I'm feeling SAD. This time of year always does it to me. The days become shorter, the leaves start to change, and I find myself wanting to hide at home and indulge in my comforts. Unfortunately, Canadian winters mean gloomy days, and it's no wonder when you don't see sunlight for days that eventually you lose that internal sparkle. Unfortunately, it's not just the sparkle that disappears when the sun does, it's our entire psyche. Lack of sunlight, can not only dampen your mood, it can leave you bored and with lower energy. I myself notice that my boredom is good for one thing, fueling trips to the fridge to try and comfort myself despite the fact I'm not hungry. Unfortunately comfort foods are usually unhealthy and leaded with carbs and sugar. The truth is, they make me feeling great for about 2 minutes only to leave me feeling guilty and regretful for hours. It turns into a vicious cycle, I wake up every day feeling low on energy, I then eat to many comfort foods to feel better and then I go to sleep depressed about how poorly my day went. Then it happens. One day I get up, look at the scale and think, "WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
What did I do? After a few short weeks, all my work over the summer has gone to waste and I've packed on a few pounds. What do I do? What can I? I don't control the weather, and I feel like crap. The truth is I'm not sad, I'm feeling SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder is when one experiences depression associated with late autumn and winter and it's thought to be caused by a lack of sun light. Unfortunately SAD doesn't just begin at the Winter Solstice, it can start as early as September or October, and if you experience the symptoms of SAD, then you know it gradually worsens. While normal depression can cause loss of appetite, it's more common for SAD to do the opposite, people experience an increased in appetite, and crave more carbs.
So what can you do? You may not control the weather but you can definitely control how you feel. When you feel the effects of the weather, getting up and doing something might be the last thing you want to do, but I'm here to give you 5 tips to beating the winter weight woe's and get back on track.
Get More Vitamin D
It comes as no surprise that we don't get nearly enough sunlight, especially living in Canada. But did you know you could lay outside 24/7 completely naked for the next year and you would still probably be deficient in Vitamin D. One research study found that 70% of all adults and 67% of children, aged 1-11, don’t have adequate levels of vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with low mood, behavioral difficulties in children, and psychological difficulties in adults. Vitamin D is best known for building bones, however, this highly-potent vitamin is essential for overall brain and body health. Optimal vitamin D levels can help improve your mood, boost your overall brain function, and generally improve your well-being.
Of course natural is nice but when that's not possible it's important to supplement. It's recommended to take 1000-2000IU vitamin D daily.
If you really want to up your your game, I recommend buying buying a vitamin D lamp for your home or work desk. Though many artificial light boxes claim to do the job, make sure to purchase one that’s as close as possible to the natural sunlight spectrum and proven to increase vitamin D levels. Light therapy is thought to affect brain chemicals linked to mood and sleep, easing SAD symptoms. Using a light therapy box may also help with other types of depression, sleep disorders and other conditions.
Keep Eating
Our first defense when we see the scale creeping up is to start cutting back, but in this case, cutting back could be one of the worst things you could do. Skipping meals will result in low blood sugar levels, which will leave you feeling tired, irritable, lacking in concentration, and above all, extremely hungry. If there was one thing to cut out, it's the starch and carbs. There's plenty you can still eat that will help to to boost levels of serotonin. Serotonin is the brain's feel good hormone. Eating regularly will be your best defense against a bad mood and weight gain.
Instead of reaching for starchy carbohydrates or cutting your meals out all together, try reaching for protein rich foods like beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, fish, cheese, nuts or seeds. These foods are naturally rich in tryptophan, so eating these goods could help increase levels of serotonin in the brain and as a result leave you feeling better.
If you are reaching for more starchy foods, try to make sure they are whole and nutrient dense. Foods high in Vitamin B6 are needed to help convert tryptophan into serotonin, so they will help with your mood too. Great sources of vitamin B are fish, pork, eggs, brown rice, soya beans, oats, whole grains, peanuts, walnuts, avocado and bananas.
There’s plenty you can eat to boost levels of serotonin in the brain. Remember, this feel-good chemical affects the part of the brain that regulates mood, appetite and sleep, so boosting levels means you’re less likely to feel miserable, overeat or have trouble sleeping.
Pick Healthier Comfort Foods
There's no doubt about it, eating is pleasurable. Whether you are fat, or thin, you probably get some pleasure from your food. Unfortunately, it becomes problematic when we end up using food as source of emotional comfort when we feel stressed out. It's without much surprise, that emotional and stress eating lead to weight gain. As we start to gain weight, it's normal for us to feel more negatively about ourselves which will motivate more emotional and stress eating and more weight gain. It becomes a vicious upward cycle we just can't get out of.
When you are feeling the winter blues, your best bet is to just avoid the sugary and starchy foods all together. They increase your blood sugar levels and can further affect your mood. Instead, experiment with recipe modification. If you don't know what recipe modification is, it's when you swap out unhealthy ingredients for healthy ones in a recipe. Choose recipes that are full of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A more balanced diet will actually improve your mood. Try making your usual comfort foods healthier if you must have them. For example, instead of using white pasta, try whole wheat. If you are craving Alfredo sauce, try making your own or a cauliflower Alfredo sauce variation. In most recipes you can cut the sugar by 1/3-1/2 without noticing a huge difference in taste, or cut the fat by reducing the quantity by 1/3.
Just Go to the Gym
Just do it. I know it's the hardest thing you will make yourself do during the week, but I promise it will be the thing that makes you feel the best. Exercise increases endorphins in your body. Endorphins are our happy hormones. On cold days, just buckle down and do it. Don't think about it, you'll talk yourself out of going to the gym if you think too much about it. Have your workout gear ready to go and promise yourself a non-food related reward for going to the gym, like a hot shower or warm bath (spoil yourself with a LUSH bath bomb). On nice days, try getting outside for your physical activity. Go for a walk or run, or see if there's any group classes your can hit up in the park. The fresh air will do you good.
Talk to a friend
As you start to feel yourself become more SAD, the last thing you probably want to do is start telling everyone how horrible you feel. Today's society is full of social media posts boasting about how amazing everyone's life is. Turning to your co-worker and sharing your inner demons might not be the best approach, but I'm sure your close bestie would love to hear how you are doing. We tend to get down on ourselves and think that no one cares, or has the time, but ti's actually quite the opposite. Most people secretly want to feel needed. Seek comfort from your close friends and family rather than your food. Talk to someone about how you feel, as he or she might be able to offer you the words you need to hear to see past the winter woes.
My final piece of advice is to be gentle with yourself. Give yourself that day if you need it. The world won't end if you let yourself deviate from your plan. It's not worth beating yourself up. Tomorrow will be a new day to do it right.
Cheerfully,
Serial Dieter 911
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