Ways to wipe out Winter Tiredness
Many people feel tired and sluggish during winter. If you find
yourself longing for your warm, cozy bed more than usual during winter,
blame the lack of sunlight. As the days become shorter, your sleep and
waking cycles become disrupted, leading to fatigue.
Less sunlight means that your brain produces more of a hormone called
melatonin, which makes you sleepy. Because the release of this sleep
hormone is linked to light and dark, when the sun sets earlier your body
also wants to go to bed earlier, hence you may feel sleepy in the early
evening.
While it’s normal for all of us to slow down generally over winter,
sometimes lethargy can be a sign of more serious winter depression. If
your tiredness is severe and year-round, you could have chronic fatigue
syndrome.
5 Tips to fight Winter Tiredness
Sunlight is good for winter tiredness
Open your blinds or curtains as soon as you get up to let more
sunlight into your home. And get outdoors in natural daylight as much as
possible, even a brief lunchtime walk can be beneficial. Make your work
and home environment as light and airy as possible.
Good night's sleep
When winter hits it’s tempting to go into hibernation mode, but that
sleepy feeling you get in winter doesn’t mean you should snooze for
longer. In fact if you do, chances are you’ll feel even more sluggish
during the day.
We don’t technically need any more sleep in winter than in summer.
Aim for about eight hours of shuteye a night and try to stick to a
reliable sleep schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time every
day. And make sure your bedroom is conducive to sleep – clear the
clutter, have comfortable and warm bedlinen and turn off the TV.
Regular exercise
Exercise may be the last thing you feel like doing on dark winter
evenings, but you’ll feel more energetic if you get involved in some
kind of physical activity every day, ideally so you reach the
recommended goal of 150 minutes of exercise a week. Exercise in the late
afternoon may help to reduce early evening fatigue, and also improve
your sleep.
Winter is a great time to experiment with new and different kinds of
activity. Skating is a good all-round exercise for beginners and
aficionados alike. If you’re more active, go for a game of
badminton, football or tennis under the floodlights. If you find it hard
to get motivated to exercise in the chillier, darker months, focus on
the positives you’ll not only feel more energetic but stave off winter
weight gain.
Learn to relax
Feeling time-squeezed to get everything done in the shorter daylight
hours? It may be contributing to your tiredness. Stress has been shown
to make you feel fatigued. There’s no quick-fire cure for stress but
there are some simple things you can do to alleviate it. So, if you feel
under pressure for any reason, calm down with meditation, yoga,
exercise and breathing exercises.
Eat the right foods
Once the summer ends, there’s a temptation to ditch the salads and
fill up on starchy foods such as pasta, potatoes and bread. You’ll have
more energy, though, if you include plenty of fruit and vegetables in
your comfort meals.
Winter vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, swede and turnips can be
roasted, mashed or made into soup for a warming winter meal for the
whole family. And classic stews and casseroles are great options if
they’re made with lean meat and plenty of veg. Try to avoid foods
containing lots of sugar – it gives you a rush of energy but one that
wears off quickly.
