Getting healthy is one of the top New Year’s Resolutions every year, but one of the major components of health is stress. Now stress is something we can’t avoid, but there are ways to manage it for optimal health. We spoke to Dr. Chris Perron, author of The Simple Plan, to get his uncomplicated advice on how to cope with stress.
Dr. Perron likes to focus on simple easy steps people can follow because otherwise, he says, people don’t tend to stick with it. He created an easy acronym to help people get started, FRESH.
The F in this case stands for “food.” Believe it or not, the kind of food you eat can effect your mood. He recommends striving for the Mediterranean diet, which focuses on healthy fats like olive oil, fish, lean meats, lots of vegetables, and a moderate to low amount of bread, pasta, and alcohol. This will give you more energy and lead to less stress.
R stands for “rest” which we could all use more of. Sleep is very much tied to stress and mental health, so it is best to make sure your catching enough z’s at night. Dr. Perron recommends starting a routine to unwind before bed so you have an easier time falling asleep. He says you should reverse engineer it by picking a time you want to wake up, say 6 AM, and plan to get 8 hours of sleep, so your bedtime would be 10 PM. The hour before, so 9 PM is when you should begin this unwind and relax routine. You can also drink something like chamomile tea to help you relax.
The E stands for “exercise,” which has been shown to reduce stress. Something as simple as a daily walk can count towards this goal. You should get some form of exercise every day, and to help keep you motivated, consider buying a fun gadget or new outfit to keep up your excitement.
S stands for “self-love.” To practice self-love, Dr. Perron recommends you keep a gratitude journal. To start, each day write down 3 things you are thankful for. With it being the beginning of the year, he says it is also a good idea to write down all the things you accomplished last year. As humans, we tend to focus on the negative, so we have to make an active effort to look at the positive.
Finally, H stands for hydration. Lots of your body’s functions depend on water, so it is very important to stay hydrated.
For the full interview, watch the video above. The Simple Plan can be found at most bookstores.