Stress at Christmas Allow for Enjoyment
December 13th, 2011Yes its here again and boy do we love it! But this comes with a mixed bag of goodies ranging from many pleasures and pressures placed upon this season of good will
Stress what is it? Well it affects us in 3 areas. 1st it affects your thoughts and the more negative they are then has a spiraling effect on behaviour and emotions
The 2nd area is behaviour, it can disturb sleep, eating patterns, relationships and interfere in the way communication is delivered
3rd and final area is emotions, feelings like anxiety, hurt, depression can become more common and leading to poor self care and an increase in comfort behaviours like eating which then can increase weight. The cycle then continues with Negative Automatic Thoughts (NATs) about the weight gain and then an increase in self defeating behaviours
How can I reduce my Stress? Well prioritize what is important to you this Christmas and look at the bigger picture when you list the priorities. Is it important to fight over the last Turkey in the supermarket or will it help you to be calm to have a smaller Turkey or try something new and enjoy the company of the people. At the end of the day Christmas is one day and meant and is a time for enjoying the company of others and reflect on the positive aspects of the year and looking forward to the next!

