stress

Does stress have you down?

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Stress can be a terrible thing. It can rob you of sleep, make you lash out at those you love, and it can make you physically ill. Like I said, it’s not nice.

I know a gal who holds many things inside. She now has ulcers in her mouth- the doctor says that they are totally stress-related. The ulcers make eating difficult and painful. They make sleeping uncomfortable. They make life pretty darn miserable.

What can you do about stress? Some folks find exercise helpful. Others drink (I don’t recommend this!) Others go to the movies, watch tv, or listen to their favorite music.

If you are stressed  from college, I recommend going and talking to your teachers. Tell them what you are going through. If you go to a Christian college, you can ask them to pray for you. (I have had students ask me to pray for them at the two secular colleges where I teach. I am happy to do it.)

What do you do to relieve stress? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Like the old saying goes: you don’t get ulcers from what you eat. You get ulcers from what is eating you. Literally, food for thought.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

 

Avoiding the Freshman Fifteen

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on avoiding gaining the weight that you might otherwise pick up in college. They traditionally call it the “freshman fifteen” but I didn’t find it until graduate school.

You know how it goes- you are busy working and studying; shopping and preparing nutritionally-sound food seems out of reach for your hectic schedule. Or perhaps you are busy studying and trying to stay awake, so you reach for the goldfish or Twinkies. Stop right there, my friend! Hold it!

When you go to the store, please buy apples or oranges or something that will give you the immediate gratification of eating, without the calories. Yes, the local food store on campus has shelves and shelves of candy and chips and ice cream treats and a myriad of other delectable goodies, but what will eating them do to your shape?

Instead of indulging while studying and adding on the pounds, take the time to get healthier snacks. It would be ideal to not eat in between meals at all but I know that, when you are reading a particularly dull chapter in a textbook that bores the daylights out of you as you study this lower level core class that you never wanted to take, it can be soothing to eat something, but try to not eat excessive calories. After all, reading is not an active sport! Reading one chapter does not immediately equate to burning the bazillion calories that the treat you are looking at in the school vending machine will add to your diet.

In other blogs, I have talked about using note cards to study. If you have some prepared, take them and go out for a walk rather than reaching for the gummy bears or pizza. I prepared for my qualifying exams for months. During that time, I printed out a 16 point font copy of my notes and taped it to the wall in front of my treadmill. That allowed me to study, stay awake, and burn calories rather than consume them. Food for thought, my friends.

I would love to hear from you as you share your ideas on this topic. Please use my name in your comments, so that I will know you aren’t spam and can pass your wisdom along to others.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Learning to say “no”

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

One of the hardest things for a people-pleaser to do is to say “no” when someone makes a request. If you are serious about your future, sometimes you have to turn down a request to do something.

When starting college or a new job, this is something you need to be able to say pretty quickly, or you will miss deadlines. I used to be very active in my church, but taking on home schooling and a double major in college made it so I could no longer be at church every time the doors opened.  The amazing thing is that they replaced me pretty quickly. Ladies’ banquets still got planned and thrown, missionaries still got treated to a home cooked meal when they arrived, and children still got babysat in the nursery. And this happened all without my showing up to open up and set up and staying to lock up the church at the end of the event. What an eye-opener!

While I did enjoy continuing my involvement with the adult choir and Passion Plays, everything else could wait until I finished college. It took 14 years for me to complete my education, but the church is still running. The good thing about saying “no” is that you give someone else the opportunity to serve. You can still support the ministries through prayer; you can still support any causes you believe in through donations or encouragement. The bottom line is: You don’t have to do it all yourself! I have found that, if the cause is worthwhile, 100% of the time someone else steps up and does the job you felt you absolutely had to do.

What have you learned about saying “no?” How did you get over your feelings of being the only one who could do or run something? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Best,

Dr. Sheri