Healthy Lifestyle Actions to Reduce and Manage Stress

Stress is a normal response to dealing with changes and challenges in daily life. In the short term, stress can help you perform better under pressure, but constant stress can pose problems for your health. Stress causes the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, as well as adrenaline, which influences your blood pressure, heart rate, eating habits, sleep patterns, blood sugar levels, fat metabolism and your ability to fight-off illness. Long term stress can also increase your risk of heart attack or stroke and contribute to depression.

These lifestyle actions can help you reduce or manage the stress in your life.

Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle

  • Eat a healthy diet.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Reduce caffeine and sugar.
  • Avoid cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs.
  • Get enough sleep.
  • Take a break.
  • Ask for help.
  • Try Deep Breathing – sit tall and comfortably, breath in slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth while counting to yourself.
  • Reframe problems – pause, regroup and look at the situation from a positive angle. For example, if you are stuck in traffic, enjoy the alone time.

Avoid Stress

  • Avoid people who stress you out.
  • Avoid topics that get you upset or cross.
  • If there are topics you constantly argue over, such as religion or politics, change the topic or remove yourself from the conversation when it arises.
  • Manage your time and plan ahead to avoid the last minute stress and running behind.

Increase Physical Activity

  • Regular physical activity is an important step in reducing your stress and improving your health.
  • Physical activity can help regulate your hormones and offset the negative effects stress can cause on your body.
  • Aim to complete 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day on most days of the week.
  • Brisk walking is an excellent way to increase your physical activity.

Think Positively

  • Look for the bright side of the situation.
  • Challenges are opportunities for personal growth.
  • Reflect on stressful situations and learn from your experience.

Learn How to Relax and Have Fun

  • Set aside time for yourself each day.
  • Time to relax, rest and take a break from all your responsibilities.
  • Keep your sense of humour!
  • Connect with others. Spend time with people who have a positive impact on your life.
  • Have lunch or go for a walk with a friend.
  • Do something you enjoy every day.
  • Listen to music you enjoy.

Be Willing to Adapt

  • If you can’t change the situation, change your expectations and your response.
  • Be willing to compromise. You may want someone else to change. You will have a better chance of finding a resolution if you are willing to compromise to a middle ground.
  • Look at the big picture. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it worth getting upset and stressed?
  • Adjust your standards. Perfect may not be possible. Set reasonable standards that can be achieved and learn to live with “good enough”.
  • Learn to forgive. Let go of anger and resentment. Accept an imperfect world.
  • Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Some things are beyond our control, focus on the things you can change and the way you react to the situation.

Take Charge

  • While you may not be able to change the situation, you are in control of how you respond.
  • Set a schedule, plan ahead so you are prepared for stressful situations and jobs you need to do.
  • Manage your time to fit in what needs to be accomplished.
  • Take charge of your environment, find a space that inspires you or adapt your work space to be positive and encouraging.
  • Be more assertive. Take charge of your life and make decisions.
  • Delegate to others. Have your children or family help out with chores and jobs they are capable of to reduce your workload.
  • Avoid procrastination. Putting things off only increases the stress later on.
  • Find someone to talk to, talking through problems and challenges can alleviate stress associated with the situation.
  • Learn to say “no”. Limit yourself to only what you are comfortable with doing.
  • Limit and prioritize your “to do” list. Sort out the “must do’s” and the “should do’s”. Deal with important jobs right away and delay or drop unnecessary tasks.

Identify the Cause of your Stress

  • Look closely at your habits, attitudes and excuses.
  • Start a stress journal. Ask yourself:
    • What causes you to feel stressed?
    • How do you feel physically and emotionally?
    • How do you respond to stress?
    • What do you do to feel better?
    • How do you cope with your stress?

reproduction is a copy of the version available at: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/physical-activity/reduce-manage-stress

Make it a habit to eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains and protein foods

Healthy eating is a habit. Eat vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods often to develop a healthy eating pattern and maintain your health.

Benefits of healthy eating patterns

Making healthy food choices can help you develop a healthy eating pattern. A healthy eating pattern helps you improve your overall health.

The term eating pattern refers to what you eat and drink on a regular basis. In a healthy eating pattern, all the foods and drinks work together to:

  • help you feel good
  • maintain your health
  • meet your nutritional needs

Many of the well-studied healthy eating patterns include mostly plant-based foods.

Plant-based foods can include:

  • vegetables and fruits
  • whole grain foods
  • plant-based protein foods

Eating plant-based foods regularly can mean eating more fibre and less saturated fat. This can have a positive effect on health, including a lowered risk of:

  • cancer
  • heart disease
  • type 2 diabetes

Most healthy eating patterns include little to no highly processed foods.

How to follow a healthy eating pattern

You can develop a healthy eating pattern by regularly eating:

  • whole grain foods such as:
    • quinoa
    • wild rice
    • whole grain pasta
  • vegetables and fruits such as:
    • apples
    • carrots
    • broccoli
  • protein foods such as:
    • legumes
    • lean meats
    • lower fat yogurt

The best healthy eating patterns include foods that reflect your food choices related to:

  • taste
  • culture
  • budget
  • lifestyle

Make a healthy choice

What you eat on a regular basis matters for your health.

  • Choose foods that have little to no added sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
  • Compare the nutrition facts table on foods to choose products that are lower in sodium, sugars or saturated fat.

reproduction is a copy of the version available at:

https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/healthy-eating-recommendations/make-it-a-habit-to-eat-vegetables-fruit-whole-grains-and-protein-foods/

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Choosing healthy menu options

Benefits of choosing healthy menu options

It is important to make wise menu choices whether you are eating food from:

  • cafeterias
  • restaurants
  • coffee shops
  • fast food outlets

Often foods served in these places have a lot of:

  • sodium
  • sugars
  • saturated fat

Eating too much of these can lead to an increased risk of chronic diseases like:

  • heart disease
  • type 2 diabetes
  • some types of cancer

Many cafeterias, fast food outlets and restaurants now offer healthier menu options than their usual choices. Healthier options can include:

  • baked potato
  • fresh fruit salads
  • steamed vegetables
  • whole grain pizza crusts
  • berries with lower fat yogurt
  • baked, grilled or poached fish
  • salads with dressing on the side
  • grilled chicken sandwich on whole grain bread

How to choose healthier menu options

Try these ideas to enjoy delicious meals and snacks while keeping healthy eating in mind. No matter what kind of restaurant you choose, some choices are healthier than others.

Find out how items are prepared and if the nutrition information is available. You can often find this information:

  • by asking
  • directly on the menu
  • on posters or pamphlets
  • online on the restaurant’s website

Choose foods cooked in healthier ways such as:

  • baked
  • grilled
  • broiled
  • poached

Ask for sauce and dressing “on the side” so you can control the amount. The sauces and dressings served are often highly processed. Only use a small amount.

Enjoy a colourful meal. Try:

  • squash dishes
  • a variety of colourful vegetables on rice
  • salads with dark leafy greens like spinach

Choose whole grain options. Ask for whole grain:

  • rice
  • pasta
  • bread

Limit cakes, cookies and rich desserts. If you do eat them, get a smaller size or share with someone.

Drink smart. Choose water instead of:

  • sugary drinks
  • alcoholic drinks

Healthy menu swaps

Try these swaps to make your choices healthier:

  • Order tomato sauces instead of alfredo or cheese sauces.
  • Flavour your food with lemon or pepper instead of salt, sauce or gravy.
  • Choose stir-fry vegetables with garlic instead of stir-fry vegetables in oyster sauce.
  • Choose dark mixed green salads with vegetables or fruits instead of salads like:
    • taco
    • pasta
    • potato
    • Caesar
  • Order the small or regular sized coffee, cappuccino or iced latté. Ask for your drink to be made with lower fat white milk or unsweetened fortified soy beverage instead of higher fat options. Skip the whipped cream topping.

reproduction is a copy of the version available at:

https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/healthy-eating-recommendations/limit-highly-processed-foods/choosing-healthy-menu-options/