I do all the right things: Adequate rest (well, as much as you can get with a toddler), exercise regularly, eat right, etc. Heck, I even sing carols to my toddler--which helps in a weird way!
However, still those darned winter blahs creep up on me. I pretty much resigned myself to this is the way it is. I know there is slight reprieve, post-holiday and definitely in the Spring, but I'm tired of being in the dumparoo. Anyone else suffer the winter doldrums? Do you wait it out or have some temporary antedote?
I do most of the kind suggestions sent my way: Take my child outdoors to the park, meet up with a local moms group, exercise out doors, read, etc. I think I'm resigned and accepting that this is just the way it is. I do have a sun lamp but it doesn't reallly help that much. Ironicially I just started UV therapy for psoriasis so that might help.
vitamin D. Vitamins Bcomplex and C also help give you a lift.
and st johns wart.
if all else fails - go spend 20 minutes in the tanning bed! Thats a little kiss of summer.
I get the winter blues. Here in Alaska we get very little day light this time of year. Vit. D def helps. SAD lights can be expensive, but anything that gives you UV will work. This is the first year I have not suffered at all, and it is the first year I have kept turtles as pets. You see, they require UV light, and so when I watch them swim it is just like looking at a SAD light! only way more entertaining! If you have any kind of aquarium you can replace the bulbs in your light with UV ones (sold at any pet store), than just turn it on and watch your fish for about 15 minutes a day.
Think about a vitamin D supplement or a SAD light.
I don't too much, but then again I'm in Texas, so not a 'true' winter. I get that way in the summer, b/c it's so hot here I practically hibernate so we don't melt outside in the heat. So, I think trying to have some indoor activities help, maybe read a good book or light a fire and drink some hot chocolate would help! (Oh and the vit d and sun lights are great ideas too.)
This happened to me every winter for years.
Not SAD, not nutrition, not lack of exercise.
Mine was sheer boredom.
Now winter is my FAVORITE season, because I found something I love and love and love and LOVE to do in the winter time! I look forward all year to the winter, and am on pins and needles all fall, and now I grumble come spring... when spring used to be an "At last... it's almost OVER."
How about you? Does your fun stop in the winter? Do you have anything you love you have to quit because of the weather/ etc.?
E.S.
Yes there is a way out of them!!! Talk to your doctor about SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder - as him/her about buying a sun lamp - you can do this in a store too - I just don't know which one your doctor recommends!!!
Take your child outside for a walk for about 30 minutes a day. On sunny days stay out a little longer. The fresh air will do you both good. It will increase your appetitie and you will rest better at night. It's a change in scenry and you might meet some people and make new friends.
Go to the park if you can. I know many people think that's funny. I would take my kids to the park and let them play. The only time I didn't is when the snow (in Canada) was about 6 feet and the temperature was 30 below.
Sometimes you have to change the world around you so you don't have the blaahs. As the Alaskan poster mentioned not much in daylight there nor in Quebec (same kind of climate) where we were but I was always out. I was always out in New Jersey as a kid and played and enjoyed it.
Be like the Nike commercial, "Just do it!"
Happy holidays.
The other S.
PS Find a new friend and do things together to keep going.
I do too! I agree about the D, outdoors and lights, but be careful not to get too much D. Look at the foods that you may get D from and try not to overcompensate. My sister is a resident at a prominent hospital in NJ and one of her doctors also said periodic tanning bed in the winter is actually good when you don't get much sunlight at all. I tried the tanning bed once, but my skin is too sensitive to the lotion that place uses. It was a little weird for me to be in the bed with the red lights, headphones and hard bed/loud fan. I use a self tanner and use the other tips I mentioned earlier. Good luck!
