Let's talk stress, again
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the One Day at a Time podcast. So this time I've got a bit of video going on, so you can actually see my face, see what I am doing this podcast for you guys. And today's topic comes from something people talk about in the WhatsApp group. So just to give you some context, WhatsApp group's got thousands of people in there.
Speaker 1:Well, it's a WhatsApp community talking about weight management, talking about how to deal with their stress, life, everything. And the main thing that keeps coming up as one of the biggest moments was podcast number six on the masterclass, which covers stress. And I think it's important to go back through stress. And I'm not saying I am the stress expert, but Doctor. Robert Sapolsky certainly is.
Speaker 1:Now, this guy's amazing. His lectures at Stanford University are actually free online to watch and you should go through them all, even if you don't care. Well, if you don't care, don't bother, but it's a lot of insight for you. I listened to one of his podcasts again, which I did notes about before and some of these notes I'm going to bring into this podcast about stress and kind of like stress, poverty, chronic stress, everything like that. So, I've got the key points to talk about because it really ties in to what we're trying to do, where we're trying to manage our weight, lower our stress and improve our health.
Speaker 1:Really, that's kind of the core of what we're doing. And the first thing he mentions is that stress is built for responding for attacks by lions or whatever, running away, really tough scenarios where your body goes into fight or flight. And that's really what the stress response is built for. It's not built for mortgages. It's not built for a letter coming through the letterbox saying you owe this money now or the bailiffs are coming.
Speaker 1:It's not built for you got another parking fine, you can't afford it. It's not built for that. And because we can worry about those things all the time throughout the day, which in and on one of those most powerful kind of like protective mechanisms for us to like run away and fight on for things such as those which can last days, weeks, and months, and years. And when you think about that, it's quite clear why it's harming us because that response is so expensive energy wise that the body needs to kind of reclaim that energy back each time it goes into a stress response mode. And it's not to be used all the time.
Speaker 1:It is an emergency state and it's the brilliant emergency state we have, but we keep using it. So, short term stress is awesome for survival, but we've abstracted it over space and time, therefore it becomes always on. And really, that's a big problem for us. We have to understand that. The second thing as well is the prefrontal cortex, the decision making part of the brain, the more chronic stress you're under, unfortunately, the worse your decision making long term, especially.
Speaker 1:So, he mentions in the podcast, you're more willing to borrow against the future for the present. So, whether that's just eating lots of high calorie foods to feel better, whether it's just staying in all day to feel better, whether it's even taking on more money to help with that, you know, bug of the future, I need to pay that off now. It's a lot of short term decision making, and that's really what happens because of the chronic stress. So unless you resolve the underlying chronic stress you might be suffering from, It's going to be hard to manage your weight. It's going to be hard to manage your lifestyle stuff, especially if you've got busy work with kids, work and everything else.
Speaker 1:It's quick to disregard working out. It's quick to disregard meal prepping because what's the point now when those problems, mate, are way more important because the bailiffs are coming over and I can't be bothered to cook chicken breast. You know what I mean? So that's another thing. Another thing you mentioned as well, says, A lot of studies talk about like, why people in poor areas why are they less healthy than people who are in more wealthy areas?
Speaker 1:And the first thing to say is, well, I think people who are in more poor areas are unhealthy because they have less access to healthy food. That's really the conclusion people make. But that's really not the answer. What he says is, it's not really the fact that they're actually poor in these areas. It's the feeling of being very poor, in the English accent poor, very poor, and that psychological stress from being in that state, constantly comparing yourself and his wealth around you, reminding him we're not living in a cocoon.
Speaker 1:You're seeing people on TV, you're seeing people around you in better things than you, and you're comparing all the time when you're stuck in this thing of feeling low status and massive high income inequality. That is what Doctor. Roberts supposedly says is the biggest sledgehammer of stress possible because it's constant. And it's very, very much a place where you're really working hard when you're very, very poor. Like you're trying to get out of the rut, you're comparing, you're struggling.
Speaker 1:It's a vicious circle. And he mentions that this is one of the most vicious circles you can be in. And he mentions as well, it goes beyond just like having access to food. You know I mean? It's not that.
Speaker 1:It's this systemic, chronic stress, low income, likely high debt, likely always comparing, likely always feeling like shit basically every day. The other one is early life stress he talks about. So chronic stress in childhood can have long term biological effects. And he mentions that if you're in a high stress environment as like a five year old baby, that can predict your health in twenty years' time. Imagine that.
Speaker 1:So the level of poverty of a five year old predicts the health twenty years time and the stress that comes with that. So, speak to some people and they think like, Yeah, your life is all up to you. You can do it. You can smash it up. It's all in your hands.
Speaker 1:And whilst it's like empowering to think that, and I think everyone should feel like they've got a chance to improve their life, we shouldn't dismiss the fact that some people have tried and they haven't been able to succeed. So only the people who have managed to succeed leaving an area of low income and stuff manage to talk about like, well, I tried hard, I got out of it, you know, and I think it's easy to fall into the trap that everyone can do it. Well, not everyone can do it because it's not just your hard work, it's luck, it's opportunity. It's what decade you were born in. Are you a child of the right decade?
Speaker 1:If I was born a hundred years ago, I'd useless. Honestly, I'd useless. I'm a tech guy. I'm online. I'm on creators.
Speaker 1:I like building apps. Like helping that. I like digits, online working, I like that stuff. Throw me down the coal mine the last two days. So I'm very lucky to be born in this era because it suits me.
Speaker 1:And the same for these YouTubers and stuff. They're very lucky because maybe they probably wouldn't have done much fifty years ago. So yeah, you have to think that way. It's not always about like, yeah, just try and work hard. Have more empathy, like be more open to the fact it's not just the hard work.
Speaker 1:A lot of these people are super hardworking and telling them to work hard, that is crazy. These people these people, the way I say these people people like my mother, for example, who's cleaning, you think she doesn't work hard? You know I mean? You think she doesn't work hard? You think some people are at top of these big tech companies, you think they work hard?
Speaker 1:Some of them don't do anything. Have two meters a day, eat a croissant for breakfast, talk about rich day and go home. So it's important not to diminish that. And he talks then about the final thing is one of the number one things you can do, so some good news, is that social support is like the number one stress buffer. Social support is important in terms of being able to trust people, listening to people, being able to help, knowing other people have got your back, non hierarchical situationships, or situationships, relationships, super powerful.
Speaker 1:And I think there's a great book called Play Well With Others by Eric Bakker as well. And he talks about how life basically and all these crazy things. And he talks about some of the best times people have looked back on fondly, when there's been some kind of like disaster, natural disaster, where something's ruined in a community and all the community pitching to help each other, not asking for anything back, just helping each other, humanity, you know? And a lot of them talk about that was the best part. That was like some of the best years, just rebuilding, helping other people and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot to take from that. We can get super egotistical in a sense. Lois is looking in, let me look better. Why do I always look worse? Why is looking she better than me?
Speaker 1:Why is he looking better than me? That I'm me, me, me, me, me, And you're going to feel like shit basically if you always think that way. So, I think that's why when it ties all around to what you can actually do well, one thing is you can go to a social gym class or some kind of fitness class or run club, walking club, whatever it is. I know it's hard to fit in if you've got kids and you're busy from work and you're tired, but just having some form of weekly community will do a lot for you, especially where it's like there's nothing to be gained back. It's not like a work scenario.
Speaker 1:And I think a lot of us feel lonely on this fitness journey. We feel like we can't talk to our partners about it, talk to other people, do they judge us? We're struggling. It's been a lifelong fight. And when you join communities like Parapalo, Turtle or whatever, you feel like, Wow, I can speak to people on a similar mindset.
Speaker 1:It's amazing to be able to talk about these things I haven't been able to talk for in years, and that's why the community is so big. So if you're listening to this and you haven't introduced yourself yet, please do that. Or if you feel like you want to get something off your chest or have a chat about put it in the WhatsApp group now, and we'll get some going on the live chat as well. To re look at it all, you can't just look at weight loss as I'm going to lose weight, it's all good. You've got to look at, Well, my higher weight is probably linked to some element of stress or stresses, and I'm using food to cope and emotionally coping with it, with eating more and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So, we have to look at the route. And it's a journey. It's not like a one week thing. It's like, how can I reduce my chronic stress, is going to you know, there's studies on it? If you're always stressed, you're to eat more food the next day.
Speaker 1:If you're you're mostly deprived. And if you're sleep deprived, you eat 300 to 400 calories more the next day in the night in a snack. So, everything goes against you. So, let's start from the root, understanding what stresses us out. Let's open up in the community and take really things one step at a time.
Speaker 1:And that's really the golden ticket is like share what's struggling, what can you do from now to bedtime? Get that one big thing done, whether it's to get your steps in, get your calories in your target, eat more protein, have a chat with someone, join a class, a fitness class for the week, message your friends, someone to connect with, and just start building up this kind of support system and one small action at a time, and things will fall into place, I promise you. But that's it. That's the first podcast done on video. So hopefully you like good old Napoleon back there.
Speaker 1:I might switch him for Steve Jobs, to be honest. He's annoying me there. Look at him. He's an egretest for man. At him.
Speaker 1:What does he think he is? And there's a turtle dragon up there. So, that is by my business partner, Jackie, who's a turtle member who lost, I think, thirty, forty kilograms and all of my sisters have helped her stoicism. She drew a dragon for whales and a turtle for a birthday present, and that's one of my favorite pieces of artwork ever. But that's it.
Speaker 1:I'm to stop rambling. Have a good day. See you soon.
