Winter

Winter is creeping in.. Monday was the first day of winter and now the weather is getting colder and colder. It is raining here most the time.

Last Thursday, my group went to Bondi Junction to do our survey for our group report. We chose to go on Thursday is because it is the Shopping Day and that is the only day for stores open till 9pm. Our group topic is The Effect of Lifestyle on The Level of Stress. The purpose of our survey is to investigate the relationship between some of our daily habits and the level of stress we experience. We started our survey at 6.30pm , our survey took us 3 hours + and I had to stand for 3 hours just to do 15 survery. By the time we finished our survey, it's already 9.30pm and I'm exhausted + starving.  All the shops had closed and I didn't have the time for shopping T___T. After that, I had my dinner with my sister at the food court. 

This is something I found from the internet regarding about how our habits effect our stress level.

Caffeine : Caffeinated foods and drinks such as coffee, tea, colas, energy drinks,and chocolates increases stress levels by stimulating the central nervous system. Excess intake of caffeine will result in  hyperactive mood , poor concentration , decrease effectiveness, sleep disturbances, and increased levels of cortisol in the blood and cause irritation and stress.

Sugar : By eating sugary foods, it will quickly raises the energy levels in the body in a short-period. But it is only temporary and will cause a drastic fall in the energy level.

Alcohol : Although many people turn to alcohol in order to relieve stress they are actually greatly aggravating the problem. Alcohol causes an increase in adrenaline production which in turn causes insomnia, heightened irritability and other such problems.

Foods high in salt and saturated fats: These are usually found in fast foods & junk foods and are very harmful to the health. They can cause heightened blood pressure , it is easy to lead to stress problem. Besides that, it also increase the chances of coronary heart disease.

Exercise : By doing exercise can effectively reduce stress. It is believed that 30 minutes of exercise/ sport is enough for the whole week.

Sleeping : Sleeping is an essential factor that affect stress. A good quality of sleeping time will make you feel refreshed and you will often find that people that didn't get a good sleep are mostly stressful people. The recommended hours of sleep is around 7-8 hours daily.

Personally, I believed that a balanced diet + exercise/hobbies + good quality of resting time = A healthy lifestyle and good health!