Positive Coping Strategies?

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Makingchanges17
Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
in Motivation and Support
Just curious as to how other people cope during high stress times. I just found out bad news regarding my dad's health (cancer spiked back in a big way) and my immediate go to for coping involves unhealthy behaviors - typically not eating much food. I'm trying to cope in a better manner but it is hard to break the biggest coping mechanism I've had my whole life (but I need to for my 7 week old).

Any good Strategies or even mantras?
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Replies

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    Pre plan, and/or pre prep, your day so you have your calories covered.
    Make the food easy, and appealing to you.

    You may find setting a timer to remind you to eat helpful.

    Sorry, I'm not a mantra person. Just knowing I have to be strong to help support others generally keeps me on track.


    Cheers, h.
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    Pre plan, and/or pre prep, your day so you have your calories covered.
    Make the food easy, and appealing to you.

    You may find setting a timer to remind you to eat helpful.

    Sorry, I'm not a mantra person. Just knowing I have to be strong to help support others generally keeps me on track.


    Cheers, h.

    I appreciate those strategies Thank so much! I've been trying to do simple snacks like almonds and walnuts to at least have something that also has good nutrients. Thank you again!
  • kam26001
    kam26001 Posts: 2,799 Member
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    Download the Headspace or Stop, Breathe & Think app. They have a bunch of free meditations. Hang in there.
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    Thank you so much!! I will download those and try them out! I appreciate it!
  • gymprincess1234
    gymprincess1234 Posts: 493 Member
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    I write a journal, every morning and every evening, work out, take a walk in the nature, drink water,stretch, meditate, read books to distract from stressful thoughts, take a shower or natural calming supplements.

    Hang in there xx
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    honestly the same mindset you get into where eating less calms you can be turned around. Its how i lost my weight and maintained my health, I used it to cope and put my focus on me and my foods and exercise and the math. The process was very calming to me, It gave me control at a time in my life i felt i had none. Just a bit of a mindshift. Took time for sure though to make the mental change
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    I write a journal, every morning and every evening, work out, take a walk in the nature, drink water,stretch, meditate, read books to distract from stressful thoughts, take a shower or natural calming supplements.

    Hang in there xx

    Journaling is definitely something I used to do a while back and it let me release a lot of emotion, so that's something I should think about again. Thanks for mentioning that and all the other ideas too! I know lavender is a calming supplement/scent. What are some others?
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    honestly the same mindset you get into where eating less calms you can be turned around. Its how i lost my weight and maintained my health, I used it to cope and put my focus on me and my foods and exercise and the math. The process was very calming to me, It gave me control at a time in my life i felt i had none. Just a bit of a mindshift. Took time for sure though to make the mental change

    It's definitely that control aspect that I think I'm seeking and I'm afraid of going down the rabbit hole of an eating disorder again. I'll definitely try with setting goals and making them (instead of what I used to do - set a goal and stay UNDER it). It's worth a try to use the same process but in a different manner!
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    honestly the same mindset you get into where eating less calms you can be turned around. Its how i lost my weight and maintained my health, I used it to cope and put my focus on me and my foods and exercise and the math. The process was very calming to me, It gave me control at a time in my life i felt i had none. Just a bit of a mindshift. Took time for sure though to make the mental change

    P.s., thank you!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    This might not be useful.

    I don't do stress.

  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    This might not be useful.

    I don't do stress.

    Haha! Are you able to stay calm all the time? If you are, I'm jealous!
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,679 Member
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    Makingchanges17 wrote: »
    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    I write a journal, every morning and every evening, work out, take a walk in the nature, drink water,stretch, meditate, read books to distract from stressful thoughts, take a shower or natural calming supplements.

    Hang in there xx

    Journaling is definitely something I used to do a while back and it let me release a lot of emotion, so that's something I should think about again. Thanks for mentioning that and all the other ideas too! I know lavender is a calming supplement/scent. What are some others?

    Vanilla
    Eucalyptus (I think so anyway, YMMV)
    Rose
    If I think of others, I’ll be right back.
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 2,937 Member
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    Makingchanges17 wrote: »
    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    I know lavender is a calming supplement/scent. What are some others?

    Ylang Ylang :)
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    zcb94 wrote: »
    Makingchanges17 wrote: »
    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    I write a journal, every morning and every evening, work out, take a walk in the nature, drink water,stretch, meditate, read books to distract from stressful thoughts, take a shower or natural calming supplements.

    Hang in there xx

    Journaling is definitely something I used to do a while back and it let me release a lot of emotion, so that's something I should think about again. Thanks for mentioning that and all the other ideas too! I know lavender is a calming supplement/scent. What are some others?

    Vanilla
    Eucalyptus (I think so anyway, YMMV)
    Rose
    If I think of others, I’ll be right back.

    Thank you so much!!!
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    SaraKim17 wrote: »
    Makingchanges17 wrote: »
    gymprincess1234 wrote: »
    I know lavender is a calming supplement/scent. What are some others?

    Ylang Ylang :)

    Ohhh I haven't heard of that one! Thank you!!
  • radbikerchick
    radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
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    - journal writing, as already mentioned. Lately I have just been making bullet points of everything that happened each day instead of writing directly about the things that bother me. Writing down what I did gives some mental distance from the day, isn’t super mentally taxing and sometimes I feel inspired to dig into issues in more depth.
    - Honestly, taking a nap. I can’t really fall asleep during naps but just resting in my bed for a bit sometimes with music is nice and anyway I decided that a lot of the time when I am particularly down it is partially linked to being tired (or PMS, which I never thought I had before)
    - Exercise of course
    - Honestly (again!) I think it is valid to rely on food a little to make yourself feel better, if you don’t think it would be a gateway thing to falling off the wagon. I like to pick an item that I enjoy like a cookie and some tea, particularly if it gets me out of the house to a cafe for a bit. Combine with journaling and a walk...

    Hope that helps! Sorry about your dad, hope it gets better
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
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    Run, hike or cycling away from it for a while. Quite literally doing that and coming back home clears my head, mind. Takes If all else fails; hiding in a bath with lots and lots of bubbles for a while also helps to alleviate the stress majorly
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    radbikerchick wrote: »
    - journal writing, as already mentioned. Lately I have just been making bullet points of everything that happened each day instead of writing directly about the things that bother me. Writing down what I did gives some mental distance from the day, isn’t super mentally taxing and sometimes I feel inspired to dig into issues in more depth.
    - Honestly, taking a nap. I can’t really fall asleep during naps but just resting in my bed for a bit sometimes with music is nice and anyway I decided that a lot of the time when I am particularly down it is partially linked to being tired (or PMS, which I never thought I had before)
    - Exercise of course
    - Honestly (again!) I think it is valid to rely on food a little to make yourself feel better, if you don’t think it would be a gateway thing to falling off the wagon. I like to pick an item that I enjoy like a cookie and some tea, particularly if it gets me out of the house to a cafe for a bit. Combine with journaling and a walk...

    Hope that helps! Sorry about your dad, hope it gets better

    Thank you so much for all of the ideas! I'm definitely going to be trying all of these! I super appreciate it!
  • Makingchanges17
    Makingchanges17 Posts: 124 Member
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    dutchandkiwi wrote: »
    Run, hike or cycling away from it for a while. Quite literally doing that and coming back home clears my head, mind. Takes If all else fails; hiding in a bath with lots and lots of bubbles for a while also helps to alleviate the stress majorly

    Ohhh a bath sounds lovely! Unfortunately, I can't start running just yet (still coming back from having a baby and need to ease in exercise) but the cycling sounds like a good option! My husband has a bike down in the basement so I need to take advantage of that. Thank you for all of the ideas!!! Truly!
  • franklin5280
    franklin5280 Posts: 80 Member
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    Echo the prep/plan comments. Need to integrate relaxation techniques; prayer, meditation, presence what ever you prefer to call it. Exercise helps allot. You have to plan and schedule that too. Might mean finding ways to workout if you can’t get to the gym. Manage Stress, don’t manage you.

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