Cut stress by shredding food: cooking for stress relief

I love cooking. I'm kind of people who read the entire cookbook from cover to cover in one day, just for fun. I am addicted to top chef Anthony Bourdain fan, and I spend more money on Cookware than makeup.

All that being said, there are days when I can't bear the thought of having to plan a meal, not to mention Cook. Sometimes when I do, I stressed that I just can't muster up the energy for cooking, even though I love it. I just think, "Oh God. Another thing I have to deal with today. "

But if I can just push through that initial reluctance, I'm back in my element. Kitchen is my domain, and the control of one aspect of my life helps me feel like maybe, just maybe, I can regain control of the rest of my life.

Cooking is not all, but there is plenty of evidence that I am not alone in my feelings that time in the kitchen, you may cause serious stress relief. Not convinced? Check below the breakdown.

1 Effect "Voodoo"

Sometimes busting through your stress is a simple confirmation dominance at the top of the food chain. Maybe it's a bit dark but chopping vegetables and butchering CHICKENS can really take the edge off even the most stressful days. There's a big fight with your boss? Pretend that carrot his car and go to town on it.

Using your ingredients as Voodoo dolls, you'll find that cutting a couple of pounds of food you really calmed down.

2. Aromatherapy

Cooking with some herbs, spices and aromatic substances can have a beneficial effect on your mood, as I mentioned in a recent post.

Here's a quick breakdown of some common household, flavors and cooking ingredients, along with how they might change your opinion mood with to life:

Tonic/Orange, invigorating: rosemary, Lemon.
Stress relief: Lavender, Sage.
Sleep AIDS: Lavender, Chamomile.
Mood Elevators: Peppermint, Basil.

Get some of these ingredients, simmering in pot with your dinner, and the smell of cooking a meal helps release tension from your body.

3. Products that reduce stress and anxiety

After a busy day at the Office, it may be tempting to accept the order. You've been a long day, and most likely you want to have a hot lunch now rather than wait for something to cook. But actually, cooking your own gives you more control over what you are putting in your body ... and this is a link between the products you put into your body and how well you cope with stress.

For example, trans fat, just as bad for your body because they are your coping mechanisms. Trans fat block specific chemical receptors in the body, which in turn may limit the ability to deal with stressful situations.

According to a study published in Journal of agricultural and food chemistrycan lead to significant reductions in the number of stress hormones in your body, eat dark chocolate. The study showed that people who are identified as high and ate several pieces of dark chocolate on a daily basis for two weeks reduced stress levels.

Other products associated with stress relief include Turkey, walnuts, almonds, sweet potatoes, spinach and salmon.

4. get control of one area of your life

One of the reasons I love cooking is, because it gives me back some small degree of control over my life. According to Julie Powell in the film "Julie and Julia", "chocolate cream pie! You know what I like about cooking? I love that after a day where nothing is, of course, and when I say that nothing I mean anything you can come home and absolutely know that if you add the egg yolks and sugar and chocolate milk, then it will get thick. "It's such a comfort."

We get stressed out when our lives spin out of control. Taking over a small area in your life can help more than you might realize.

5 Zen cookery

Once you start cooking, you can sometimes achieve this state of meditation. You are in the area of cutting, grinding and sauteing. All that matters is food, and it's nice to throw in day care and just focus on one small tasks at a time.

Food Network Alton Brown says that making "very calming ritual. This is another form of stress relief, than I get to do anything else ...[W] e find the kind of physical comfort, doing things with our hands, more and more in the kitchen. Sounds, smells and feels that room, consolation for me. "

Conclusion

When the next time you have a terrible day, pick up a Saute Pan. Cooking is a hobby that relaxes you and has the added bonus of feeds, too. Skip Spa and get relaxed the old fashioned way: in front of the plate.

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

View the original article here

How to Declutter your life and reduce stress

Excessive clutter is often a symptom and a cause of stress and can affect every facet of your life, from the time it takes you to do things to your finances and your overall enjoyment of life. ?Clutter can distract you, weigh you down, and in general it invites chaos into your life. ?Often times, however, tackling the clutter can seem an insurmountable task if you don’t know where or how to start. ?By devoting a little of your time to getting rid of the clutter in your life and maintaining things relatively clutter-free , you’ll reap the rewards of pleasing living areas, reduced stress, and a more organized and productive existence.

The best way to tackle the decluttering of your home, your work space, and your life is to take things ?one small step at a time. ?Combined, small steps will lead to big improvements that will be easier to maintain over the long-run. ?Here is a blueprint of how to start tackling that clutter and enjoying a less stressful life:

If you want to be more productive and focused in your work, getting the clutter out of your work area is essential.

Start with your desk. Clear everything off the top of it and take everything out of the drawers. ?Assemble the items in piles on the floor. ?Clean and wipe down your desk, and marvel at how pretty and clean it looks. ?Sort through all of the “stuff” that was both in and on your desk. ?Toss out as much as possible a relatively small amount. ?Once you’ve weeded things out, it’s time to sort through the remains. ?Set up a basic alphabetical filing system with a folder for each project or client. ?Keep your office supplies and other items in designated drawers. ?If you need to, label things, but the main thing you should do is designate a spot for every item you decided to keep and make sure that it stays there, or goes back there when you’re done using it. Keep flat surfaces clear, and have an inbox for all incoming papers. ?When the papers ?come in, sort them each day – toss, delegate, do immediately, or file simply file all documents, but whatever you do, DO NOT KEEP THEM ON TOP OF YOUR DESK. ?All you want on the surface of your desk is your phone, computer, inbox, and maybe a special photo in addition to the documents you are working with at the moment.Declutter your computer. Get rid of files and programs on your computer that you don’t need. ?Get rid of most or all of the icons on your desktop. ?They not only slow down your computer, but they also create visual clutter. ?There are better ways of accessing your information. ?Regularly purge old, unused files. ?If organization is not your thing, utilize a program such as Google Desktop to search for your files when you need them.Then move on to information. In the digital world of today, there are so many different ways that information creeps into our lives. ?Information in itself can become overwhelming when you have too much of it, and this is called information clutter. Instead of letting information take over your life, set limits. ?Reduce the number of things that you read each day and get rid of things from your RSS feed. ?Chuck those magazine subscriptions, and reduce your consumption of news and television. I’m not suggesting that you cut yourself off from the world, just that setting some boundaries will help. ?Instead of letting information, even the kind that friends share on Facebook, take over your life, control how and when you receive it by limiting what you read.r

Outside of work, home is where many of a bulk of our time. ?So it’s no wonder that a messy house can add to daily stress.

Simply your rooms. If your rooms are too cluttered, you’ll want to simplify them. ?Start by clearing off anything that is on the floors. ?Throw out or donate unused things. ?After clearing the floor, move to flat surfaces such as countertops, shelves, tops of dressers, etc. ?Clear them as much as possible, and then move onto furniture. ?Consider if you need everything . ?Sort things in piles – toss, donate, or keep. Organize everything that you’ve decided to keep into drawers, cabinets, and closets, keeping them out of sight, but still neatly organized and uncluttered. Do this one room at a time.Tackle the closets. Closets are a great place to store things that you don’t want out in the open, and can easily become a place where you shove things just to keep them out of view. ?Go through your closets – take everything out, clean it, and toss , ?donate as much as you can. ?Decided a specific place to store anything you decide to keep. ?Keep only the things that you love and use frequently. ?As for your clothes, get rid of anything that you haven’t worn in six months.Clean out your drawers. Drawers are prime place for things to get shoved into. ?Empty out your drawers, and sorting them by whether you’re keeping, tossing, or donating them.

Decluttering your work area and your home are great ways to start reducing the clutter and stress in your life, but there’s still more than you can do.

Reduce your commitments. Often times, our lives are too clutterd with all of the things that we need to do at home, work, school, in our religious or civic lives, with friends and family, with hobbies, and so on. ?Take a look at each area of your life and write down all of your commitments. ?Seeing it all written down can be quite an eye-opening experience, as well as overwhelming. ?From here, look at each one and decide whether it really brings you joy and value, and if it is worth the amount of time that you invest in it. ?Another way to reduce your commitments is to identify a few that you truly love, and get rid of the rest. ?Learn how to say no and decline offers. If you eliminate the things that don’t bring you joy or value, you’ll have more time for the things that you love.Reconsider your routines. Many of us do not have any set routines in our daily lives, and simply tackle our obligations, chores, and daily tasks haphazardly. ?Without structure, it can lead to chaotic days and a drop in productivity. ?Instead, batch tasks together. ?Instead of doing your laundry several times throughout the week, do it all on one day. ?It’s helpful to write down all of your weekly and daily obligations, chores, and tasks, and then plan out daily and weekly routines. ?Hang it up where you can see it and try to follow it. ?You might find that having a routine brings a new sense of calm and order to your life.

Once you’ve successfully decluttered, whether it be one area or all the areas mentioned above, clutter will inevitably begin to creep back into your life. You must be vigilant in weeding it out on a regular basis, or it will just take over your life again.

Set up a system to keep clutter in check. Examine the way that you do things and how things make their way into your life, and consider whether you can put together a simple system for everything, from your laundry to work projects and email. ?Write down your systems step-by-step and try to follow them as best as you can. ?Follow your systems and you’ll keep the clutter minimized.Don’t slack off. ?It’s easy to put things off for another day, but it’ll save you headaches in the long-run if you deal with things immediately. Throw it out, donate it, or keep it and put it in a designated area.

Julie McCormick is a freelance writer, and co-owner of The Cleveland Leader, a Technorati Top 100 site. She married and is the mother of two young children. You will often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with code, or writing up a storm. She holds a Bachelor's degree in visual communications, and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the U.S. before calling it quits to embark on a new path.

View the original article here