Practical ways to recognize and managing stress

Mental stress occurs when you are frustrated, angry, or anxious. Stress can happen in a productive situation, like stressing muscles to gain strength, or stress can negatively impact the body and mind. Some pressure is good, improving motivation and productivity. But what can you do when stress elevates to an unhealthy level? What's stressful for one person may not be stressful for another. 

If it causes you to stress, that is enough. Look for ways to manage the stress that is individual to your circumstances. I am a "hands-on Controller."  I get paid good money to serve as office manager and financial wizard and to ensure profitable operational control. In this role, my stress can be overwhelming. Employees have demands, emails to answer, financial statements to compile and report, bills to be paid, and cash to receive and apply to the customers' accounts. Once I thought about running down the hall and bouncing off the wall, knocking myself silly.

Stress can include too many phone calls and emails, meetings that interfere with deadlines, and the physical stress of sitting or standing for an extended period. However, learning to manage stress is the healthier way to meet the daily challenge. When facing pressure at work, maintain a sense of humor. Realize that mistakes happen.

 One of the simplest methods is to take periodic breaks. Get up, stretch, and move away from your work area for a few minutes. If your work culture does not have formal breaks,  you can still take short breaks to play a game of solitaire or a word game, anything quick requiring concentration that takes your mind off the problem or situation. Or take a break and remain productive by sorting your mail, cleaning off your desk, or catching up on some filing. These tasks are mental breaks.

Practice deep breathing: sit up straight, inhale deeply and exhale to the count of 10. Repeat this four or five times. It increases the oxygen in the blood and will refresh you. When the focus is on breathing, your mind will relax. You may come up with a better idea or change your perceptions.

For continuous stress management, exercise regularly. Exercise releases endorphins, which elevate your mood and help promote a sense of well-being. I like to exercise right after work. Exercising is my way to bridge the day between work and home. Walking enables you to relax, releases the workday, and renews your energy for the next set of tasks at home. You can also take an aerobic or yoga class on your way home from work or simply exercise at a gym with some good music.

Remember to include laughter in your daily routine. Laughing has positive benefits and is proven to reduce stress. Laughter enables you to be less serious about yourself and lifts your spirits. Laughter can result in more creativity and perhaps better problem-solving. I have a dark sense of humor and employ this daily. I have a voodoo doll with my boss's face glued on it and a big hatpin holding it on my bulletin board. If this is not for you, still look for opportunities to laugh. Make some time to enjoy a good comedy show or movie, the sillier, the better.

Make time to read. Concentrating takes your mind off the day and helps you to rest. For the best relief, put the trade journals aside and pick up a mystery or romance.

Managing stress is possible. It is important to move away from the circumstances that promote stress. Socialize regularly with friends. A good dinner with friends, a movie, shopping, playing cards, bowling, or taking a pottery class (or whatever interests you) help maintain a sense of self and accomplishment apart from the workplace. Recognize what your stress inducers are, and use short breaks, laughter, exercise, reading, and time with friends to allow yourself time to recharge.

The downside of energy drinks

How often do you reach for an energy drink to increase alertness? While energy drinks help during tasks that require focus, regular consumption of energy drinks pose health risks and sudden death in some individuals. When we choose energy drinks as a substitute for sleep, we injure our bodies and can develop long-term health problems. Research and company product analysis reveals the average teen and young adult consumes two to three 16-ounce to 24-ounce servings daily.

While parents recoil at the thought of young teens having coffee with breakfast, permitting energy drinks causes excess caffeine consumption and leads to a host of additional health issues. It is important to understand that the instant alertness from an energy drink comes from excess amounts of caffeine and sugar. An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains 100 milligrams of caffeine, as does eight ounces of the average energy drink. However, the average size for an energy drink is 16 to 24 ounces, containing 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine per can.

When the caffeine content in the energy drink is combined with sugar, (an average of 15 teaspoons, or one-third cup, per 16 ounce serving), trace B vitamins, and carnitine (an amino acid purportedly pumps up endurance and promotes fat burning. Most people only need extra carnitine if deficient (which is rare) and more than 3 grams a day can lead to stomach upset and possibly seizures. The combination of ingredients in energy drinks can lead to high blood pressure, depression, and cardiac arrhythmia. As of 2014, 34 cases of deaths and 56 serious health events linked directly to energy drink consumption have been reported by the Food and Drug Administration. This may seem like a small number, but consider the unreported cases of high blood pressure complications, anxiety, cardio arrhythmia, and depression that have roots in over consumptions of energy drinks.

For a review of popular energy drinks by Consumer Reports click here.

High blood pressure affects the ability of the arteries to open and close. When your blood pressure rises, the muscles in the artery wall respond by pushing back harder. This enlarges the arterial muscles and makes the artery walls thicker. Thicker arteries decrease the amount of blood that can pass through the arteries.  Over time, high blood pressure leads to heart failure, kidney failure, stroke, dementia and more. For a full list click here. 

Depression associated with energy drink consumption is caused by a rise in the brain chemical norepinephrine. As the nerepinephrine increases, there are enhanced negative feelings, feelings of distrust, and increasing the desire to fight or flee from unpleasant situations. In addition, anxiety increases. “In previous research, we found that energy drink consumption increased blood pressure in healthy young adults,” explained first author and Mayo Clinic cardiology fellow Anna Svatikova. “We now show that the increases in blood pressure are accompanied by increases in norepinephrine, a stress hormone chemical, and this could predispose an increased risk of cardiac events — even in healthy people.”

Heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) occur when the electrical impulses that coordinates your heartbeats do not work properly, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. The excess caffeine and sugar in the energy drinks contribute to abnormal heart rhythm.

Ask yourself if the energy drink is really worth the risk. There are so many healthier ways to increase and sustain your energy. Practice getting 7-8 hours sleep each night, improve your diet my including lean protein and smart carbs like almonds, cheese and Greek yogurt. While working, at home or on the job, take a short walk (5-10 minutes) about every hour and a half. Take naps when you can (there is nothing like a 20 minutes power nap.

Get creative, get more energy and improve your overall health by ditching the instant energy and focusing on renewable, sustainable energy.

Yard work beats a trip to the gym

Don’t worry if you can’t make a trip to the gym because of yard work. Yard work burns calories and uses your abs, strengthens your arms, and is a killer workout for your legs. Yard work provides a great workout, burns lots of calories and increases muscle strength and definition. So mow, rake and plant. You will get a great work out, and a sense of accomplishment at the same time.

The internet exercise site Exrx has an excellent guide to calculate the calories burned during yard work.  Calculating the calories burned in one hour doing heavy yard work (based on body weight and number of minutes):

Weight 125 pounds = 425 calories
Weight 155 pounds = 527 calories
Weight 200 pounds = 680 calories

Heavy yard work burns 3.4 calories a minute (choose any weight above; divide the calories burned for one hour (60 minutes) by the weight. If you want to see your results instantly, look into a fitness tracker. The fitness tracker lets your monitor your heart rate and view the calories burned as you work.

So what is heavy yard work?

Lawn mowing

Mowing the lawn is equivalent to walking on the treadmill. If you have a hilly yard, the workout is even better. Mowing uses the major muscles in the upper body and legs. If you use a bagger on the mower, the trunk and arms benefit from bag removal and emptying. If you rake and bag the mown grass, you receive the same benefits as raking the yard.

Rake and clean the yard

During the early spring, raking up leaves and debris is equivalent to a workout on a rowing machine. Raking uses the entire upper body, the chests pectoral muscles, the shoulder muscles and the back muscles. Picking up leaves and debris works the quads, the hips, and the buttocks.

Digging

Digging with a shovel or a spade is equivalent lifting weights. The digging action uses the quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, the buttocks, biceps, and triceps. Maintaining balance as you exert the muscles provides a palates workout for the trunk.

Weeding and planting

Planting and weeding is equivalent to a cross trainer, with the added benefits of arm, shoulder and back muscles as you pull up deeply rooted growth. Planting and weeding use the back, shoulder, and arm muscles, the buttocks, and thigh muscles. Whether you kneel or squat to weed and plant, the trunk muscles are engaged for balance.

Fun fact: If you are carrying and spreading bags of mulch or top soil, the addition weight and action can burn 7 calories a minutes.