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Guest Post - Avoid Hibernating this Winter Season
Today we have a wonderful guest post by Sarah Stevenson who writes for Beachbody.com. You can read her full biography at the end of her article "Avoid Hibernating this Winter Season". It's a great article with some great tips for us all. I know you will enjoy this post as many of us are feeling the effects of winter this year.
Avoid Hibernating this Winter Season By Sarah Stevenson I don’t know about the rest of the country, but it’s been a weird winter here in California, with Mother Nature throwing us 80-degree sun one day and rain the next. It’s made for some interesting wardrobe changes from day to day but it’s also been a wake up call to stay hot and healthy year around. We don’t typically have to work as hard in the winter months to keep our physique in tiptop shape because we’re hiding under warm wool coats and Ugg boots. But not this year – and that’s a good thing, in my opinion, because I’m finding that there are more than just “hot body” benefits to getting out of hibernation mode this winter. Getting off the couch all year around will give you an internal and external make over. Here are some tips to help you do that. 1. Exercise: It’s really easy to get use to sitting around during the winter months, but it’s bad for your health! A brisk walk/run, a bike ride to the grocery store, or a nice long swim at your city gym will do the trick. Researchers at Duke University conducted a study with depressed patients. They used medication for one group and exercise for another and found that the patients who exercised were far less depressed than those who were medicated, some even completely recovered. Exercise takes those lazy blues away. So get moving. 2. Eat healthy: The food you eat definitely effects how you feel. It’s important that you stay away from refined/processed foods. Added sugar, white rice and breads can drain you of your energy causing you to feel tired and sluggish. These foods lack the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy and the fiber to keep your blood sugar in check. Drink plenty of water (8 cups a day) and eat vegetables, fruits and whole wheat breads. These foods contain nutrients that will stabilize your blood sugar and increase your levels of energy. 3. Play in the sun: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is directly related to the amount of daylight you’re exposed to. It is found in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as “a specifier of major depression.” It’s important that you expose yourself to enough sunlight during the winter months so you get enough vitamin D to ward off the sleepy winter blues. Experts suggest 10 minutes in the midday sun, which will give you enough exposure to produce about 10,000 international units of vitamin D. 4. Socialize: It’s important you stay connected to your friends and family this winter. They can be a great resource for keeping you connected and active. Saying yes when invited to parties, meeting up with a friend for coffee, catching a movie with your sister are all great ways to keep you from getting lonesome. MeetUp.com is also a great way to connect with people of similar interest. It’s a lot harder to hibernating when you have places to go and people to see.
5. Get enough rest: In the winter there is less sunlight so you require more sleep. Your circadian rhythms are an internal system in your body that synchs your body functions with your environment. So when there is less sunlight and it’s cold outside our body naturally requires more rest. Be sure to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night to avoid waking up exhausted. Synch the time you wake with the rising of the sun, this will line you up with your environment so the body doesn’t have to work as hard. Also make sure that you are relaxing and slowing down once the sun sets. You will be pleasantly surprised how much energy you have to face your day once you wake to start your day. So crawl out of your cave friends. You will really notice the benefits of keeping a nice balanced life year around. Yes it’s a little harder to do this in the wintertime, but if you take a little extra conscious effort you will reap a plethora of benefits. Take charge of your health and happiness this season; you will be so glad you did.
Pictures courtesy of Pinterest.Sarah Stevenson, a.k.a., The Tini Yogini, is a Certified Yoga Instructor in Southern California. She has a degree in Behavioral Psychology and teaches not only yoga classes but also life affirming workshops. She also writes for Beachbody, which provides popular workout videos including P90X2 workouts , Les Mills Pump and Asylum Workout.
Sources: • Babyak, M. A., Blumenthal, J. A., Herman, S., Khatri, P., Doraiswamy, P. M., Moore, K. A., Craighead, W. E., Baldewicz, T. T., & Krishnan, K. R. (2000). Exercise treatment for major depression: Maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 62. pp. 633-638. • Blumenthal, J. A., Babyak, M.A., Moore, K. A., Craighead, W. E., Herman, S., Khatri, P., Waugh, R., Napolitano, M. A., Forman, L. M., Appelbaum, M., Doraiswamy, P. M., & Krishnan, K. R. (1999). Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression. Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 159 pp. 2349-2356. • North, T. C., P. McCullagh, and Z. V. Tran. (1990). Effect of exercise on depression. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews Vol. 18 pp. 379-415. • Beauchemin, K. M. & Hays, P. (1996) Sunny hospital rooms expedite recovery from severe and refractory depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 40, 49-51. • Lam, R. W. (1998) Seasonal affective disorder: diagnosis and management. Primary Care Psychiatry, 4, 63-74. < Previous Post Next Post >
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