by Michael Plank
4 action steps for the week…
Move
More physical activity (up to a point) is generally better. Do you have any streaming service (Hulu, Prime, etc) that still has commercials? Next time you watch it, do some sort of movement during each commercial break. Doesn’t matter what: squats, sit-ups, push-ups, old-school toe touches. Moving > Not Moving.
Eat
Once this week, add one extra serving of vegetables to your dinner. If dinner usually has no vegetables, add any vegetables. If you usually have 1/2 c of frozen vegetables, once this week, make it a full cup. Any vegetables are good here (for our purposes here: corn does not count, mushrooms do count).
Sleep
If you have trouble winding down once you’re in bed with the lights off, resist the urge to grab your phone and try Progressive Muscle Relaxation. It’s a fancy term for tensing each muscle group for a few seconds and then relaxing it. Learn more HERE.
Manage
Journal for 5 minutes. There are all kinds of reasons this may be helpful, but it is consistently shown to reduce stress and help manage anxiety and depression. One reason may be that putting your thoughts down on paper helps you get out of the spiraling and replaying of thoughts that happens in times of high stress. The University of Rochester Medical Center has more HERE.