Stress Management at Home

1) Organize Yourself - Prepare meals, exercise, plan your day as much as possible.

2) Relax - Make time in your day for meditation, prayer, and breathing techniques. These activities are part of bringing stress down.

3) Get Physical - Most common on the top ten lists for stress management is exercise. Exercise can be used in a variety of ways: to boost self-esteem and to become more fit. It is proven to help us better tolerate stress. See some of the exercise tips below.

4) Get Mental - Stimulating mental activities and hobbies such as reading, board games, music, or even watching a movie are great mental diversions.

5) Talk with a Social Network - Trainers, friends and Structure House participants offer a support system infrastructure and a good network of others to lean on.

6) Exercise: Key for healthy weight control. At Structure House exercise is not just about sweat and exertion. Exercise is also about recapturing the feelings of lightness, energy and strength that are natural to your body. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Keep an Exercise Log: This will help keep you in check to make sure you are performing the correct amount of activity. For weight loss, you should be performing 45 60 minutes of aerobic activity 5 days a week, full-body strength training 2-3 days per week and flexibility exercises each time you exercise.

Exercise More Efficiently, Not Just More: Try cross training (treadmill one day, bicycle the next) or interval training, short bursts of higher intensity activity followed by periods of active recovery. You cannot expect different results if you always do the same thing.

Hire a Trainer: A trainer can review your program and decide if it is time for a change. You should typically change your program every 4-6 months.

Practice Maintaining: Our bodies need a break from weight loss. If you have lost more than 10% of your body weight and you are hitting a plateau, practice maintenance for a few weeks before attempting to lose more weight.

Try a Stress Relieving Activity: If stress is making it hard to keep structured, then try alternative exercise forms: Yoga, Tai Chi, Gyrokinesis or Pilates.

And Remember, Be Realistic: Are you losing 1/2 a pound to 2 pounds per week? Some people get frustrated if they are only losing a 1/2 pound per week, but that is ok. Remember fast weight loss is not healthy. Slow weight loss and consistent behaviors are what keep weight off over time. Lifestyle change is not a quick fix.

Injured?: Remember being injured is not an excuse to not exercise. People who have injuries can exercise in the water. A floatation belt (has a waist circumference up to 64 inches) can give you the buoyancy in the pool for deep water work so there is virtually no impact. Seek the advice of a personal trainer and look for other exercise options.

If you choose not to exercise during this time, then you need to adjust your calories to reflect your new caloric expenditure.

Lee Kern Lee Kern, M.S.W., L.C.S.W, Clinical Director and Jill Kennedy, Certified Exercise Physiologist

Structure House, Inc.

Center for Weight Control & Lifestyle Change

Durham, NC

http://www.structurehouse.com/

800-553-0052

Since 1977