Thanks for than Don,
I just completed the questionaire and I had a score of 72! Yikes thats high. At 65 you are in the dangerous zone.
Well, I know why Im in the "dangerous zone". largely because I am now doing my placement over summer 3-5 days a week and I work 1 day a week and the other days are usually spent doing everything I can on my thesis.
So yup, I honestly feel like im back where I started. Im back on coffee - but managed to get through my exams and get great marks, I was working out to self-medicate for a while and now have dropped back to cardio 3days a week and weights 3 days a week.
Im just finding it really hard to get out of this pattern of a high stress lifestyle. Its almost as if I actually enjoy the stress and go looking for it !! haha.
anyway, im sure things will improve. I hope your doing well and taking care of yourself.
stace

Hi Stace,

It's a fact. Some people really do live on stress. It's just that they typically don't live as long, because they truly "burn out".

Hey, I've recently run across information from a doctor here in the U.S. (Florida) that ties in pretty well with Dr. S. His name is Dr. Al Sears, and his philosophy is quite a bit like TSP. Like Dr. S, he will prescribe pharmaceuticals for his patients - but only as a last resort. He likes to prescribe food - and he's especially fond of things like cod liver oil (omega 3s) and walnuts (ALAs).

Why this came to mind is your comments about cardio. He has some fascinating information about cardio, and how doing cardio on a regular basis actually decreases your lung power, heart capacity and more. (Don't laugh!)

He suggests a program he calls "Ultra Aerobics", where you do some simple exercise for a few minutes, then go all out for maybe a minute and a half. If you start panting because you're out of breath, you're there. The idea is the body naturally optimizes itself based on the demands put on it. By placing a short demand on it that it can't meet, the body is signaled to build in that area. And the demand is short enough that it doesn't trigger the adrenals, just like Dr. S says.

You can get a little "taste" or Dr. Sears here.

Blessings,

-Don

Oops. That's Supra Aerobics, not Ultra Aerobics.

Blessings,

-Don

Hi Don,
Thanks heaps for that Don!
well everything has finally caught up with me and im a total mess. I was meant to go to placement today (for 50 days of crisis intervention) and I just couldnt. Im having major problems at uni with a supervisor - and it had really started to take a toll on me. That coupled with my placement and moving house, I just broke down and cried all day yesterday and couldnt do anything. I was worn out and exhausted and still am!
I think in reflecting on this today I have realised how stressful my life it. I have bags and dark circles under my eyes and im only 23! Im exhausted and cant get out of bed anymore, I honestly feel as though I have hit bottom. I thought that I was worse before but I think I was more physically exhausted. Now im emotionally exhausted and feel like im a disaster.
I think I will be taking the week off work to sleep and sleep and sleep! I do feel as though im not coping with naything at the moment and just feel totally overwhelmed.
I remember some advice you gave me a while back - dont sweat the small stuff, and in the perspective of life, its all small stuff. I think I have forgotten that along the way.
So, at the moment, im not good, but I guess things can only get better right?
stace

Stace,

Right. In the large perspective, it's all small stuff. We just have to see it (and keep it) that way. No matter what.



If you truly decide you want to walk away from stressful situations!

Blessings,

-Don

Hi don, thanks for the supportive message.
I havent been online in ages and realised all the posts. I have been pretty busy of the past few weeks and months really. moving house, getting settled into my placement and I have started back up exercising again - weight training and cardio. My diet is fantastic at the moment and I have lost around 5-6kg. Im soooo pleased. It makes me feel a little better anyway. I now have a new superivsor for my thesis and he is wonderful. And although CATT is pressure, it is good pressure. So apart from feeling a little tired and not really being able to sleep very well (but i have been taking a few sleeping tablets to get me to sleep) im going ok.
How are you going?

stace

Hi Stace,

Sounds like you're doing much better - and having a new supervisor (a good one) is a great improvement!

I was a very bad boy over the holidays and gained quite a bit of weight. But I'm also losing it again (15 lbs since Jan 1). I'm using Dr. Sears' strategies and losing weight, getting stronger and gaining more energy. Good stuff.

I'm always having to find that balance point, and I'm working on the last gasps of a product that will be marketed on the internet. I've been working on this project (spare time) for nearly 6 years, and now it's so close to release that sometimes it's difficult to think about anything else.

Anyway, it's scheduled for release on Feb 27. If I meet the deadline, the pressure will decrease (or at least change).

How long have you got until you finish your degree?

Blessings,

-Don

Hi Don,
yeah my stress is a lot lower. Although im really busy at the moment, its not a bad stress. But things will really calm down when I finish my first placement and that will cut down 25-30 hours per week off my schedule. Im currently doing around 45-50 hours a week of actual work that I have to do and attend too. thats not counting homework and reading.
I will finish my doctorate at the end of hext year all things going well. So I cant wait for that.
Well done on the weight loss, whos dr sears (is he the zone guy)? That is a great acheivement to lose that weight. I swear by D. Schwarzbein. I guess I really never understood it before until I started doing my own research and its all just starting to make sense.
Your project sounds fantastic. I can understand your preoccupation with it at the moment, since the release date is coming up and the fact that you have spend the past six years on it. You must have high anxiety levels - well I know that I would.
I hope it is all going well. How are you feeling health wise with your busy schedule and the release date coming up? That is 2 days away isnt it. well, In VIC Aus it is sunday the 25th. So you must be super busy right now.
Take care with yourself,
stace

Hi Stace,

Wow - I can't imagine what it would be like to have my workload decreased by 25-30 hours a week!! That will be fantastic!

I misstated the weight loss statistic, just a bit. I actually started the plan on Jan 10, not Jan 1. And as of yesterday morning, the weight loss is 18 lbs (that would be just a bit over 8 kg down there in Oz). Feeling much better, good energy, more alert.

No, the "Zone Guy" is Dr. Barry Sears. This is Dr. Al Sears, an M.D. who has his practice here in the U.S. in the state of Florida. He specializes in longentivity and getting people off prescription drugs if at all possible. (There's a link to his web site in one of my previous posts on this thread.)

And sadly, I ran into some last-minute tech problems and I've had to push the release date for my product out 30 days, to March 27. I'm definitely feeling a little pressure release.

Blessings,

-Don

Hi don,
how did the release go? did it go ahead? How are you going with your weight loss to date now?

Im going ok. But feeling very similar to where I was last year. Tired, exhausted, sugar cravings, and trying to stick to SPI, but its hard. I have been living off caffeine (again) to me through, hi stress and sugar.

I had an ultrasound the other day for PCOS and there were 27 cysts on my ovaries. A normal woman can have up to 22 to NOT be diagnosed with PCOS. I guess thats ok. I have been seeing a chinese doctor and having accupuncture and herbal medicine. And guess what he said, you have to rest and sleep otherwise your body will just burn out.

I have been going to the gym 5-6 days a week which is good. Weight training 3 of those and cardio 3 of those as in SPI but I have soooo much of an urge to over exercise.

Im finding the sugar cravings are hard. What is your opinion on dark chocolate to curb a craving? (as in 85% cocoa and low in sugar)

Anyway,
I have been thinking about taking time off uni, because of my exhaustion and emotional stress im going through right now. But it wont be seen as a good move by the university.

stacey

Hi Stace,

Yep. Program has been released (on April 6). Now preparing to work on the marketing of it, which will be a constant effort over a period of time. But at least the big pressure is off.



I've developed a new saying, "When the pressure is on, the pounds follow." So there has been a definite "negative" weight loss...

Right now my wife and I are on a cleansing program. It's Day 3, and I'm already losing weight, and - after the first day when I felt absolutely lousey - I'm feeling much better. When the cleanse is over I'm going to give CALP a try. If I don't see good results within 30 days, I'll be back to Schwarzbein.



Patterns are really hard to break. (I have to laugh, because I'm telling this to a doctoral candidate in clinical psych. ) I truly have realized that it's not an eating issue, not an exercise issue, but it's a stress issue. If I'm under stress, I eat comfort food to compensate, and "don't have time" to exercise properly. Both of those decisions just add more stress.

So (for me, at least) it's not about trying to control the selection and quantity of food I eat, or the type of exercise I think I can stick with. It's all about breaking the stress cycle - that's the "strong man" I have to break.

I suspect that much the same is true for you - except your body craves exercise to break the stress to the extent that it creates even more stress.

It's all such a delicate balancing act!


My ultimate solution to the stress problem is to break it where it starts - in my head. Some time back I was given the idea for a style of meditation that perfectly meshes with the crazy pace we're living with today - especially those of us who spend a significant time in front of a computer display. That's what my program does - what I have come to call "Power Meditation for Christians". If you're a Windows user, you might give it a try (the Lite version is a free download, and it will run forever). You can read more about it - and download it - here.



I didn't like dark chocolate - until I started buying it for my wife. Then I tried it and got hooked. I have been eating a small piece for dessert with my evening meal. I still will get cravings for something to eat at bed time, so I'm not sure the chocolate is doing me good. (Maybe I need to eat more of it... ) From what I've read, chromium picolinate is perhaps more effective.



Let me get really blunt here. The university is not your friend - it is a means to get to where you want to go. You use the system to get what you want, and the system uses you for sustaining income and as material to produce a product. If you were to die tonight, your friends would miss you dearly - but the university would experience only a momentary hiccup.

So always do what is best for Stace's long-term good, and never, never do anything in the short term that will shorten the long term.

In other words, if you need time off, take it. All the knowledge you're gaining about psychology notwithstanding, the most valuable knowledge you need is how to properly take care of yourself. If you can use time off to learn how to break the stress, you'll be much further ahead.

Here's just a bit of perspective: What is the good of a system that purports to teach you how to take better care of the health of others, if that system doesn't care about the health of those it serves?

Okay. I'm stepping down off the soapbox.

I've gotta run. Do take care of yourself, and keep me posted. And consider trying my program.

Blessings,

-Don