The Tribune

Health coach Ethan Quant, of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.

In my last article I talked about stress in a very broad and general sense. I really just wanted you to gain a better appreciation for what stress is. Now that we have done that, let’s talk about how to spot the signs if you are too stressed.

This is very important as we tend to get so busy living life that we either ignore the signs or are completely unaware all together. Knowing the signs of stress is essential to proper stress management. Now this list is by no means complete, it is just some advice to help you raise your awareness of your stress levels and get you on the road to better stress management.

I know that being better able to manage my stress had positive effects on other areas of my health, wellness and fitness journey.

There are different ways that stress manifests itself. So if you encounter any of these you may want to get a better handle on managing your stress:

• Memory problems

• Challenges concentrating

• Unreasonable anxiety

• Poor decision-making

These are known as cognitive symptoms, and as you may have guessed, they have to do with the brain processes like thinking, attention, perception, memory, reasoning and problem-solving. It is very important to pay attention to these, because often times they are subtle.

Then you have things like:

• Extreme mood swings

• Irritability

• Depression

These are common emotional symptoms and have to do with one’s feelings. Emotional changes are a normal part of life, however, disproportionate, extreme or unstable emotional reactions may indicate a serious issue.

Of course unmanaged stress can affect us physically as well and it often manifests as pain or discomfort. This include things like:

• Severe headaches or migraines

• Backaches

• Chest discomfort

• Sleep pattern changes and insomnia

It’s important to remember that just like how different people are stressed out by different things, we all have different ways that stress manifests itself. The important thing is to pay attention to the signs so that we can identify it and make adjustments as needed for better stress management.

Remember, if you need help navigating this or any part of your health wellness and fitness journey feel free to reach out to me directly.

• You can contact Ethan Quant at ethan@elite-wellnesssolutions.com or on Instagram at @ethanquant.