Article 1: 1, 2, 3…..Breathe…
The year is in full swing so are the extracurricular activities and I swear I have been grocery shopping every day this week. I’m overwhelmed with work, with washing, shopping, cooking and LIFE this week. It’s that familiar feeling that creeps up at the beginning of every term as everything starts to move that little bit faster again as we mould ourselves back into a routine.
Personally, I find that the first things to start to fall apart when I feel this way are my healthy eating habits. I’m not unique in that realisation though. It’s the same pattern I notice in most of my mum clients. It starts with missing breakfast because we had a particularly manic morning and is a downward spiral from there. However, what we forget is that these are the times when our bodies need us to nourish them most.
To make my life easier, and yours, I am committing to these three steps as my mantra when I’m struck with ‘overwhelm’. I find that they help me get myself back on track by breaking the vicious cycle and they ensure I don’t end up hangry later.
1: TIME OUT
Hit the pause button on everything you are currently doing. Take a 5 minute breather. How often, when you are rushing around, do you feel your anxiety levels rising, and with that, you become far less effective?
2: MAKE A LIST
Even if it’s 40 items long, make that list and prioritise it into ‘must do now’, ‘would like to do now’ and ‘can do anytime’. Often I find doing this helps me realise that I don’t need to do everything right now, so I can focus on the essentials and treat the others as a bonus. I like to keep a running task list so that when I do find I have a spare moment, I can jump right on it.
3: EASY SNACKS
Have a stash of ready to eat food. If you keep some boiled eggs, tinned beans, tinned fish or even leftovers from dinner the night before you will always have a nourishing meal on hand to pair with a good sized serve of veggies. Nourishing yourself changes your mood, your energy levels and your ability to cope. So much so that maybe THIS should be number 1, not number 3.
