Over the years I’ve allowed society to dictate how I feel about my body. I payed attention to the people who insisted I lose weight, look toned, hide myself if I have fat on my body. It has been the norm to accept the body shaming that is built into how our society has evolved. I’ve seen people laugh at me for eating something, oink at me, or smack my stomach and insist I lose weight.
I went along with what they said. If so many people and an entire society are telling me I should be skinny, then I’m doing something wrong, because I’m not skinny, and I haven’t been since I was a preteen.
I followed the mindset that I must fit into society’s views of what I should look like for a few years now, and here’s what’s happening.
I’m…
- gaining weight
- miserable
- lacking motivation in everything I do
- pressured by society
- feeling like I have to lose weight to please society
- feeling like I have to lose weight to fit into society
- convinced I have no place in society if I don’t lose weight
- depressed
Why do I keep trying to let society dictate my actions? It’s never worked for me. I’m socially awkward. I’ve always been a loner (partially by choice, partially because of social anxiety). Not to mention, look where letting society lead me has gotten me in terms of mentality and weight loss…no where.
Before you jump on me for that last statement let me clarify. No, I do not blame society for my weight gain. I blame myself for the choices I’ve made over the years and for not taking care of my mental and physical health. My point here isn’t to justify my weight or defend my weight or put blame on anyone or anything.
My point is I need to stop thinking I need to justify it to anyone.
I’m releasing society from all management duties it has appointed itself to regarding my body and my life.
My body. My decision.
Society is off the hook!
On that note I’m making an executive decision on behalf of me. I am making the decision to take back my life. I’m going to stop worrying about what society will think and start worrying about what I think.
In the past I always assumed I should lose weight because that’s what society wanted me to do. Now, instead of focusing on the weight I want to focus on the emotional side of things. I have decided I’m going to put my focus on stress reduction.
I actually started in on addressing the problem of stress reduction a couple of months ago. As a stay at home/work at home mom I had way too much going on and I was drowning in my own to do list. I took a look at that to do list and made a really tough decision to take a step back from my direct sales business. I loved it, I loved what it was doing for me, but I didn’t love what it was doing to me. Over the past couple of months I’ve noticed a positive change in my mood, my activity level and my motivation.
This change was the first sign to me that it’s time to make more changes and I’m pretty sure they’ll lead to even more positive changes. After I get my life back under control and back under my lead I can then start adding things back in the mix.
I decided I’m going to try my hardest to keep a daily journal of the stress reduction activities I do during the day as well as my mood. I’m hoping to see a positive change.
Here is a list of the stress reduction techniques I will consider taking on. I haven’t decided exactly which items I’ll do. Perhaps I’ll do some more than others, give some a try then leave them if they don’t work for me, or alternate what I do each day. One thing I know is some of these ideas are part of a 30 minute wellness routine I do. They are also on my detailed list of living in the moment. That means there is a lot of great things here that can apply to many areas of mental and physical well being.
22 Stress Reduction Techniques
- Breathing Exercises
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Walks
- Me Time! (I get to do what I want uninterrupted)
- Social Media/computer breaks
- Write letters of gratitude
- Journal
- Drink more water
- Get a massage
- Home spa treatment
- Make time to vent/decompress
- Sing (huge stress reliever to me to just belt it out!)
- Laugh
- Stretching
- Get more organized
- Hug someone
- Aromatherapy
- Find a relaxing hobby
- Practice guided visualizations
- Enjoy a cup of tea and be in the moment
- Veg out and give the brain a break
These are just some of the things I’m going to be working on. I’m hoping I can expand on some of these as well as my journey to stress reduction here on the blog. I know I’m not the only one out there who needs to take a few steps back and rein in that stress. Feel free to share a bit about your stress story as well as any techniques that work for you!
What stress reduction techniques have you found to be most effective? Tell me in the comments.
I love to read and have lately started walking at least 5k steps a day. I find that I’m not losing weigh, but I’m not gaining either. But for me, that’s not the point. I feel better and that’s all that matters. I’ll be pullin for you. If anyone can tackle a goal, it’s you!
That’s exactly my point here. I need to reduce my stress which will hopefully increase my motivation, which will increase the likelihood I’ll actually get up and exercise! Right now I don’t want to focus on losing weight, but if stress reduction drops my cortisol level, who knows what will happen!
Reading. And I don’t mean reading for “improvement” – I mean reading something I enjoy. I read every night before I go to sleep, even if it’s late, even if it’s for just 15 minutes. It relaxes me and it helps me sleep. Some days that time is all I’ve taken for myself all day.
Yes!! I used to read a fun fiction book a week (or less) now, I haven’t touched a book I wanted to read in who knows how long. I think I’ll be creating 1001 books to read lists, but mine will be mindless fiction to help you relax, LOL. I love the other 1001 books to read, but many of them are full of stuff that makes you think…which is awesome and something I love, but for this purpose, I need a mindless book list. Like Stehpanie Plum books. I love them!
Way to let society off the hook and take your life back!!
I have so many of the same things on my list of stress reducers. One of my biggest and most effective is my (me time!!) morning quiet time. I take it no matter what. Some mornings are quieter than others, but I sit outside with my coffee, book and self, and I feed my soul, I can’t believe how this alone has made my days so much easier, and I go to bed excited about my morning time. 🙂
That’s a great perspective. Just getting that time to recharge and enjoy life. I love it!
I’m taking your approach, I mean TRYING to lose weight isn’t working and stressing me out, so maybe if I try this too, I can get rid of the stress and won’t care so much about the weight and if I lose YAY!! Good luck hun, I will be rooting you on and you know you can always vent to me as a stress relief too!
You just gave me an idea for a blog post there with the venting remark…I need to do a bit of research on that one. Thanks for that. And I hope this approach works for you too! If anything it can be a springboard for finding an technique that is right for you. Isn’t it more important to be happy and healthy?
I’m going to share this post with my sister. She is an emotional eater. She just recently made the decision to have weight loss surgery. However, her psychiatrist has told her she needs to work on the emotional part first. Thanks again for being so open!
Yes Jen! Share it! My point here is to remind people we’re all individuals, there is no one cookie cutter approach that is right for everyone. If you’re stressed and not happy with your life, why try to pile more stress on top! It’s time we take back control of our life and learn to manage all aspects of our health, including our emotional health.