Dr. Rippe's Blog

Do things beyond your control (like this week's mess in the financial markets) have you feeling more than a little stressed? Then you've got lots of company. Many popular "stress relievers," however, may backfire if indulged in too frequently.  Here are five answers to five ways not to manage stress.

• Pitfall: Mindless eating to fill up those gnawing worries. Choice: Use the Balanced Life meal planner to give yourself some structure.
• Pitfall: Indulging daily in "comfort food" such as doughnuts, ice cream or double helpings of mashed potatoes. Choice: Indulge in some new recipes from Start Making Choices. There are lots of tasty choices that are good-for-you comfort food.
• Pitfall: Vegging on the counch with dip and DVDs or ESPN. Choice: Make sure to do your regular physical activity; it's a proven, good way to reduce stress. Then when you relax in front of the screen reach for popcorn (it even counts as a whole grain) or fruit.
• Pitfall: Driving fast.  Choice: Save the speed for your bike or skates. (Remember your helmet.) Enjoy thrills and emotional release.
• Pitfall: Smoking. Choice: Quitting is hard, certainly, but think about what you have to gain. Eating balanced nutrition and getting plenty of activity while you're working to quit will help you maintain your weight and help smooth out some of the highs and lows of the process.

So you already knew these answers, right? That's what I thought. Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves to act on the good strategies we already have at hand.

"Manage stress" should probably be a permanent item on most of our daily "to do" lists. Here are several quick relaxation techniques that you can do in seconds, usually at your desk. Using them throughout the day can help release physical tension and mental stress. 

• Shoulder rotations.  Sitting at desk or computer can tense up back and neck muscles. To ease them, rotate one shoulder in a front to back circle for about 8 to 10 revolutions. Repeat with the other shoulder. Then do the next exercise.
• Stretch for the sky. While seated at your desk or standing, raise both arms above your head and stretch for the sky. Sway your upper body side to side for gentle stretches. Take in a big slow breath and let it out. (A yawn is okay.) If you have space, after raising your arms you can bend gently toward the floor first then curl back up to stretch for the sky.
• Count-down breathing. This is a good way to release physical and mental stress. Sitting comfortably, close your eyes and gently clear your mind. Focus on your breathing. You're going to breathe deeply in and out for ten times. As you breathe slowly out, visualize releasing the tension. As you breath in, visualize drawing in calm. Count down as your breathe: "Ten out. Ten in. Nine out. Nine in."  Continue until you complete ten breaths.
• Full body tense and relax. While seated comfortable, tense all the muscles of your body. You may need to work at tensing up from your toes/feet to your neck and face. Tense them as hard as you can all together. Hold for ten seconds. Then relax, counting ten seconds. Let all the tension go. You can do this once or repeat it several times.

When you need a mini-break, use one of these techniques.  A little experimentation will show which work best for you.

Laundry is a never ending chore that someone's got to do. Mostly, that's you, right? Several organizing tips can save time--and family hassle.

• Get and label a separate basket for each family member and one for towels/sheets. The person on laundry duty folds clothes and items right out of the dryer and into the baskets. From there on, each family member is responsible for his/her laundry.  Organizing the baskets on a set of low shelves is helpful.
• Install a hanging rod in the laundry room (above the baskets or washer/dryer there's often room). Use the same procedure--dryer to hangers--for hanging clothes.
• Use two (or more) hampers for dirty clothes--one for lights, one for darks. Sorting laundry loads is much easier.
• Keep a basket in each closet for clothes that need dry cleaning.  Take them to the cleaners once weekly.
• Rotate laundry duty. These simple organizing tips make it easy for all but very young family members to take a turn doing laundry.

Use the time you've saved to take a fun or restful moment for yourself.