That's Fit

There is definitely a difference between good stress and bad stress, and the way that you handle the bad stress will often determine if you're happy, healthy and generally well-balanced or worried, depressed and edgy. Obviously we all handle the various stresses related to work and family life differently, but have you ever wondered just how well you deal with stress?

This quick quiz aims to give everyone an idea of their stress style, or how well they handle stressful situations. I scored an 18, which puts me at the bottom of the 'Control Freak' category. Apparently, my fellow control freaks and I find that the best way to deal with stress is to do whatever we can to control the situation. Those with the lowest scores are labeled "Cool Cats", and are possible the best at dealing with stress as they take things in stride and make plans to deal with demands.

Finally, there's the "Nervous Nelly" who manages stressful situations by finding distractions. When something comes up, nervous nelly's will often deal by going for a run, eating, upping their caffeine consumption and getting tense. If you'd like more information on each of the stress styles, as well as ideas on how to better deal with stress based on your type, take the quiz here.

Some people experience it more than others, but I think most of us have gone through it at some point in our lives: that frustrating inability to get a deep breath when you're really nervous or anxious about something. This article I came across was published awhile ago, but it's got a great set of tips (complete with stick man illustrations!) on how to "reboot" your lungs and get over that annoying shallow breathing pattern we sometimes get stuck in.

If nervous breathing happens to you often how do you deal with it?

Quite often patients schedule visits with their doctor due to knee pain only to find out that the problem actually lies in their hips. Called "referred pain," it's a fairly common phenomenon based in very complex causes related to the nervous system and how the body is internally "wired."

Only a doctor can help you find out if pain is truly coming from the source or is referred from some other body part. Keeping track of the symptoms of your pain and talking openly with your doctor about them, as well as asking about different treatment options, is really the best thing you can do.

As I write this, I'm literally sitting in a big comfy chair (using my laptop) at the big fancy gym I attend in my hometown. I just finished training by the way......not only here to write. Nonetheless, I'm looking through the gigantic window which separates myself from about 100 cardio machines and I can see about every type of person there is.

The men and women I see range in age from about 16 to 70 years old. I see Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and more. Some of the tushies I see are hard and small, and some are larger and looser. It's AWESOME!

Opposed to decades before where only the uber-fit worked out, now everyone does and everyone fits in. I even see two wheelchairs rolling around the workout floor as well (which I usually do). Wow! So if you're one of the folks who think you 'have to lose weight' before you can go to the gym... change your mind. You heard me. Change your mind!

Is it possible that a few drops of an extract of flowers could help relieve an emotional crisis?

I use Rescue Remedy often. Sometimes my nerves get jittery or I can feel anger coming on.

In my case, it works pretty well. Rescue Remedy is a special mix of the essences of several flowers, including crab apple, cherry plum, rock rose and impatiens (just the flowers, not the fruit). These flower essences are from a group called the Bach flower essences, originally discovered by Dr. Edward Bach.