Stress Raises Blood Sugar, So Let’s Talk About It

Stress has a way of convincing us that we should just push through, even when our body is waving red flags. If you’ve been running on autopilot, feeling stretched thin, snapping more easily, sleeping poorly, or wondering why you can’t seem to “get it together,” we’re talking directly to you.

We walk through what chronic stress really looks like in everyday life, especially for women balancing work, caregiving, parenting, and everyone else’s needs. Using relatable stories, we show how stress can quietly shape your routine: skipped meals, sugar cravings, scrolling late at night, drinking to wind down, and waking up already behind. Then we connect the dots to health, including cortisol, blood sugar spikes, A1C, inflammation, and why ongoing stress can increase risk for type 2 diabetes and impact heart health.

You’ll also hear the emotional and physical signs that stress is no longer “normal,” from anxiety and irritability to headaches, tight muscles, stomach issues, and heart racing while you’re sitting still. Most importantly, we share holistic stress management tools you can start right now: asking for help, setting boundaries with a clear “no,” building a priority-based to do list, using timers to stop procrastination, and creating a personal stress less kit with quick resets like deep breathing, counting down, tea rituals, hot showers, prayer, and positive self talk.

If this helped you feel seen and gave you a next step, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs support, and leave a review so more women can find these conversations.

Transcript

Stress, Health, And Real Life Load

SPEAKER_01 0:03

If you have ever felt like there is no way to manage stress, or I'll say maybe you could even be in a place where you recognize that stress is the reason why it is a challenge to just feel like yourself. Maybe stress is the reason why no matter how often you try to pause or carve out time for yourself, you still feel the anxiety, the overwhelm, or even the frustration that comes along when we feel like we are no longer in control. Stress is a huge topic, and there's so many layers to it. But in this conversation, for those of you joining us, we are actually inviting you into the Beautifully Well Lifestyle program. We are engaging in this program on our Monday Night Live, and that topic is managing stress, that six-letter word that drives us crazy. But in this conversation, we're going to relate it to why stress is something that we need to make a constant conversation, how it affects our health, but most importantly, how can we manage it holistically? Um, and how can we identify it, right? Because so many of us, especially women, whoa, y'all, we keep moving even though we may not feel like we are at our best. We keep going and going and going and going. I can't help but think about the Energizer Bunny. I'm definitely telling my age, right? You know, the Energizer Bunny commercial where that little bunny is going and going and going and going, and then the battery stops. Eventually, that battery stops because it's not the energizer battery keeping the bunny going. It's a generic battery that doesn't have as much energy and power as that energizer battery. But we don't operate on batteries. One of our most precious organs is our heart. Can't leave out the brain, can't leave out any of the organs. But at the end of the day, when we think about stress and its effect, right? In this conversation, we're going to talk about this one heart that we have. We're going to talk about this one brain that we have and this body that should be in a place that functions because we're going to honor ourselves in this conversation. And hopefully it'll be a nice transparent conversation where we're able to openly feel like you are in the room tonight so that you can identify anything that's on your plate that shouldn't be, that could be passed on to someone else, or maybe this is just one of those things where you have been running and running since January 1st, 2026. We are now in May. How many times have you slowed down or went on pause? And I heard that expressed earlier when we first started. And so, because this is the Beautifully Well Lifestyle program, of course, we're going to link some of this stuff to blood sugar control. A1C, y'all, stress affects that blood sugar. It does. As a matter of fact, there is a strong link to stress and type 2 diabetes. We're going to talk about that link. And although we're going to talk about A1C, we might as well, while liking it to other things that we may be dealing with because stress impacts it too. It definitely impacts the heart health. No doubt if you are like Barbara and Carla, who were mentioned in this story. All her children are in school, every single one of them. And she's a caregiver helping her dad. And Barbara works full-time. Maybe you can relate. A full-time single mom caregiver to an aging parent. So Barbara's not shocked when she finds out that her A1C is elevated. She is not shocked. Barbara is moving at the speed of light, just trying to hold everything together. So it's it's just not a surprise that she is challenged with eating well and getting active. Carla is no different. Carla is working two jobs, trying to figure out how to eat better and get some exercise. But really, with everything she has on her plate, especially just trying to pay bills on time and making time for family, it feels a little bit unreasonable to figure out how she can carve out time for herself with all this stuff she has going on. Maybe you can relate. So this um stress question is really important because when we're overwhelmed, doesn't it feel like everything on our plate stresses us out? That is everything, but that one thing that's causing you stress, is it your own personal health challenges? Is it taking care of someone else? Is it an adult child that's in a struggle? You know, our adult children still need us, that's why they're called adult children.

unknown 6:34

Right?

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Sometimes they need us because times are hard, and sometimes, oh my goodness, they just know they can rely on us for a little bit too much. And so what happens with that, they're calling on us because they know we'll be there, which is fine to a degree, but there are other times where we could really find an opportunity, and those are those opportunities where we can delegate, those are those opportunities where we can empower our adult children to you know just take the lead in their own personal life. I think does someone want to comment on that?

SPEAKER_00 7:13

That one thing that causes you stress for me is work, not even that the job is stressful, I'm just busy. I never have time for nothing because I'm always on the go. Like just recently, I was like, I don't even know what's in the refrigerator, refrigerator. Because I don't even look in there, like, and like the past two weeks, I I have not bought any food or went to the market because I'm just always on the go.

The Blood Sugar And Cortisol Link

Coping Habits That Sneak In

Emotional Signals And Burnout Signs

Physical Symptoms And Inflammation

Ask For Help And Set Boundaries

Build A Stress Less Kit

Reset Mindset And Closing Support

SPEAKER_01 7:46

I can definitely relate. Thank you for sharing that too. That is, you feel like you have no time to even think. You literally can get lost in the day, like you're looking at the clock, waiting for one thing to end, knowing that something else is next. And the days are merging together, almost feeling like they're really on repeat. You're on autopilot. And even though the weekend comes and you want to spend time with family, you want to get together with friends, it almost exhausts you to think about one, it's going to take you time to get yourself together. You got to drive, you have to meet up, you have to be there, and then you have to get back home and start that cycle all over again. Perfect timing for bringing that out. In our conversation tonight, I hope that we're able to talk a little deeper about what could possibly be some things that you could do, maybe, that could help you feel as if you're the feeling of not feeling so stretched, because the reality is we are stretched. Some things we can't take off our plate, like work, right? There are literally some things that cannot come off the plate, and the reality of that cycle of always on, always on, always on, is that even when there may be times that you could just relax a little bit, the body is so amped that it won't chill out, and that makes it a challenge. So, again, sometimes the cycle of repeat makes it so that it feels like there is no window in sight because the body, the body needs some time to adjust when you're ready to pause, isn't that something? So, even to pause can feel a little bit overwhelming because huh, you have to force yourself to sit still, and that's a mental thing as well. So, what is that link though to stress and sugar levels? Well, stress causes blood sugar levels to change. Did you know that? That stress itself, cortisol, it is a hormone and it will increase your blood glucose levels. Not only does it have the ability to increase our blood sugar levels, it can also affect the decisions that we make that lead to some of those unhealthier decisions that we make. And this is a no non-judgmental zone, y'all. So trust me, remember, I'm your girl, I overcame pre-diabetes, and I'm the coach. But that stress thing is powerful. As a matter of fact, when we think about some of the how do you respond to stress, number one, when we're overwhelmed and we're running on this cycle, does it affect our food choices? Does it affect our sleeping habits? Absolutely. We talked about Barbara and Carla's story earlier. There's a second part to their story, and we talked about Barbara being that single-parent, full-time worker, and caregiver to her dad, um, taking care of everything, and the fact that her children are all school age. So at the end of a full day at work, Barbara is drenched in stress. The children, she didn't help them get the homework straight. She's fed them, bathed them so they can get their butts off the school, I mean off the bed, making sure her dad is fine. She done cleaned up the place. And after she's done all of that, now it's time for Barbara to be able to relax. But how do you relax? What's your relax routine? Right? When we're stressed out, we're looking for things to help us cope. There's anything wrong with a glass of wine. Barbara on a weekday at night, in the evening, five days a week, is drinking on two, drinking two glasses of wine and eating ice cream while she sits on the couch. Nothing wrong with ice cream. There's nothing wrong with wine. However, we don't know how much ice cream Barbara's eating. We do know that this is part of her routine five days a week. 10 glasses of wine a week. At least five bowls of ice cream. Distress the fact. That is how Barbara winds down in the evening. But Carla at the end of the day, remember Carla with the two jobs? Couple of children. When she gets home, she just wants to eat her dinner and sit on that couch and relax. I know that's what I want at the end of the day. I just want to sit down somewhere and relax, and we're entitled to that. It's just that the stress effect can even complicate what we do for rest. So when you think about stress for you, so now we get a little personal, a couple of questions. You don't you don't have to come off mute if you don't want to, or you can put it in a chat as well. Um when you are stressed out, we respond to stress, we respond emotionally with our feelings. How do you feel when you are stressed out? Angry, annoyed, anxious, confused, hungry. Somebody better feed you, impatient. Have you ever been in a line? I think about being in Trader Joe's, and it's only two people in front of me. And you know, Trader Joe's is pretty quick. Two people in front of me, and I can't wait to get to the conveyor belt and tap my tap my uh Apple Pay. When you are stressed out, do you sometimes experience feelings of sadness or even worry? Maybe even to the point of feeling anxious. This is when you know stress is in a window of overload because it has tapped into your emotions. These are emotional responses, and you know what's what's interesting because, especially as women, because we we have things to do, we even have a routine that we miss these signals. Some of the signals we ignore, and some of the signals we just find at times maybe a passive way to pass it on, pass it off to something else. But while we want to tap into what is our emotional response to stress, because that empowers us to be able to identify when wait a minute, this is feeling like a lot. When we can identify this in advance, then we are less likely to be in a place where burnout takes us over. We may be less likely to have that meltdown, you know, when you've had enough and no one else around you understand why you are wilding out. You're the only one wilding out at the situation, and they're trying to figure out who did what. Because we've allowed the emotional response to stress to reach a point where we have just lost all control. Think about your emotional response to stress, really think about it so that when you feel that buildup, you know that it's time to work on that game plan. And we're gonna talk about that, that stress readiness. Um, how do we try to control what we can control? But you know, stress has a physical effect as well, and we want to pay a lot of attention to this. Men and women alike, but I think about us women, especially for those of us over 40, or for those of us that may even have uh heart disease or uh heart attacks or strokes in our family, the physical side effect of stress is not a game. The headaches, back ache, neck ache. You ever notice heart palpitations? The heart racing, and you're sitting in a chair. You have not walked a mile. You are sitting still, and yet your heart is racing as if you just ran around the block. I'm not laughing at this situation, I'm just saying we are literally experiencing symptoms, and we can ignore this. The tightening of the muscles, the upset stomach. That's not butterflies. This don't have nothing to do with a man, or maybe it does. But in this case, I don't know if he's stressing you out. That's a whole nother topic. We need to have that conversation if they are stressing you out, your partner stressing you out. Well, no, this upset stomach, because the gut, you know, you've heard it. Gut health is everything, right? The the gut, that core, when we're upset or things are off, we could feel uh nauseous. That upset stomach might not be what you ate for breakfast because sometimes when we're stressed out, we're not even eating. We don't talk about that. What are the food challenges when we are stressed? So just think about your physical symptoms. But when you feel stressed, you may respond to that stress in a number of ways, right? Because now we have to cope. This is the thing about stress that is no longer that quick adrenaline rush that comes along because you have a work deadline, you have uh work to do, and you got two days left to do it. So now that adrenaline is rushing for you to get it done. We're talking about ongoing stress. And when we are stressed out, what else our body will do is encourage us to find a way to cope. But depending on where we are with the stress effect, you may find yourself like Carla in a story mentioned earlier, drinking too much alcohol. How often do we forget things, right? I know we talked about that a little bit earlier. Um, and and that is that is common. You forget, wait a minute, what am I supposed to be doing today? Oops, I forgot to give them a call back. Oh, I forgot about the meeting. Or this one, you walk into a room and forgot how'd you even got get there? What am I supposed to do? Then you have to walk back out and then walk back in with hopes that it'll click, right? So then we put off doing things that we need to do. Sometimes it's those hard things, we just don't feel like doing it. The thought of it creates more stress, so we will continue to put it off. But here's what's interesting about the stress effect, especially when we are on autopilot. Sometimes we can look like the busiest person. We are just moving and moving and moving and moving, and then at the end of the day, when we itemize what we accomplished or got done, it might not be as much as we thought we did. And this is where we can really see the cycle of stress and how it affects us from a psychological perspective. This new perception, this new perceived way of doing things, and that literally, in most cases, we are doing too much. In most cases, we are. We have a heavy load on a daily basis. But you know what's interesting about that heavy load because it doesn't end, how effective are we in getting some of those things done? And so that pause that we have to take from time to time to evaluate is just not about being more effective in those things. It's to be able to give ourselves a chance to rejuvenate. Now, the sleep one is a big one. Um, lack of sleep, too much sleep, or a mixture of both can, you know, sleep is so important, and that that sleep thing can go either way. We're just not getting enough sleep. Well, why not? Is it hard to sleep because literally the key is still in the ignition, so to speak? It's hard to shut it off because you it's tonight, but your brain is already in the morning trying to prepare you for what's next. Um, could sleep be affected? Because what is stressing us out is deep. Let's be real. There are a lot of things happening around us, a lot of things happening close to home. Um, or are we oversleeping? Every moment, right? We're just sleeping away the stress. So we don't have to deal with it. Um, those that may have a smoking habit, um, or those that don't might pick it up. Um, or those that do smoke, maybe they notice that they only grab a cigarette when they are stressed out. It's how they cope. And, you know, this too much medicine. I'm gonna stay within my scope here, but I'm gonna, you know, just touch on this just a bit because we know stress, stress can be complicated, and we're just identifying some of the things that can affect us when we're stressed out so that we know when is it time to seek additional support? Way too much medicine. It could even be sleep medicine, it might not even be prescribed sleep medicine, it might be over-the-counter. But in order for you to go to sleep, maybe this is a remedy. The working too much. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely from that generation where we work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And don't let it be a job that we love or something that we enjoy and we find ourselves really diving deep into it. Or let's keep in mind the fact that we are also right now in an economy where job loss is a constant. Organizations, big organizations, big corporations, are shutting down the the government and the layoffs. And so now we're saying you have a job and you don't want to lose it, so you're doing all that you can so that you don't. Well, at the end of the day, when we tie stress back to the habits that we could we could be building on, that we're gonna make unhealthy choices. And not all in mindfulness. We're just we're just going about, yeah, we skipping meals or we're binge eating the foods that we want to indulge in that makes us feel good for that moment. And usually that's the sugar, right? Um, if I'm stressed out, I don't think I'm I'm running to the gym. If stress has gotten a hold of me, right? But we're gonna talk about some ways that you know we can identify these stresses building up so that we can try to play defense. But the real talk is if I'm not myself and I'm not feeling well, then I'm probably not gonna get up and move. But what I can do is sit down on this couch. And if I'm not watching television, y'all, you know, hey, they're called the smartphone. But these smartphones can distract us as well. Um, we don't have to turn on a television to be entertained anymore. We can literally scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll that has an impact on us as well. So I'm not going to bore you with all the ins and outs on our emotional, physical, and our behaviors as it relates to stress because we know that's what we're doing, and that's why stress that builds up inflammation in our system. Inflammation is a driver for nearly 90% of chronic conditions. So when we're stressed out, not only are our habits increasing the stress effect, but our bodies, from a metabolic perspective, is now living in a state where inflammation is building up. And how do we know we're inflamed? Well, one, blood sugar levels rise, our heart health is affected by it, our joint pain, stiff muscles, tight muscles can all be connected. And so, how do we fix this? And we're talking about the stress that we can control, not the stress that we may need to get a little more support with, right? Um, and there's nothing wrong with asking for that extra support, even if we are not sure if we're in a place where stress is building up. Because remember, and some emotional responses to stress is worry, sadness, and anxiety. So we want to pay attention, um, pay attention to our feelings, how we are feeling, because we may need to get that extra support. But life is stressful. So, what we're going to do in the next few minutes is talk about some tips that we can use to try to lower the stress as best we can. And feel free to chime in because for all of us with experience in stress, I'm definitely an expert in this through personal experience. Uh, feel free to chime in. You know what works for you or what have worked, worked um for you. And this list is not all, this is not an exhaustive list, and we won't go through everything listed here, but there are a few points, right? Because what happens when we may not even realize that we're in a cycle of stress, that we forget to be that one way, well, the first thing that we have to do when stress reaches that point is the first acknowledge that wait a minute, I have to do something different, and I need to do something different right away. So some of these tips are things that you can do right away. Um, some of them are things that you can use yourself, and then there are times where we need the support of others, right? And that is the number one tip. The first tip here is ask for help. If this is possible, ask for help. But I know you're the goal to person, you're the strong one in the family, you're the pillar in the family, you're the hustler at work. You've been at that job so long you could you could take care of it with your eyes closed. Or maybe for whatever reason you have to be independent because other people have let you down. Or maybe there's some relationship relationship things that might keep you from asking for help. Well, who can you call on to help you out? This help is not reserved to a close relative. It could be a friend, it could be a coworker, it could be a neighbor. The interesting thing about the ax for help though, you have to first figure out what you need help with. Because for us as women, one of the hardest things for us to do is to delegate because our mind has told us that superwoman Cape works. And I'm capable of doing all the things. So I don't know if I need to ask for help. Well, I don't trust that they'll be able to do what I need them to do. Oh, yeah. Let me tell you, this ask for help thing might change your life. Think about developing a new habit. The axe for help could be in various capacities, it could be at work too. I know a lot of jobs we're working, we're we're doing the job of two to three, sometimes four people. As an entrepreneur, I'm five people on any given day. And that is even with the team. So I get it. But at the end of the day, people like my hubby who knows how to navigate a few things for me really good with with um helping me keep the office clean, keep the towels clean, uh, even helping out with a few things on a computer. We figure it out, right? Ask yourself, what could you use help with? Some of it could be really simple. Maybe somebody else should go get your groceries. Now, with technology and other options, we might have to pay for the convenience of it, but somebody else can bring our groceries to us. Or maybe we can order them and just go pick them up and not have to worry about the frustration of a line. And did you notice that when stress has got the best of you, it's really hard to keep things organized, neat and clean. Raising my hand. But from a clarity perspective, and I'm gonna do that. I have a lot of clothes, a whole, whole, whole, whole lot of clothes. In spring season, it's time to pull some of those, some clothes out and put some clothes away, right? But can you straighten up that area just a little bit? Maybe it's your car, maybe it's your office, maybe it's your bedroom, jewelry all over the top, uh, dresser. Clothes didn't quite make it to the laundry room yet. I'm just being real, right? But just think about it. Um, we talked about the sleep thing, the seven or eight hours. If right now you're only getting four hours a night, figure out how you can get the five. And then here's the question: When was the last time you had fun? And I don't mean just being out with friends, family, or co-workers. Like, when was the last time you were fully present and engaged in something that you enjoyed? Think about how that felt. That may have been more recent than later. Are you incorporating times for fun? They look one of the things they have here under fun is read a book. Let me tell you something. I feel like I hit a jackpot when I can sit still in my comfy little fluffy white chair, cross my legs, and read a physical book, not a Kindle. I'm tired of looking at a screen. I want to flip a page. So just ask yourself when was the last time you had fun? It might not be something spectacular. Um, we don't always have to reach in a pocket to spend money, y'all. We're talking about our personal livelihood and what are some of those small joys that we can have that we deserve. We talked about the no. No doesn't have to mean never, but just no is the not right now. It's an empowering word. As a matter of fact, no is no longer negative in my book. No is a very positive word, especially when we're talking about putting things on our plate that we don't have room for. And especially when the no equips someone else to get it done. That's when it becomes super powerful. Because now what I'm going to do is empower someone else to use their energy and capacity to get something done that I just do not have the ability to do. And that is highly positive because what you're doing is no longer allowing someone else to create more of a deficit. And that deficit may not be time, y'all, because I'm telling you, I don't evaluate my capacity based on hours and minutes anymore. The clock might say Lola, that's the name my grandchildren call me. The clock might say Lola has three hours on a Wednesday. That's what the clock says. But Lola's mind says, I have no capacity. That is my window of opportunity to do what I need to do to recharge so that I can be a better person the next day. And so no is powerful for setting these boundaries. But guess what? At the end of the day, we have to plan them out so that we are guilt-free when we evaluate what we can and cannot do. We're not meanies here. We're empowering people and we're making sure that we don't allow other things or people to rob us of energy that we need for other things. And what are those other things? Those other things are really centered around what we need to rejuvenate. Those other things like rest, peace, calm, sleep, good food, nutritious food. How about just time to think? Right? Um, make that to-do list, write it out, and please try not to be like me where the list goes beyond 20 things a day. If you wrote out everything you had to do, wouldn't it be at least 10? At least 10 things would be on that list. And then it becomes overwhelming again because you're trying to figure out how to check the boxes. The thing about the to-do list is that you want that list to be more priority driven. Like the top five. I used to say three, but I'm going to be realistic. Top five. No more than five things today that have to be done. Small steps, solve problems quick. Procrastination happens when we allow ourselves to become so perplexed by doing the hard things. Let's get that hard thing out the way, y'all. If it is that hard and it's driving you crazy, get that smartphone and set a timer. Tell yourself in the next 35-45 minutes, this is what I'm going to dedicate to this hard thing, so I can just get it out of my life. Solve the problem, don't create another problem in the midst of it, because that procrastination only adds more stress to the mix. We sometimes we might have to put things aside for the moment so you can breathe if that's going to help. But remember to go back to it. Find the energy space, find some capacity to go back to it. Because otherwise, all we're doing is prolonging the inevitable. And in some cases, whatever that thing might be, it could make life harder than it has to be, especially when we if we miss a deadline. Um, and we have to take care of ourselves. So, how do you manage your stress? What is your stress regimen? What is your stress less regimen? And think about this and make it multidimensional. What are some of the things that you can do to manage stress that will not cost you five cents? And then what are those things you enjoy that will cost money? Why I like to look at both because the real talk for me is that a vacation away does not necessarily reduce my stress. It's good to be able to get away. But I literally have to prepare to stress less on vacation. Have this ever happened to you, you got something planned, you can't wait to go away. It's several days, and maybe a week could even be 10 days. You can't wait to get there, but you haven't conditioned mind and body to get ready for the reset. So when you get away, you can't even fully enjoy it until like maybe day two or day three, and before you blink, you're coming right back home. This is also how we know that stress definitely has an impact on our bodies because when we are in a space or a place to relax, it still takes time for our bodies to wind down and accept the fact that we're not going to work. We're not having hard conversations, we are in a zone where we can completely relax. Well, guess what? If you want to truly relax, tell your body first. So you can benefit 100% from the escape. So these quick tips to help you bring stress down. You can count to 20 in your head. I like to count backwards. It's just something about forcing my brain to think a little bit. I count backwards from 10, real slow. 10, 9, 8, not like the Boys the Men song. But that count in your head, up the 20, backwards, however you go. Guess what this does? This tells the brain that we are getting ready to pause. Get a massage. If you don't want people touching on you, take a hot bath, hot shower. What about the mindfulness associated with preparing to make a nice cup of tea? Green tea, hibiscus tea, uh, tea with lemon and fresh ginger, and that calming music. Like, what is your morning routine? Like, we we're gonna get into this in another conversation, but just think about what we talked about what's your stress less kit? What's in it? What are the things that you can do? Actionable things that cost you absolutely nothing but your time. How can you create small opportunities for peace and calm, even in very stressful situations, like running in between tasks, or even at work when work gets a little bit challenging, or maybe you're caring for a loved one, or at the last minute, somebody needs you to go pick the kids up from school, um, or you have to be the person to go pick up something. Um, what can you do in the midst of these moments? 15 minutes is a long time. Five minutes can even support you, especially with uh breathing, breathe, uh breathing work, those five deep intentional breaths, five deep inhales up to the count of five, and exhaling to the count of five five times in a row is amazing. It tells the brain, whoo, we done paused, we did a reset, we did a whoosa. Simple things. Um, some ways to relax too. Oh, we've talking to ourselves. I am definitely having a conversation with Nick. I don't care how crazy that might sound out loud, because who stressed out I am. So, who better to bring me down for that moment? I mean, I love prayer, gotta say it. I'm a woman of faith. But sometimes before I can even get myself focused enough to pray, I have to bring me down. I have to remind myself what I'm about to do and to get in that state so that I can fully immerse myself into a form of what I call therapy with my creator. I want to I want to be able to be at ease just a little bit, knowing that he's gonna take care of all the rest. And so when you give yourself that pep talk, positive talk is powerful. What we say to ourselves, how we speak to ourselves with intention, has a way of changing, it just changes the environment, y'all. You are the environment, you are the environment because you get to control how things around you affect you. Give yourself that pep talk. I love what it says here, but I always say it's gonna be okay. It's fine, it's gonna be okay. This here says there's no rush. I'm taking my time, they'll be fine, they'll be okay. But I'm I'm taking my time, right? Because we if we go, go, go, imagine telling yourself over and over again, I'm not rushing. I don't do rush well. Um rush frustrates me and overwhelms me. Back in the day, I was truly that multitasker, y'all. I will never forget nursing my oldest daughter in the supermarket. She wild was wilding out. I grabbed that baby, uh, had that little broad thing that came down, and I knew to take a blanket, and I'm literally grocery shopping while this little eight month old is nursing on me. And she would not stop nursing. I had to check out, still nursing a baby. We do what we have to do, but today ain't no nursing babies, but I will tell you this. Idea of rush rush rush. It's no rush today. We're gonna take our time. And we can take our time when we manage stress because we're able to get up a little earlier. We aren't putting unnecessary stress on ourselves by uh jumping up, and we got five minutes to get this done, 10 minutes to get this done, right? So be sure to think about your stress less kit. What can you do? Quick things, your relaxation routine. How do you relax? Um, think about what you would spend money on. What is the goal when it comes to reducing your stress? Are you that massage person that can that enjoys massage? That's great. Um, but so is massage on a list and how often? Um, are you going to schedule it out? Is this something you want to treat yourself to? Um, meditation, deep breathing, stretching, all those things count. We're talking about small things that you can do in order to rest and relax so that we can reduce stress. So we're at the end of our conversation, and we talked a lot about stress, that six-letter word. Stress is a mess. But when stress is overwhelming and we're noticing that it is affecting our mood, when we notice that it is affecting our body by showing up with symptoms, when we recognize that we are responding with less healthy habits, it is time to reset and rethink how we are going to manage this. When we manage stress, we are honoring our bodies' right to rest and relax. We are telling ourselves it's okay, even if it's just for five minutes, to turn, not turn down, but to turn off the noise, turn the frequency down enough to give yourselves a chance to rethink. It's powerful and yet easy at the same time. When we recognize that there are so many more things that we control than those things that we do not, therein lies the power. You are the powerful one. When we think about that superwoman cape so often, we think about that woman saving a day, saving lives, running around, putting out fires, taking care of things. But no, that same cape can be the cape that empowers you to be able to use those personal superpowers to take care of you, and that is how you stress less. So you've tuned in for a very uh personal episode of the Beautifully Well Conversations with your girl, Nick. And we thank you for joining us. And we hope that you run this episode on repeat so you can go back and find some of the tips that you can use to lower your stress and definitely share it with another beautiful who could use the support as well. And stay tuned for the next conversation. And if you are looking for more support, remember AmaniNicole.com, click that link at the bottom of this episode so that you can learn more about how we are using a holistic approach to help women live the beautifully well lifestyle.