Trouble-Shooting: Stress Management Tips

I hear this a lot, people who say they are “doing everything right” and are still not feeling as well as they would like. Remember, I’m not your doctor, but I can be your health coach and part of what health coaches do is trouble-shoot, so that’s what we’re going to do today.

First of all, if you told me you were sticking to your squeaky clean paleo diet and still not feeling well, I would believe you. Many doctors think their sick or overweight patients are not being honest about their lifestyle choices, but a coach is always on your side.

If you came to an appointment with me and told me that you were doing everything right and not seeing improvement, here’s what I’d say:

Tell me what you mean by “doing everything right?”

Many people are simply referring to diet when they say they’re on track. Believe me when I say that diet is critical, but it’s not everything.

Functional medicine has six main pillars: diet, movement, stress management, sleep health, environmental toxins and community/relationships. That’s a lot to tackle and most people can’t have all those categories dialed in all at once.

Just because your diet is super clean, let’s just say Paleo for the sake of this example, that doesn’t mean that one of those other areas might not be way out of alignment for what your body needs.

There is a lot to tweak and with some careful exploration, we can start to pinpoint areas you might want to address. Over the next several months, we’ll tackle some areas for improvement (or at least assessment) in each of the areas of Functional Medicine. This will by no means be an exhaustive list. Consider this a jumping off point. Consider these words carefully because at first blush, you may think stress, for example, isn’t an issue for you, but as you really consider, you might begin to see otherwise.

Stress is where we’re going to start today. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Do you perceive that you are highly stressed – at work, at home, with family responsibilities, by your illness?

• What do you do to relieve stress? 

• What has worked for you in the past? 

• What is your favorite way to relieve stress? 

• How can you work that into your daily life? 

• Do you need to take some time off of work? 

• Do you need to hire a babysitter so you can have an hour of quiet? 

These are obviously very general questions and are intended to simply get you to think about the level of stress in your life and how you are dealing with it.

If you are feeling stressed and you think it is affecting your life in negative ways, then it’s time to start making a plan.

I love to start with a single goal. Think about how you might relieve your stress at least to the point where it is not negatively impacting your health dramatically and then figure out how you can work that stress relief into your daily/weekly/monthly routine.

Every single person’s situation is different and if these general tips are not helpful, then maybe you need to work with a coach one-on-one, but I do think the work begins with you and so there is a lot you can do on your own.

When making your stress-relieving plans, be realistic. Don’t decide that a massage at the spa is the only way you relieve your stress and then decide you’re going to have to make a trip to the spa every week if that does not fit your schedule and budget. But maybe you can work in that massage quarterly or ask your significant other to give you a massage after particularly hard days.

As a work-from-home-homeschooling mama of teenagers, I understand what it means for your days to be packed full. You are busy and stressed both physically and emotionally. For many years, I needed 30 minutes in the afternoon every day to be by myself with a cup of coffee and a book or magazine if I was going to make it to dinner time. When the kids were really little, I did this when they napped. As they got older, I could get them busy with a safe activity while I retreated to my room. And now, they barely know I’m around (ha ha!) so it would seem like I could get lots and lots of breaks, but in fact, I’m busier than ever and I have to remind myself to take that little self-care break. Sometimes I set an alarm. Sometimes I write it in my calendar. I don’t get my break at the same time everyday, but I do get my break. I realized a long time ago that as an introvert, I must have time alone to recharge. If I don’t get that, the stress slowly builds until I crack. And that’s not pleasant for me or anyone around me!

So if you think that stress may be playing a factor in your overall health, it’s time to do some thinking. Go back to those questions above as a starting place.

If you have stress-relieving tips that work great for you, please share them in the comments below so your wisdom can help someone else.

Final thoughts: You have to be honest with yourself. Remember that managing your health with functional medicine is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. If you have an autoimmune disease or another chronic health condition such as Type 2 Diabetes, managing your health with functional medicine is not a part-time endeavor. It’s full time and it’s forever. That’s why it’s hard. Let’s just say you really have most things in proper alignment for your body, but you just can’t make yourself stop going out for beer on Friday night. And don’t forget – you don’t feel well. That’s why you’re here. You have to make a decision – no one else can make this decision for you – do you want to be well or do you want whatever it is that you’re getting from that particular beverage? Could you substitute anything else for that beer and see if that makes a difference? What are you willing to try? How much is it worth to you?

If this article has stirred up some questions for you or better yet, some motivation to finally make the changes you know you’ve been meaning to make, I’d love to help! You might benefit from some one-on-one health coaching. You can check out all my package options here and even sign up for a free consult. No strings attached. I promise! My whole goal is to help as many people be well as possible. I’ve found freedom from my autoimmune disease and I want others to experience that freedom as well.