As I chow down on my super yummy croissant this morning, that glorious little carby breakfast goodness got me thinking…
I wish I could be this
( all powerful and saying’ )
Hey You Carbs! Stay out of my belly!
( she says with serious mean and threatening look of power…with Scottish accent )
but in reality, I am feeling all fuzzy and tired
and really, carbs taste amazing!
AND it is the breakfast of all wanna be hibernators 😉
Wouldn’t it be great
…to just give into this feeling and just avoid the world, live in PJ’s, shovel in various gourmet versions of Poutine and Mac n’ Cheese and binge watch…well…anything but work/school?!?
Well, I am not going to lie to you and say that I am not feeling this way right now…because I most certainly am! If only we lived in the days of nomadic existence where I could hibernate…ok…wait…no I don’t…I like my basic needs being met! Food, shelter, safety…good stuff to have and I am immensely grateful.
So, since I can’t hibernate, I need to find a way to keep my life on track. This natural evolutionary function is so inconvenient in modern society!!!
My advice, get moving and motivated even though you don’t feel like it.
Wait what?!?!
I know, I know…I am having a tantrum too…sigh…
If I don’t get my butt moving and get stuff done, I know that my self-esteem will start to sink to low levels.
Let’s Work on Our Self-Esteem
(EQ Self-Regard)…
Self-Regard is respecting oneself while understanding and accepting one’s strengths and weaknesses. Self-Regard is often associated with feelings of inner strength and self-confidence.
When we know more about ourselves, both our strengths and weaknesses, we can overcome the most difficult things. Knowledge is power!
So many people think that they are “broken” when they start feeling the effects of living in a colder climate…SAD. You are NOT broken, your body is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It’s just inconvenient timing.
PsychNERD Time!
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is recurrent depression with typical onset in the fall/winter; it is characterized by fatigue, increased appetite and sleeping, and carbohydrate craving (Rosenthal et al., 1984; Young, 1991). Some SAD symptoms occur in most people in northern latitudes during the winter (Dam, Jakobsen, & Mellerup, 1998), suggesting that SAD may be an extreme of normal wintertime behavioural changes (Keller & Nesse, 2006).
It’s not your fault, you are not broken, but we do need to function in our daily lives. So, knowing that the season can make it harder to feel motivated, it is helpful to accept this fact and use strategies to kick your own butt and get moving despite how hard it “feels”.
YOU WILL FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF … if you get moving.
Some Things You Can Do
- Light Therapy: there are some pretty cool natural light lamps designed to trick your brain to think it is summer! Slap on that sunscreen, get some sand stuck in weird places and turn on that lamp. Talk to your family physician about lighting up your life.
- Exercise: Research has shown that exercise is one of the best ways to combat depression, an many more human struggles.
- Vitamin D: increase your intake of the “sunshine vitamin“.
- Psychotherapy: TALK! please talk to one of us nice counsellor people for personalized strategies and personal insight that will help you get through this slump time successfully.
- Medication: please consider anti-depressant medication as a last resort. You are so much more powerful than you think you are.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Video Snack of the Day
Take a moment today, learn more about the Psychology of Self- Motivation. The more your know about yourself, the more empowered you are. When you feel like you have control over your own life, you feel better about yourself.
Again, thank you so much to those who have emailed me comments!
Seriously! You have been so wonderful and encouraging 🙂
Dr. Heather Drummond, C.Psych.
Psychologist * Passionate Advocate for Flourishing * Human Muddling Through
#EmbraceThisMessyLife
Resources:
Dam, H., Jakobsen, K. and Mellerup, E. (1998). Prevalence of winter depression in Denmark. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 97, 1–4.
Keller, M.C. and Nesse, R. M. (2006). The evolutionary significance of depressive symptoms: different adverse situations lead to different depressive symptom patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 91, No. 2, 316–330.
Rosenthal, N. E., Sack, D. A., Gillin, J. C., Lewy, A. J., Goodwin, J. C., Davenport, P. S., et al. (1984). Seasonal affective disorder: A description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 72–80.
Young, M. A. (1991). The temporal onset of individual symptoms in winter depression: Differentiating underlying mechanisms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 22, 191–197.
Fun!
Heather, you always have the right thing to say! It’s pretty awesome 😉
I had my fill of carbs for breakfast, now I know this may be overboard, but I reeeaallly LOVE CEREAL! <3 I had 3 bowls this morning…and yes, I know it's not good….but it tastes so good and so much chocolate-peanut-buttery goodness lol (mmmm….Reeses Puffs…can't resist). The problem with being a student is carbs are cheap and they fill you up and make you feel good (…mmm…pierogies). Waking up and having a motivation to wake up is a HUGE thing, it's a huge thing to just have goals for the day, to even get out of the house and stop hibernating is good. I've even found just going somewhere, like the movies by yourself…popcorn! Or the mall just to walk around and window shop. Just getting out helps me with the fall and winter blues.
You've really got me thinking now! 🙂
Glad to hear that I got you thinking! Shifting our thought process can sometime bring about really great changes in our lives 🙂
Of course the things that taste the best aren’t always the best for you. Mac and cheese 🙁
The tip to exercise is the one I enjoy and agree with the most. This strategy makes me feel more confident, and it also motivates me to eat healthier so I do not undo all of my efforts at the gym. It is a win-win situation.
Hi Tonia! Yes, exercise has been shown again and again in research to help with so many things in life. I am so glad that this is something that you already enjoy 🙂