can also boost your energy and improve your mood. 

 

Meditate and Breathe Deeply

Meditation not only helps reduce stress by lowering your heart rate and blood pressure, it can also help you focus, learn, and remember. Try it by sitting in a quiet, comfortable place, closing your eyes and relaxing your muscles. Breathe through your nose and, as you exhale, silently say a single-syllable word, such as om. Do this for 10 to 20 minutes. When you're done, sit quietly and keep your eyes closed for a few minutes. Open your eyes and sit quietly for another few minutes before getting up.

Cry It Out

When you cry, it signals that you’ve reached a level of stress that could be detrimental to your health and that it's time to let it out. Tears help wash away emotional stress brought on by intense feelings of joy, grief, or panic. One major hormone that increases with stress is also associated with crying: prolactin. The higher the levels of prolactin in your body, the more often you're bound to experience emotional crying.

Laugh It Off

Not the crying type? Try laughing when you're stressed out. No joke; laughter is great medicine. A good belly laugh can ease stress and reduce levels of the high-anxiety hormone, cortisol. It also helps you cope better with whatever life throws your way by easing fears. So go ahead and laugh, even if it feels forced. Regularly laughing off tense moments in your days can make you more positive and optimistic. The more you laugh, the better you'll feel. 

 

Schedule a Worry Period

Do you relish worrying? Fine. Worry away. But there's a catch: Devote only two periods a day to it. Give your worries your full attention for 15 to 20 minutes. Wallow in all their soul-sucking glory. Then stop. When they rise up again, tell yourself that you'll address them during your next worry period. Now you're in control over when worries can worry you

 

Take a Step Back

Sometimes problems swell into things that get out of control or look worse than they really are. And sometimes you just don't give yourself enough credit. You may actually be dealing with your daily stresses just fine, but in your head, things feel frantic. Take a step back. Try to see yourself through someone else's eyes (anyone's eyes -- your lover's, your gardener's, Big Bird's). You might see that you're actually doing better than you think.