Channel stress

  Weight Loss Surgery Support:
Daily Inspiration for April 4, 2010 Katie Jay, MSW

Channel stress. 

Remember studying the "fight or flight" mechanism? Stress produces adrenaline in animals, as when they face their predators in the wild, so they will have the strength to fight or to run if necessary.  

Stress produces adrenaline in humans also, only we can't fight or run. Instead, we experience unyielding stress! Your dilemma is: do you channel this stress energy into frustration and anger or do you use it to power a solution? People who perform magnificently under stress have mastered the art of channeling the energy positively. They have adopted an attitude about stress that is beneficial to them, rather than letting stress ... well ... stress them out! Stress is an energy you can use to accomplish what needs to be done. 

Action for the day: Use stress to your advantage today. Work through it to accomplish a task. Adopt the attitude that stress is energy to be channeled. 
© 2010, National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. All rights reserved. Daily Inspirations are provided by the National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. Get our free report,  How to Regain-Proof Your Weight Loss Surgery at www.nawls.com.

I found ur comment about channeling stress into anger or frustration very interesting.  I tend to want to eat (overeat..."pig out") when i am angry.  I never thought of that anger as stress...but, of course it is.  Now, whether or not the stress comes first or the anger come first, it produces the same reaction in me...EAT.  

We r in the middle of renovating our house (don't do it...it is a horrible exerience..talk about stress) and following a food routine that is healthy is very difficult for many reasons, not the least of which is not being able to get into my kitchen to cook, etc.  Yesterday, i was so angry (at my DH, of course...everything is his fault...even WWI) that all i could do was think about eating.  Since i am on this board it is obvious that i NEED to watch what i am doing food-wise.  Not being able to eat (for the reasons mentioned above) made me even angrier.  Then it hit me..."ur angry Susan...not hungry...stop and think").  I did.  I took that extra energy that would have gone into eating and did some walking.  Yes, it was the stress of what is going on in my house (thus, my life) right now and and i was about to modify it in a healthy way.  Good for me.  And thank u for putting my feelings into words.