It’s National Stress Awareness Month, and whether you’re at work, in school, at home, or even on a vacation, stress can make life pretty miserable. Stress makes it difficult to focus and accomplish the tasks that need to get done, adding to the stress and making it even harder to organize everything. It’s vicious cycle.
For some, adding weight loss to the list of things they’re working on only increases the stress.
So how do you manage stress and get it under control before it causes severe health problems? While we don’t know the specific circumstances of your life, if you’re reading this chances are you’re trying to lose weight. Here are a few tips from our in-house HCG Diet experts to help manage stress and help you relax.
Distract Yourself
The first step to decrease stress is to stop thinking about the thing that’s making you stressed. In the case of your weight loss journey, it’s your diet. Read a book, go on a walk, spend time with someone you care about – there are a lot of things you could do to distract yourself from your diet. Find what works for you and do it!
Exercise (on Phase 3)
If you’ve made it to phase 3, congratulations! You’re doing great. Now it’s time to continue on with the healthy habits you developed during phase 2 and add to them. Many HCG Dieters LOVE being on phase 3 because it means being able to exercise again. Exercise is one of the best natural stress relievers. And since you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, you’ll notice a big difference on the treadmill. It’ll be much more comfortable and enjoyable to exercise now that you’re slimmer, plus it will give you an endorphin rush and make you feel good about yourself and your weight loss journey.
Meditation
There’s an old Buddhist saying: “You should meditate 20 minutes per day, unless you don’t have time. Then you should meditate for an hour.” By taking time out of your day to stop, breathe and meditate, you can dramatically decrease stress. Your problems will seem much more manageable, and the greater confidence you feel will make it easier to stick with your diet when the going gets hard. Plus, meditation aids in distracting your mind from hunger or discomfort during the early stages of your diet.
Journaling
Finally, keep track of your progress and log how you feel on a day to day basis. Then you can go back when you’re having a particularly stressful or difficult day and read about a past success. This can help you feel good about yourself and therefore de-stress. Writing about your challenges helps, too. The act of putting something into words helps us understand the real cause of our stress and therefore how to deal with it. If you’re not a journaler yet, try it!
There are other ways to decrease stress, too. What’s your favorite way to reduce stress in your life? Let us know in the comments!
