The upcoming April monthly challenge will revolve around taking steps to reduce your stress. We've all felt stress and while we know it to be an unpleasant experience, it's important to avoid it for the negative effects it can have on your health as well. Check out the following resources both to understand the physiology of stress and to get ideas on reducing it.

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Ways to Reduce Stress

The first step anyone should take in reducing stress levels is to learn proper breathing techniques. Yes, breathing is an involuntary action, but you could still be doing it wrong. Shallow breathing, which can often result from a sedentary lifestyle (especially if you spend your day hunched over a desk), can lead to increased levels of stress. Diaphragmatic (deep belly) breathing supports increased blood flow, improved energy and a stronger immune system.

Other ways to reduce stress include exercise, meditation/prayer, eating a nutrient-dense diet, spending time outdoors and with others, practicing gratitude and using the right blend of essential oils. Find more information on each of these items, including which foods increase and diminish stress, here.

Resources to Help You

Yoga is a great way to practice mediation and mindfulness, while mastering the art of deep breathing. Doyogawithme.com is my favorite resource for free classes. Additionally, this guide is great for simple, restorative yoga poses that aim to beat stress, for all fitness levels.

Calm for iOS and Android offers guided meditation and goes with you wherever your phone does.

Stigma for iOS is great for journaling the things you're grateful for, which can help to reframe your thinking, eliminating negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. Of course, pen and paper works great for this as well.
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Do you have any other great ideas for reducing stress? I would love to hear them in the comments below. Be sure to join our Stress Less Challenge through the month of April by logging each day that you practice stress reducing techniques, through MyWellness.

To save these resources, and to access many other health and wellness resources, be sure to check out, and follow, our Pinterest page.

Have you ever tried to buy packaged snack bars? I've searched high and low for a convenient option that is packed with protein, low on junky additives, but anytime I've come up with one that looks good to me, it comes with a hefty price tag that I just can't justify. So when I recently tried (and fell in love with) Wella bars, although the cost wasn't unreasonable for the quality of the product ($17/12 pack), I became determined to come up with a cheaper homemade version. The texture on mine ended up a little different, but the flavor is spot on. These are way too good to keep to myself.

In conjunction with March's Eat at Home Challenge, I'm here to offer some helpful suggestions to make meal planning work for you in a realistic, time-sensitive way. In the seven years I've held down a full time job and been cooking for other than just myself, adding two kids to the brood along the way, my approach to meal planning has grown and adapted to the point that I feel like I've come pretty close to mastering the art. But if any of the suggestions below don't work for you, please contact me and we can come up with a more individualized approach to meal planning.

1. Shop and Categorize Your Recipes

First things first, figure out what recipes you do have. What are your go to recipes? What makes them your go to recipes? I have a pretty regular rotation of about 10 different recipes that I know are quick, have minimal ingredients, that are whole food-based, and that I know my family will eat. I have them categorized, so that when I plan for the appropriate meal on the appropriate day, it's easy for me to plan a meal that will fit our needs.

For example, I have recipes that I know take under 20 minutes to prepare, as one of my categories. I also have a category for fish recipes, as I try to include one each week, for heart health benefits. My family loves breakfast for dinner, so I have a collection of meals that I can pull from, to include in my planning. I also have a great collection of slow cooker meals, for those nights when I know I'm going to be pulling into the driveway around the time that my family is ready to eat.

By categorizing your meals, your collection of recipes suddenly becomes less overwhelming. Each week, I plan at least one slow cooker meal, one breakfast for dinner meal, one fish meal, and two <20 minutes meals. Suddenly, as I'm planning my meal for Monday night, instead of having to choose from all of the recipes I have, I can choose from the five fish recipes I have.

2. K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple. Don't include elaborate meals in your regular rotation. Utilize recipes that only have a handful of ingredients. The benefits are that you will have much less prep time, it will cost less, and if you find yourself at the grocery store without a meal plan, you can remember all of the ingredients a meal requires, while you're making a list in the parking lot. Additionally, don't be afraid to cook without recipes. Three of my go to "recipes" have come from meals I've created with scrap veggies that needed to be used up. Don't be afraid to throw some carrots, celery, chicken, oregano and chicken broth into a stock pot to make a quick, comforting soup.

3. Plan Around Your Schedule

Perhaps my most important tip: plan for the time you have. Look at your schedule and come up with a realistic meal for what your time demands are. If your kids have sports in three different places, a dish that needs to be prepped and baked isn't going to be a realistic one. Instead, a cold meal that you can pack in mason jars, in advance, would be more likely to keep you away from the drive thru. On Thursdays, I get home around the time that I know that my family is going to be ready to have dinner on the table, so I know my best chance at getting a home cooked meal on the table is to utilize a slow cooker recipe.