Whats On Your Plate? -Good food choices are not the only way to nourish your body — proper self-care is just as important to living a healthy lifestyle! In today’s society it is easy to put too much on the proverbial plate so to speak.
Just as you need to be mindful of how much and what types of foods you are choosing, you should be just as mindful of how many and what types of commitments you are making. Overloading yourself and saying ‘yes’ to too many things can burden your mental health as well as your waistline.
Your body releases cortisol when it is stressed. Stress is stress according to your body. If stress comes from a food intolerance or from an over-committed schedule the amount of cortisol released is the same.
Evaluate What’s On Your Plate
There are some stressors you cannot “remove from your plate,” but there are some that can be discarded.
I encourage you to take some time to make a list of things that you are responsible for in your daily and weekly schedule.
Break that list into:
- Things that bring you joy
- Things that you just “have to do”
Then:
- Look at the “have to do” list and determine what you can delegate
- Consider tasks you can hire out
- Look at your weekly schedule and determine how many hours you have free
- If you find you only have minutes — it’s time to reassess your commitments
Often times it is difficult at first to give up control. As a result you are left with a “full plate” and an over-stressed nervous system.
Change is difficult for most people because we can’t imagine what life will look like after the change takes place. Many people stay in an unhealthy state simply because it is familiar.
Your Takeaway
So, I challenge you to examine what is on your plate.
Ask yourself:
- What can you scrape off?
- What has to stay?
Keep the things that nourish your mind, body, and soul.
The rest can go to the dump!