"Reduce your stress" is the most stressful advice

Stress is bad; it’s bad for our health, for our weight and certainly our mood. But telling a stressed out person to decrease their stress is like telling an overweight person to lose weight…#nothelpful.
In our Foodstalking program, we ask participants "how do you feel?" each day. One of my clients today said "homicidal" she was joking (promise) but I totally get it.

If you want to decrease your stress but don’t have the time to sort out how, here are some ideas that work for me.

Relaxation Rituals

When I get to the office, I light our official office candle and put on Pandora. I may only have five minutes before a client but a little Ray LaMontagne radio injects a little relaxation into my morning.

Perhaps a podcast?

I am somewhat new to the podcast world. I find podcasts help me zone out when I’m commuting or just walking down the street. Sure, there are meditation and relaxation podcasts but many podcasts work. Hey, last night I went to sleep listening to Not Here to Make Friends (a VERYsmart podcast about the Bachelor). I close my eyes, set the sleep timer and fall asleep much faster than I would if I were watching TV. Dear Sugar is another favorite podcast.

Get outside

You have a million things to do and you feel you have to be chained to your desk OR maybe you’re overwhelmed and somewhat stifled. Get outside. I cannot tell you how many times I step outside and feel “ok things aren’t that bad”. Sure, it’s not going to solve all your problems but it’ll put them in perspective.

Plan a trip

I recently read a review of a travel writer’s book. I’m paraphrasing (I can’t even recall the author to go back and find the quote) but he said, whenever I’m feeling a little low it’s because I don’t have a trip planned. I know this is definitely one of Carolyn’s mood-boosting strategies. It doesn’t have to be exotic…maybe you look up a place to go hiking but there’s something powerful about shifting your focus to the future. And it’s usually when you feel you can’t get away or the thought of packing is too much that you need it most.

Take a bath

I realize not everyone is a bath person. If you are, it’s an inexpensive way to chill out. Whenever I can I take a bath before bed. I’m a fan of magnesium bath flakes…currently loving these from Naturopathica.

As you can see, these are not complicated hacks but they help. 

I’d love to know what stress-busting hacks you employ. Any rituals, tricks or tweaks you’ve made to reduce stress?

Something Better than Therapy

I grew up in a nature loving family.  There were walks in nature preserves, gardens (both a regular garden and a shade garden), flowers and photographs of flowers. As amazing as this sounds, it didn’t click with me. I don’t think I’m a naturally visual person. As a child if I went on the walk, my thoughts would wander and I’d be less likely to notice anything around me. And when it came to the garden or plants, while I don’t remember much I do recall the stress of having to take care of them when my parents were not there. It didn’t come naturally.

A lot of this has changed. I still find it easy to get so “in my head” on a run that I tune everything out; however,  I am appreciative of the trees and the flowers even if I don’t really know one from the other with the exception of the obvious ones.

I adapted a post for Fitbit’s blog. While it’s no surprise that time spent outdoors is nice. It’s remarkable what it can do for both our mental and physical health. I also recently discovered the work of Louie Schwartzberg. Do you know of him? He’s a photographer and I guess you can say filmmaker. In a discussion on getting people to care about climate change and the Earth he said something that caught my attention. He said people don’t respond to lists of things they should do. “We protect what we love.”

Here is a glimpse of what Schwartzberg does, I watch this video almost daily and encourage you to check it out.  With Earth Day tomorrow, spend time outside today. See what it does to the trajectory of your day and then tomorrow we’ll be back with some actionable steps but I need you to fall in love first.

How much time do you spend outside each day? Would you consider yourself a nature lover? Were you always? What do you think is the best way to get people to care about the planet?

I think I'm a dog person

My friends laughed at me and saying things like “I can’t believe you’re getting a dog” or “you don’t seem like a dog person” and I took great (ok slight) offense to these comments. The dog owners I know love their dogs, take care of them and walk them- did I seem like someone who incapable of these things? I have a husband and two sons and (at least on certain days) I think they’d say I’m caring maybe even affectionate. But deep down I know these friends, as good friends often are, were dead on. I am not someone who ever talked to my kids in the “gootchie gootchie goo” voice, I am not someone who pets other dogs or someone who wants anyone, human or canine, to lick my face. I should say I wasn’t that way before because now? I think I’m a dog person.

Like I’m sure many of you, I like my life full and add more that I should. If my life were a plate, I would judge the portion of food on it gluttonous. At work, I like to see 8 clients a day, that’s ideal but on many days I see 12. I wake up at 5am to get stuff done. Right now I have a new book coming out, we doing a major renovation in Vermont so a new puppy? Why not? Well, when I was out on West End Avenue at 2AM with the new puppy the first night or when he sprinted over to the carpet in the foyer (which I love) and “marked it” or when he chewed on the wires that provide our internet connect I had a few responses.

But here’s the deal- this little puppy Bronco is really cute. And because I feed him and walk him (most of the time) and give him (kale) treats he likes me. I loved a study conducted on married people that concluded that your recovery from a stressful event is quicker when you’re around your dog than your spouse, interesting. And the walking? Well my Fitbit is happy (dog owners are more likely to get sufficient physical activity)…I get home from spinning and we go for a walk or when I get home from work. The truth is it’s nice to be outside at all these different times of day. I was watching my new favorite show Super Soul Sunday yesterday and Ann Lamott said, “when you are stuck spiritually just go outside”.

 I used to be someone who didn’t leave the house without brushing my hair and applying some concealer and now I go out in pajama bottoms or whatever else I am wearing or not wearing when nature calls for Bronco. The whole family is in love and it has given us a project or cause to come together around. My 11 year old walks him and the 9 year old works on his training and my semi-reserved (opposites attract) husband enjoys the lady-attention one gets when a grown man is with a teeny tiny animal (I am approached less often but I do have some new gay, male friends so it’s perfect). It’s really as though a whole parallel universe has been opened up.

If there’s one thing I could do without it’s the chatter from strangers. Having a dog has been shown to increase social engagement but I feel I was already engaged enough. I joke that I want a sign that reads “he’s a Boston terrier puppy, he’s 13 weeks old, yes he’s a lot of work but it’s all worth it.”

PS We had our follow up vet appointment. The little pup was just over 5 pounds when we got him and in a few weeks he’s almost 8 pounds. Too much “good” fat? I don’t want him to have issues but…kidding. Now that I’m in this world, I was happy to see the FDA taking pet food more seriously.

Do you have a dog? Have you considered getting one? Why/why not?

The winners of the Hilary’s Burger Giveaway are Nina, Andrea, Jen, EA (the Spicy RD) and Sasha.