Many, many things in our busy lives are habitual, formed over years of doing and saying the same things on a regular, possibly daily, basis; waking, sleeping, eating (huge amount of habits there) but also how we react to stressful situations.
Understanding where the stress lies in our lives is the first step to dealing with it. Too many of us "globalize" where the stress lies. For example, we may say "work", or "kids", or "the husband/wife", but these areas are unlikely to be the cause of stress 100% of the time.
Elements of work, for example, may be stressful, but other elements may be enjoyable, invigorating, challenging (in a good way), and fulfilling. Being specific about exactly where the stressful element in the working day is is the first step.
Second step is to recognise when you are stressed. Your body will send out many signals to alert you to being stressed, e.g. headaches, tense muscles, short fuse, irrational thoughts and outbursts, disrupted sleeping patterns, getting things out of perspective (not an exhaustive list). It's important not to ignore these signals as your body is warning you that you are releasing too much adrenalin and cortisol into the body which in time can damage your body.
Third step is to be aware of irrational, unbalanced thoughts, known as "crooked thoughts". Being overly dramatic i.e. "it's a complete nightmare, a disaster" or globalising i.e. "no-one is going to agree to any of this - they are all going to hate me", or, incorrect mind -reading i.e."I bet you all think this report is rubbish don't you?".
Put these three elements together and you are going to be in a very unhappy place. Then what happens next? You perceive that food is going to comfort you, or, alcohol is going to soothe and relax you, which, for the few minutes or indeed seconds it takes to consume it may well do, but what then? High saturated fat, salt and/or refined sugar foods will distort your blood sugar levels giving you an initial 'high' but then leaving you irritable, fatigued, brain fogged and depressed. Alcohol will polarize whatever mood you were in in the first place, that is, if you were unhappy before you started drinking, you'll be really unhappy after the first bottle is empty, plus, if you are drinking in an evening the alcohol will burn off in the body around 3am which will wake you up and then you'll probably spend the rest of the early hours laying awake stressing about whatever the perceived problem is. 
Doesn't sound great does it?
So, is there a better way? Well yes. First of all you need to recognise the situations, bodily reactions and thoughts so you know exactly where your stress lies in your life. Then you need to think about those areas in a detached, calm, balanced way at a time when they are not affecting you emotionally. Only this way will you be objective about the situations. Then calmly ask yourself a set a questions for each situation:
1. Do I need this situation or person or element in my life?
If the answer is 'No' then remove it. Easier said than done? Just think ahead and think how much better your life will be with it removed.
2. If the answer to the above is that you cannot remove it then you need to view it in a different way. How can you react differently to the stress? How can you think differently? For example, if you assume that no-one in your team is going to support any proposal you put forward, change this thought to "It's unlikely that everyone is going to support it, that's not realistic, but I've thought it through carefully, I am confident it will work and if I present it to them with confidence and be prepared to answer any challenges in a calm and balanced way then there is a good probability it will be accepted".
3. It isn't realistic to be 100% successful all the time. The skill is in learning from errors, not beating yourself up, aiming not to make the same errors again and moving on. The errors may be there to show you that you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Keep your mind open to change and you could see things a whole lot clearer. It took Thomas Edison 10,000 attempts to invent a successful light bulb, but, he didn't see 10,000 failures, he saw 10,000 ways that didn't work before finding the one way that did!
4. Is over-eating and over-drinking going to solve anything? How will I feel afterwards?
5. Add in to this some physical help such as yoga, or breathing exercises, or just getting out into the fresh air for a brisk walk, all of this will help to balance both mind and body and movement is a great way to dispel adrenalin and cortisol from the body.
I'm not saying any of the above is easy, but, remaining stressed, over-eating, over-drinking, affecting your physical and mental health and living in a state of misery isn't particularly easy either is it?
On the LighterLife Programmes we take away one of these stressors - thinking about what to eat. You get either 100% of your nutritional needs supplied or 75% plus clear guidelines on what to eat for the remaining 25% as well as weekly counselling to help you see things with a different perspective. Your weight drops, giving you a healthy body, your blood sugars are balanced leading to balanced mood, better sleep patterns, balanced energy levels with no 'mid-afternoon sugar dips' and the positive outlook that is created by looking and feeling better.
