Addicted to Stress - weaning yourself from adrenaline

I’ve been reading about how people these days are addicted to stress. Our society encourages it. I always considered myself an ‘involvaholic’ - too many things going on all the time, until I read somewhere about how this exhausts our adrenals and burns us out. Our bodies are not meant to run off adrenaline and cortisol except in true emergency situations.

I decided to stop living on adrenaline. One of the things I did was get away from caffeine. I drink decaf coffee, for one thing. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands. I know decaf is not totally devoid of caffeine, but it doesn’t get me jittery at all, and I don’t get a headache if I miss a day. And there are tons of yummy brands of decaf these days.

Weaning oneself off full-caff coffee and caffeinated sodas is one of the first steps to getting away from needing adrenaline to get through the day. And it’s a much easier one than getting into the nitty gritty of examining one’s life.

The next step is to take a look at what you do each day that gives you a ‘kick.’ Waiting for deadlines to approach is definitely one of these things! As a ex-journalist, I lived for deadlines. There was an exhilaration to it all.

Then eventually I burned out. Now I resist anything that requires me to write by a certain date. It bugs me to even have a deadline; just having one gives me anxiety. I don’t think I ever would have developed a clinical anxiety problem if I didn’t live on adrenaline for so long.

So everyone should take a look at the things you do, on a daily basis, that bring you stress.  Make a list of the things you can eliminate from your life, and don’t be afraid to make a big change to protect your health and sanity. Learn to ask for help if you need it, and learn to say no to more tasks. Decide to spend more time in relaxing activities - make a daily prescription of it!

I am trying to find peaceful contentment and creatively joyful activities to pursue these days. I want to live on proper fuels, like glucose and amino acids, and reserve adrenaline for its intended emergency use. You never know when you will need to have that adrenaline reserve ready to go, instead of having burned out adrenal glands.  :)

Living on Adrenaline, Decreasing Stress

All evidence these days points to stress as a major contributor to ill-health, in both body and mind. Apparently stress stimulates the body to respond with creating the hormone cortisol (in the adrenals).

Cortisol is the flight and fight hormone. High and prolonged levels of cortisol decrease bone density and muscle mass and increase sugar imbalances. Cortisol leads to increased abdominal fat. Also, cortisol inhibits collage formation (hello, wrinkles!).

About.com writes, “Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol.” http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

The wikipedia explains that cortisol addiction also contributes to clinical depression. The Mayo Clinic lays things out clearly about the negative effects of allowing stress to continue eating away at your body: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

In our modern world, we’ve created a high-stress culture using adrenaline as a fuel source. The adrenals were never meant to be stimulated like this - it’s a very unhealthy fuel.

I’ve been seriously working to decrease stress in my life. I don’t think we take stress seriously enough; we just live with it. Trying to actually eliminate stress is a worthwhile goal! And one I do not think is too far out of line. The adrenals are intended to help us work through temporary stressful situations - ones that we cannot control. Using cortisol as a daily fuel; that was never intended. That is what I am going to work on eliminating from my life.

Soap and Lotions Company reduces Carbon Footprint

Eclectic Lady, a one-woman home-based company that makes yummy soaps, sachets, lotions, room sprays and smelly jellies, announced recently their commitment to environmental packaging and principles.

From their press release:

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint:

As a long-time fan of Eclectic Lady’s products, I was thrilled to see that not only am I supporting a work at home mom company, but I am making sure the products I use are not hugely contributing to the planet’s waste stream.

I recommend the perfume oils, the room sprays and the smelly jellies for making your world smell great. The fair-trade African products are also unrivaled.

Joined the Tough Love Weight Loss Support Forum

Press Release from TLWL:
Tough Love Weight Loss is a free support community, where members upload their weight loss video diaries, blog about their weight loss struggles, seek out others for advice and also give advice - all with truth as the most important factor for accountability.

Visit Tough Love Weight Loss

The Tough Love comes into play when members hold each other accountable for their actions, and when they show support for their successes and failures, always putting the member first, even when the member is unable to.

Tough Love Weight Loss (TLWL) is having several contests and is in process of a membership drive. For example, if you get 50 people to sign up, you will win $50!

Come by each Saturday to see Stephanie’s new weight loss video diary. Other members are joining in too. Stephanie started the community in order to get support for herself, and to help support others differently than in the past. She doesn’t want to be coddled or told it is OK to cheat. She wants to be held accountable.

Tough Love Weight Loss holds members accountable for their actions. Join here: ToughLoveWeightLoss.com

For more information see: TLWL or email owner@toughloveweightloss.com. TLWL is seeking weight loss stories, donations for member prizes, and partnerships.

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Note from me: I always go up and down with my level of fitness and want to stay on track for good. I joined this group to be able to maintain my weight and be held accountable! I recommend joining (it’s free) and getting to know this great group of ladies. Everyone cares and will root you on…and help you stay accountable to yourself. If you join, tell them HippyGeek sent you.

What Do You Have in Your Home Gym?

I love working out at home. It’s so much easier to keep up with fitness when it’s in the comfort of my own living room, in front of MY TV, with good sound, temperature control and all the comforts of home. I don’t have to worry about what I am wearing (I can work out in my pajamas if i want to), I am not bothered by other people and their sweat/germs, I don’t have to wait for equipment, I don’t have to drive anywhere, and it’s far cheaper to own something than rent something, which is in essence what you are doing at a gym.

My home gym set up: In the livingroom, we have a treadmill and skiing type machine, yoga/stetch mats (also yoga block and strap), two twist boards, pullup/crunches bar, a weighted medicine ball, hand weights, a fitness ball, ab roller, a jump rope, a stretch rope for resistance training, boxing gloves and various workout DVDs (yoga, trance dance, tai chi, chi gong, Tae bo). While we watch TV each night we climb on our machines and work out. I’d love to add a punching bag and a Wii Fit system.

These are all things we’ve added to the mix over time. We use them all. I love having these options at home, in front of my own TV/DVD player (if I am watching something, I can’t get bored). We hardly even just sit there on the couch like vegetables. Even just stretching is making good use of our TV time.

I also have my walking, running and hiking shoes by the door. I count that as home gym stuff too.

If someone was just starting out, and didn’t have much room, I’d suggest getting a twist board (under ten dollars at Amazon.com), a yoga mat, a weighted ball (4 or 6 pounds is plenty), very light hand weights (1 or 3 pounds), and some DVDs with movement training that interests you (martial arts? kickboxing? yoga? Jane Fonda doing aerobics?). I’d suggest getting a used treadmill from Craigslist for $100, or a cycle machine (used these can be like $20).

Or go the Wii route and not worry about getting anything else.  Between all the fitness choices they’ve added, you get your whole virtual gym covered.

Do you have any home fitness equipment? Do you use it? what would you have in your perfect home gym?

Twitter Grade

I just checked my Hubspot Twitter Grade for HippyGeek - scored a 97 out of 100, and apparently there is nothing for me to improve on. I like hearing that! I need constant positive strokes to fuel my self esteem.

Here’s my badge:

I’m not sure exactly what they are basing the grade on. Follow ratio? Amount or frequency of tweets? Mixture of tweet types?

Have you checked your Twitter Grade? Twitter Grader

Saving Money by Eliminating Budget Items

Are there things you pay for each month that are not actually necessary? Depending on how frugal you need to be, there are plenty of things that can be worked around.

For example, having a land lone phone isn’t as important as it was not long ago. DH and I get along pretty well with cell phones. And we are staring to think that even cell phones are not crucial, since Skype is so cheap.

We don’t have cable for TV since we can watch just about everything online. We download older series’ and we use hulu mostly for new programs.

We don’t pay for trash service; I take care of recycling on my own, compost what i can, reduce my waste as much as possible, and trash what is left in various dumpsters or in friend’s trash bins. This saves us $18 a month, which does add up. It makes me feel happy to be more self-reliant, and it’s a fun game to see how little waste my household can produce.

We’ve changed over all our regular, wasteful lightbulbs to compact florescent bulbs from the dollar store. This will save us hundreds of dollars each year on our electric bills! I’m not off the grid yet, but someday I dream we will power our home completely from solar sources.

We buy used for most of our clothes, shoes, outdoor gear, gardening tools, home decor and books. There are thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, ebay, etc.

We work out at home and outside rather than having a gym membership, using home equipment, walking and hiking shoes, yoga mats, fitness DVS and a pullup bar. (no, i can’t do a pullup, but dan can. I just hang from it)

Since we work at home, we really only use the one car. We’ve lived in many places where we only have one vehicle, halving all kinds of associated fees.

What ways do others find to keep their budget items low and eliminate costs entirely?

Do You Use Coupons?

Do you collect coupons, scour ads, print out online coupons, send in rebates, or avidly read your ValPack/Pennysaver circulars for ads? Do you buy and use entertainment books full of local coupons?

Do you find you actually use coupons, or forget about them until they expire? Is the time spend collecting and organizing worthwhile?

For me:

Each time I get an entertainment book I realize it’s been a waste of money for me. I never use anything in them, for some reason.

Coupon that show up in the mail I am pretty good at using. Right now I have one in front of me for getting a $5 item free at my thrift store for bringing in an unwanted Elephant Gift.

I also hand the fast food coupons to Dan, so he can grab food when he spends the day at cinemas getting PeeTimes for RunPee.com. He really appreciates those.

I have a stack of coupons for $2 pints of locally brewed beer at the Oak Creek Brewing Company in Sedona. I use those with my friend Chris regularly. I pulled them from the coupon pages in my phone book.

I have a $5 off pet food coupon from a Val-Pack, and a 10% additional payout for can recycling coupon, several car repair/oil change coupons and a pedicure coupon on my fridge.

I don’t really do grocery coupons (I always forget them), but these larger savings ones I do use.

I tape these things up where I can see them on my way through the house/by the door. I figure if I don’t actually use my coupons, they become a form of mind clutter. If I see them, there is a better chance I’ll use them. I try to only hold onto coupons I think will actually come in handy.

For you:

What are your favorite coupons to use? Do they save you actual money, or is coupon collecting a waste of time?

Camp Verde New Thrift Store Finds

Today I went to my wonderful nearby thrift store, called, strangely, New Thrift Store (in Camp Verde, AZ, along Highway 260). This is honestly the coolest thrift shop I’ve ever been to outside of those Savers stores and this one HUGE Goodwill in Seattle. Nice people, funky wares, fun background music, interestingly personable displays. Tons of stuff packed into a few rooms.

I found myself some lovely, inexpensive goodies:

• Warm fuzzy jammies $2.50
• Fabric to make my meditation cushion $1.50
• Fabric to make into a bedroom curtain $1.50
• Warm microfiber sweats to wear around the house $2.50
• 3 comfortable long sleeved shirts that actually look good on (always a bonus) $2 each
• A tree branch lopper (these scrubby, thorny bushes around the house need work)$1
• Homeopathic Foot Massager/Heater (so I can keep my feet warm and enjoy a massage while at the computer in my cold kitchen) $4.50
• A nice REI sunhat $1.50
• AND a ’skiing’ workout machine thing I can use while on the computer or watching DVDs $12 (I’ve been looking for something like this)
• A large-slice ‘bagel’ toaster $2.50

I felt so happy while shopping. All the employees are friendly and helpful; they seem to like their jobs. I love that the thrift store has a “happy hour” from 3-6pm each day, where everything is half off. There are interesting specials going on all year, like an extra 15% off on your birthday, and a White Elephant Gift Exchange after the holidays (bring in something you got that you don’t like and exchange it for something from the store worth up to $5).

There is a large and comfortable dressing room for trying on clothes, a “Guy Stuff” section with electronics and sports, tons of inexpensive furniture, neat craft supplies in zip locks, and a large salvage type area outside where one can hunt around for all sorts of bizarre, possibly useful items (like my workout machine). Everything is extremely well labeled, often humorously so. Great store!

I like buying used, bottom line. I like knowing that these are things that won’t be in the trash stream and can continue to be enjoyed. I got good things for super cheap prices, and I can feel completely unguilty about my spending.

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New Thrift Store, 1575 S. Roadrunner Lane, Camp Verde, AZ 928-567-5759. 9-6 daily, closed Saturday.

I’m usually a Scrooge about the holidays

I don’t do Christmas trees. It just seems like a lot of work each year, and I really don’t care about the holidays. I did hang up some white lights in the house, but not for xmas - just because I like it as indirect, romantic lighting. It stays up permanently.

What is different this year is that I was unpacking some things I had in storage here in AZ and came across a small handful of Xmassy things, like a Santa hat, a potholder with geese wearing Santa hats, some red fuzzy Christmas stockings, two little Elves that have been in my family since I was a tyke, and two green little jingle bells that someone gave me to wear from my ears (even though I do not have ears that are pierced). So I hung them along the kitchen railing that has some of my white lights.

And I also grabbed some mistletoe from a nearby tree and hung it in the doorway to kiss under.

So in spite of my complete lack of holiday spirit, I actually have a few things up this year after all.