1. Sleep Away Your Stress
One of the first and most important
things to do to build a stress-proof body is to get enough sleep on a
regular basis. If you don’t get enough sleep, you could experience the
following:
• Increased irritability
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Decreased ability to concentrate and understand information
• Increased likelihood of making mistakes and causing accidents
• Increased clumsiness and slower reaction times (dangerous behind the wheel)
• A suppressed immune system
• Undesirable weight gain
“One of the most helpful things you can do for your body when you’re feeling anxious is to have a drink of water.”
Unfortunately,
sleep disorders often disturb our sleep even if we go to bed on time.
These sleep disorders include insomnia, snoring, sleep apnea, sleep
walking and talking, and restless leg syndrome. Also, jet lag or working
the night shift can cause sleep disturbances.
2. The Importance of Hydration
Sometimes, one of the most helpful
things you can do for your body when you’re feeling anxious is to have a
drink of water. Human bodies are about two-thirds water, but many
people are mildly dehydrated and don’t know it. While severe dehydration
has dramatic symptoms and can even result in death, mild dehydration
may go unnoticed and is more likely to occur after intense exercise, in
extreme heat, while dieting, and after vomiting or diarrhea, either from
illness or as a result of food poisoning or drinking too much alcohol.
3. Stay Hydrated
Are you dehydrated? Symptoms of dehydration include the following:
• Dry mouth
• Dizziness
• Light-headedness
• Dark urine (should be pale yellow)
• Inability to concentrate
• Confusion
One reason
people tend to be so often dehydrated is that caffeinated beverages are
so popular and widely available. Caffeine actually acts as a diuretic to
flush water out of your system. The other reason for dehydration is
simple: People don’t drink much water anymore. Yet, water can offer your
body many benefits, not the least of which is a stronger defense
against stress.
4. Work More Water into Your Life
Drinking more water is one of the
easiest changes you can make to help manage your stress. Ideally, you
should drink sixty-four ounces, or eight cups, of water each day. If you
space your consumption throughout the day, it’s very doable. Have
sixteen ounces first thing in the morning, sixteen ounces with lunch,
sixteen ounces with dinner, and sixteen ounces in the evening. Add
another sixteen ounces or more if you’ve been sweating or getting a lot
of exercise.
If you
really don’t like the taste of plain water, try a few brands of
mineral-added bottled water. The minerals give the water more flavor.
Or, add a wedge of lemon, lime, or orange to your water. If you just
have to have those bubbles, try club soda instead of soda. Still not
charmed? Dilute real fruit juice with half water or half club soda.
5. The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral
Some habits are good. If you always
clean up your own messes, have a habit of being polite, or are devoted
to your daily bowl of fresh salad, you probably already know that those
habits are keepers.
Other habits aren’t so good. A bad habit is a habit that makes you less healthy or less happy. Even if you feel good
while indulging your habit, you probably know when it’s just a
temporary high, like when you go to the mall and spend $400 on stuff you
don’t really need. You get a rush, but as soon as you get home and put
the things away, you realize the habit was controlling you rather than
the other way around.
Some habits
are neutral. For example, you always eat a favorite cereal, or you
prefer a certain gas station, or you have a habit of humming while you
wash the dishes. If they don’t bother anybody, no problem.
