Week 5 of No More Weight Loss Resolution
Alright you little ball of stress, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. The way you handle stress in your daily life isn’t working, and it’s time to fix it.
I know there’s only so much we can do in certain situations.
Maybe work has this intense deadline that you just have to work through.
Maybe you’re going through a stressful family emergency that needs your full attention.
Maybe you’re in a financial situation that needs to be addressed right now.
Or you just aren’t happy with where you’re at in life and don’t know where to move to next.
It could be any number of situations, but the amount of stress the general population holds onto each day, isn’t helping your eating habits, your ability to move, sleep schedule or any way to reduce it.
So this week we’re going to focus on addressing how to cope and deal with your stress.
You should have already found a nice baseline in your health and movement, and be feeling pretty good about it. Now we start making the tweaks.
Check out The No More Weight Loss Resolution for the full 6 week plan
We won’t fix your stress this week, but if we keep building healthy habits around it, you’ll be able to cope with it more and reduce that stress over time.
It’s always going to be there, might as well make some progress towards TRYING to address it.
If you need a refresher of what we covered last week, be sure to check out Week 4.
Otherwise, let’s dive in!
Understanding Stress and Your Nervous System
Alright, it’s time for a little refresher and BASIC crash course on how the human body works with stress.
We’re focusing on the two states your body runs in: Parasympathetic and Sympathetic.
Parasympathetic is when your nervous system is the most relaxed. Also known as your Rest and Digest state, this is IDEALLY what you are in a majority of the time. But since we’re here together, we’re going to try and get here. This is when your metabolism goes up and fat burning can take place because there is no outside stress to slow it down.
Which is what happens in your Sympathetic state. This is your stress response state, known as Fight or Flight. Digestion is shut down, meaning your metabolism slows down and fat stores go up because of it. Blood is going to be pumped to your extremities to help you move quickly and to your brain to process things more quickly.
One is not better or worse than the other. Our Sympathetic state can be demonized because it’s doing the thing we don’t want, but it’s our body trying to keep us alive.
It doesn’t know the difference between potentially dying and getting road rage or having a last minute meeting you were not prepared for.
The goal of this state is to get you out of danger, so you can recoup, slow down, and get back to a more relaxed state.
We aren’t meant to be there forever.
So not only are the little stressors that we go through daily, outside of our control, harming us. But the stressors we add to our daily life as well.
You may not think your perfectly crafted morning routine and daily to-do list aren’t bad, but if you wake up stressed because you overslept by 15 minutes and now EVERYTHING is ruined, or you only have time to get 5 of your 10 things done and feel like a failure. Well…
Like I said, we can’t change or reduce all of the stress you experience throughout the day, but we can change how you view some of the stress you put yourself under. As well as how you deal with stressors outside of your control.
Ways To Reduce Your Daily Stress
Just like with most things we’ve been working on, how you view your daily schedule, routine and goals can greatly reduce your stress levels.
And a lot of this can come from outside sources.
We’re told what health is supposed to look like by someone who seems to have it all together. We’re given a list of “must haves” if we want to live a long life.
And reminded over and over again about our struggles and insecurities by an algorithm that was made to keep you scrolling and stuck.
But what if you stopped chasing perfection or even a specific routine?
Habits and change happen from repetition, not perfection.
You want to workout daily? It won’t happen by going to the gym at the same time every day. It will happen from the days you choose to fit it in, even if it’s not at the exact time you want it to be.
Choice.
You want to have more time for your hobbies? It’s going to happen when you CHOOSE to create and dedicate time, rather than waiting for your schedule to open up. Plus, let’s be honest, we’re all just scrolling way too much, so cutting that back will give you more time.
Choice.
The goal this week is to see where you’re adding extra little stress to your life, when now’s the time to practice flexibility. I’m not saying that you can’t have a routine you like, but if that routine is causing more stress to get done than good, maybe flexibility will be more helpful here.
So where can you work to add that in while reducing your stress?
The 5-5-7 Breathing Technique
There are no secrets or magic pills to instantly change things for you. Well, maybe a few things work well, and this breathing technique is one of them.
I know being told to “just breathe” is the worst thing someone can tell you when you’re stressed, but it can truly help as annoying as it is.
And especially in stressful situations, breath can help to trick your body into calming down. Because when you’re stressed, your breathing is more shallow and quick, making your heart rate increase.
But when you’re relaxed, you’re taking slow and deep breaths, causing your heart rate to slow down.
So I’d encourage you to try the 5-5-7 breath. I notice for me too, whether it’s a stressful moment or a full on panic attack, just focusing on counting and letting my mind go blank for 5-10 rounds helps.
But the general gist is that you breathe in for 5 seconds, hold that breath for 5 seconds, and then exhale for 7 seconds. Repeating until you feel more calm and relaxed.
Don’t let your mind keep wandering and just bring the stress back! Focus on the numbers and let your body relax.
This is the same technique I’ve used on the couple panic attacks I’ve had in the gym. Yes, it is as terrible as it sounds to be working out, mind spinning and a panic attack starts.
Check out How to Deal With A Panic Attack During a Workout for more examples
I’d really encourage you to try it out this week. Even if something is mildly starting to bother you, practice this breathing technique for a few rounds and see what happens.
Hopefully it will help you see a more clear and realistic plan forward than one of stress and fear.
Mindful Eating: Slow Down and Savor
Now this last bit may seem like a luxury or not an option for your current reality and work situation, but we’re still going to try it!
Most of us hurry through life because we’re on strict deadlines and routines. Some are real, but others are made up.
I’ll let you have that heart-to-heart with yourself on where you’re creating unrealistic or made up schedules and expectations for yourself. But let’s move on!
I want you to practice slow eating, even just as an experiment this week!
I want you to see how long it takes you to eat your meal. Not how fast or slow you can do it, but realistically, how long does it take you to eat right now?
I noticed when I first did this, I ate my meal in 5 minutes…oof! That’s a bit quick!
But really, think back to where it started; going to school you had a short amount of time to eat. To get from your class to the cafeteria, through the lunch line and find a table, sit down and eat, and soon 30 minutes jumped down to 10. And heaven forbid you wanted to talk to a friend at that time!
And that’s continued on through adulthood. You’re eating through meetings, grabbing food in between patients or not eating at all because your job doesn’t have breaks of any kind (been there done that!).
So by the time you get home and CAN have time to eat, it’s on to the next thing or habit to just eat quickly.
But surprise surprise, this doesn’t help with your rest and digest.
Again, the goal is to TRY and eat slower once you see how quickly you’re eating. Even if it’s only 1-2 meals a day, it’s a start!
Remember, progress over perfection with changes in your life.
Once you realize the added stress you have going on, how can you change it?
Once you realize how you respond to stress, how can you stop the cycle or slow it down?
Once you realize how quickly you eat, how can you slow down to try and make things better?
The goal is still to keep Experimenting and be aware of what happens. Do you like the outcome from the experiment, or do you want to change it to better fit what your goal is?
There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to creating the healthy lifestyle you want. The only focus should be if it’s something you can maintain longterm and enjoy.
Then, adjust from there.
And that’s it for Week 5 of the No More Weight Loss Resolution Challenge!
Keep your eyes peeled for next week and be sure to join the Diary where I’ll be sending you everything right to your inbox.
You’ve got this!
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