Health: Mid Winter Motivation

It’s another cold, cloudy, dreary day and you feel like diving back under the covers. When will this winter never end.  Sounds like the winter blahs are taking hold!It can be hard to stay up beat and motivated when the days are shorter, the sun in never shining, its cold, its windy and you can’t escape it.

Before long, you find yourself disinterested in activities, hibernating indoors, and your appetite increases and fatigue sets in.Take back your mood and boost your energy with these proven tips that will have you feeling better and put that spring back in your step long before Spring!

Research shows that maintaining a healthy diet may improve your mood. Focus on real food and leave the processed packaged foods on the shelf.  Include fresh fruits and vegetables alongside lean protein and fibre-rich cereals to give your body the benefits of energy producing vitamins and minerals.

A good intake of mood-lifting B vitamins from fibre sources such as oatmeal and grains supply folic acid as well as tryptophan, an amino acid that is used by your body to produce serotonin, that will help to regulate your mood.

Studies have found that low levels of the sunshine vitamin (Vitamin D) are significantly associated with higher levels of the winter blahs. Most Canadians are already at risk of vitamin D deficiency in the winter with their northern latitude and significantly less time spent outdoors.

Canadian adults need 600 IU of vitamin D per day according to Health Canada but some doctors are prescribing more for patients that struggle with winter blues. Good dietary sources of Vitamin D include fatty fish, fish liver oils and egg yolks as well as fortified foods such as milk, margarine and some cereals.

A deficiency of omega 3 has been seen as a contributing factor to mood. A 2006 review article in the Journal of Psychiatry identified that high fish eating countries such as Iceland have lower rates of seasonal affective disorder despite their northern latitude. However, as omega-3 rich fish diets change to a typical western diet where far less fish is eaten, the rate of depression and S.A.D. increased. Good dietary sources of Omega 3s include salmon, mackerel and herring as well as tuna.  If supplements.

Sunshine and fresh air do the body wonders. Get outside for a walk on your lunch hour, pull on the snow pants and get outside with the kids after school or meet up with a friend for coffee outside! Take the stairs, join a hot yoga class, by a need muscle toning DVD.

Eat fresh fruit and vegetables, get your vitamin D, serve fish a couple of times a week and stay active inside and outside to boost those happy hormones and stay motivated this winter.  Spring is just around the corner!

More about Deb Lowther Deb is a mother of three young daughters who, when not running after the kids, is running in the trails! She contributes Family Health articles to many websites and ensures her own family has fun while eating healthy & staying active.  See more posts from Deborah on www.iron-kids.com  &  www.adultessentials.com  or follower her on Twitter @KidsGummyMum