8 Ways To Manage Stress With Healthy Living

Stress is a reality for all people. Ironically, while exercise and nutritious food can help alleviate stress, stress can often make it difficult to exercise and make healthy food choices. Stress management is an individual choice and experience, but there are ways to manage that stress with healthy living choices that can work for anyone. Check it out.

*Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June of 2022 and has been completely revamped for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Two Different Kinds of Stress and How They Relate to You Health and Fitness

Let’s start at the very beginning. Stress, at it’s most basic level, is how we react physically/physiologically/emotionally when we feel under pressure or threatened in some way. Stress can be minor, it can be overwhelming and paralyzing and it can be anything in between.

We all experience stress, some more than others. And to be fair, not all stress is bad. In fact, some stress is very useful! The physical stress of a hard workout, for example, triggers your body to adapt and grow (<< this is exactly the kind of response we’re looking for!). The psychological stress you might feel before a presentation or speech might dial in your focus and energy.

It’s important when talking about stress management to differentiate between the two different kinds of stress: chronic stress and acute stress. In a lot of ways the symptoms of both chronic and acute stress can be very similar if not identical. The difference, and it’s an important one, lies in how constant and persistent the stress – and symptoms too – manifests in your life.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is the prolonged, consistent experience of pressure over an extended period of time. It can stem from a number of different areas of life including:

• Work stress and the challenges, obstacles and pressure you might feel to succeed and thrive there.
• Relationship stress in regard to things like marital problems, parenting anxiety, caretaking responsibilities and keeping up with friendships spanning states and even continents.
• Environmental stress coming from where you live and work, and the political and economic climate of what’s around you.
• Physical stress from injury or illness, how you feel about or in your body, or even burnout from too much intense exercise without a break.

And every other emotional pressure or challenge that you might face on an ongoing timeline.

Acute Stress

Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It’s related to and revolves around pinpointed challenges and pressures you’ve either faced recently or anticipate facing in the near future. Examples of acute stress triggers range but can include things like looming deadlines, big projects, an important presentation or meeting that you’ve just had or have coming up, a fight at home or with a friend, a job interview or any other specific event that leaves you feeling anxious.

The Impact on Your Health and Fitness

Both chronic and acute stress affect you psychologically and physiologically. Symptoms and signs vary in intensity and experience but can include:

• physical aches and pain
• disengagement
• energy depletion
• difficulty sleeping
• decreased energy
• increased muscular tension
• inability to focus
• decrease in motivation
• gastrointestinal problems
• upset stomach

And more. Of course, all of the above can have a negative impact on your health and fitness. You might experience a lack of motivation to workout, or no energy to complete the workout once you’ve started. If you do workout while under stress you might find it harder to recover. You may even be more susceptible to injury.

Emotional eating is another common coping mechanism for stress. Some women experience a complete lack of appetite when stressed. Others might look for comfort from what they’re feeling in the form of food, leading to over-consumption and likely bloating and digestive issues.

*All of this information is not meant to scare you. Think of it this way instead: the more you know the more you can apply that knowledge to your own life and health. The more that you can look for signs and symptoms in your life, the better able you are to turn things around.

8 Ways to Manage Stress with Healthy Living

The key to all of this is not to fear stress or try to live a completely stress-free life but rather to identify where stress is helping you, and where it is hindering you. And to develop strategies and discover tools to deal with the pressure before it becomes overwhelming. Hence the existence of this article and the following 8 ways to manage stress with healthy living!

#1: Practice Mindful Eating Strategies

It’s not only what you eat, but how you eat it that has an effect on your health and wellness.

Your nervous system has two states of being: ‘rest and digest’ (parasympathetic) or ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic). To effectively and efficiently digest and absorb food, your body needs to be in the first state. That is to say, you always want to try to eat while in a calm, stress-free and relaxed environment and state of mind.

Easier said than done?

Maybe. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take conscientious steps towards more mindful eating. Think of these as the how, instead of the what, in regards to food choice and eating habits.

For example…

• Savor meals and snacks. Sit at a table. Put away distractions. Take the time to enjoy the smells, tastes, flavors and textures.
  
• Slow down so that you can not only appreciate the meal, but so that you can recognize fullness cues and stop at 80% full. Aim to feel satisfied, not stuffed.
  
• Check in on your hunger levels. Staying connected to your body’s cues in real time helps to alleviate the anxiety that you might feel around food when you’re stressed. Every few hours stop, observe, listen.
  
• Choose whole foods and reduce your intake of processed foods. Processed foods are designed to make you want more, which only serves to increase any feeling of loss of control or craving.
  
• Stay hydrated and reduce alcohol intake. Increasing water intake is a simple habit but that’s part of the reason it works so well here. And even though alcohol might take the edge off of stress at first, the after effects tend to increase anxiety and make it even harder to sleep overall.

#2: Match Movement to Your Mood

Exercise and movement play an important role in overall stress management. In fact, exercise in almost any form can act as a stress reliever.

That said, your body’s hormonal and physiological reaction to physical stress is the same reaction it has to any other kind of stress. While the kind of physical stress we’re talking about from a HIIT workout or strength workout is beneficial in general, it can compound acute symptoms if you’re already in a stressed state of mind. So it’s important to stay aware and match your choice of movement to your mood.

If you’re feeling stressed don’t eliminate exercise completely, but consider fine-tuning.

• Decrease intensity in the form of weight lifted or energy input
• Increase rest times between exercises and sets
• Adjust the number of times per week you move
• Swap in a stretch session or gentle yoga flow
• Go for a walk outside or do some other form of movement for pleasure

#3: Reframe Exercise

Movement and dedicated attention to your body can be incredibly beneficial for managing stress. But if you’re stress stems from a tight deadline, an overload of work, injury or illness…then exercise for the sake of exercise might feel counterproductive (and therefore more stress inducing than relieving).

Reframe it.

Think about exercise and it’s overall physiological benefits: improved brain health, increased muscle and bone strength, improved health markers and quality of sleep, etc. All real results of movement and exercise – and all things that can help you affectively deal with stress.

If you’re pressed for time, consider going for a walking meeting. When you’ve got a complicated project or relationship issue that you’re working on, go for a walk to clear your head and find quiet space to work through it. If you are injured or dealing with an illness but cleared by your doctor to exercise – do it. All of those physiological benefits listed above can only help to speed up recovery.

#4: Get outside

Personally being in nature reminds me of two fairly juxtaposed realities of life. 1) I realize just how small I am in comparison to the wonders of nature and 2) I am reminded of how incredible it is that my body exists in the first place.

Scrap the barbell. Unplug the treadmill. One of the best ways to manage stress is to get outside. Soak up some sun and surround yourself with nature. Sunlight increases your brain’s production of serotonin, a mood boosting hormone that can help with anxiety and stress. Plus the vastness and color of nature has a calming and peaceful affect that lasts longer than the 10 or 15 minutes that you have to spend in it.

>> 5 Ways the Sun Impacts Your Mental and Physical Health

#5: Find 5 minutes for gentle connection

Stretching and gentle yoga flows reduce physical, muscular tension which (as you know by now), is a form of stress. Connecting to your body, slowing down your breath, feeling the tension and consciously “releasing it”…these actions have a way of centering you in the present. It’s that centering that gives you space to step away from the what’s causing you stress and be without it, if only for a few moments.

On top of that, stretching triggers serotonin production in your brain which acts to relieve anxiety and improve your mood. Imagine taking this stretch session out into nature…

>> Yoga for Inner Peace: 8 Yoga Poses to Relieve Stress in Daily Life

#6: Do something for pure enjoy

Many women will probably admit to doing some form of exercise that they really don’t enjoy for the sake of fitness results. I’ll admit it! And while there are benefits to pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, there are benefits to choosing physical activity that you enjoy as well. Especially when your stressed.

A lot of my clients run 1-2 times a week for the cardiovascular workout but prefer hiking or cycling for pleasure. Or they’ll take their dogs for a walk when they’re feeling stressed because the movement feels good, being outside gives them me-time, and they love being with their pets. Maybe you love to dance. Or swim. Or maybe kickboxing always has a way of boosting your adrenaline and consequentially, your mood. Doing more of that thing – your thing – is a healthy way to manage stress.

#7: Practice progress, let go of perfection

How many times have you set a goal and then thrown yourself into achieving it only to find that this thing that you so badly want is actually making you more stressed out and more anxious? First of all, I see you. I feel that. A lot of the goals that we set for ourselves are big, and so we feel like we need to perfectly stick to the perfect plan – even if that plan is really hard to follow. And then we beat ourselves up when things get off track.

When you’re experiencing stress, and really just all the time, giving yourself room to be less than perfect can go a long way in keeping you motivated, keeping you on track, and ultimately getting you results.

#8: Celebrate small wins

Sometimes, when you’re super stressed out? Just showing up is the win. When your schedule is crunched or you’re feeling extra frustrated or overwhelmed, simply committing to the movement, or the healthy choice, is worth celebrating.

Ultimately, the only moment that matters is this one. It’s the only one we have control over. The one that gives us the opportunity to make a choice. Stress and anxiety have a way of crowding in and emphasizing what’s already passed or what is to come. Take advantage of the benefits of healthy living – movement, nutrient dense foods, stress management resources – to be mindful and stay in the present space.

You’ve got this.