Stress Buster GetawaysWritten by Michele Webb
Research has shown that taking a short trip, or getaway, has same effect on reducing stress and relaxing us as long trips. The Stanford University psychiatrist noted that our minds are generally more relaxed FIRST couple of days of a trip as compared to last few days. So, if you are feeling tired and in need of a getaway, here are a few planning tips: 1. Close to home. Stay close to home – don’t spend entire time away in transit to and from your destination. For example: if you live in Dallas, don’t go to Miami Beach. Find somewhere that is in close proximity for this “mini” getaway. Think about where you have always wanted to, places you have not visited yet or places where you know you can get away to and relax and have fun. 2. Check season and weather. Not all of us can getaway only to warm and sunny locations, and you may need to take a break now instead of waiting for good weather to come about. If you like beach, but it is off season, just plan and pack accordingly. Instead of basking in sun’s rays you can stroll through antique shops or bookstores, layer on warm clothes and take a walk along shore, or get a table inside your favorite seafood restaurant instead of outside on patio. 3. Pamper yourself. A getaway is a time to pamper yourself. Treat yourself to a top-of-the-line hotel. Explore city or local area, visit spa, and indulge yourself in those activities that you normally do not take time for. Order room service, read a good book, get tickets to local theatre or playhouse … getting picture?
| | Unrealistic expectations can cause failureWritten by Caryl Ehrlich
Weight gain is an evolutionary process. Some people call it creeping weight. The scale turtles inexorably upward – a tight skirt, a belt notch, a can’t-zip-up-my-pants inch at a time. Yet you expect scale to go down as rapidly as a high-speed elevator. This erroneous thought pattern – practiced and perfected as with any bad habit – is an unrealistic expectation. Dangerous to be sure with any endeavor, but deadly when it comes to weight reduction. I could have, I should have, I didn’t, I wanted to, are loud laments of perfectionist. Perfectionism is an illusion, however. Since you’ll never be perfect, in your mind you don’t ever succeed. Then you think: I failed, I blew it, I’m weak, or bad, or whatever you say to beat yourself up, and you stop trying altogether. Why not acknowledge small incremental improvements, times when you did better at one meal, one day, or one event than you might have? Focus only on what you did, not on what you thought you should have done. The inclination to focus on negative is part of all or nothing addict mind. You think that if you can’t do it perfectly for an entire week – even though it is unrealistic to think you can – you won’t do it at all. It would be more pleasurable to look for positive and see that list grow. All-or-nothing thinking is far more destructive to your weight loss goal than a friend baking brownies and leaving them on your desk. Even if you eat one brownie but manage to give rest to co-workers and friends, you think you’ve blown it. A better way of thinking would be to realize you only ate one, when in past you probably would have eaten several, if not all. Unrealistic expectations give substance, heft, and power to an unrealized goal. They quash budding crocus of success as it pushes through thick asphalt of failure. Unrealistic expectations kill flowering of dreams, because you become so disappointed that you give up hope. Thomas Edison never stopped trying. “I have not failed 10,000 times,” he said. “I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” The only reality is where you are today – perhaps 50 pounds and where you were a week ago – perhaps 155 pounds. And even if your weight remains same, there are other questions to ask: Did you keep a food log? Did you drink requisite amount of water? Did you do better at an industry function than you might have? Did you eat less than usual at your mother’s? Yes? Then you’re ahead of game. Marcia S, an unrealistic thinker, lost seven pounds in two weeks. The third week she lost one pound. When I asked for a positive story, she said: “Nothing good happened.” She was miserable. “But you lost eight pounds,” I reminded her.
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