Calm Down, Shed Pounds

If your belly is getting bigger, anxiety may be to blame. Research suggests that during times of high stress, the body deposits fat into the abdominal area. That harried and hurried state also increases levels of cortisol, a chemical that can spur emotional eating. Worse, rampant stress can wreak havoc on your sleep, which may cause weight gain. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center found that people who got five hours of shut-eye a night were 60 percent more likely to be obese than those who slept seven hours. Those who snoozed for six hours were still 27 percent more likely to have weight problems. "You can't erase all the stress in your life, but you can feel calmer overall by learning how to produce a relaxation response whenever you get riled up," says therapist Elizabeth Scott, M.S., who provides stress management advice at About.com. Here, her tips:

> Breathe S-L-O-W-L-Y
It is physiologically impossible not to calm down when you do this, because it lowers your heart rate.

> Tense Up, Loosen Up
Tighten every part of your body, then relax each muscle group, starting with your head and working down to your feet. This stress-relief technique also helps focus your attention (so you stop racing from thought to thought).

> Tune In & Tune Out
A 2007 study from the University of Louisville School of Medicine showed that listening to soothing music can help lower stress levels.

> Grab A Pen & PAPER
Studies show that people better understand and learn from their emotions when they write about them. You can also phone a pal: "Your emotions and communication skills are ruled by different sides of the brain," explains Scott." When you talk, you get both hemispheres of your brain working together to process whatever's upsetting you."

> Stay In The Moment
Do anything you can to quiet that incessant inner voice. (How will I get everything done tomorrow? Did I pay all the bills this month? Will we be able to afford those car repairs? Immerse yourself in a relaxing activity, such as baking, gardening, or walking, and think of nothing but the sensations surrounding what you're doing at that moment. The more you focus, the less likely your mind will wander into its worry zone.

Don’t Worry – Dealing With Anxiety

You can worry too much. And there is a way to stop doing it. Read on and discover how you can turn that frown upside down

* Most of us are experts at worrying – anything from global warming to whether the kids are eating properly. But while worrying may seem like a natural response to uncertainty, for some it is a debilitating and chronic mental disorder known as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), or the worry illness.

According to the most recent report from the 1999 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, over 3 per cent of the adult population had been diagnosed with GAD, and researches estimate that between 3 and 10 per cent of us will be afflicted in out lifetime.

However, not all worrying is considered a problem. “Normal worrying is thinking about a problem when it arises,” says Dr Lisa Lampe, a leading Australian researcher of anxiety disorders and author of Take Control of Your Worry: Managing Generalized Anxiety Disorder. “You worry but it doesn’t actually take over your life.”

On the flipside, people with GAD experience excessive and inappropriate worry. Dr Lampe says some of her patients spend 60 to 80 per cent of their waking hours in a worries state. Most will also experience unpleasant physical symptoms such as fatigue and insomnia. Why? It seems worry triggers our “fight or flight” instinct, a survival mechanism that helps us cope with stressful or threatening situations through the increased production of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. But excessive worry sends the body false “fight or flight” alarms, and if the resulting hormones remain at high levels in your body, you are unable to relax.

Worry affects everyone, with women slightly more likely to suffer excessive worry than men. However, researchers believe GAD may be genetic – many suffers say they’ve been prone to worry since childhood or have a parent with the same propensity.

“Interestingly, people tend to know when they worry too much, “says Fr Lampe. “They come to be because they’re always worried about the future and can’t enjoy the present.”

This is because many excessive worries tend to assume the worst-case scenarios, and will go so far as to avoid situations that trigger particular anxieties. For instance, someone afraid of saying the wrong thing may avoid social events. Others can be overly concerned about catastrophes: “What if the disaster on the news happens to me or my family?”

Even minor events can set worriers off on a chain of what Dr Lampe calls the “What-ifs”. A concern about money may lead them to think, “If I don’t pay that bill I’ll be made bankrupt and my children will go hungry.”

We all think the worst sometimes, but perhaps we’d be a lot happier if we took deep breaths every now and again and concentrated on the brighter side of life.

WARNING SIGNS
1. Do you spend too much of your time worrying?
2. Do you think of yourself as a worrier?
3. Do you feel you can’t control your worry?
4. Do you feel your worry is out of proportion with your problems?
5. Does your worrying bother you or stop you from enjoying your life?
6. Does your worry leave you constantly drained or affect your sleep?

Treating Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
“The good news,” says Dr Lampe, “is that GAD is treatable.” But a 1999 Australian survey found almost two-thirds of people diagnosed weren’t being adequately treated. And many have become dependent on alcohol and tranquillisers, which only compounds their problems.

Professional treatment is a much better alternative. Talk therapy is usually the first course of action, with anti-depressants being prescribed for some. But don’t expect to be lying on a couch and delving into the past. Most doctors advocate cognitive behavious therapy, an approach that teaches people anxiety management techniques (meditation, exercise, etc) to help change through patterns and break their worry habit.

By Marigie Borschke

Kiss Stress Goodbye

Get your energy levels soaring with these super tips!

You’re so stressed, you’ve been snapping at everyone. Some days, you find yourself gritting your teeth in anger all day or wanting to scream your head off in frustration! Other days, you’re so exhausted, you feel like you can’t take another step. If your face now wears a perpetual frown and worry lines your forehead, it’s time for some serious stress-busting.

1) Be Assertive
Don’t let others walk all over you. Be honest about what you think and feel. So next time your boss asks you to run errands during lunch, tell her you won’t be able to do your job well unless you have a nutritious lunch and a breath from work.

2) Icy Pleasures
Is the heat making you sluggish? Bring temperatures down by rubbing cubes of green tea all over your body. The feel of cold liquid, trickling down your back will instantly spring you back to life. Green tea’s antioxidants are good for the skin. To double the fun, do it with your hubby!

3) Go on a Natural Hike
Slather on some sunscreen lotion, put on your boots and get yourself down to the nearest hill, nature trail, or forest. Just feeling the delicious warmth of the sun on your skin and being amidst natural will instantly calm frazzled nerves.

4) Buy Yourself Flowers
So, who says you have to wait for a man to get you some blooming beauties? You can get some flowers for your desk at work – even a single red rose in a bud vase does miracles for your mood!

5) Get into the Groove
Melt stress away trough dancing – this super-charged activity is so much fun, you won’t even feel like you’re exercising! Latin dances like the tango and salsa go a step further by getting you in touch with your deepest emotions, so you’ll find yourself swaying to the sensual rhythms like you never knew you could.

6) Strut Your Stuff
Do you know why models always get noticed? Because of their walk! So, stand up straight, pull your shoulders back and stride confidently out of your home. Imagine yourself as having the perfect body and don’t let any negative thought stray into your head. Flash your dazzling smile at all the people you normally deal with and everyone will be buzzing about you.

7) Take a Day Off!
Sure you’re good, but your office won’t tall apart in your absence. So, plan a day just for yourself: Start with a game of tennis, then go for a massage cum pedicure. Call up an old girlfriend you haven’t seen in ages and make a lunch date with her. Get that book you’ve been meaning to. Catch the latest movie – it’s easier to get tickets while everyone is at work – then make all your colleagues green by telling them how awesome the movie was when you get back to work!

8) Cross-train
If you’re treadmill junkie or a stationary bike die-hard, it may be time to shake up your workout. Fitness experts say that you burn more calories and tone different parts of your body if you actually cross-train. SO, what that means for the gymaholic is that you would see more results if you spent 10 minutes on the bike, 20 on the treadmill and 15 on the elliptical stepper. For those of you who prefer running in the park, alternate your workout with a swim or a game of tennis or squash.

9) Anytime Tension-reliever
a – Standing tall, lift your head up and back so that you stretch your neck. Slowly turn it to the right and then to the left. Dip your head and return to looking straight ahead.
b – Slowly rotate your head in a clockwise and then anti-clockwise direction.
c – Take your shoulders back as far as they will go. Lift your left shoulder and relax it down again. Now swap and lift and relax your right shoulder.
d – Swing your right arm slowly in a full circular movement to free the shoulder. Swing your left arm in the same way.
e – Raise and relax both shoulders. Repeat ten times.
f – Put your right hand over your right shoulder and touch your left shoulder blade. Repeat with your left hand to your right shoulder.

10) Express Yourself
Pent-up emotions are a hotbed for stress. So, at the end of the day, when you’re alone in your car or home, let it all out: Scream at the top of your lungs. Hit pillows. Wave your arms around. Cry. When you experience an emotion and don’t want to let it out at the exact moment that you’re feeling it, give yourself the gift of expressing it later on. It clears your mind and body of emotional residue and will release the tension that accumulates from trying to hold it in.

Stress – The New Epidemic

Feeling stressed out?
The most influential anti-stress weapon you have at your disposal, is your mind..

These days stress seems to be the major reason why anybody gets ill, as well as being the universal excuse for bad behaviour. Now, everything in our lives is somehow, ‘stress related’.

Unfortunately, stress is real and comes in many forms. It’s often obvious, but other times, hard to recognize. Long term stress is sinister for everybody. New research links it with heart problems, ulcers, cancer, diabetic, arthritis, asthma, PMT and fertility difficulties. In almost all cases, stress is very damaging to your heart. It wreaks havoc by disrupting your body’s immune system, making you vulnerable to all sorts of illness and disease.

Stress is directly related to worrying. People with the highest amount of worry have two and a half times the risk of having a heart attack, compared to those with the lowest amount of worry. Stress is often work related. An over demanding job, an unrewarding job, or the loss of a job, can all contribute to stress. For women, stress frequently occurs when trying to juggle a career, look after a family and care for a spouse, all at the same time. Moving or traveling is stressful. Illnesses, whether physical or emotional are stressful for the body and so are certain medications, especially steroids.

However, usually it’s just the tedious, frustrating, day to day hassles and irritations that make up the bulk of stressful times. Things like late flights, traffic jams, engaged telephone lines, queues at supermarkets, internet failures, motorway driving, or simply not having enough hours in the day.

Too much stress leaves you depressed, bad tempered and physically exhausted. It can create numerous symptoms including insomnia, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, overeating, resentment and the inability to concentrate or perform at usual levels. Stress also makes you more likely to munch your way through a whole packet of biscuits, to light one cigarette after another, or to completely finish a bottle of wine when you only intended to have one glass.

Exactly the same hormones are released so you continually ‘wound up’ and prepared for an emergency. This response isn’t needed, yet you can’t relax. And having adrenaline and cortisone constantly sloshing around in your bloodstream is bad news for your long term health.

However, there is a solution. Happily, by becoming more stress resilient, you can reduce the risk of future illness and premature death.

A five pronged approach is best. Not surprisingly, good nutrition, getting enough sleep, taking regular exercise, stopping smoking and learning some coping skills slow down the damaging stress related processes.

The more you can control the stress response, the better. The fitter you are, the lower your rise of cortisol under stressful conditions. In fact, exercise helps the body use up excess stress-induced hormones. Meanwhile, stopping smoking reduces your stress load immediately.

Probably the most influential anti-stress weapon you have at your disposal, is your mind. How you react, and bounce back from stressful events is all important. Coping skills can be learned and fortunately, there are several proven strategies available.

Knowing a simple technique for relaxation and using it for ten minutes a day will work wonders. When you relax, your blood pressure is lowered and you slow down your heart beat, breathing rate and metabolism. These factors reduce stress and improve overall health.

There are many different relaxation options including yoga, meditation, mental imagery, massage, biofeedback, autogenic therapy or just plain deep breathing. Make some regular time for yourself every day and don’t spend it working or catching up on chores.

Try a hobby, reading a good book, listening to music or talking to a pet or plant. Use what works best for you but get smart and take time to manage your stress load. Avoid becoming just another ‘stress-related’ statistic in the new epidemic.