Stress Doesn't Work For Me

Stress doesn't work for me!

It just has been confirmed. This just in! Stress does not work for me. I know you are probably saying, "well, yeah, it doesn't work for any of us but what choice do we have? It's just part of life!" (Sorry, my husband hates it when I try to mind-read, too!)

But anyway, sorry for my silliness but seriously, stress does not work for me. I found this out these last two weeks or so when I got extremely stressed about what was happening my life. The stress I was feeling made it very difficult to concentrate on the work I needed to do to lose weight. (tracking, exercise, being aware of what I was eating.)

I have to avoid stress as much as I can if I am going to lose weight. This might sound strange to some people, kind of unrealistic but I know that about myself.

I am also what is called a "highly sensitive person" who takes a lot of the world and processes it more than other people. This is a condition that supposed to affect about 20% of the population and everything I've read about it rings true for me. (If you are interested, you can check out the link for more info.) And the thing is, it doesn't matter if other people recognize this as real or not. I know my self and what works for me.

In the last couple of days, things have settled down and gotten straightened out and this morning, the scale started going down a bit again. What was different? Stress or lack thereof. Yes, I was eating better too. But I felt able to concentrate again. 

Stress is very well-recognized as being a big factor in being big. I have always believed that it was a big factor for me, personally. It works in a couple of ways. First, it makes it hard to concentrate on what's needed. Too much stress also creates excess cortisol in the body which is associated with belly fat. So, it's a double whammy.

So to me, rest is another key component to losing weight. By rest, I mean not being too full of bad stress and feeling okay with life. And actually resting: getting enough sleep.

I am feeling way better today. I have decided to continue working at home and have some good ideas of how to market my writing. It's exciting! And the family stuff? Well, we all talked and got things on the table. It now feels more manageable. I just don't do stress well. And I am learning to accept that.

What about you? Do you find that stress is a factor in your weight? How do you deal with it?

Sharilee