No Heart Left Behind

Manage Stress

This week you and your coach will talk about another risk factor for heart disease: uncontrolled stress.

Your coach will lead you through a deep-breathing exercise—an easy stress reliever.

Stress is our reaction to things we consider threatening. While the human stress reaction is helpful in a real emergency, chronic uncontrolled stress has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease. All too often, highly stressed people turn to unhealthy ways to manage stress: smoking, excessive drinking, drug use and overeating. This adds insult to injury; there are lots of healthier ways to de-stress.

Exercise is an ideal stress-management tool. Daily moderate activity, like brisk walking, helps work off the excess energy created by stress, and builds your resistance to the ill effects of stress. Activities such as stretching, yoga and tai-chi can also be beneficial. Even something as simple as fitting time into your busy schedule to relax can help you to cope with daily stressors. Read more.

Your activities for this week:

Pay attention to how you respond to stressful situations.
Experiment with fitting in opportunities to de-stress, such as soaking in a bubble bath, calling a friend or just setting aside a few minutes to daydream.
Keep tracking your progress by logging your physical activity and healthier food choices.
Attend the COPP Heart Healthy Nutrition Education and Cooking Demonstration (see schedule).

Weekly review question

Q: True or false: Uncontrolled stress is a risk factor for heart disease.

A: True.