A Heart Act To Follow

Would you get investment advice from your dentist, or listen to your mechanic tell you how to save money on your taxes? No. So why would you listen to your personal trainer tell you how to manage your office time? When it comes to managing a corporate lifestyle you should listen to the folks who have been in the trenches.
For example; the following message comes from a woman who has found tremendous success in the corporate world, she’s established a demanding social calendar, and along the way has managed to raise teenagers.
Two and a half months ago she decided to begin a regular exercise routine. After following a 3-4 day per week routine, her heart rate recovery time went from a non-recovery at 80% to a full recovery from 90% in less than two minutes. Un-be-lievable. The strength of her heart increased dramatically.
Read on to learn how she managed to get her heart on track while maintaining her other responsibilities as a professional and a mother.
How to Manage Stress
Edited by Jonathan Azevedo
Have you ever found yourself so stressed out that you are ready to yell at your boss or throw a stapler at the person in the cubicle in front of you?
Stress is inevitable, particularly at this stage in our economic times when employees are asked to "do more with less" while frequently being reminded of possible "rears”, layoffs, and relocations. You can’t change the stress, so you need to change what you do with yourself.
One of the most obvious ways to manage stress is to have a fitness program in place. Every expert in the field of fitness has emphasized and proven this fact over and over again. The difficult challenge arises when it comes to implementation. When you are "doing more with less" and you find yourself working long hours both in the office and at home while juggling carpools, dinner preparation, and laundry – execution of a fitness program seems daunting.

The key is to prioritize and to implement these 6 steps.

1. Schedule wellness time for you. Block off one and ½ hour on your Outlook calendar 2 or 3X every week "Mark it as outside appt."
2. Mix it up. Leave room for spontaneity, if something or someone "pushes your buttons" and you’re not in a meeting... leave. Just take a deep breath, grab your car keys and leave the building –go take a walk outside and give yourself 15 to 30 minutes and focus on calmness, not madness.
3. Be prepared. Always have your fitness bag packed in the car- for the emergencies (like #2 ABOVE). It may seem like just one more piece of baggage, but it's worth it in the long run.
4. Find your rhythm. Load songs on your IPOD that you personally relate to that make you feel good or force your mind to look at your stressful situation differently. One of my personal favorites is from CAKE, entitled "Pressure Relief." Find yours.
5. Drink it up. Always have a tall cold glass of ice water with you when you are in a meeting or at your desk. At that moment in the meeting when you cannot wait to say something very obnoxious, pick up your glass of water and take a long drink. Drinking ice water no only can save you from an embarrassing comment, it actually burns calories!
6. Keep it in perspective. Do not take yourself or your life too seriously, remember to laugh and exchange jokes with your friends at the office. Laughter is the best medicine.
Often your workload is more than you can accomplish. It may be tempting to get your office work done during the time your have blocked off for "outside appt”. However; one point is certain: when you return to your task after having worked out, your mind will be fresh and so will your attitude. The decision to exercise ultimately leads to a higher level of productivity.
If you think you "don't have time"... you really do. It is just a matter of choice and prioritization.
Make yourself and your health your first priority (after the safety of your family and friends of course) and this will give you more strength to manage the stress and the additional work that is being asked of you.