Wedding Stuff - eating right to battle stress

All of you who have had to plan a large-ish wedding or are in the process of doing it kind of know what I'm feeling right now, right?? Less than two weeks to go, now.

Insanely excited, crazy confused, stressed, overwhelmed with weird details I never thought I'd have to think about, and just plain wanting the day to get here so that I can marry the love of my life!!!

The seating chart is giving me a bunch of headaches. I'm worried the music won't be fun. Or people will be bored. I'm worried I won't look my best, or people will think my dress is ugly. Or that Chris' mom is going to have a freak out. Etc, etc, etc, etc.

The wedding I went to this weekend was super lovely - great venue (outdoor wedding and it was gorgeous weather!), beautiful ceremony with a lot of great touches, and the bride had a KILLER dress - hoop skirt with tons of tulle made by her mother. The only thing that went wrong is that they ran out of food and had to order pizza (whoops!! the groom called the caterers SO MAD).

But our group of friends (the part that went to this wedding) aren't really the romantic sort and didn't really care about all the nice touches. And didn't like the music. And barely danced. It's just one faction of our friend group - others are very different, but seeing people NOT enjoying a wedding makes me so nervous that that is what is going to happen to me!

Bleh!!

I know I worry too much about what other people think or how other people feel. Which isn't always a bad trait, but sometimes it is, when it becomes the focus. Close friends keep telling me that I should just do what I want to on my wedding day and not worry about other people -- but my nice times really are affected if my friends aren't having a nice time!

Well, anyway, I just kind of wanted to spew that stress out onto virtual paper - to let you all know how things are going for me. I am, on the whole, just excited to marry Chris. But there is this mid-level constant stress present in my body that is affecting me physically and emotionally.

I went to the local co-op yesterday and filled the fridge with great organic vegetables and meat. Lots of awesome easy, healthy, paleo, CLEAN foods already prepped for my week, like roasted sweet potatoes and homemade guacamole. No excuses for not eating great this week.

I know the right fuel will keep the stress manageable. This article sums up what I want to do perfectly: Eat Right To Fight Stress - Psychology Today (I pulled out some important paragraphs if you don't want to bother with the article):

"Most of us recognize that certain foods have brutal effects on the brain—for productivity, mood and mental energy. Too much chocolate can leave you dragging after the sugar and caffeine jolts fade away. An overdose of salty chips dehydrates the body and the brain, bringing on fatigue. High fat meals raise stress hormone levels and keep them high.

The problem is that these are precisely the foods we reach for at exactly the wrong times, as they exacerbate tension from work and daily life just when we seek relief."

"Participants reported that cutting down or avoiding "food stressors" like sugar (80%), caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%) had the most impact on mental health. So did having more "food supporters" like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil-rich fish (52%)."

"We already know that stress hormones like cortisol actually rob the body of vitamins, hijacking them to support such classic stress responses as the tensing of muscles and the rise of blood pressure, reactions fundamental to the fight-or-flight response.

Thus at times when we're experiencing the nervous-system workout of anxiety, we are in special need of B vitamins, which help maintain our nerves and brain cells. B vitamins also used up in converting food into energy for the body.

It's double whammy for the body if calories consumed during stressful times don't come from nutritious foods, as they'll then be depleted even more quickly. Even a slight vitamin B deficiency—say, from a few days of overloading on chips and soda—upsets the nervous system and compounds stress."

So, I'm here, living life, getting married, dealing with stress and determined to stay healthy through it all :D

It's tough, but I am not going to eat crap to soothe me, I will not even have one alcoholic drink between now and my wedding day, I will focus on strengthening my body and giving myself all the chance in the world to be healthy, fit and happy on my wedding day!!

Namaste, my friends <3

Me SUPER happy during the annual "parade" at Cabinfest a couple weeks ago!!