Fight or Flight

[GPStyles]

Great subject and reply Vickie. One (very slight) criticism though. We cannot 'reduce stress' we can only manage it better.

[okie]

Great subject and reply Vickie. One (very slight) criticism though. We cannot 'reduce stress' we can only manage it better.

GPStyles,

I agree with your point but there is a stress reduction aspect when you manage things better. A wise man (my Dad) told me that the key to planning (stress management?) is to ALWAYS build in margins. He added things like 15 minutes early is on time etc. A key I have found to managing stress, especially here in the U.S. is "learning" how to wait! I always carry my back pack around with me contents of which: energy bar, water and a certain yella book! It is a little weird but when I am delayed... say at the dentist office I do not blow a gasket! This is not the case when playing behind club wielding tree sloths! I think everybody has what I call a "silly button", you know something "small" that produces a psycho reaction. For me it is slow play on the golf course!

Vicki,

I appreciate your willingness to share your expertise. Eating smaller more frequent meals literally changed my life. I was prone to "crash" mid morning and mid afternoon (i.e. in between large meals) I felt as weak as a welp etc. In fact,

1. 6 meals per day, taken every three hours
2. The become progressively smaller as the day goes on
3. I seldom eat simple sugars after 2pm
4. I eat quality protein, every mea l but try not to eat more than 4oz of
meat per meal
5. I try to eat raw vegatables eg. salad, broccoli w/hummus
6. NO foods are forbidden! I make the distinction between for "fuel food" and for "feelings food." For feelings is for taste alone, for fuel is for taste and nutrition.

I am working hard to teach my kiddos "how to eat!" I am appalled at the high incidences of child obesity these days.

[GPStyles]

Thanks Vickie, to be fair its not my observation but one I have acknowledged as 'true'. I read it originally via Carey Mumford.

[Vickie Lake]

I don't think I suggested that stress (by most peoples interpretation) can necessarily be eliminated. In fact, the demands on our life typically exist because we want so much. We want rich relationships, we want financial success, we want to see the world, we want exceptional health, we want all of the myriad of delights our great world has to offer. Hans Selye is often referred to as the godfather of understanding stress. In his book, from the early 70's and read by 'moi' at that time) I remember that he said, "stress is the bodies response to the demands placed upon it". So the demands always exist but it is, as gystyles stated, our response that determines how we feel about it, positive or negative, and often how our physiology responds as a consequence of our mental state. So okie, said it well, planning for the demands of your chosen lifestyle often minimize your mental and physical drain and thereby your stress response.

Nutrition was and is the first order of managing the response patterns and the effects of stress related incidents. A popular diet Dr. said food is your drug and as much as I resisted the statement, in the beginning, he is exactly right. The food we eat provides the resources to maintain maximal performance of our many chemical systems that manage our body functions. I still have to finish a full report but let me say here that the cortisol response is not only prolific in our present time because of our 'stressful' schedules but is very often an imbalanced response due to adrenal fatigue. If the adrenal gland is overworked it becomes inefficient at accurately interpreting the level of stress it is addressing and will over compensate with the stress hormones. I will post on the detail of this phenomenon later. I will also address some of the complementary organ functions that excite our production of these hormones. It is important to understand that cortisol is not the enemy but our management of our physiology (which includes mental function) and it can be managed. Heck, learning to say NO to some of the requests in our lives can add as much stress as it takes away. Nobody said it would be easy.

Ok Bagger, I would say you've busted me but you actually caught me in a stress management protocol that works beautifully for me and causes most people to raise their brow in question. I have always been a great sleeper and really believe in the importance of restorative rest. I never believed in the popular saying,"I'll sleep when I'm dead". But in my midlife as a woman I found myself a participant in another hormonal flux, not experienced by our male readers; subtle enough? Suddenly I was awake at 3:00 every morning and watching the clock, tossing and turning, 'trying to go back to sleep' and being enormously anxious as I watched the time move closer and closer to the alarm clock bell. I had for some time had another stressful life experience. I write almost daily but never feel fresh or energetic after a long day of work and since I get up at 5:30 for my day I couldn't imagine getting up early to try to write. Add to it that I do best if 'my mind' knows that I will have atleast two hours without interruption. I always write best in the morning but that is when my clients most want to have their appointments. So . . .I realized that all I had to do was go to bed earlier than any other adult I know, I don't have children in my home anylonger, and I could wake up naturally and get my writing done. In fact, I have had some of my best experiences because there is no interruption, nobody wants to see me at 3:00 a.m. (I had a doctor that saw me at 4:00 for a while), there is no one to call, the world is quiet and I love it. This is where the self management came in. We humans are quick to find all of the problems. Who goes to bed at 7:00. We'll I have about three hours at home after my work day and found that I really could go to sleep quite easily, especially after a few days of staying up after my early morning writing experience. It's is definitely different than most people but so are a lot of my life choices.

So break out of the mold, plan for your life ( am in traffic daily and I only schedule clients around easy traffic flow so a frazzled trainer is not trying to tout health), fuel your body in a way that serves your health and your pleasure. I love a life full of variety and it's a challenge but it is only as stressful as I decide it will be. Oh yea, if you're in traffic, try a book on tape and skip some of the onslot of news that will be available many more times during the day. It is a type of meditation so make sure you like the story.

Vik

[Bagger Lance]

Vickie,

How about extraordinary stress which is usually an effect of extraordinary demands.

In my case, I've been placing a great deal of physical stress on my body in order to meet some mental demands, i.e. goals for the level of fitness I want to achieve. I'm going through some mid-life changes as well and men also experience physical side-effects, but not to the degree that women do. I've been supporting my wife through her hormonal changes so I have a much better appreciation for female challenges as we age. My fitness routine is directly related to helping ease the effects of aging in order to continue experiencing a higher quality of life.

So for those of us who want to break out of a pattern of homeostasis in order to increase our fitness and/or performance levels, we need to increase the stress on our system to get to a higher level. Our bodies loves homeostasis so it is mental willpower that drives the change.

In other cases, extraordinary stress is created externally such as moving to a new city, a change in our relationship with signficant others, job changes, and even particularly demanding golf tournaments that leaves us emotionally and physically spent. A healthy diet to provide the right fuel at the right time and high quality rest is very important. Assuming a person is already managing stress relatively well, the new load will be a challenge and the body will react.

I've experienced this with my fitness routine and I've had to change my habits to accomodate the new stress loads including a change of diet and rest patterns. It's very uncomfortable and difficult to bring the changes into my lifestyle. The motivation to keep going is seeing fat melt off, doubling my strength since starting, along with an increased feeling of well being and confidence levels. Having people notice the changes also helps reinforce the discipline to stay "uncomfortably stressed".

So many people give up on new goals or new life challenges because the stress is just too much to manage. Its simply too hard or uncomfortable to reach that next level of homeostasis, so the easy and pleasurable response is to give up and keep "playing to your ability" or even worse overinduldge in complacency (which is life, liberty and the pursuit of nothing), and let age plus excess calories take its toll in reducing abilities. We obviously want to encourage the opposite which is take on new goals and learn to manage the associated stress that comes with it.

[okie]

I enjoy learning from older folks!

[Bagger Lance]

I enjoy learning from older folks!

Easy there Oklahoma, I just had my 49th two days ago. I'm still cranky and my T-levels are on the rise.

One of my training buddys in the Gym who is 8 years my senior asked if I was going to Chucky Cheese for my birthday.
To celebrate the occassion and shut up my training partner, I came within 15lbs of my lifetime best bench press that I hit in my early 20's

Sick... I know, but somehow it made me feel better about my age.