Living a Stress Free and Healthy Life in 2014

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This post was sponsored by Alomune (http://Alomune.com), a daily pre-biotic supplement that helps you stay strong all year long. All opinions expressed here are honest and my own.

As you know or may have heard, a mother is considered to be the queen of multi-tasking, but this has the potential to cause burn out and stress which then leads to an unhealthy mom. Let’s face it, moms just naturally tend to overlook their own health and well being all the while caring for everyone else. I have most definitely been there and more than once. Not a good thing! From schedules to house chores and work and/or business, etc., life just becomes plain exhausting.

In this new year of 2014, I am aiming for better health as a mom, how about you? I could say that overall I was a pretty healthy person in 2013, but frankly, I would be {lying} to myself and to you. Let me explain…..

I did exercise on a daily basis and ate pretty well, but then stress and chaos entered my life causing me to spiral downward with my goals. Just before Christmas of 2013, I decided to make a Dr. visit as my heart was racing and my body was constantly reacting to the stress. They took 3 viles of blood and did a couple of heart checks and everything came back just fine. Obviously, stress was consuming my overall health and my life. Because of this stress my bad cholesterol was the only concern as it was slightly higher than normal. Even though I was eating what I thought was healthy, it just didn’t matter. Stress on top of poor portion choices was raising a red flag in me. It’s very eye-opening what can happen to a body with just a few months of added stress.

How do I lower my stress and better my health? I brainstormed this for days all the while stressed by stress alone. This was not a good start or reaction for that matter.

Now in 2014, I have decided to make some serious changes in myself and manage all of the stress in my life. My husband has been so supportive in these efforts.

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What is it I am doing exactly?

For Health Purposes

I have decided to take sugar out of my diet. I only reward myself with a small treat on Saturdays. This is my third week and I feel so very different and already much healthier. Definitely worth a little reward at the end of the week.
I try to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water a day and then some. Staying hydrated has made a difference for my skin as well.
I stay dedicated to a healthy well-balanced diet. No heavy or out of control snacking and much smaller portions. More fruits and veggies is a plus!
I exercise at a gym Monday-Friday mornings. My energy levels are much higher when I work out. I am starting to lose that little extra weight that I gained due to stress.

For Managing Stress

Daily workouts can also go in this category as it’s the perfect stress reliever.
I try not to bite off more than I can chew. I am notorious for saying yes to too many things. Learn to say “no” more often.
I am learning to communicate my feelings before I explode. I am one to get busy and shove my needs and feelings aside before they come to a head and burst. This most definitely does not help as too much stress is poison to the soul.
Expressing myself in a journal. This most definitely is helpful and I utilized this the most while going through my major stress trials.
Talking to someone. This can be a spouse, a pastor, a therapist, a friend, etc. Whoever you trust will listen to your life concerns.
This one is my ultimate favorite as it works. Prayer! Through much prayer and intercession, stress can turn into joy, peace, and comfort. Without it, I don’t know where I would be today.

Hopefully my personal experiences have helped you recognize your health concerns as well as how much stress you carry in your life. Life is too short to be careless with our bodies and be stressed out all of the time. It’s time to lift our heads up and move forward in faith and joy believing that we can achieve the best for ourselves. Moms need to be living healthy not just for our families, but for ourselves as well.

How do you manage stress in your busy life? Feel free to share your health goals for 2014 as well. It’s always great learning from each other.

This post was sponsored by Alomune (http://Alomune.com), a daily pre-biotic supplement that helps you stay strong all year long. For more healthy living ideas & inspiration, please visit the Alomune Healthy Living blog (http://blog.alomune.com), their Facebook page (http://Facebook.com/alomune), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/alomune) or join the conversation on Twitter (http://Twitter.com/alomune).