Don't Let Stress Stress You Out!!

Our lives are inherently filled with stress of all varieties- good stress, bad stress, horrendous stress! No matter what type of stress it is, it manifests itself within your body in a lot of ways. The most notable ways are PAIN- pain in your muscles and headaches- and weight gain- no matter how little you are eating. Before changing my lifestyle and before being laid-off from my job, I was under a great deal of stress from work. I have recently learned from other people that worked with me (and for me) that my attitude was pretty bad ("mean and grumpy" is what they said). I have apologized for that, because it was certainly not intentional and I honestly didn't realize that people thought that. I also noticed that I "needed" chocolate and Mountain Dew to get through the most stressful days. I am now battling to shake the chocolate and Mountain Dew off of my hips and stomach! The biggest problem with stress is that, if you do not relieve the stress in your muscles through exercise, your body will hold on tight to all of your weight. Your body believes that there is a crisis and it goes into survival mode, not allowing itself to burn any of the fat. This is why a lot of people think that they are "eating right," but they are not losing any weight. Stress also caused me to have headaches and pain in my neck and back. Once I started walking, I discovered that I was able to relieve a great deal of that stress every day after work by "walking it out." Headaches would go away while I was walking and tension in my neck and back would disappear. I believe that is also why I started craving my walks. It would reduce my stress to a level where I could come home and relax before bedtime. Walks are a great time to think and talk to God. Lots of seemingly insurmountable issues have become small pebbles by the end of my walks. I strongly suggest that the next time you are feeling "stressed out," before you take any kind of medication or sit your rear end in a chair, hit the pavement and take a walk. Let me know how you feel when you get back!