How Much Are You Paying for Stress in Your Life?

Do you realize how much you are paying for stress in your life? We are so used to everyday stresses that we often do not realize just how much our stresses are costing us.
Often we pay in the form of bodily pains, sleeplessness and anxiety. We have become so accustomed to our habits and lifestyle that it is only after our bodies alert us to take action that we begin to instigate change. And even then, sometimes we don't even realize that our body is sending us messages.

The root cause of most body issues is a mental or physical behavior that is not serving you. Often my clients come to me with digestion, insomnia, or out of control eating issues and are looking for a quick food fix. I am happy to help them change their diet for the better. But in order to really make these food changes stick, first we determine the root lifestyle causes that are resulting in the body's issues. Is the insomnia caused by late night worrying about a stressful job? Could the digestion issues be triggered every time a certain topic of conversation is brought up?

This principle is best explained with the theory of primary and secondary food that I learned at my nutrition school. Primary foods are those areas of your life that feed you at the heart and soul level – your relationships, career, spirituality, exercise, and family. Secondary foods are the actual foods that you put into your mouth. Primary and secondary foods are intricately connected and are equally important.

When your primary food is not going well, your body can begin to break down and it becomes difficult to make healthy secondary food choices. For example, if you dislike your job, you may start to get chronic headaches everyday at 10 AM – which could lead you to drink three cups of coffee to avoid the pain and stay awake.

While this is all very easy to explain, it can actually be very difficult at times to determine what the true primary food issues are that are causing insomnia or headaches or other body reactions. And it can be even harder to determine solutions that ease the stress. We can't all quit our jobs immediately or escape on vacations. But sometimes a small lifestyle change can help offset some of the stress that appears in your body as pain, sleeplessness, or feeling out of control. Let me give you a few examples.

This morning I was awakened by a client who was calling me with major stomach distress. She said "Monica, I'm most upset because last week, I was out of town taking care of my mom and the stomach issues went away. Now they are back with a vengeance and I think I am eating most of the same foods." After we determined that she was for sure eating the same foods, I asked her about stress. She replied "Oh yes, I am taking the GRE exam next week and I haven't taken a test like that in over ten years. I couldn't really think about it last week because I was so busy taking care of my mom. But now I am totally focused on it. But I don't really feel that much stress." I suggested that she take a fifteen minute break and do some deep breathing or meditation and see if that helped her stomach at all. I told her how in my practice most women report having stomach issues flare up after stress inducing activities like moving to New York or post a relationship break up. Later I received an e-mail that her stomach was feeling much better and she was glad for the reminder to slow down every now and then.

Another client reported that she was having trouble concentrating at work because she repeatedly woke up during the night and was having nightmares. When I asked her about it she said "I just have so much going in my life right now. I'm looking for a new job, moving and dealing with some family issues. But my nightmares aren't about any of those things. I wake up with a general feeling of panic and anxiety at 3 AM and then I just toss and turn for the rest of the night, trying to go back to sleep." I suggested that she buy a journal and keep it by her bed. When she woke up at 3 AM, she could grab the journal and just start writing. She replied that she had actually kept a journal for years before she got married but had stopped writing after her marriage and birth of her daughter because she was afraid that someone might find what she had written. So I told her to rip up the pages after she wrote them. The first night she tried it, she wrote for pages and pages – two hours and dozens of pages later she went back to sleep. She is continuing to write at night and I think she will continue for a little while – but the good news is that is finally sleeping soundly during the hours that she does find rest.

In another case, I was doing an initial consultation with a female in her thirties. She was telling me about how she felt like she couldn't control her eating habits. I asked her to give me an example. She said "Like this morning. I got to work and scarfed down a piece of French toast and a candy bar before 9 AM. I am such a mess." I paused for a moment and asked her what had happened this morning before she came to work. She replied "I got into a fight with my husband and was late dropping my son off at school." I suggested that it wasn't that she was out of control with her eating, but that certain emotions triggered her unhealthy eating spells. She is now becoming more and more aware of her emotions and learning to recognize the danger periods before they result in an out of control food binge.

I am not implying that these cases are so simple that deep breathing or journal writing are the deepest and only solutions, but they are helpful lifestyle fixes that can provide some immediate relief while my clients are working on the deeper issues or bigger life changes.

The next time you are struggling with unexplained sleepless nights, headaches, stomachaches or random aches and pains, look beneath the surface and see what primary food issues may be causing your body to react before you reach for the aspirin or antacid. Then determine if there is a way that you could relieve the stress and anxiety that you are feeling by making a major or minor lifestyle or food change. And if you need a hand, be sure to give Ideal Balance a call.