If you've ever felt stressed, then you know how hard it can be to feel like yourself. Stress affects everyone differently, and often has a physical impact on your body that can make you feel worse. While it's important to understand what stress is and how it affects your mind and body, there are simple ways to reduce stress in your life so that you can live without constant worry or anxiety.
You can be stressed and not know it.
Did you know that stress can be caused by more than just a stressful situation? Stress is not always obvious, and it's often not as simple as a stressful event. According to the American Psychological Association, stress can be caused by anything from financial pressures to long commutes. Stress can come in many forms—emotional or physical—and last for either short periods of time or much longer ones.
Even if you don't feel like your life is particularly stressful right now (and who does?), there are some things that may be affecting your mental state without you realizing it: an unhealthy relationship with food; lack of exercise; poor sleep habits; taking on too many responsibilities at once; etc., etc., etc...
You can change your life to reduce stress.
Stress can be good or bad, depending on the situation. In situations where you need to perform at your best, stress can help you focus and get things done; in situations where you're facing overwhelming pressure and stress, it can be a serious threat to your health.
In general, it's important to recognize that reducing stress is about making changes in your life—it's not about quitting school or quitting your job (although these might be necessary in some cases). If you want to reduce stress in your life but don't know where to start, here are some examples of things that might help:
Taking breaks from work
Exercising regularly
Getting enough sleep each night
Stress can make you eat more and exercise less
As a general rule, stress tends to make you want to eat more. There are several reasons for this. First, it may be a way of self-soothing or distracting yourself from the source of your stress by focusing on food. Second, stress can cause cravings for comfort foods like sugar and fat (these foods give an instant boost in energy). Third, our bodies associate intense feelings with eating—for example, if we've just experienced something scary or upsetting, the sensation is often followed by hunger pangs as our brains try to calm down by eating what they need most at that moment. Fourthly: all bets are off when it comes to eating under pressure! Stress makes us lose control over our impulses; in fact research has shown that people tend not only want but NEED more food when they're stressed out than when they're relaxed—and they'll eat whatever happens their path first instead of making good choices about what they actually need before indulging themselves with junk food (which ironically leaves them even hungrier afterwards).
And finally...
Stress lowers your libido.
Stress can not only affect your sex drive, but it can also make you less interested in sex.
If you’re stressed out, your body will start to take its toll on other areas of life as well. It will feel as though all your energy and attention are focused on the situation at hand, but this leaves little room for other things (like sexual desire). Stress can cause depression, which has been shown to negatively impact sexual activity among women. A study found that women who had depression were less likely to have sex than those who weren’t depressed—and the longer they suffered from depression, the more their libido decreased!
Stress may also lead to erectile dysfunction or low testosterone levels that could contribute to a lack of interest in or ability for intercourse or masturbation.
Stress makes you age faster
Stress is the one thing that can make you look old before your time. Stress causes wrinkles, dull skin, and thinning hair—and that's just the beginning. As if those things weren't bad enough.
But wait! There’s more: stress can cause diabetes and high blood pressure. It can also lead to a weakened immune system (which means less resistance to illnesses like colds or flu). And have you ever noticed how many people seem to get sick when they're stressed out? Think about it—your body goes into a state of emergency when you're under stress, which means allocating energy away from other areas (like digestion) in order to focus on keeping yourself alive for another few seconds. That much activity takes its toll on your body over time—and if there's anything we've learned from watching TV shows about forensics investigators (like CSI: Miami), it's that victims' bodies always tell an interesting story about their last hours on earth…
Chronic stress leads to wrinkles and dull skin.
Stress is a major contributor to wrinkles and dull skin.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, increases with chronic stress. As cortisol levels rise, your skin's immune system becomes compromised and it becomes less hydrated—and you know what happens when your skin gets dehydrated: wrinkles! The barrier function of the epidermis also becomes compromised as well. This means that moisture doesn't stay in your face as long, which makes it look dull and drier that it would normally.
Stress can affect your gut health
It's not well understood how stress affects the gut, but some experts believe it may affect your microbiome (the trillions of bacteria that live in your body), which can lead to inflammation and other issues. Stress can cause stomach pain or cramps, diarrhea, constipation or even ulcers.
if you feel like your gut health is impaired from stress, why not give it some extra support with probiotics such as these from The Beauty Chef.
Stress has a big impact on your diet
Stress can have a big impact on your diet. Some of the ways that stress may impact your eating habits include:
Eat more because you're stressed out—In response to stress, some people eat as a way of coping with their emotions or as a reward for facing an unpleasant situation. If you find yourself reaching for comfort foods like ice cream or chocolate whenever you're feeling down, it's possible that your behavior is linked to stressful times in your life.
Eat less—Stress can also lead to decreased appetite and weight loss due to changes in hormone levels caused by stress hormones such as cortisol. In other words, when people are under extreme amounts of stress, they often experience symptoms such as muscle weakness, fatigue and feeling faint/dizzy/lightheaded which can make it harder for them to eat enough food (and therefore gain weight).
Don't eat anything at all—While many people try not eating at all when they’re stressed out (or just forget), this isn’t very healthy since our brains need energy from food in order function properly!
You may not even be aware of your stress
When you're stressed out, it's easy to think that the problem is your work, relationship or money. But that's not always the case. Sometimes, the source of your stress is less obvious -- like not having enough time to do everything you need to do in a day.
If this sounds familiar, it's time to start paying attention and figuring out how much stress you're taking on yourself.
Sleep can help
Sleep it off. One of the best ways to combat stress is to get a good night's sleep—7-9 hours per night is recommended.
Avoid caffeine and nicotine in the evening: Caffeine can take more than 6 hours to leave your system, so if you want a restful night of sleep, avoid caffeine after midday. Nicotine is also an energizer, so if you're trying to unwind at night, smoking cigarettes can make that harder for you.
Try some relaxation techniques: If your mind won't stop racing with thoughts about your day or upcoming events, try some relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing exercises (like yoga).
Why not download my SLEEP eBook. It's packed full of tips for getting the best night's sleep possible.
Burn some essential oil blends to help with your sleep. Calm is my favourite for sleeping.
Try some herbal teas to help with your sleep. My 'Time Out' blend has to be my favourite.
Be aware of stress and combat it before it begins to truly hurt you.
Stress is a normal part of life, so if you aren't stressed out, then something is wrong. Stress can be good for you as it helps your body prepare for fight-or-flight situations. However, too much stress can lead to serious health problems such as insomnia, depression and high blood pressure.
To avoid getting stressed out:
Take time out of each day to relax and unwind with hobbies or activities that interest you.
Avoid overcommitting yourself by taking on too many responsibilities.
To cope with stress:
Talk about your feelings with friends and family members who care about you or professionals like counselors or therapists who are trained in dealing with these issues (you should talk to someone if your feelings become overwhelming).
Exercise regularly — even something as simple as walking around the block will help reduce stress levels in your body!
There are many ways that stress affects your body, and many of them are in areas you may not have been aware of. So now that you know how stress can affect your skin, gut health, sleep and libido, it’s up to you to take action on this information. If you feel like something isn’t right with how your life is going, then do something about it! But remember: even though stress is unavoidable sometimes, there are ways to combat it before it begins to truly hurt you.
I hope you found this useful,
Thanks so much for reading,
Emmaline x
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