Is the advice I was given last week. We are going through a time with unprecedented stress and confusion. That being said, I had to take time to think about it. I have a job, I am considered an essential employee, I can still pay bills, I have food (and toilet paper), and I still have somewhere to go most days. What more could I possibly need? 

The truth is, I am still feeling the stress. The hospital isn’t the same right now. I am worried about friends and family and I feel overwhelmed at how incredibly unprepared our country is for this pandemic. 

A lot of us use food as a tool for coping. Which, I might add, is incredibly normal. Studies show that about 40% of people eat more when they are stressed, about 40% of people eat less, and 20% of people have no changes in appetite in response to stress. However, we all have something in common… we all crave and prefer hyperpalatable, greasy, fatty, and sugar-filled foods when we are stressed. Sound familiar? 

Stress is often defined as any real or perceived threat on our current homeostatic (safe and normal) environment. We all experience acute spells of stress called eustress, or commonly referred to “good stress.” This may be the stress of starting a new job, something went wrong in your day that now has to be fixed, or getting a new pet. These are fleeting experiences that trigger a stress response for a short period of time and may have a more positive effect but are not ongoing. 

Stress responses activate a biological cascade that enables our body to act quickly to different stimuli. It begins with what is called corticotropin-releasing factor which stimulates activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis; this axis of events then leads to the release of glucocorticoids or cortisol. 

Most people have heard or cortisol before, but only in a negative setting. I think it is important to set the record straight; in a fight or flight response cortisol is what enables your body to use energy more quickly, it increases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the muscles, heart and brain. These are all important and, in many cases, biologically advantageous.

The trouble is when have constant, chronic stress. When our fight or flight response is constantly being stimulated, this may lead to exhaustion, poor digestion, increased appetite, and increase in fatty tissue in our abdominal areas. All of those biologically advantageous responses may become harmful to our health. 

So how do work with our bodies? How do we take a break? 

We don’t add anything extra. Yes, a global pandemic is incredibly stressful, so don’t make it worse for yourself. Focus on the things that you can control. You can control your reaction to the things around you. You can control your mindset and your positivity. 

It’s easy to say, “Okay, I will be easier on myself” (trust me I do it all the time), but then to put it into practice… that’s a different story. I find that unless I have a plan of action, nothing changes. This is true anytime I am trying to change a behavior, and I think it’s applicable here too. 

Here is what I am doing: 

• I am doing more yoga, running, and medication to clear my head.
• I am eating balanced meals to give my body and brain the fuel it needs
• I am not counting calories
• I am putting my phone upstairs every night at 8pm and staying away from the news and social media 
• I am spending more time outside and in the sun (as much as possible in Wyoming in April)

These are my personal ways to give myself some grace. I encourage you to come up with your own. 

I needed an outside voice to tell me it’s okay to not feel okay right now. So now I will be your outside voice and say it’s okay. There is a loss of control that we are all feeling right now. We can’t go wherever we want, whenever we want. We can’t be with loved ones. We can’t function as the society that we have grown to be. 

Take what you need and leave what you don’t. 

Cititations:

1. Yau, Y H C, and M N Potenza. “Stress and Eating Behaviors.” Minerva Endocrinologica, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214609/.
2. Rutters, Femke, et al. “Acute Stress‐Related Changes in Eating in the Absence of Hunger.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 6 Sept. 2012, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2008.493.
3. Smith, Sean M, and Wylie W Vale. “The Role of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in Neuroendocrine Responses to Stress.” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, Les Laboratoires Servier, Dec. 2006, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181830/.