Article: It may sound a little counterproductive to dwell on your stress in a journal, but it's actually healthy if you learn to deal with stress. Keep a journal with you at all times and write in it whenever you feel stressed. In your journal, jot down:  What caused the stress (if you're unsure, take an educated guess). How you felt/feel, either physically or emotionally. How you responded to the stress immediately. What you did in order to make the stress go away. Being in a stressful situation can make you feel like you're alone on an island. Luckily, you're not. Sharing your thoughts and feelings with other people, whether they are friends, family, co-workers, or acquaintances, can make you feel like a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. Sharing your thoughts may make you feel vulnerable, but vulnerability can be a good thing. It helps you open up, which can make you feel more honest and less closed up. When your body is running low on fuel, or is only running on the wrong kind of fuel, it's hard to muster up energy to fight stress. During this time, stress can seem particularly frightening and be particularly exhausting. Therefore, it's important to get a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Here are the foods you should generally try to avoid in order to reduce the effects of stress:  High-fat foods. Foods high in trans and saturated fats, like butter, certain cheeses, and fast foods, can sap our energy while increasing our risk of heart attack. Not a good way to fight stress. Simple carbohydrates. Carbs like white bread, white rice, and baked goods (cakes, muffins, etc.) are processed quickly by the body and stored as fat. Better to stick with complex carbohydrates instead — foods like whole wheat bread and pasta, as well as brown rice. Sugar. Sugars are simple carbs which enter and leave the body quickly, meaning they give us a quick jolt and then cause us to crash. This crashing can contribute to a sense of anxiety or stress. Caffeine. We supplement much of our diet with caffeine from coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks. Like sugar, caffeine can cause us to crash if the body experiences a sudden drop-off. Having too much caffeine can also impair the body's natural sleep cycle. Stress and inadequate sleep can form a vicious cycle. On the one hand, a survey said that 2/3 of subjects associated their sleep problems with stress. On the other hand, another study found that for each hour of sleep you lose during the night, your risk of stress increases 14%. In other words, stress causes sleeplessness, and lack of sleep causes stress. It's okay to reward yourself when you manage to do something stressful. This gives us an incentive to work through difficult situations in order to do what we know is right. But don't rely on incentives in order to get you through stressful times. It can be unhealthy to always need an incentive. Sometimes you buckle down and do something because you want to do it or you know you should do it. Actively solicit the advice of others and entertain their ideas. You never know when another perspective will really hit home. Asking for help may mean putting aside your ego, but it's worth it. People are generally keen on lending a helping hand. (It makes them feel good about themselves.) Learn take advantage of that largesse. In some cases, chronic stress takes hold and doesn't let go. It can lead to anxiety and depression, which spawn a host of other problems. These need to be dealt with promptly in order to make sure stress levels don't hit an unbearable level.  If you feel like your stress is causing you to undergo significant lifestyle changes or is keeping you from doing things you would otherwise do, seek out the help of a professional.  If you feel like your stress is causing you to self-medicate with drugs and/or alcohol, seek out the help of a professional.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Make a stress-journal. Start sharing your thoughts. Maintain a healthy diet. Carve out enough time in your day to sleep. Reward yourself, but don't rely too much on incentives. Ask for help. Reach out to a professional if these tips don't help you.