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One of the unfortunate side effects of the Iraq war will be the post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) many of the returning men and women will experience. In earlier wars, this condition was referred to as shell shock or combat fatigue or battle fatigue. For Vietnam vets, it was referred to as post-Vietnam syndrome.

 The US National Institutes of Mental Health alert us to the characteristics of PTSD. These include a sustained and disruptive set of feelings that occur after a particularly traumatic event. These unpleasant episodes recur at frequent intervals.

 One feature is constant video replays, that is, remembering and replaying the event for months after. This repeated and recurring stress means we have trouble sleeping. Some people have very dramatic and violent nightmares, and most wake feeling that their sleep did not refresh or re-energize them. 

The constant worries mean that relationships suffer as the person experiencing PTSD pulls away from loved ones. Some suffer guilt that they returned from the war – and that their comrades did not. Emotions are volatile, some people becoming very edgy and short-tempered. 

Most of these victims have attentional problems and find it hard to stay on task and be productive at work. There is a constant theme of remembering and agonizing. Even the notion of having these recurrences and being unable to concentrate can cause people to worry even more. 

Unfortunately, around one in 12 people in the US will experience PTSD – though the degree of stress varies significantly from person to person and even from race to race.

 Fortunately, for most of us, we do not experience this level of stress, though if you are stressed at the moment many of these symptoms will probably apply to you. The question that arises relates to the degree and continuity of the stressors that are causing us to feel tense and unhappy. How long do they last? Will they end? What can be done to overcome these recurrent worries?

 Stress is a normal part of every day life. We live in a fast-paced, modern society where the demands and challenges are great. Most of us have complex lives. We have a social, relationship, financial and occupational responsibilities that ensure that we will have a degree of stress.

 The issue is not whether we experience stress – the real issue is how we manage stress. Stress management is not a complex science. It is a matter of knowing ourselves (self-awareness), understanding our impact on others (social perspective) and being able to communicate effectively with our colleagues and loved ones so that we reduce the threats, challenges, tension, and stress.

 The best way to start to manage and reduce stress is to gain as much information as possible about this syndrome. Knowing the stressors and how to deal with them is an essential first step – whether it is a serious psychological condition like PTSD – or a less debilitating but still worrisome disorder – elevated stress. Once you know you enemy – then you know how to manage stress and overcome the worry and anxiety.

Warm regards

Dr Jeff

For the team at

mightydigitaldownloads.com

 Dr Jeff, psychologist, helps stressed patients. Why put up with stress? Learn stress management skills now.  Click here for the free What is Stress by Dr Jeff. Don’t waste another minute stressed and burnt out. Act now – learn how to relieve stress.

Let us begin with the obvious question – are you stressed? Is it normal to be stressed? What do you think? Do your family and friends constantly use a lot of idiom to suggest you relax, for example, Cool it, Hang loose, Don’t sweat the small stuff, Loosen up and so on? Do you have the tools and skills to manage and relieve your stress?

If your stress levels are being commented on, friends and families might see you as a tense and stressed individual. Of course, this might be your personality or personal style. You might think that other people are far too relaxed, even sloppy in their attitudes. Whereas you are well-organized, responsible, efficient, and let’s face it – uptight!

There are many tests that purport to measure personality. The Myer-Briggs, the most commonly used test in industry, has the dimensions sensing, feeling, judging, introversion etc. The most relevant characterization of stress and anxiety came from an American cardiologist, Milton Friedman who determined there were two personality types – Type A (uptight, driven) and Type B (calm, relaxed).  The issue for Friedman was whether the Type A person was likely to be one of his prime candidates for cardiac surgery. No one wants to be THAT stressed.

We are stressed when a range of activities (stressors) in our daily lives present us with challenges, alternatives, decisions, complex or unpleasant events or interactions. From a technical point of view, a stressor is something that speeds up our reaction or response levels. Our body has been conditioned to fight or flee. Our physiological response is to pump adrenaline or cortisol into our system to prepare us for the challenges.

For some, financial problems are the greatest stressor. For others, crowded rooms, crowded cities, the daily grind of an uninteresting job, even getting to work are constant stressors. For some, life events cause stress. My mother, 94 years of age, has just had radiation therapy for cancer. This is a worry for all the family. For others, recent deaths or relationship failures have elevated their stress levels. Stress can cause physical illness. About 50% of one’s response to illnesses is psychological – not medical. It is what we do in our heads that can resolve or inflame our levels of psychological discomfort – stress.

The reality is that all of us experience stress from time to time. There is positive stress, that is, a chemical, physical and/or psychological or emotional tension that produces an urge to create, perform, complete tasks, react and respond. On the other hand, there is distress, a level of discomfort that interferes with our emotional well-being and mental health. This form of stress can either be acute, that is, episodic and short-lived, or chronic (lasts for a long time).

When stress is positive (this is called eustress) we are motivated and/or compelled to act. When we respond to a horror movie, when we are excited into action by new productivity or sales targets at work, when we think about a particularly exciting date, when we compete in a track or field event, and even when we get ready for a picnic we are experiencing positive stress. Our body is getting pumped up and is responding psychologically, emotionally and physically to this new event so that we can perform at a high level. All of this is good; positive stress builds up our energy levels and our readiness to perform at a higher level and to respond to the stimulus event.

When stress is negative, we talk about being stressed out, over-stressed, even burnt out. In these instances, the stressor is far too great for us to respond in a positive and effective way. Our body responds with headaches, stomach upsets, elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Some people get blotchy skin and rashes. Some get ulcers, heart disease and even suffer strokes or die. From a psychological point of view, typical responses to chronic stress include anxiety, phobias, diminished self-assurance, dysthymia (mild depression), clinical depression, anger, obsessive thought disorders and, unfortunately, thoughts of suicide.

Knowing how to manage stress is an obviously vital weapon in our fight to stay healthy. We are not born with this knowledge; nor do we take classes in this most important learning. Information dispels fear and increases our ability to successfully deal with the complex and challenging events that make our lives so exciting yet potentially harmful. Everyone can learn to manage stress simply and easily.

Dr Jeff

For the team at

mightydigitaldownloads.com

Dr Jeff Bailey, psychologist, helps stressed patients. Why put up with stress? Learn stress management skills now.  Click here for the free What is Stress by Dr Jeff. Don’t waste another minute stressed and burnt out. Act now – learn how to relieve stress.

Budgeting is all about making our dollar go further. Stretching our income to create a savings surplus a credit rather than deficit balance. Every household is different in means, circumstances, level of debt and savings. Setting up a family budget will support your efforts to control spending and accumulate assets and savings. Each one of us is different too. We have varying levels of money-management skills and motivation levels. We typically believe that we spend responsibly and are genuinely astonished by how quickly our money disappears.

 Budgeting is systematic. It is a way to achieve financial discipline by changing the way you think about money. Many steps need to be taken and applied when creating a budget. It needs to be planned out with your family in an honest and willing manner and joint decisions made. It is essential that sacrifices are identified collectively and each family member must understand their part in accomplishing goals and creating the future they want. 

One key element is communication, particularly with your spouse. You need to understand one another’s role and perspectives to set up a budget that will work. To increase your chances of being successful you need to discuss your attitude, expectations and motivation to work consistently together. 

Endeavoring to set up a budget without have a positive attitude and lacking the motivation to work at perfecting your project will probably result in becoming frustrated and your budgeting efforts unsuccessful. Any debt consolidation or reduction is conditional upon analyzing the household’s financial patterns and budget. In computer language you need to run diagnostics.

Openly discussing and exposing your family’s finances to close scrutiny can be very confronting and challenging. Feelings of discomfort and apprehension will be apparent at first. But these anxieties will soon be replaced by feelings of emotional security and control as your budgeting begins to work positively for your family.  

A good place to start is to make detailed lists of all expenses. It is helpful if you categorize.  Living expenses would include food, home expenses like cleaning products and gardening, lunches for work and school, clothing, newspapers, stationary and postage. Family expenses might be child and elder care, pharmacy, veterinarian if you have pets, health and life insurance and doctor and dental. Dining out and take away meals, vacations and weekend or day trips, books, movies and rentals would all be placed in the recreation category.

Some bills must be targeted as very important and those are the ones that you are under an obligation to pay. If you enter into a formal contract like taking a student loan or having a credit card you must meet the conditions of the agreement. Student loans, child support, alimony, and charitable donations would all be listed in this category. 

Living in a house or apartment and having a car are usually major budget items. Whether you rent or have a mortgage you will have to budget for monthly payments as well as utilities (oil, gas, energy, water, garbage, sewage). Cost to maintain telephones, both landlines and cells, cable and internet services are substantial. We are prone to forget items like escrow (taxes and insurance) and repairs and maintenance and if these are not included when a family is setting up their budget an unexpected cash flow problem can arise.

Whether you choose to own a car or several vehicles, ride a bicycle or catch public transport you will need to include transportation as one of the categories in your newly formulated budget plan. Loan payments, insurance and repairs and maintenance need to be paid for more regularly than we would like. Parking fees can mount up very quickly. Fines for traffic misdemeanors are usually large and if they are not dispensed with by speedy payment substantial late fees will escalate. The cost of fuel seems to be affecting almost everything and price increases are apparent in all budget categories. Fuel costs now need to be considered more than ever before!

A well planned, realistic budget will detail how you can attain your aspirations and become more financially secure. Budgeting is the first step, sticking with is the hard part. You will very quickly achieve financial discipline. Keeping your motivation high must be a priority. A family budget plan constructed with precision and wisdom will provide the structure to guide your financial decision making. You will be surprised how quickly your quality of life is enhanced by regularly committing time, energy and motivation to your budget set up and maintenance.

Warm regards

Columbia

For the team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com 

 People say that Columbia Lee gives great advice on family budgeting. She tells how to plan, pay the bills AND save money. She can stretch your budget. Get peace of mind by good budgeting. Get How To Set Up A Family Budget and enjoy a family vacation soon.

Managing the family budget helps you know the fiscal realities and get out of debt. You quickly become proficient at knowing exactly what is going on without referring to your bank statement. No-one wants to be without money or to be stressed and anxious about not having enough cash or being unable to meet bill payments. A family needs to continually assess and update their budgeting strategies in response to changing circumstances and financial crises.

 Coming up with creative, new ideas about how to save money and spend less will soon turn you into a budgeting genius. Read widely and talk with others and you will soon work out which tips and ideas work for your family’s budget management.  A personal, customized and unique approach will be attainable if you set realistic goals and spending patterns for your family and stick to them.     

 Most families need to shift their focus to a savings orientation. A system where you monitor spending and develop the techniques to set smart financial goals for your household, stick with your plan, celebrate success and learn from failures is desirable. It generally takes a concerted effort from the entire family team to build greater awareness about where money actually goes. Family budgeting creates a situation where everyone can live well and get some of the things they want. 

Managing the family budget helps you establish the different types of expenses that you have. The trickiest are the large, annual expenses, as we tend not to focus on these until the bills roll in. These major expenses need to be identified and budgeted for throughout the year. In some circumstances you can elect to pay these in three or four installments. This method of payment may incur a slight fee but it is often more manageable for a family to pay these expenses in smaller amounts.

 Starting a family budget will lead you off the endless debt path and onto the savings pathway. Family budgeting is something we often choose not to do. Maintaining a committed, disciplined and regular effort will quickly result in dwindling debt and savings growth.

 Many reasons can be given for establishing a budget. Most families need to have control over their finances and be prepared to meet the cost of unexpected financial surprises. Saving for a major purchase like a new car or a vacation can sometimes be the impetus for more rigorous budgeting. If you are approaching the time when you would like to retire or enjoy a different lifestyle then this is the right time to be thinking and planning to erase debt and build savings.

Budgeting is never an easy task and incorporating this into our busy schedules is a challenge. Begin by setting goals: short, mid and long term, and make up a plan that is realistic for your family. Reading about financial matters and family budgeting will highlight management strategies that fast track to financial security.

 While the focus should always be on budgeting and sticking to the plan so that debt does not rule our lives, we need to remain realistic. A family budget that is working well will make you feel empowered and even more motivated to eliminate debt as a source of tension. Remember that the family budget should allow for responsible splurging on occasions!

 Prudent tips and strategies on how to plan and implement, revise and refine your family budgeting can be found from many sources. When you reach the stage that you can see the results of your efforts then it is time for a new approach. Direct your energy to an on-going, continuous process that improves your family budgeting.

Warm regards

Columbia

For the team

http://www.mightydigitaldownloads.com/ 

 Columbia Lee, the family accountant, knows how to make a family budget work. Save money using her sensible budget tips. Aren’t you tired of trying to stretch your family dollars each week? Read How To Set Up A Family Budget and start saving family money now.

You should not eat excessive amounts of breads or grains when you are aiming for calories loss across each day, but you do need to have some of these foods in your diet. Keep basic breads and grains around to use as snacks or for sandwiches and low calorie meals. Eaten in limited portions, they will provide your body with the energy it needs and still accommodate your weight loss plan.

You can throw some cereal on top of your yogurt to add some fiber and crunch and make a great, fast and healthy breakfast that has less than 300 calories by using whole-grain, reduced sugar and bran cereals. You do not need to buy special low calorie bread as most whole grain bread has under100 calories per slice. Just remember, if you are aiming for calories loss, a serving is one slice, not two.

Instant brown rice is very healthy, easy and fast to make so throw some frozen vegetables and brown rice into a steamer, cook some chicken breasts and twenty minutes later you have a meal. Whole wheat pitas can be used with a meal, with a snack, and if you stuff some hummus and salad into one, call it lunch. Bake one and cut it into pieces for some crunchy chips as they have less than 200 calories and endless possibilities.

Oatmeal is a great filling food for breakfast and has lots of fiber that will help you feel full throughout the day. At lunch or dinner, eat pasta sparingly, and look for whole grain pasta, but do keep some around for a quick meal. Remember to eat more of an accompanying salad than pasta when you want the benefits of calories loss.

Eat whole grain crackers and cheese as a snack instead of potato chips and you will be surprised at how much of a calories loss this accounts for.  Crunchy and filling with hardly any calories, rice cakes are the classic diet food.  Add a tablespoon of peanut butter on top for some taste and protein.

It is a little bit tricky to keep dairy items on hand because they expire, but some staple dairy foods should always be in the refrigerator.  Include in your collection, low calorie margarine, 2% milk, the best to keep on hand and low calorie cheese that can add plenty of flavor to meals and yogurt. Yogurts and string cheese are tasty, portable, healthy snacks and ensure a far greater calories loss than chips or milkshakes.

Yogurts are fabulous for those following a low calorie diet. Individually portioned and low in calories, they are sweet, great sources of calcium and the perfect size for a snack usually containing less than 200 calories. When the grocery store has a sale on yogurt, stock up.

Frozen foods including grains and dairy products can be kept for a long time, are easily stored in your freezer and should be included in your calories loss menu. You can never have too many frozen vegetables, frozen fruit in its own juice is great for a snack or in smoothies and frozen yogurt is a healthy alternative to ice cream.  Most frozen diet meals contain less than 300 calories and are wonderful to keep at work so that you always have a fast, easy, lunch or even dinner option that will contribute to your weight loss.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For the Team

mightydigitaldownloads.com

Rowena French promotes healthy living through weight loss and exercise. Do you need the formula for lasting weight loss? There is only one answer. My free gift shows you how calories loss does work. Read my common sense guide, listen to my audio book!

To make sure that you reach your weight loss goal soon so you can enjoy the benefits of this, rid your kitchen of all that high fat, high calorie food. Replace this with some low calorie snacks and cooking supplies that you should always keep on hand when you want to promote a claories in your daily menu. If you always have these low calorie snacks and food in the kitchen, when you want to cook a low calorie meal or have a quick low calorie snack you will have some right there and ready to go.

Condiments can be used to add flavor and zest to a lot of low calorie meals so keep easy to find condiments on hand so that if your low calorie meal needs a kick, you have a low calorie way to spice things up. Low calorie salad dressing or oil and spices to make your own along with low calorie mayonnaise both make any vegetables in salads more interesting and even tasty. Keep a supply of vinegar, cocktail sauce, lite soya sauce, olive oil and spices like salt, pepper, lemon pepper and others like these to add to meat dishes, especially fish and chicken.

Fresh salsa is a wonderful low calorie condiment for a salads and a tasty snack that will help maintain your calories loss each day. There is no need to deprive your body of sweetness during your weight loss program, especially at breakfast when a slice of toast can provide you with energy across the morning.  Choose from a wide selection of reduce sugar fruit spreads or jams at the supermarket and enjoy a limited spread of these daily.

Canned items can be kept for years and are always good to have around when you want to whip up a tasty, low calorie meal. Keep canned goods like tomato paste stocked in your kitchen to make your own low calorie spaghetti sauce, canned beans to make as a side dish, canned vegetables to throw into a casserole and canned fruit (in fruit juice not syrup) for desserts or over low calorie ice cream. These foods are all easy to prepare and all lead to calories loss each day.

Get organic soups and broth when you can and throw some soup in your bag for a quick work lunch or use soup as a base in a low calorie meal especially those using organic broths that are a great base for calories loss meals. Tuna is a quick protein pick me up or last minute casserole, hummus a Middle Eastern dip that makes a great low calorie snack and peanut butter that every house needs to stock.

Buying fresh fruits and vegetables can be expensive but you should try to have some around whenever possible. During the spring and summer, hit the local farmer’s market to get great deals on fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Most of the time, fresh fruits and vegetables are cheaper than frozen during the spring and summer but to maintain your calories loss across the year, you might need to use frozen fruits and vegetables during the fall and winter when the markets close and fresh produce is harder to find.

Add some healthy crunchy snacks to your shopping list to replace those junk food chips or candy, both of which are high in calories, by buying nuts, trail mix, pretzels, popcorn, and tortilla chips. An entire pita has less than 200 calories so bake a pita until it gets nice and toasty and break it into small chips to eat with fresh salsa or some olive oil. This kind of meal makes sure that your calories loss will help you lose those extra pounds while still enjoying food!

Getting rid of the junk food in your house doesn’t mean that you can’t ever snack again, it just means that you need to change the way that you think about snacking, still enjoying a snack when you are watching TV or playing a game with your family. Getting rid of junk food in your diet can be like breaking an addiction, and you might have some withdrawal pangs, but stick with it because if there is no junk food in the house then you won’t eat it. Your diet will reflect a calories loss and you will experience weight loss and feel so much healthier and happier.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For the Team

mightydigitaldownloads.com

 Rowena French loves healthy living through weight loss and exercise. Do you need the formula for lasting weight loss? There is only one answer. My free gift shows you how calories loss through healthy eating is just common sense! Read my guide.