negative effects of stress

Have you ever taken one of those “stress surveys”? The ones which ask you the changes which have been made in your life over the last year or so? There have been many times over the course of the past year where I have felt as if I were the poster child for STRESS. The past year of my life has been a whirlwind, and I am so glad it is finally settling down. In the last year of my life, I have done the following:Â

• graduated college
• found new job
• discovered gluten, dairy, and corn intolerances
• got engaged
• renovated a house
• transferred to another job
• got married
• moved

Yikes.Â

I have learned over the course of the past year just how horrendous the effects of stress can have on one’s body. Now, I am not a doctor, but can speak from personal experienceÂ

Stress can be draining - physically, mentally, emotionally.Â

Everyone handles stress in different ways, and I can honestly say I am quite the internalizer. Many people often commented last year on “how calm” I was despite the huge changes in my life which were taking place. I can tell you one thing - I was not calm. Stress was reaking havoc on my body.Â

I found an article here which discusses what effects stress can have on your body, but I will address the ones which affected me the most.Â

Weight. Whether its loss or gain, weight will fluxuate during stressful times. For me, it was weight loss. During the period of time in which I found out about my intolerances, my weight plummeted very fast. Over the course of the last year, I lost ten pounds from a change in my eating habits. For the first month or two, I really didn’t care. Weight loss? Sure! I’ll take it. However, I was beginning to become self conscious of my body, thinking I was already too thin. Sidenote: when you’re thin and self conscious about it, the worst possible thing to tell someone is how thin they are. Yes, I know. I’m working on it. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I really felt the need to try and gain that weight back. Weight gain is a scary thing if you’ve never done it before. Who actually tries to gain weight? Me. I was eating so much more than I usually did and was eating constantly, but the scale just wouldn’t budge. For the first time in my life, I was TRYING to gain weight and it just wouldn’t happen. Talk about frustrating. How did I know it was stress? Over the course of the last 2 weeks, I have gained back a solid 5 of those 10 pounds. Success. Do I attribute it to eating even more? No. I’ve been eating my normal regimen every day. My body is just accepting the food much better.Â

Gastointestinal Issues. Bingo. Every day of the last year has been a coller roaster in my intestines. It has been painful, embarassing, and downright frustrating that my body has been behaving so badly whenever I try to feed it. Granted, it has gotten much better since I have discovered and kept my intolerances at bay, but food and I still have some issues sometimes. Unfortunately, when food makes you sick and you don’t know why (before I figured it all out), it is very stressful.Â

Sidenote: I have to honestly say there was a time when because of this, I really began to develop a love/hate relationship with food. I HATED eating because I didn’t want to become sick for some unknown reason. Whew, I’m glad that’s not the case anymore. It makes me love my doctor for figuring out what was wrong with me.Â

Anxiety and/or Depression. I struggled internally a lot this past year. I had a lot on my plate, and as I said before, I put up a very good front. It was not good for my emotional or mental health in the least bit. When I am stressed out, I tend to withdraw from everything and everyone I love. I’m a thinker - I may have a natural ease at writing my thoughts and feelings, but talking is another story. I really had a hard time staying positive and anxiety free this year. I really wish at those moments I had dealt with my stress in a more healthy manner.

my appetite was RAGING this afternoon (finally) and scarfed down my afternoon snack before lunch was through. It made for a very looong car ride home.

Sleep Difficulty. If I can only tell you how many times I showed up to work last year looking like a zombie, we’d be here for a long time. Being stressed out does not allow your body to fully relax, which in turn, can make for a difficult time falling asleep at night. There were many nights where I lay awake thinking, worrying, not being able to settle down over what was happening in my life. My family always jokes warns people that you do not want to mess with me when I’m tired or hungry (tired AND hungry is a deadly combination) and it is totally true. Sleep is a time where your body detoxifies, repairs itself, and improves your memory (source).Â

As someone who has dealt with stress a lot over the course of the year, I still know there are many more people out there who experience more stress than myself on a daily basis. I also know this time of year brings about a lot of changes for many people (college, jobs, moving, etc.) which can lead to an immense amount of stress. I highly advise you to find a way to healthfully deal with your stress in the best way possible. Some things that work for me (but may not work for you) are:Â

• Running - I find peace in it. It is a time where I can sort through my thoughts, get rid of negativity, and feel refreshed.
• Pray - I tend to forget in times of panic how important it is to “let go and let God”. Praying has a calming effect on my soul - it reminds me that I am NOT in control, so why should I worry?
• Write - I almost wish I started my blog last year when times were harder. Writing is such an outlet for me and having the added support of my bloggie buddies helps me out tremendously. I may not always be able to tell you what is bothering me by telling you, but give me a sheet of paper and I’ll go to town.
• Positive Self Talk - This is something I have just only recently started. It is so easy when you are stressed out to get down on yourself, find faults with yourself, and in return, feel like a failure. YOU are wonderful, YOU can do it, YOU will make a difference. Just a few of my motivating mirror talks.
• Have a Support Team - (aka: friends and family) I have awesome friends and family who really have walked me through a lot over the last year of my life. Did I always confide in them? No. I probably should have more. Were they always there for me? Of course.

Moral of the story: Find out how stress is effecting you. Find healthful outlets for your stress. Get help if stress is taking over your life overwhelming you.Â

Question: What is one of the most stressful situations you have ever encountered yourself in? How did you deal with it? What are some of your “stress outlets”?