tips – Page 14 – Personal Growth Cafe

October 18, 2017

Top Seven Reasons Stress Affects Your Health

Are you constantly feeling stressed? Stress is something we all encounter on a regular basis, but when it starts to have a negative effect on your body and mind, it means you are distressed.

What many people don’t know is that stress is a state of being that negatively impacts the body. In fact, stress has a bigger impact on our bodies than most of us realize or care to acknowledge.

Facts About Stress and Your Body

There are some downright scary facts about the toll that stress takes on the body. When you look at these facts it is hard to deny that we all need to learn how to manage our stress more effectively. Some of these facts include:

43% of all adults have health problems related to stress

75-90% of all doctor visits are stress-related

82% of workers are at least a little stressed in the workplace

Stress is known to cost American businesses more than $300 billion each year

Seven Ways In Which Your Body is Affected By Stress

There are two kinds of stress. The “good” stress is called eustress but we generally only hear about the “bad” stress known as chronic stress or distress.

Chronic stress gradually affects your health at first; in fact, you may not even notice the symptoms at all! And if the stress is not managed, the symptoms will get worse and its effects may even be irreversible.

Seven ways in which stress may manifest itself in your body are:

1. Depression. When you are stressed out, it is very common for people to become depressed. There are only so many chemicals in the brain to help a person deal with stress, and when they are used up, they’re used up.

This can lead to a person becoming profoundly depressed in what seems like a relatively short period of time.

2. Anxiety. Those who are stressed are likely to deal with uncontrollable levels of anxiety. Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand, and this can cause many different changes in the physiological functioning of the body.

3. Heart disease. Stress is very closely linked to heart attacks and death associated with cardiovascular disease. When stress is not managed, the body breaks down quickly and the heart is often profoundly impacted.

4. Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing epidemics in the world and both mental and physical stress can cause rapid fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

The long-term effects associated with this include heart disease, blindness, liver problems, kidney disease, and more.

5. Hair loss. We often tease our friends and family when they begin to lose hair, but this can be a symptom of unmanaged stress.

If your hair is falling out prematurely don’t blame genetics, look closely at how you are dealing with the stress in your life and see if there are things you can do to control it more effectively.

6. Obesity. We often cope with stress by consuming unhealthy, fattening foods. Plus, stress prohibits the control of necessary chemicals that are needed to break down fat, which can lead to obesity.

7. Sexual dysfunction. Stress is one of the most common reasons associated with impotence in men.

As you can see, stress can affect your health in many ways. This is by no means an all-inclusive list of how stress affects your body and health.

You may also suffer from hyperthyroidism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, tooth and gum disease, ulcers, and even cancer.

Stress is serious stuff! This is all the more reason to start actively managing your stress today.

What effects does stress have on you?

How do you distress yourself?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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October 12, 2017

Stress Tips for Moms

Being a mother will likely be one of the most difficult things you have ever done, but on the other hand, it will be one of the most rewarding jobs of your life.

As a mother, you often forget to take care of yourself because you’re caught up in the madness that is life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a stay at home mom or you work outside the home, being a mother is stressful!

Luckily, there are some great strategies to help you deal with mom stress.

Stress Tips For Every Mother

Get the kids on a schedule.

The best thing that every mother can do for herself is to get her kids on a schedule and keep them on it. When you try to stick to a routine you’ll feel more comfortable handling breakfasts, lunches, naps, and bed times.

When you don’t have a schedule, you may begin to feel scattered or disorganized and your stress levels will increase exponentially!

Things are always unpredictable when kids are involved, but when you have even the simplest structure, your days will be a little more predictable and you’ll save your sanity!

Don’t be afraid to put yourself in time out.

Many mothers feel like they just have to keep pushing forward when they are about to come unglued.

Moms get stressed and often need to take a breather, just like kids! Instead of continuing to push forward when you are about to snap, walk into another room and just breathe deeply for a few minutes.

While you are breathing, picture how you would like to respond to the situation and then remind yourself that it is important for you to follow through in a calm manner.

After all, you’re a role model for your children. A minute or two in “time out” can make for a great day for the whole family!

Eat healthy.

If you ask 100 moms what their diets are like, at least 85 of them will look at you and cringe. Unfortunately, there’s a tendency to just eat what you can, when you can.

Even if you are on the go you need to make a conscious effort to eat well. When you eat nutritious foods, you are providing your body with the energy it needs to keep up with your kids and cope with the stress you encounter every day.

Create a support system.

Teaming up with other moms makes a great support system. Even if you can’t get together every couple weeks, it is nice to know that you have someone you can call who won’t question your abilities but will just listen and empathize.

All mothers feel the stress that comes with the job, so make sure to surround yourself with other moms that will be happy to listen to you when you need a shoulder to lean on; and be sure to return the favor!

Make time for yourself.

As a mom, you may forget that you’re important too! This is why you need to make time for yourself every day.

You may think that there is no time, but there is if you get help or if you sneak in some relaxation after the kids go to bed or before they get up.

Give yourself a manicure or pedicure, drink that cup of tea slowly, read a book, take a long bath, or get a massage.

Your relaxation time doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it needs to be there. Even 15 minutes every day can make all the difference!

What tools can you use to manage stress positively?

How can you alter your life to protect yourself from stressful situations?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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October 11, 2017

Stress Tips for Dads

Many people think that dads have the easy job, but this is not true.

When you look at the job of a dad you’ll see that they are expected to move easily between their professional and family lives, all the while remaining calm, relaxed, productive, and attentive.

If you’re a dad you are likely experiencing stress on a daily or weekly basis.

There are some great stress management tips that you can work into your life so you can continue to be the very best dad you can be, regardless of how old your children are.

Stress Relief Tips Just For Dads

Make sure that you are taking care of yourself.

Not only does your family count on you being well, so does your employer, friends, and others. Eat right, get enough sleep, and make sure you are taking vitamins.

When you combine these things, you help to fight off stress by building up your immune system so you are more likely to be healthy.

Be a member of a team.

Make your family your team. If you try to do everything on your own, you will suffer burnout in short order.

When everyone pitches in around the house, you will find that you have a lot less stress overall and you can be a more attentive and involved father.

Make time management a priority.

When you are a parent you have a lot of different things vying for your time. That’s why you’ll want to manage your time well so you can be where you need to be, when you need to be there.

You can do simple things to make your life and the lives of your family members easier. For example, create a chores schedule, work together with your spouse to prepare meals ahead of time, or create a schedule to pick up the kids.

When you manage your time you will be able to get more done without the headaches.

Create a support network.

When you are stressed out or angry you should be able to talk to someone to vent. Sometimes just being able to say how you are feeling or what is stressing you out can help a lot.

Your support network can consists of your spouse, friends, or even family members.

Communicate with your spouse.

When you have kids it can be difficult to get a full thought out in one breath because of constant interruptions. That’s all the more reason to make a concerted effort to communicate well with your spouse.

This will allow you to work better as a team so the family unit functions well, but it will also help you be attentive to one another’s needs. After all, you need to love and support each other first!

Being a dad is a rewarding experience, but it can also be stressful at times. The strategies mentioned above can be worked into any dad’s schedule so stress is always kept in check.

When you start to incorporate these strategies into your life, everyone will benefit because a relaxed dad is a friendly, interactive, and present dad and that is what every child wants and needs from both of their parents.

The great thing about these stress tips for dads is that they are easy to incorporate into your life, so becoming less stressed doesn’t need to be a stressful experience!

Take action, today, to proactively manage your stress and your entire family will benefit.

How does your family really know that they come first in your life?

How can you invite more peaceful moments into your life?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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October 3, 2017

Getting Things Done Quickly and Efficiently

Did you know that you are capable of so much more than you are doing now? Tapping into the full power of your brain is something you can easily learn with practice. By doing this, you can harness the power of your mind to complete tasks and go about your life with ease.

When you tap into your full brainpower you will learn how to focus on what really matters so you can get more done quickly and efficiently.

Tapping Into the Full Power of Your Brain

Do you ever complete a project and then do it over again when you realized you made many silly little mistakes? Most of the time we laugh at ourselves and wonder what we were thinking, but it sure would be nice to get things done in one try without having to re-do tasks over and over again.

This is all the more reason we need to constantly improve our mind so we can accomplish things faster with the least amount of effort.

Turn off the Distracting Mental Chatter

The first thing you need to do when you want to tap into your full brainpower is turn off the noise. The reference to noise isn’t necessarily the music playing in the room or the television you have on in the background – it’s the noise in your mind!

All of the negative thoughts and worries that distract you and take you away from your concentration are all mental noises. Turn off the noise when you need to harness all your energy to complete a difficult task.

Any time a thought misdirects you, immediately write it down, and get back on task.

Make a Prioritized List

The next strategy is to prioritize the items you really need to do right away. Being able to create a plan of attack will help you use all of your mental abilities when you need them the most.

You will be able to focus on the task at hand when you know that everything has its place on paper. This will enable you to devote your brainpower to what you are doing so you can enjoy your work without worrying about what’s up ahead.

You’ll also be more efficient and effective when it comes to completing the tasks in front of you since everything will have its own time and place.

Using the Power of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking techniques are another great way to tap into your brainpower. For example, if you use affirmations, you will be able to turn off the negative inner dialogue that you have running through your head and replace it with positive thoughts to keep you moving forward.

Many of us don’t realize how ineffective negative thoughts make us. These thoughts can distract us and keep us from doing the things we want or need to do.

An affirmation such as, “My lasting success is my focus” can help you tap into your confidence so you can get things done.

Over time, using positive thinking techniques will turn off any negative thoughts so you can tap into the power of your mind to accomplish more and reach greater levels of success.

How can working efficiently help your life?

What can you do to start a better routine that will help you work more efficiently?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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August 31, 2017September 26, 2017

Five Simple Diet Tips to Stop Food Guilt

Guilt surrounds many diets. You feel guilty if you cheat on the diet or don’t lose weight fast enough. Guilt doesn’t have to dominate your meals. Learn to diet without feeling like you did something wrong.

For example, you can enjoy small treats in moderation without destroying all of your weight loss efforts, so there’s no need to feel guilty!

Consider these tips for the tasty details in avoiding food guilt:

1. Learn to recognize food guilt.

Food guilt tends to follow a common cycle. The cycle usually starts with you setting a goal to lose weight or get in shape. Then, you go on a diet and start working out. However, you may cheat on the diet or accidentally eat the wrong thing. This is followed by shame and guilt.

* The cycle starts with denial, moves to temptation, and ends with remorse. * You beat yourself up for every mistake that you make on the diet. However, many diets allow for small diversions.

2. Accept that diet mistakes happen.

A diet error doesn’t mean you’ve failed and can never lose weight. It simply shows that you’re a human being who struggles like everyone else on this planet.

* Food is neither bad nor good. Some foods may be healthier or more nutritious than others, but avoid labeling them as good or bad. Assigning such descriptions creates the shame you feel if you eat an item that you’ve labeled as bad.

3. Find your balance.

Even the healthiest dieters and nutritionists allow themselves the occasional treat.

* One way to find balance is to give healthy food a percentage goal. For example, you can eat healthy 80 percent of the time and allow treats or sweets 20 percent of the time.

* This is a balanced approach to temptations that won’t make you feel guilty.

4. Create coping strategies for overeating.

One of the biggest challenges for dieters occurs when they overeat. The feelings of shame and guilt can spiral out of control and lead you to give up on the diet or eat even more.

* For example, if you know that stress at work will send you running toward the ice cream in the freezer at home, then don’t buy any ice cream. Replace it with frozen grapes. Removing the temptation can help immensely.

* Another idea is to create a strategy for the occasions that you give in to temptation. Perhaps you’ll want to do some extra exercises to burn up those extra calories, so they won’t make any difference at all. Dwelling on your guilt won’t make the calories you just ate disappear. This will only make you feel worse about your body.

* Stop the inner critic and have compassion. Recognize you have faltered from your diet plan and move on. You can commit to doing better next time and trying to avoid the stumbling blocks that lead you to overeat.

5. Do the math.

Sometimes fear takes over, but math can help.

* Before you start panicking that eating a bag of chips has forever ruined your diet, you can do the math and realize the calories won’t affect you long-term, and you can still lose weight.

Guilt is a common emotion that is often tied to how we eat. Many people feel ashamed about their weight and shape, so guilt is part of their lives. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Take steps to eliminate the guilt and you’ll see your self-esteem soar.

Why do you feel guilt while on a diet?

Do you think this diet can help in your life?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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