In our last blog we discussed the some of the sources of stress we all face. Today we look at ways to take control of some of these triggers...
The single most effective way to empty that stress bucket is sleep. Stress and sleep are intimately interconnected and can sometimes have an inverse relationship (i.e., stress disrupts sleep and poor sleep causes stress). Here's how you can start to take control of some of these other triggers.
Mental or Emotional Stress
Mental or emotional stress is one of the primary factors that traps you in a fight-or-flight state. But with practice, you can control it. Emotional stress can be caused by a number of factors such as overextending yourself, pressure to be the best, comparing yourself to others, ruminating and worrying, lack of purpose, unresolved trauma or isolation. For now, we're going to focus on one specific behavior: negative self-talk.
Did you know that the way you talk to yourself can elicit a stress response similar to what you may experience if you run into a bear. How crazy is that. Negative self-talk refers to your inner critic (I am an idiot. I can't do this, I always mess up. I have no self-control, everyone hates me. this is my fault) but this dialogue can take on several forms perfectionism, filtering, mind-reading, self-guessing, personalizing/blaming, catastrophizing���and often mimics the voice of a parent, friend or partner that has hurt our feelings.
You can start to turn this around by simply noticing what you are saying to yourself and labeling the thought as negative or positive. This will give you an idea of when and how often you are doing it and give you a chance to stop the thought process.
If you recognise that you are consistently negative in specific situations, like at work, initiate a short movement break during that time to stop the cycle. Stand up, stretch and BREATHE, or step outside for a 10-minute walk. Pay attention to the sky, the cars going by, the trees whatever is around you; just don't bring those thoughts outside with you. This will give your nervous system a break.
When you run into negative thoughts, especially ones that keep coming up, ask yourself how true it is. For example, if you think ���I���m never going to get better at this, think of a time you surprised yourself and did improve on something.
Finally, challenge yourself to add a positive thought to counter the negative one, and do so in the third-person (you, he, she). This might sound weird, but research has shown that speaking to yourself in the third person provides some psychological distance from the experience, which helps you to regulate your emotions4. So, if you are stuck on thinking Im fat, immediately replace it with something that you like about yourself, like you are strong. Each time you do this, a little water leaves your bucket.
Diet
Anything that knocks your body out of homeostasis (your individual equilibrium or balance) is considered a stressor. When you eat a poor diet high in processed foods, sodium, saturated fats and sugar, you can overload your organ systems (such as your liver or kidney) that work to filter out things you don't need. All of your organ systems work together, so if the liver and kidney cannot efficiently do their jobs, everything else struggles, too. You can't achieve homeostasis, and your body starts to sound the alarm to stay alive.
It's also important to understand that everything you eat sends your body information. Each molecule of food contributes to a unique set of instructions about which hormones to make and release, which proteins are expressed and if the body needs genes to turn on or off. If your diet is unbalanced, the messages your body receives may be confusing.
At homeostasis, hormonal signaling in your brain and body should be tightly regulated. But if you consistently experience huge swings in your hormone levels in response to the foods you eat, that regulation is thrown off balance. This type of stress is like a leaky faucet dripping into your bucket. At first, the slow drops aren't much of a concern, but after a while, if the faucet hasn't been fixed, the accumulation of water can cause significant damage.
Additionally, chronically under-eating, especially restricting calories below your basal metabolic rate, will also elevate cortisol levels5. When you are not eating enough, your body may not have enough resources to carry on basic functions. This puts your body in crisis-mode. But because humans are extremely resilient, your brain activates a stress response to downregulate metabolism and to keep your body going on adrenaline and cortisol.
Your diet can be your worst enemy or your biggest ally. Remember that cortisol causes changes to your appetite by making you more intensely crave carbs and sugar (to quickly replenish energy). But if you don't really need that energy (because you aren't fighting a predator), those foods will lead to huge blood-sugar spikes and crashes, perpetuating your stressed state.
You can, however, acknowledge that your body is trying to protect you and instead provide it with the nutrients to support your organs, gut and brain. Do this by eating balanced meals of healthy fats, complex carbs and high-quality protein. Stress also creates greater physiological demands, increasing your need for specific nutrients like vitamin B, vitamin C, selenium and mageniusm6.
Include lots of vegetables and build meals that include three to five different colors. The different nutrients in vegetables give them their characteristic colors, so this strategy helps to ensure you are providing your body with lots of resources.
Over-Exercising
In general, you should feel energized by your workouts. Sure, immediately after you finish something tough you may need 10-20 minutes to recover, but if you are regularly hitting a wall mid-workout or leaving the gym feeling like you need a nap to go on, you are overloading your system.
This one is a hard pill to swallow, especially if you use exercise as a form of stress relief. It's important to understand that exercise in itself elicits a large stress response from the body. We experience many benefits from the acute adaptive changes in response to that stress (a boost in energy, mood, metabolism), and a healthy body can easily return normal function afterward. However, if your bucket is getting full, a high-intensity workout can be enough to push you over the edge.
If you are struggling with stress, think about taking more rest days between your workouts and opt for lower-intensity movements like strength training, yoga, walking or hiking. You can still enjoy your CrossFit workout but consider taking the intensity down a few notches scale the rep scheme, reduce the weight, or think about just moving your body instead of pushing your limits. This might require you to LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR (which also will help empty your bucket), but your body will thank you in the long run.
Finding the Balance
Just because you aren't on the verge of a mental breakdown doesn't mean that you're not stressed out. If you've been living in high stress for a while, you may even feel like you are handling it well or that you aren't that stressed at all. Keep in mind that if you get to the point of feeling overwhelmed, your bucket is already overflowing.
The key here is learning balance and flexibility in your lifestyle to keep stress at an optimal level. If you take on more stress in one area (like a new project at work), you should anticipate reducing it somewhere else (drop the intensity of your workouts). You just have to recognize when water is pouring in and have an arsenal of ways to let it out.
speak to a coach