Understanding Stress and What to Do About It

I have been trying to write a highly researched blog pertaining to debunking myths around resistance training but have been struggling to stay focused. Maybe it’s stress.

The past month (well, few months, actually) has been very hectic in the Bearden household. We planned and moved from Tacoma, Washington, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for my new job! While we knew a move to The Springs was inevitable, my new job on Fort Carson made us push our moving plans up about three months. On top of that, my husband had several sets of orders that took him out of the planning and packing process for weeks at a time, leaving me to pack and plan a lot of the move myself.

Since I graduated from my Master’s program in mid-December, I have “attended” two virtual conferences, applied, interviewed, and gotten a job, taken (and passed) a certification exam, packed and moved to a different state, set up a new home, and am about to start my new job, exactly four months after graduation.  To say life has been in flux would be an understatement!

In my struggles to stay focused on my intended blog post on top of everything else (good and bad), I have been feeling even more anxiety than ever, which means I stress eat and exercise with less focus.

Yes, this can even happen to fitness pros!

Instead of berating myself, I started wondering, what happens in our bodies that make our minds derail a bit?

Feelings of anxiety, or stress, can cause our bodies to go into protective mode via the sympathetic nervous system. We commonly hear this called the “fight or flight” response. When our bodies are stressed, the sympathetic nervous system releases hormones (cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, testosterone, etc.) that stimulate different organs to react to face said stress.

Here’s what happens:

1. Heart rate elevates
2. Blood pressure increases
3. Our breathing elevates
4. We stop digesting
5. Our muscles get more blood flow to them
6. Our bodies release more sugar in the blood for more energy
7. Our eyes even become more focused

Basically, our bodies flood with hormones that make our bodies ready to fight or flee depending on the stress.  In our mind, we know that daily life stress will not kill us like a bear or tiger, but our bodies do not, so they respond the same way regardless.

When chronic stress takes control, those hormones never stop pumping, and it gets difficult for the body to keep up with the energy needs of constantly running away from the bear! We are sleep deprived from chronic stress, which prevents us from being able to focus on exercise or have the willpower to make healthy choices because our bodies and minds are tired.

The more sleep deprived, the more stressed, which forces our body to pump out more cortisol, which initiates the release of glucose, or blood sugar, to keep us going. This is when we start craving fattier or carbohydrate-heavy foods, because we need the energy to keep running away from our chronic bear.

However, this is when the cycle can really get bad.

The more cortisol we have in our system, the less insulin, the hormone that reduces blood sugar in our system. The more carbohydrate-heavy foods we eat, the less insulin sensitivity, which increases the risk of Type II Diabetes and other chronic diseases.

So, stress is bad, and it wreaks havoc not only on the mind, but the body!

But, there is hope, friends—the parasympathetic nervous system, or the “rest and digest” process. The parasympathetic nervous system is instrumental in preventing anxiety from running amok on our minds and bodies, because it releases hormones that counter those stress hormones. It produces the opposite effect on the organs that the sympathetic nervous system does. It is instrumental in keeping our angst at bay and making sure we get sleep, eat well, and breathe easy.

How do we activate the parasympathetic nervous system?

1. Exercise the stress away.

Even though exercise begins by the sympathetic nervous system, as we finish our session, it helps us find a physical means to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, which is difficult when we are stuck in an angsty loop! Even a 30-minute walk or 10-minute HIIT session will distract us from our chronic stress and allow the body to get back on track. The more consistent the exercise, the better our bodies are at maintaining the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance.

Quick tip: Walking in nature or any green space is very calming as green stimulates certain calming receptors in the brain.

2. Quiet it with your breath.

Taking five minutes to breathe with control, do a quick guided meditation, or connect with your Higher Power can do wonders for distraction from stress. The physical act of controlled breaths stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system to engage in bringing the body back down to a place of homeostasis, or balance.

Understanding how stress affects the body and brain can shed light on why emotional eating, smoking, or binge-watching television is a real thing. Each emotion triggers different hormonal responses, which initiate a different physical reaction or craving.

You are not alone in this—we all have emotional triggers, but they are as different as we are.  Understanding an emotional trigger can help engage a different, healthier response in the future that can eventually become a new habit.

It is important to give yourself some space to truly learn what is going on in your brain—without judgment—to change your response for the better. This has taken me years to digest (all the puns intended!). Challenge your thinking the next time you feel upset about succumbing to a craving or habit you want to change; it can make all the difference in your success!

I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled programming about resistance training next post! Until then, breathe, move, give yourself a little TLC!