Hi there, welcome back to K&T blog.
What is your “Go to cushion” when life get tougher on you? where do you get the strength to face and see through whatever discomfort you are going through? This week was one of those weeks that we wished could have passed slowly and quickly at the same time, we wished for it to go slowly because there was so much to do but with so little time (so it seemed 🙂 ), and we wished for it to go quickly because we wanted to break the trajectory of the week, it was just too hectic and we knew the weekend would slow things down a bit. But we survived, and we hope your week was better. In the midst of all our commitments, we wondered about our coping mechanisms in stressful times, and how do we keep working on our fitness goals when odds are against us. We quickly realized the impact that diet and exercise play on our resilience in challenging times, By sticking to our dietary and exercise goals we have been helping ourselves to manage stress better. This has been our secret weapon without our knowledge.
But looking back at our life before we started our fitness journey, the lifestyle we were living was not helping us cope better in stressful and demanding times. Knowing what we now know and experienced, we realize that we were making things harder for ourselves without much effort, the food we ate, the drinks we drank, the sedentary life we lived, all these were basic things that could have helped us manage stress better if we had paid attention to changing them. Loads and loads of junk and processed food, sodas, alcohol and TV (should we add social media too?), these were not friendly to stress. These were a norm, but they increased drastically when there was pressure or high level of stress, does this happen to you too? . We turned to processed food for comfort, alcohol for numbing the effects of stress, TV and social media for unproductive passing of time.
Stressful and demanding times are those times where peak performance is a must, it is when you really need to be in good shape physically, emotionally and mentally to thrive. To be in good shape emotionally and mentally might be quite a challenge but it is not and should not be so for physical shape. Making physical shape a priority is a basic way to aid the emotional and mental shape because what we do physically affects us emotionally and mentally. What we eat and what we do with our bodies is manifested through our emotional and mental wellbeing. Currently, we are in no way immune to stress or perfect in managing it but taking care of the basic forms of defense mechanisms such as nutrition and exercise has been crucial to our resilience, our “quick bouncing back”.
We ALL go through challenges in life from time to time, we all do, but what is important about these times is not the challenges themselves but how we overcome them and what lessons we learn from them, as Nelson Mandela said “the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”. Overcoming challenges resiliently requires us to be at our best, and dialing in on our nutrition and physical activity contributes to that best self. Prioritizing nutrition and exercise gives one an advantage over emotional and mentally demanding situations, these are two simple wins that one can focus on before tackling complexities associated with challenges they have met. It is therefore helpful in a stressful situation to remember the benefits of good nutrition and exercising before one resort to emotional snacking, drinking and overeating, as well as slumping on a couch binging on TV and social media.
Andre Gide said that “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening ,everything must be said again” , let us recap on some of the benefits of nutrition and exercising in stressful times.
1.Maintains physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing.
2.Improves sleep
3.Excersice reduces stress
4.Strengthens immune system
5.Lowers anxiety
6.Releasing endorphins (feel good hormones)
7.Improves mood
8.Improves blood flow
9.Boost and improves energy
10. Food is a stress management tool
Maintaining good nutrition and physical activity is honestly hard when the going gets tougher, one needs extra dose of motivation and discipline, as well as good habits that makes it easier for one to eat well and exercise regularly, such as preparing food in advance and preparing your gym clothes the night before. Remembering the benefits listed above should provide that extra dose of motivation to ensure the basics and the simple are covered, then it gets easier to deal with the complexities of stressful and demanding times. A little extra push to eat whole unprocessed foods in most cases and exercising (even walking) regularly has a good ripple effect on emotions and mental ruggedness.
That’s it for this week, we hope this information will be helpful when the next stressful and demanding time comes around and will not derail your weight loss and fitness journey. Start with the basics to be at your peak, and know that “this too shall pass”. We will signoff with a quote by Robert Frost “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on”.
Until next week, stay blessed.
Kat & Tshepi
Kat & Tshepi 