Wellness Quest 2014….and then there was stress

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to run away from your life? Today was one of those days for me. I woke up at the crack of dawn because we had gotten a few inches of snow over night. After the winter we have had this year, that part was no big deal, just wanted to avoid all the slow pokes who freak out when there is any precipitation and decide to drive at .5mph. So all is going fine, then I go out to get in the car and it starts making this loud clunking noise and not running much at all. Tried driving it around the block and barely made it back to my driveway. Sooooooooo, the lovely vehicle gets taken to the repair shop, and I’m stuck at home wasting a vacation day. After lunch we got the run down of what the problem is, and the bottom line is,  it will cost around $900.00. OUCH! But other than that issue, the car is in great shape. Funny.

Since I have had an unexpected day stuck at home, it got me to thinking about how stress affects our health. I lose what little appetite I do have completely when I am under a lot of stress. Other people eat when stressed. Since we are all bombarded by stress and pressure from every direction every day, it got me to wondering how anyone can feel good about themselves on a daily basis.  The world at large broadcasts the message that you are not valuable or worthy if you are not thin and good looking. That IS total crap, but that is the message we get in advertising, in movies, everywhere you look.  So how can you have a healthy self esteem if you are constantly bombarded with messages that you are not good enough? We should be more concerned about good nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle than about what we look like, but sadly that is not how society in general sees things. We should celebrate our differences.

Some people are naturally athletic, energetic and thin. They came that way and can’t help being who they are.

Some of us for one reason or another, are more couch potato than athlete. Jazi (above) and I both have autoimmune disease which affects our energy levels on any given day. Some days are athletic, others couch potato. We can take good care of ourselves and keep the autoimmune response very low, but sometimes it just catches up to us.

The point is everyone is different, and everyone does things differently. What we should be concerned with is living a healthy lifestyle, taking good care of ourselves and our loved ones and being happy with who we are. You don’t have to be an olympic athlete to be healthy. Just do something active every day and eat a nutritious diet. Nutrition is not low fat or low calorie. It’s not about depriving yourself and going hungry to stay thin. It is about feeding your body the nutrients it needs to live life to the fullest every day. To be able to enjoy your family, friends and whatever activities you might enjoy.

Do something good for you every day. Don’t live to eat, eat to live. And be kind to yourself and others. We all deserve that. We are all faced with stress and struggles every single day.  Try to arm yourself with as much positivity as you can with good food, good friends and a little dessert once in a while.

xoxo

Kate