Stay in the driver’s seat of your life to manage stress
Stress for Success
June 30, 2009

Personal responsibility seems like an old-fashioned notion in our rights-oriented society. But to effectively manage stress and be in the driver’s seat of your life you must hold yourself accountable for your action AND inaction. Mostly, don’t allow others to drive you and don’t drive for others, that’s their job.

Highly responsible people tend to achieve more and feel more in control so are less stressed. They’re proactive in making the life changes they deem important vs. reactive, waiting for someone else to make things better.

The bottom line is that your life, well-being, health and happiness are your responsibility. Blame your parents (and some have pretty darn good reasons), society, or whatever is handy for what’s wrong. Ultimately, however, the buck stops with you for your life.

Two opposite personality types have trouble with this.
1) The victim who believes that what goes wrong is beyond his control and is caused by others who, therefore, must change. Habitual shirking of responsibility puts victims into the most stressed-out position for they don’t see options to improve their lives.

His reasons include, “Society won’t let me succeed.” “My parents set me up to fail.” These statements make clear who’s at fault and it certainly isn’t him!

But here’s the danger. Let’s use the belief, “I never get a fair shake.” This could propel him to avoid taking initiative at work, for example, and then complain that others are treated better. He never sees how his inaction contributes to the outcome.

2) At the opposite end are those who take responsibility for others; the rescuer or the people-fixer.

She (I purposely use “she”) focuses on how others don’t live up to her expectations. She tries desperately to fix her mate and kids; how they dress, talk or handle their lives. She knows the right way to do things and by golly she’s going to “help” them! Invariably the target of her tinkering becomes defensive because the implication is that her target is inferior. Who takes kindly to that?

Both extreme personalities confuse boundaries. The victim waits for you to fix things for him. The fixer thinks she should fix you. It’s no wonder these two opposites often attract one another. They both also “expect” others to change rather than changing themselves to get a different result. The truth, however, is you can only control your choices not others’.

Both need to honor their own boundaries:
* What’s within their control? (Themselves and their choices)
* What’s beyond their control? (Everything else)

Investing your energy into what’s actually within your control makes for healthier choices that more effectively bring about your desired outcomes. If you err on the victim side be more proactive; grab the bull by the horns more often. If you’re a fixer accept others more as they are. If you want a different outcome change something you’re doing versus assuming the other “should” change. To do anything else is a waste of energy and a sure formula for more stress.

You are seldom blameless when you’re “caught”
Taking responsibility helps reduce stress
Stress for Success
June 23, 2009

I recently spent time with an adorable youngster with the not-so-adorable tendency to blame others for his actions. When confronted by adults about his misbehavior he quickly pointed the finger at others. If this habit continues into adulthood he’ll remain immature and become a far less competent stress manager.
We all blame others sometimes, but doing so habitually robs you of a strong sense of personal responsibility. Being accountable is essential to developing an “internal locus of control,” (ILOC) the belief that you have can handle what comes your way; that you control your destiny. Having an ILOC automatically lowers your stress and enhances your coping ability. The opposite, assuming you lack control, the most stressful of beliefs, leads to defensively finding fault outside the self.

Additional traits help explain why one person manages exceptionally stressful events well while another falls apart over much less provocation, such as:
* Awareness of what you contribute to your stress;
* Honesty and assertiveness with yourself and others;
* Perception of stress as challenges versus threats;
* Self-confidence and a less emotional reaction to stress;
* Creative thinking for problem-solving;
* Putting solutions into action to exercise your influence;
* A sense of humor;
* Hope and optimism facilitate challenging overly-negative thoughts with more realistic ones so your thinking doesn’t become more stressful than the situation itself;
* Humility to realize that your way of looking at situations and your solutions may not be the best;

The boy referred to above was chastised for throwing toys inside the house after being told not to do so. He shirked responsibility and blamed other children for starting it thereby violating the first four traits above (he’s too young to appreciate all of them), he:
* Didn’t acknowledge his own involvement;
* Wasn’t honest about it with himself nor the adult;
* Perceived being caught as a threat, reacting defensively;
* Lacked the self-confidence to handle it calmly (he’s just a kid but can gradually learn);

When you’re “caught”, recognize when you blame someone or something else. Occasionally, responsibility does rest outside yourself, but virtually always you add something voluntarily to the situation. Start by acknowledging, at least to yourself, your behavior and its contribution to the outcome.

For example, your boss told you to complete something “a.s.a.p.” Later, she gets angry that you’re not finished yet. You blame her for not being more specific about her deadline. But this overlooks your responsibility to ask for clarification, like, “Just exactly when do you need this?” If she responds in a general way again you could say, “Given my schedule the earliest I can finish this is tomorrow morning. If you need it sooner we’ll need to postpone another task.”

An internal locus of control puts you in the driver’s seat of your own life. It requires personal accountability. Don’t let others drive you through life and blame them for taking you in the wrong direction. Instead, take responsibility for your own action or inaction and give up the blame-game.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. Her new book, Let Your Body Win: Stress Management Plain & Simple is available at www.jackieferguson.com. Call her at 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Increase hope through humor and optimism
Stress for Success
June 16, 2009

Hope that the future will be better helps you deal with life’s curve balls. Without it existence can look grim leaving you less resilient, therefore less capable of fielding your problems. Hope helps you cope with exceptionally stressful times, whether from a lingering illness or financial uncertainty.

Two particularly effective methods of nurturing it are:
* Seeing humor in your stressors;
* Shaping more optimistic perceptions of them;

For example, Melissa B. Wanzer, EdD, professor of communication studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, recently found that aging adults who more frequently used humor reported greater coping, therefore, greater life satisfaction.

In 2005, Texas A&M University demonstrated that humor can significantly increase your level of hope, according to psychologist David H. Rosen. He also found that the severity of recent setbacks takes more of a toll on hope than does the number of stressors. So the more weighed down you feel by any challenge the more you need to foster faith.

Seeing humor contributes to the two components of hope, the ability to:
* Overcome obstacles;
* Problem solve;

Appreciating humor fosters optimism by softening negative thoughts with positive ones. Plus, humor’s positive emotions lead to greater confidence therefore, more creative thinking and problem solving.

To cultivate humor, therefore hope, many hospitals offer humor rooms or humor carts. These are brightly decorated and furnished with a TV, VCR and funny videos. They offer games, toys, costumes, masks, funny hats, yo-yos, bubbles, etc. Patients’ imaginations determine their potential fun.

The second avenue for greater hope is diminishing pessimism and increasing optimism about your challenges. Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of PA, world-renowned optimism/pessimism researcher, identified three components of speech that make up your "explanatory style": how you explain why something bad (or good) happens to you. These reveal your interpretations as optimistic or pessimistic.

More optimistic interpretations lead to greater resiliency to stress, more success at many things in life and even better health.

Pretend this bad event happened to you: you applied for a job and didn’t get it. Now, answer, “Why didn’t I get the job?”
1. Ongoing vs. temporary: Does your reason suggest the event has ongoing consequences vs. a temporary setback?
* “I’ll never get a job!” (On-going/pessimistic)
* “I wasn’t on for the interview.” (Temporary setback/optimistic)
2. Global vs. specific: Does not getting the job have global effects on your life or only on a specific part?
* “I’m a loser.” (Global/pessimistic)
* “Money will be tight until I get a job.” (Specific/optimistic)
3. Blame yourself vs. an outside source:
* “I suck at interviews.” (Self-blame/pessimistic)
* “What a terrible interviewer!” (Blames outside source/optimistic)

(Seligman isn’t suggesting you shirk personal responsibility but finds excessive self-blaming is a sign of pessimism.)

When something bad happens change your explanations from on-going to temporary, from having global implications to specific ones, and from self-blame to lightening up on yourself. Increased optimism leads to greater hope and opens the door to see humor, increasing your confidence that you can tackle any setbacks you encounter.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Be mindful of work jokes
Stress for Success
June 9, 2009


Have you heard the one about the guy who had his left side cut out? He’s all right now (ba-doom-boom, courtesy of Nina Jones.)

A Robert Half International survey found 84% of top corporate officers thought employees with a sense of humor do better at work than those with little or no sense of humor. Yet workplace humor can be a double-edged sword: it can help reduce stress but also create conflicts since what’s funny to one may be insulting to another. And in our litigious society harassment lawsuits can “come out of nowhere” when really they often come out of a difference in sensitivities. When jokes insult people, the organization needs to intervene or risk morale problems, not to mention legal ones.

During times of heightened pressure such as now, HR directors report that some stressed-out people are more likely to harass others, including through inappropriate jokes, while others are more likely to complain about being harassed. So be careful which kind of humor you use.

Professor Christopher LeGrow of Marshall University found that about 70% of people polled reported hearing workplace jokes that made fun of coworkers’ age, sexual orientation and weight. 40% admitted that that they themselves told these kinds of jokes. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much difference between what men and women found offensive but women were more offended by remarks targeting their physical characteristics. Comments intended to be funny were often taken as hurtful.

Humor is most often taken as offensive when the joke-teller actually uses humor to make an insulting or threatening point. Consider these guidelines to decide if your workplace humor is inappropriate:
* Identify the underlying point of your joke. Would you make the same point without humor or would that make it too confrontational? If so, communicate your meaning assertively rather than disguising it with misplaced humor.
* Know your audience: if you’re poking fun about, for example, someone’s weight, are you sure the person will see it as humorous? Or might it feel hurtful to them?
* Avoid:
o Controversial topics, like sexual or racial differences or physical disabilities;
o Politics that could offend someone with different beliefs, especially if they’re part of your team; call this political correctness if you like but if you value cooperation offending colleagues works against it;
* The loved-one rule: For instance, don’t tell jokes about women if you wouldn’t find them funny when told about a woman you love.
* The local-media rule: If your joke were reported in the local media, would it embarrass you? If so, don’t tell it.
* When you’re not sure how a joke will be received, don’t tell it;

If you hear offensive humor, assert yourself and tell your colleague that you find it distasteful and ask her not to use that kind of humor in the future. How can she know it’s objectionable if no one tells her?

Appropriate humor can make your workplace much more enjoyable, build stronger teams and boost creativity while reducing stress. Just think before you speak.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Laughter and humor will help bolster your life
Being happy pays off in many ways
Stress for Success
June 1, 2009


The great Bill Cosby once said, “If you can find humor in something you can survive it.” But can it really help us cope with today’s topsy-turvy world?

How you react to stress is significantly determined by whether you see it as a threat or a challenge. When you see it as a threat your reaction will likely be more of a defensive one driven by greater anger and/or fear resulting in a response that’s aggressive (fight) or a withdrawal (flight). Finding humor helps you to see the stressor more as a challenge, making it less threatening and leaving you feeling more in control. All of this leads the ability of perceiving more viable options.

Humor is one of the best coping strategies of all because it:
* Facilitates mental flexibility and creativity by blocking negative emotions allowing you to think through problems versus emotionally muddle through them;
* Is the opposite of stress: it lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation, reduces muscle tension and pain, and boosts your immune system;
* Reduces the stress hormone cortisol while increasing health enhancing hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters;
* Strengthens your immune system by increasing antibody producing cells and enhances the effectiveness T cells;
* Dampens pain;
* A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, your heart, contracts the abs and other areas, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward.
* Laughing at yourself increases your objectivity about yourself, decreasing your defensiveness.
* Shared humor strengthens teams (not sarcasm or belittling humor, though).
* “The shortest distance between two people is humor,” said the famed comedic pianist, Victor Borge. Humor connects people improving most communication, especially when it’s potentially confrontational.
* It’s just fun.

To nourish your sense of humor you must look for and find what tickles your funny bone.
* Do things differently: Vary your routines and become more aware of life around you. Take a different route to work. Change your lunch habit. Then look for and find five things that make you smile. Keep looking to keep finding.
* Keep a humor file: Add humor like this odd newspaper headline, “Good Samaritans may get stun guns.” That’s funny! Cheer yourself up by reading what’s in your file.
* Develop a sense of playfulness: Play with kids and pets.
* Laugh with others and you’ll laugh more: Watch your favorite sitcoms together or go to a comedy club.
* Be mindful (conscious) of finding humor in taxing situations. Instead of complaining, laugh about what’s stressing you; like your catastrophic images of ending up a street person due to economic losses.
* When having a bad day, exaggerate it and have a really bad day. Complain endlessly about how the world is falling apart (not to mention your big screen TV).
* Imagine your favorite comedian(s) having your family arguments.

Studies show positive outcomes of smiling even when you don’t mean it. Smile more to benefit from its helpful effects and it may lead to genuine smiles and eventually even outright laughter!
Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Three more ways to bolster brain
Stress for Success
May 12, 2009

Use it or lose it, they say. As you age this is more pertinent than ever.

I certainly hope that my mental capacities remain strong until my last breath. Doesn’t everyone? For that to happen I’m willing to invest more energy into healthy habits for my brain.

Last week I covered three of the six habits (exercise, diet and stimulants) covered in a Scientific American Mind, February/March, 2009 column, “Six Ways to Boost Brainpower” by Emily Anthes. Here are the final three habits to add to your list.

1. Video games: Before picking a surgeon you may want to ask if he plays video games. Those who play at least a few hours a week make one-third fewer operating room errors than non-gaming doctors. “According to research video games can improve mental dexterity, increase eye -hand coordination, depth perception and pattern recognition, and improve attention span and information processing,” Anthes reports.
a. But doesn’t excessive gaming cause increased violence in some? Several studies have shown this connection especially for those playing first-person shooter games where brain activity patterns consistent with aggression have been reported. But the preponderance of research so far doesn’t support the theory that video games contribute to increased youth violence. But these troubling findings deserve further research.
2. Music: Even though the “Mozart effect” has been challenged and some would say discredited, music does seem to possess wonderful benefits beyond sheer enjoyment. It activates your brain’s reward center and calms the amygdala, the brain’s fear center. It soothes anxiety, can minimize insomnia, lowers blood pressure, calms patients with dementia, and helps premature babies gain weight so they can be discharged sooner.
a. Music training can also bolster the brain. Musicians compared to non-musicians have a larger motor cortex, cerebellum and corpus callosum (the connection between the brain’s two sides.) Some studies show that music classes also improve spatial ability in young children.
b. I guess I should thank my dictatorial public school music director for pushing us to seek musical perfection. Apparently all of that practice increased my brainstem’s sensitivity to the sounds of human speech, not to mention the increase in discipline and competence, which led to increased self-confidence.
3. Meditation: Anthes reports, “Deep relaxation seems to help all types of conditions from anxiety to pain reduction to treating high blood pressure, asthma, insomnia, diabetes, depression and skin conditions. Those who meditate regularly report feeling more at ease and more creative than non-meditators.” Expert mediators show spikes of brain activity in their left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that has generally been associated with positive emotions. Those who have the most activity in the area during meditation also had big boosts in immune system functioning.”
a. Meditation can also increase focus and attention, therefore improve performance on cognitive tasks.

You’ve known that most of these habits are excellent for your health and stress levels. Now you know they’re also good for preserving mental power. It’s just one more reason to get going on increasing habits that enhance your overall well-being.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Human brain needs care just like the body
Stress for Success
May 5, 2009

I joke with my chorus-mates that learning the large volume of music we perform annually protects us from Alzheimer’s. This may be truer than I thought.

Conventional wisdom has historically been that the adult brain lacked “neuroplasticity” - the ability to remold itself. But scientists are finding that it’s far more flexible than thought. Our behavior, environment, and possibly even thought patterns can cause the brain to significantly rewire and reorganize. The hippocampus, essential to learning and long-term memory, is one area active in new nerve cell development.

Scientific American Mind, February/March, 2009 reports on six healthy habits to help enhance your brain power based on this new understanding.
1 Exercise: Human studies show that exercise improves the brain’s executive functions of planning, organizing and multitasking probably due to increased blood flow to the brain increasing the delivery of oxygen, fuel and nutrients. Exercise also has mood-boosting effects and helps protect you from developing dementia as you age, even for life-long couch-potatoes. Studies of seniors have shown that just 20 minutes of walking a day is enough.
a. Use music to make your workout more powerful. In a study volunteers completed two workout sessions. In one they worked out in silence; in the other, they listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. After each workout, participants completed assessments of their mood and verbal skills. When exercising with no music both skills were boosted while when exercising to music verbal scores improved twice as much.
b. Research finds that exercise improves sleep quality and immune function.
2 Diet: You are what you eat. Saturated fat is no better for your brain than for your body. Rats fed high saturated fat diets underperformed on learning and memory tests. Humans who consume quantities of saturated fats may also be at greater risk for dementia. Since your brain is mostly fat you do need omega-3 fats, found in fish, nuts and seeds.
a. Populations that traditionally consume high omega-3 fatty acid diets tend to have lower rates of central nervous system disorders.
b. Alzheimer’s disease, depression and schizophrenia may be associated with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
c. Fruits, vegetables and some nuts high in antioxidants (e.g., walnuts, blueberries and spinach) seem to be brain super foods countering brain cell damage.
d. It’s also how much you eat. Research on laboratory animals fed 25 - 50% fewer than normal calories live longer with improved brain function, better memory and coordination test performance, and are more resistant to damage from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and in Huntington’s disease.
e. Babies need enough fat to create healthy neurons. Breast milk is 50% fat.
3 Stimulants like caffeine rev up the nervous system, increase heart rate, blood pressure, energy, breathing, arousal and alertness. One study showed that two cups can boost short-term memory and reaction time and can protect against age-related memory decline in older women; good news to those of us who love our morning coffee.

Next week I’ll cover the other three healthy habits of video games, music, and meditation.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Visualize to improve skills and stop thinking so much
Stress for Success
April 28, 2009


Let’s move beyond the ubiquitous financial stress and address something truly important: your golf game – or any skill that’s important to you. Here are two ideas to help with anything from improving your tennis game to being more assertive.

First, research shows that rehearsing mentally, like athletes do, can enhance your performance just as well and sometimes better than actually physically practicing.

In a Texas A&M study medical students learning to suture received guided physical practice followed by either:
* 30 more minutes of practice;
* 30 minutes of guided mental imagery;
* Or no more training;
When tested, the first two groups performed better than the third, and just as well as each other.

Mental rehearsal can be better than physical practice because it only “exercises” neural representations of physical skills. So, after a golf lesson if you physically practice ineptly you might hamper relearning the right technique later. Mentally practicing a bungling swing isn’t muscularly detailed enough to hurt your proficiency. (Obviously, visualization is most helpful when you rehearse correctly.)

When rehearsing any behavior change:
* Visualize the changes you want to make in as much detail as possible;
* Instantly re-visualize correcting mistakes;
* With new tasks imagine the detailed moves slowly; speed up as you improve.
* Observe others performing the same moves to activate the same motor programs in your own brain to progress.

Frequent visualization doesn’t ensure you won’t mess up, however. Here’s another idea that researchers recommend to avoid choking.

When you’ve practiced something so well that you don’t need to think about it, your subconscious takes over. Slowing down to focus on automatic responses, though, can interrupt your subconscious and cause you to stumble.

The part of your brain that’s most involved in learning a new skill is the cerebral cortex. As you rehearse a piece of music, a tennis swing or a speech over and over, you gradually transfer control to another area of the brain, the cerebellum, which orchestrates the lightning-fast motor activation needed to perform complex action. (This must explain why a well-rehearsed piece of music plays endlessly in my brain; it’s moving to my cerebellum.)

The cerebral cortex is consciously accessible. The cerebellum isn’t. So if you think slowing down your presentation will help you focus, it may actually do the opposite by tripping up your subconscious.

“It’s actually better just to get on with things if you’re well rehearsed,” says psychologist Sian Beilock of the University of Chicago. In a 2008 study Beilock divided novice and skilled golfers into two groups. Those in the first group were instructed to take their time while those in the second group were told to swing as quickly as possible. Their results:
* Novice golfers performed less well when swinging faster and better when they took their time.
* Skilled golfers performed better when swinging quickly and less well when taking their time.

So, use repetitive and detailed visualization to speed up your learning curve. Once you’re skilled stop thinking so much and let your cerebellum do its thing.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com for information about her workshops on this and other topics.

Social support helps longevity
Stress for Success
April 21, 2009


Recently I’ve been writing about the damage chronic stress can do to mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Most research as to why has focused on the fight/flight hormones, particularly cortisol. To counter this damage channel your stress energy through what I call Stress Breaks – rest away from your stress through exercise, meditation, engaging in your favorite hobbies, etc.

Additional research suggests that another hormone, oxytocin (in Greek meaning quick birth), may also help mitigate some of the fight/flight damage.

Oxytocin’s an interesting hormone believed to be released in both sexes during touching, bonding and orgasm. In the brain, it’s involved in social recognition and connecting with others. In women, it also facilitates birth and breast-feeding.

UCLA Psychologist Shelley Taylor argues that the even though the fight/flight response occurs in both men and women it’s more about what happens to men, who are generally more aggressive. She suggests that because women are the primary caregivers when they’re stressed they can also rely upon the “tend and befriend” response where they focus more on care-giving and pursuing social support. A growing number of scientists believe this response may help to explain why women tend to outlive men.

Regardless of gender, close social connections are good for your health. However, research shows that women get more benefit from friendship than men.

Dr. Terri Apter, Cambridge University social psychologist and co-author of “Best Friends” reports, “The friendships of both sexes tend to promote health, even though they differ in style. Social connectivity … increases health and longevity. The difference is that women have more friends to turn to more often, so they get more benefit.”

Scientists at the University of California report that women also release oxytocin in times of stress. Women seem to be programmed hormonally to use friendship as a remedy to life’s problems in a way that men aren’t.

Oxytocin then, especially in conjunction with estrogen, promotes seeking out and nurturing relationships. An increase in this hormone is calming and may lessen the worst consequences of women’s stress reaction. Evolutionarily speaking it makes sense since the fight or flight response is less practical for women nursing their young. It also makes survival sense since the sex that bears progeny must be protected so they can continue to procreate.

Conversely, for men during the stress response testosterone floods their systems taking a high physical toll on them. And testosterone inhibits oxytocin.

Some experts, however, fear that the health advantages from tend and befriend are threatened from our pressure-cooker lifestyle, which can lead to less time for friendship. If so, this may explain the increase of heart disease among women.

But Marla Paul, author of “The Friendship Crisis” says: "Women need to spend time with friends to maintain their balance and health. Friends are not a luxury. They're essential." (I hear “hallelujahs” from female readers affirming this statement.)

The take-home message for both genders: strong relationships are vital to health and longevity. How will you make more time for your important relationships to protect your health?

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

An over-stressed amygdala inhibits problem-solving
Stress for Success
April 14, 2009

Stress isn’t necessarily bad; it just is. In fact, without any stress at all you’d be dead.

Eustress, healthy stress, is the amount that motivates you to get out of bed every day. When it becomes too much or too negative it’s called distress. Neither is particularly harmful unless it becomes chronic: elevated stress that lasts more than four months.

When experiencing chronic stress, as Americans collectively are due to the economic meltdown, the trick is to channel stress energy to minimize the damage from the fight/flight hormones.

Problem-solving is the key to stress management and it’s the most effective method of channeling this energy, since a problem solved no longer triggers your stress response. Reacting overly-emotionally, however, inhibits the process.

Operating out of the emotional part of your brain (the limbic system including the amygdala or fear center and the hippocampus or short term memory center) makes it difficult for the more advanced part of your brain, the cerebral cortex, to function. This is especially true when you emotionally “catastrophize” things (build mountains out of molehills).

Stress emotions (anger and fear) are always part of your stress response and are absolutely normal. They’re intended to motivate you to take positive action in response to what troubles you so identify which positive actions they’re signaling you to take. Always ask, “What are my options?” For example, if you’re worried about a job interview identify your options for preparing for it better.

Medical scientist Dr. Nick Hall advises to, “stop the chemical pinball game in the brain areas that are engaged in emotions,” shift your focus away from your escalating feelings.
§ Finish this incomplete statement three times in context with what’s stressing you, like being stuck in traffic:
o “I am glad that …” (my car’s not overheating, there’s good music to listen to, it’s not making me late for anything).

When excessively blaming and complaining (becoming a victim to whatever you’re blaming and complaining about) use:
§ Healthy venting, which allows you to leave behind your frustration and/or moves you toward problem-solving;
§ Gratefulness, which counters victimhood:
o For each stressor what are you grateful for? E.g., Budget cuts threaten your job; your spouse is still employed.

With excessive negative thinking like worrying (about something in the future over which you have no control) or regretting (something in the past, which is over with, therefore beyond your control) seek:
§ Mindfulness or live in the present:
o Deep breathing quickly brings you into the present;
o Remind yourself that you’re not your thoughts or your emotions; they’re simply a part of you;
§ Count to 50, 70 or higher;
§ Alternative Explanations -- find different ways to explain situations:
o E.g., Your boss isn’t handling her stress well;
ü Alternative: She’s under significant pressure from her boss;

You shouldn’t deny your emotions. But sometimes they become more the problem than the original stressor. To tame an over-active amygdala, distract yourself so you can focus on the options that will resolve your issue.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Learn to distract brain’s amygdala to attain control
Tiny part of brain regulates stress, for better or worse
Stress for Success
April 7, 2009

Stress isn’t completely about control, but it mostly is. The less influence you believe you have in any situation in which you want control, the more stressed you’ll be. It’s obvious in situations like losing your job or when you’re in a rush and someone’s driving slowly in front of you.

When anxious ask yourself how your control is being impeded and by what or whom. Your answer is what you’ll likely say is causing your stress. To reduce your tension you’ll probably assume that that person or situation must change. But, of course, that increases stress since the only thing that’s within your control is your own reaction.

Instead, ask, “What are my options?” Seek problem-solving solutions that are actually within your control. Often you’ll be successful through legitimate problem-solving like letting the radio distract you from aggravating traffic. Other times your attempts increase your stress; like screaming at the driver as if that gives you more control, or going into attack or denial mode when faced with losing something you value.

There are signs that indicate you want more control in a triggering situation: feeling dread, anger or fear (Mother Nature’s survival emotions), worry, complaining or blaming, etc., and thinking the emotional thoughts that accompany each. These activate your Stress Cycle, an automatic mind/body reaction to stress, which pushes your attempt to regain control.

To increase your chances of finding workable options it’s important to limit the role too- strong emotions can have in this process.

When stressed a tiny part of your brain, the amygdala, is engaged. It’s part of your subconscious limbic system involved in emotional processing, memory and imagination.

For survival reasons, your amygdala remembers, for instance, who has wronged you in the past and when that person’s back in your life your amygdala will be on high-alert for being aggrieved again. But can it over-react?

I just learned that imagination is part of the amygdala’s function (thanks Jack). When you’re stressed do you think yours could conger up unrealistic scenarios?

An example was after Hurricane Charlie and the threat of another hurricane sent some people’s over-active amygdalas into the stress stratosphere. Fear of another hurricane was absolutely normal and motivated us to take precautionary action. But an over-active fear response would likely inhibit one’s ability to prepare for and possibly even survive another storm.

The amygdala also regulates the fight/flight response, therefore, anger and fear (some scientists call it the fear center). In other words, it’s triggered when you think that you have insufficient control. It reacts strongly to emotionally charged events, positive or negative and puts you into automatic unconscious reaction mode.

When your amygdala is strongly engaged it makes it more difficult to access your prefrontal cortex where conscious problem-solving is largely directed. So, in situations where finding a solution is called for but you’re being overly emotional, it’s in your best interest to increase your prefrontal thinking. Distracting your amygdala can help and I’ll cover ideas on how to do this next week.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Get rest away from stress to limit the damage of chronic stress
Stress for Success
March 31, 2009

There’s good news and bad news about stress. The bad news: it can make you vulnerable to illness and disease development. The good news is simple: to protect yourself schedule more rest away from your stress. It’s what I call the easy part of stress management.

The reason that chronic stress, elevated stress that lasts for over four months, is potentially so harmful to your emotional, physical and mental health is that your mind and body are on high alert (fight/flight) too often and don’t return to a state of homeostasis or balance frequently enough. Your mind and body don’t fully recover from the assault of stress hormones, particularly cortisol. Over time too much cortisol coursing through your system leads to many afflictions.

In stress workshops I ask participants to name their ongoing symptoms and I tell them if I’ve read research that says that chronic stress can lead to these conditions. They’ll offer:
Headaches;
Constipation;
Digestive problems of all types;
Insomnia;
Panic attacks;
Depression;
Diabetes;
High blood pressure;
Cardio-vascular problems;
Etc.

My response to all is yes, stress can lead to all of these. The research doesn’t report that all conditions are caused by stress but stress can make you vulnerable to each.

Becoming an excellent stress manager also doesn’t mean that every symptom and illness will disappear. But many would or at least would improve significantly if you consistently sought a healthier balance.

So, in direct proportion to your stress schedule more rest away from it. Scheduling multiple Stress Breaks throughout your day allows your mind and body to gradually return to a state of improved balance facilitating your ability to recover from your daily dose of stress. Even if you aren’t experiencing chronic stress -- yet -- getting plenty of rest away from your anxiety enhances your resiliency so when you experience chronic stress you’ll be in better shape to handle it.

Here are the most important Stress Breaks because each channels stress energy:
Regular exercise uses up stress energy as Mother Nature intended;
Deep relaxation is physiologically the opposite of the fight/flight;
Deep breathing is physiologically the opposite of fight/flight breathing;

The best Stress Breaks for you, however, are the ones you’re most likely to practice regularly, such as:

Release stress energy through:
Hobbies;
Time with family, loved ones;
Anything that gives you pleasure, passion and/or joy;
Laughter;
Tense/relax muscle groups; tense for 10 – 15 seconds, then relax and repeat;
Regular journaling, pour out your deepest thoughts and feelings;

To relax your fight/flight energy:
Sound sleep, 7 – 8 hours most nights;
Yoga, tai-chi, etc.;
Hot bath;
Power naps;

Your health, to a significant degree, is a matter of choice (along with genetics determining your vulnerabilities). You can choose stress and its accompanying hormones, when in excess leading to physical and emotional problems. Or you can choose more Stress Breaks to minimize the damage. What will it be?

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Stress breaks help maintain healthier cortisol level
Stress for Success
March 24, 2009

How’s your health? Is it:
* Excellent
* Very good
* Good
* Not good
* Poor

Your answer predicts your future regarding disease and longevity more accurately than a thorough review of your medical records, according to research in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine in 2006. It makes sense since you live with yourself 24/7. Just as when you drive the same car for a long time and know when something’s off, you also know when your body isn’t performing as well.

Fascinatingly, these researchers found that people who considered themselves healthier experienced a wider fluctuation of their fight/flight response. They aren’t normally stressed so when it kicks in, it's noticeable.

Those who felt less healthy didn't notice as much when their stress response kicked in because it wasn’t significantly different from how they typically felt. In other words, they had a higher level of the stress hormone cortisol all of the time, a symptom of chronic stress.

In both acute and chronic stress over 17 different hormones are released. Acute stress is generally a short-term response by the body to stress and lasts from a few minutes to a few weeks. Chronic stress occurs when stress is ongoing keeping the body on high alert month after month and is the main cause of stress-related health problems.

Stress hormones weaken your health over time when your body isn’t able to relax and recover from one stressful triggering event to the next. Those most vulnerable to the ravages of stress include:
* People with chronic stress
* Hotheads and those who are very impatient
* Those caught up in the runaway American lifestyle with entirely too much activity and not enough rest

If you belong to any one or more of these groups you may have too much cortisol in your system, which has been shown to have negative health effects from higher blood pressure to lowered immunity and inflammatory responses, from impaired cognitive performance to suppressed thyroid function to weight gain, and more.

To limit the damage of excess cortisol in your body include multiple stress breaks throughout your day. These pull you back from your Stress Cliff, where stress begins to damage you physically, mentally and emotionally. Stress breaks allow your physical body and your mind to seek an equilibrium. This can be difficult in today's runaway lifestyle when your fight/flight is triggered so frequently throughout each day without a chance to rest making it more essential to do so.

The most important stress breaks that help your body maintain healthier cortisol levels are:
* Exercise 30 – 45 minutes every other day; both anaerobic (resistance training) and aerobic (jogging or cycling);
* Deep relaxation 15 – 30 minutes daily;
* Deep breathe often throughout your day, especially when you notice that you’re stressed;

There are many more stress breaks. Next week we’ll look at some of them that can better balance your stress and relaxation responses, therefore your cortisol, which better protects you from the damage of stress.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Why chronic stress can make you sick
The fight/flight response is key to understanding the consequences of stress
Stress for Success
March 17, 2009

You’re driving down the highway when suddenly a car cuts you off almost causing an accident! You slam on the brakes, scream obscenities while adrenaline courses through your system! Your heart’s in your throat!

This is your body’s fight/flight response preparing you to defend against any and all danger—real or perceived. All survival mental and physical systems are on high alert like:
Faster heart beat
Faster, shallower breathing
Heightened vision and hearing
Muscle tension and much more

Triggering your stress response does no significant damage if your body returns fairly quickly to a balanced state to recover from the energy drain. Humans are incredibly resilient to their daily dose of stress.

The danger is that today’s fast-paced lifestyle triggers the fight/flight many times a day if not an hour leaving too many with an elevated stress response all day, most days. If your body doesn’t have time to recover from one triggering event to the next you end up in a near constant state of tension making you more vulnerable to everything from:
§ Insomnia to indigestion
§ Exhaustion to heart disease
§ Diabetes to depression and more

So, protect yourself from chronic stress, elevated stress that lasts for four months or longer, like:
§ A traumatic event like a hurricane and its aftermath
§ Chronic illness
§ Long-term care-giving
§ On-going financial stress
§ Hotheadedness and impatience
§ The American lifestyle of working entirely too much and resting far too little

Because modern stress is mostly mental, not physical, requiring mental solutions not physical attacks or retreats you have to slam on the brakes of your fight/flight energy. Over time this takes its toll on you physically and emotionally.

Much of the damage from chronic stress comes from the fight/flight hormone, cortisol. Even small hassles that aren’t worth risking your health over or simply stewing about stress contribute to the accumulation of symptoms.

Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers”, explains the damage of chronic stress: “No single disastrous effect, no lone gunman. Instead, kicking and poking and impeding, here and there, make this a bit worse, [make] that a bit less effective. Thus making it more likely for the roof to cave in one day.”

For example, your in-laws call; the sound of their voices sets you on edge. Do you realize that your stress response just ordered your stomach to diminish or stop digesting? Digestion isn’t essential for fighting or fleeing so it’s shut down or slowed while your heart and lungs rev up to defend against an attacking tiger. Could this explain why indigestion is so common today? Yes!

Which stressors are you spending your vital energy on? A difficult boss? Financial stress? Coping with change? Who pushes your buttons? Certainly, some of these are worth your energy, while others are not so it’s vital to pick and choose your battles.

Next week we’ll consider ways to get more rest away from your stress, the key to protecting yourself from chronic stress.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.

Chronic stress over the economy can make you sick
Stress for Success
March 10, 2009

Humans can tolerate an incredible amount of stress. But when it becomes chronic you should be concerned about your physical and emotional health.

Collectively Americans are experiencing chronic stress right now due to the economic crisis. So does this mean some will suffer negative consequences? Probably.

We can learn from a study of post-9/11 stress and its subsequent health consequences as reported by Tony Barboza (January 8, 2008, LA Times).

After the 2001 terrorist attacks UC Irvine tracked fifteen hundred people over three years with annual follow-up surveys showing that stress and fear about terrorism after 9/11 may have caused heart problems (published in January’s Archives of General Psychiatry). Even those with no personal connection to the attacks, the majority of whom watched live television coverage, were affected.

UCI researchers linked psychological stress responses to the attacks to a 53% increase in heart problems, including high blood pressure and stroke, in the three years following 9/11. Most of those surveyed had no preexisting heart problems. The results persisted even when risk factors like high cholesterol, smoking and obesity were taken into account.

The study’s lead researcher Alison Holman, assistant professor of nursing science at UCI, said, “It seems that the 9/11 attacks were so potent that media exposure helped to convey enough stress that people responded in a way that contributed to their cardiovascular problems.” (Do you watch a lot of today’s news coverage of the economic crisis?)

Research participants were asked in online surveys to report doctor-diagnosed ailments and assess their fear of terrorism by rating how much they agreed with statements like, “I worry that an act of terrorism will personally affect me or someone in my family in the future.” (Do you chronically worry about economic ruin?)

Chronic worriers who continued to fear terrorism for several years after the attacks were the most at risk of heart problems and three to four times more likely to report doctor-diagnosed heart problems two to three years after the attacks.

These same researchers in a study released in 2002 found that 17% of the U.S. population outside New York City reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) two months after the terrorist attacks. Those with high levels of PTS symptoms in the first nine to 14 days after the attacks were more than twice as likely to report heart problems up to three years later.

What lessons can we learn to protect ourselves from today’s financial stress?
§ Limit economic news consumption;
§ Challenge chronic worrying with action steps to protect yourself:
o Suze Orman advices having backup plans in case you lose your job and/or home – including whom to move in with if the worst happens;
§ Realign your expectations to match present day reality:
o Price your home to sell if you’re under pressure;
o If you need a job take any vs. waiting for one that’s commensurate to the one you lost;
o Live within an affordable budget;

Limit the damage of chronic stress to avoid its health consequences, the topic for next week.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.

Stress hormone may increase appetite, weight gain
Stress for Success
March 3, 2009

When stressed, even when simply thinking stressful (angry/fearful) thoughts, you trigger your body’s physiological fight/flight reaction. The most potentially damaging of the seventeen hormones that are part of this stress response is cortisol, a glucocorticoid.

One of cortisol’s roles during stress is to provide your body with energy. So, stress might lead you to eat more due to an increased appetite. The fuel your muscles need during the fight/flight response is sugar so you crave carbohydrates when stressed.

"During the first couple of days following a stressful event, cortisol is giving you a cue to eat high-carbohydrate foods," says endocrinologist Ricardo Dr. Perfetti, M.D., Ph.D., of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "… you (can) quickly learn a behavioral response that you feel almost destined to repeat anytime you feel stressed."

This was adaptive for our ancestors because they actually physically fought or fled from, say, attacking beasts. But we modern humans have to apply the brakes to our stress energy to keep from punching someone out or running away from them, sending stress hormones coursing through our bodies.

When you’re stressed over anything your body doesn't know that you’re not physically fighting or fleeing, so it still responds with the hormonal signal to replenish nutritional stores making you feel hungry. The resultant extra eating may cause weight gain.

So, Cortisol has become the newest excuse for packing on the pounds. However, research disagrees on whether excessive cortisol actually causes weight gain and fat deposits in your abdominal area.

Some research shows that abdominal fat causes chemical changes that can lower metabolism and increase cravings for sweets, possibly leading to additional weight gain. However, Mayo Clinic dietitian Katherine Zeratsky, RD, LD, doesn’t believe that the amount of cortisol produced by a healthy stressed person is enough to cause weight gain. She says that stress causes you to accumulate excess fat only when your body produces large amounts of cortisol due to side effects of medication or an underlying medical condition like Cushing's syndrome.

Others, like Dr. Caroline Cederquist, board certified family and bariatric physician the majority of whose patients have abdominal weight issues, believes our high stress lifestyles create cortisol-induced symptoms, including abdominal weight gain. This can also lead to higher cholesterol and blood sugar levels and elevated blood pressure, all factors for heart disease.

The research on the role of cortisol in obesity remains speculative. Blaming weight gain on stress ignores the possibility that you’ve developed a habit of eating in response to stress, a learned habit encouraged by brain chemistry that can be unlearned. Future research should settle this question. In the meantime, lower your stress, eat healthfully, exercise and avoid giving into the temptation of carbohydrates when stressed.

Here’s the bottom line to weight loss. It always has been which suggests it always will be—until a miracle weight loss treatment is invented. There are two ways to lose weight: eat fewer (and better) calories and burn more of those calories by moving your body more. Period.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization

Specific goals needed when trying to lose weight
Keeping eating, exercise journal can reveal habits
Stress for Success
February 24, 2009


“A goal without a plan is just a dream.”

How many times have you tried to lose weight and been successful – for a month or two?

If you know you “should” lose weight but you’ve historically failed, add a plan to support your goals and increase your likelihood of success.

Since a first step in changing anything is becoming consciously aware of your present behavior, for the next month keep an eating and exercising journal to reveal your habits, therefore what needs to change. Note what you eat for every meal and in between. Be brutally honest with yourself or this will be of little benefit. Also note any and all exercise you get during the same month.

Then circle all that work against your weight loss efforts. These indicate what your goal setting must include.

Next, along with your physician write specific and measurable goals that gradually decrease your consumption of sugars, fats, and decrease portion-size, and increase the amount of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and exercise. For example for March:
§ Decrease from two cans of sugar soda to one can daily;
§ Eat at least three servings of fresh fruits and vegetables/day;
§ Drink at least four glasses of water daily;
§ Walk for 15 minutes, five days a week;
§ Lose one pound/week

After you’ve accomplished these goals, reset them to completely eliminate sugar drinks, eat at least five daily servings of fruits and veggies and walk for at least 30 minutes five times a week for April and beyond.

No matter your present weight, to prevent obesity and its associated health problems and to make your goals easier to attain:
§ Continue recording your food intake and exercise routine to keep yourself honest and on target;
§ Study your food/exercise journal to identify what precedes your eating binges, avoid those situations and develop a strategy to handle them. For instance substitute boredom with something you see as positive like participating in a hobby or calling a supportive person.
§ Exercise most days for 30 – 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity, like fast walking or biking to keep off the pounds;
§ Eat far more low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods (fruits, vegetables and whole grains) and limit saturated fats, sweets and alcohol. Eat a wide variety of foods keeping the high-fat and high-calorie foods to a minimum only for special occasions.
§ Weigh yourself regularly, at least weekly. Apply the brakes to bad habits when you’re 3 – 5 pounds over your target weight.

Some seriously obese may qualify for medications and even surgery; but do your research. There are side-effects and possible negative consequences. You may need to take the medications indefinitely because when they’re stopped much or all of the weight generally returns. As with any surgery, complications like pneumonia, blood clots, etc. can occur.

To gain control over your weight and conditioning commit to making lifestyle changes of eating healthier and moving your body more. Make both enjoyable so your new habits are easy to continue.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization

Overcome survival instincts to lose weight
Stress for Success
February 3, 2009

I used to be ravenous in my 20s and feared that I’d never get control of my eating. My near-daily splurges included three big Snickers bars, an entire three-row package of cheap cookies, or a large bag of potato chips.

But here’s what really woke me up. After moving to a new apartment with all new kitchen supplies I discovered to my horror that I’d consumed an entire 3-pound can of Crisco in one month! I loved greasy popcorn.

Once I became conscious of this disgusting fact I completely quit eating popcorn for many years. Now I infrequently eat microwave popcorn.

Had I continued gorging I’d be a candidate for the 86% of Americans who could be overweight or obese by 2030, including 96% of non-Hispanic black women and 91% of Mexican American men. As much as $956.9 billion might be spent for overweight and obesity-related costs, one of every six health-care dollars. All of this is according to Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, associate professor with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Human Nutrition.

The overweight or obese are at increased risk for developing hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Researchers estimate that children and young adults may have shorter life expectancies than their parents if this obesity epidemic continues unabated.

But as I wrote last week, much of our obesity problem comes from the human survival instinct to protect against future starvation by eating calorie-dense fats and sugars and eating more than we need.

Whether you want to lose weight from your holiday excesses or you simply need to shed some pounds you’ll have to overcome this evolutionary programming of eating until you’re full. My favorite advice is from Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

You’ll also need to develop greater awareness of your excesses and the willpower to change until healthier eating becomes a lifestyle.

Deidre Barrett, professor of psychology at Harvard and author of “Wasteland” says, “… most people fail in the first three days on a diet,” so it’s important to know what to expect. It takes:
* 72 hours of cravings to reset hormonal levels;
* Another couple of weeks before dieting becomes easier;

She also suggests no cheating on a diet because taking an absolute approach is better than moment-to-moment decision-making regarding what to eat.

Your instinct to eat until you’re full also triggers rationalizations that you must become consciously aware of and argue against. How do you justify eating something you know isn’t on your diet? “I’ve had a stressful day and having ice cream won’t kill me.” Argue against your excuses. “I may deserve something for being stressed but it doesn’t have to be food.”

When in my 20s I didn’t realize it was instinct driving my eating habits. I thought I was just a pig (that’s harsh but you should have seen what I ate!) I simply came to the conclusion that I’d rather be healthy than full. How about you?

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization

Combat that holiday excess
Stress for Success
January 27, 2009

“All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”

If work includes healthy eating and exercise and play includes no exercise and eating lots of Christmas goodies, then I’ve been a very interesting girl. My husband’s homemade toffee candy is to die for and my Norwegian lefse is nothing to sneeze at and I’m full of both.

Since the late 1960s at this time of year I eat only a variety of apples (about eight a day) for two days (the recommended is for three days.) It feels good to flush out from my system all those accumulated holiday sugars.

Avoid being too dull by balancing your excesses with moderation, even though it goes against our survival instinct of eating until we’re full.

For most of human history the food supply was uncertain so our metabolism was calibrated to guard against possible future starvation. The problem today is because eating more doesn't satisfy us we merely readjust how much we think we need.

Our survival instincts work against us in several other ways, too.
§ We crave the historically rare calorie-dense fats and sugars that protected us from starvation that are now plentiful and in overkill cause obesity;
§ We don’t yearn for historically abundant plants;
§ Our dieting willpower decreases once we've lost weight.

Just compare our ancestors' lean and muscular bodies due to their physical exertion for hunting or gathering their unsure food supply to ours. It isn’t pretty. We have an overabundance of food that we get from the grocery store. Too many of us eat entirely too much and exercise entirely too little, and not just over the holidays. For many it’s a lifestyle choice.

According to an April 3, 2008 US Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service progress review:
§ Adults 20+ years with healthy weight range (body mass index or BMI 18.5 - 24.9) was 32% from 2003 to 2006
o It was 42% from 1988 to 1994
o This disturbing trend was found across all demographic groups for whom data were collected, including Mexican Americans, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic whites, across genders and income levels.
§ Obese (BMI 30 or above) 20+ years old was 33% in 2003 to 2006
o Up from 23% from 1988 to 1994.
o Mexican Americans rose from 29% to 35%
o Non-Hispanic blacks from 30% to 45%
o Non-Hispanic whites from 22% to 32%

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health posted a July 28, 2008 projection that 86% of Americans could be overweight or obese by 2030 with health care spending as much as $956.9 billion!

We’re all in this boat of excess together. It’s in our collective interest to develop more moderate eating habits and to lose significant weight, improving our health, which would take pressure off of insurance premiums and taxes that ultimately pay for these excesses.

Next week we’ll look at how we can overcome our human nature of eating more than we need out of the fear we may starve tomorrow.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization

Live and authentic life
Stress for Success
January 20, 2009

Authentic: genuine, real, valid, bona fide

Living an authentic life, one that' s consistent with what you value and who you genuinely are, leads to a much more meaningful life that’s less stressful and can help you through today’s challenges.

The opposite of authentic is fake (counterfeit, forged, phony). Living a counterfeit life leads to an underlying discomfort in all that you do that feels phony to you. For example, an honest person who sells a product she believes is faulty would be stressed. Her mental health would improve significantly if she found employment that honored her values.

"Authenticity is a cornerstone of mental health and is correlated with many aspects of psychological well-being, including vitality, self-esteem, and coping skills. Acting in accordance with one's core self, a trait called self-determination, is ranked by some experts as one of the three basic psychological needs, along with competence and the sense of relatedness,” says Karen Wright (Psychology Today, May/June 2008.)

Social psychologist Michael Kernis of the University of Georgia, Athens, and graduate student Brian Goldman, now of Clayton State University, defined authenticity as “the unimpeded operation of one’s true or core self in one’s daily enterprise.”

They identified four components of authenticity. Self-awareness is the first and most basic: awareness of and confidence in your own intentions, emotions, and preferences. This is represented in:
* Defining what you want in life and making it happen vs. living the life that others say you “should” live
* Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and making appropriate choices based on them
* Taking personal responsibility for your actions vs. blaming outside forces when things go wrong
* Development of self-confidence to tackle life’s challenges, accomplish goals and to develop intimate relationships.

Kernis and Goldman also found that living authentically leads to developing better coping strategies versus manipulating others to get what you’re too unassertive to directly request or escaping through self-destructive patterns like substance abuse.

Doesn’t it make sense then that authentic living could help you deal with the current and stressful state of our world?
* Having an abiding faith in knowing what’s important in your life can help you see this national turmoil as secondary in importance to love of family and friends; it doesn’t make the stress go away but puts it into perspective
* It allows you to cope with greater stability, which improves clear thinking to figure out your options more quickly and decisively
* It encourages you to realize your tendencies so if you’re aware that you spend spontaneously, for example, it could motivate you to create and live by a responsible budget.

Defining what living authentically means to you begins by identifying your values. For example, if you value living within your means then you probably set a spending limit for holiday gifts before you begin shopping; your spending behavior expresses this value.

Next week we’ll look more closely at knowing what you value in life to set a clearer course for a more authentic life.


Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of Inter Action Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization