I mentioned in my last post that stress alone can raise blood sugar, no food required. Once I understood why, the next question was obvious: okay, so now what do I actually do about it?
That’s what this post is about. Not a list of things that sound nice on paper, but what’s actually made a difference for me.
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Stress doesn’t go away. It gets managed.
I used to think the goal was to eliminate stress. Get organized enough, plan well enough, and eventually it would just stop showing up.
That’s not how it works, at least not for me. Work still gets demanding. The world still feels heavy some days. Being a planner means I notice every little thing that’s not buttoned up, and that’s just part of who I am.
So, the question changed for me. Instead of how do I get rid of stress, it became how do I keep it from running my body into the ground.
What actually moves the needle for me
Prayer, first and always
This is where I start, not where I end up after everything else fails. When something feels like too much, prayer is what brings me back down. It’s not a technique I’m trying out. It’s just where I go.
I’m not going to oversell it as some kind of biohack, because that’s not what it is to me. But I will say this: a mind that’s settled handles stress differently than a mind that’s spinning, and prayer is what settles mine.
Books that have actually helped me think differently
A few resources have shaped how I handle my own anxious thoughts. Some I’ve read myself, and one’s on my TBR list.
Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado walks through Philippians 4, the passage about not being anxious about anything and bringing it to God in prayer instead. It’s the one I’d point most people toward first. Lucado has a gift for making a familiar passage feel like it’s being read for the first time.
I’ve also read Tame Your Thoughts, also by Lucado, which goes after worry, guilt, and anxiety more directly, almost like tools for catching a thought before it spirals.
Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel was another one that stuck with me. It blends Scripture with how the brain actually works, which appealed to the part of me that wants to understand the why behind things, not just be told what to do.
Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen is the one on my TBR list. I have not read this one yet, so I’m mentioning it as a book on my list, not one I’ve personally finished. I have done one of her Bible studies, though, and it was excellent, so I trust her work enough to mention it here. If overthinking is more your struggle than straight anxiety, this one may be worth a look.
Movement, especially when I don’t feel like it
I wrote about how a short walk after meals helps blood sugar, and the same thing applies to stress. Moving my body seems to give the stress response somewhere to go instead of just sitting in me all day.
It doesn’t have to be a workout. Some days it’s a walk around the block. Other days it’s just standing up and stretching between meetings. The point isn’t intensity, it’s interruption.
Protecting sleep instead of sacrificing it
When I’m stressed, sleep is usually the first thing I let slide, and that’s exactly backwards. A bad night makes the next day’s stress hit harder, and I went deeper into that connection in this post on sleep and blood sugar.
Now I try to protect my sleep especially on stressful weeks, not just whenever it’s convenient.
Breathing on purpose, not just whenever I remember to
This one surprised me with how much it actually helps. Slow, controlled breathing signals your nervous system to dial cortisol back down, almost like flipping a switch from alert to calm.
The one I use most is called 4-7-8 breathing. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 7, then breathe out slowly through your mouth for a count of 8. A few rounds of that and I can feel my body actually shift, especially before bed or right after something stressful happens.
Box breathing works the same way but with even counts all the way through — in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. I like this one during the day, at my desk, when I need to reset without anyone noticing I’m doing anything at all.
Neither one takes more than a couple of minutes. That’s part of why it’s stuck for me. I don’t need a quiet room or a special app, just a few intentional breaths.
Naming it instead of carrying it silently
This one’s simple but it’s made a real difference. When I notice I’m stressed, I actually say so, even if it’s just to myself. I’m stressed about this deadline. I’m carrying a lot from the news today.
Naming it takes some of its power away. It stops being this vague heavy fog and starts being something specific I can actually address, whether that’s praying about it, talking to someone, or just acknowledging it’ll pass.
Why this matters for your blood sugar, not just your mood
As I mentioned before, cortisol from chronic stress keeps blood sugar elevated longer than it should be. None of what I just listed is a magic fix for that. But every one of these things is something I can point to that’s actually calmed the stress I’m carrying day to day, and a calmer body tends to be a steadier one, blood sugar included.
This is exactly the kind of shift a CGM can help you see. Not the stress itself, but the result of managing it. Stelo is the one I’ve been using, and on weeks where I’ve actually prioritized these things, I notice a difference in my numbers. Not dramatic, but real.
My takeaway
I’m not anxiety-free. I don’t think that’s really on the table for any of us. But I’ve stopped expecting stress to disappear and started paying attention to what actually helps me carry it well.
Prayer comes first for me. The books gave me language and tools for thoughts I didn’t know how to interrupt. Movement and sleep give my body somewhere to put what my mind is holding. None of it is complicated, and none of it requires getting everything else in your life perfect first.
If stress or anxiety feels unmanageable for you, it’s worth talking with a qualified healthcare or mental health professional.
What’s helped you manage stress, whether it shows up in your mood, your sleep, or your blood sugar? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.