Beat the Winter Blues!

Get Light and Lively to Beat Those Winter Blues!

Picture this: you’re sitting in your house, contemplating how high your gas bill is and how much it will cost to pay someone to shovel the mountains of snow that covers your once green lawn, or, if you don't have snow, then watching the rain pour down. Added to this, there is the stress of being in the middle of a pounding economic downturn with job losses and belt tightening all around. Besides having lots of things to worry about, there’s not a lot to do when it’s ten to twenty below outside – it can be downright lonely and depressing. It’s a one-two punch that nobody wants!

According to the Cleveland Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, “Seasonal depression, which affects between 4 and 6% of the population, often called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a depression that occurs each year at the same time, usually starting in fall or winter and ending in spring or early summer. 10 to 25% may suffer a more mild form of “winter blues” or ‘cabin fever.’”
One recommended and proven method you can use to help prevent the onset of SAD or lessen its symptoms is…yes, the dreaded E-word…exercise! It's an important part of beating winter stress and, whilst I'd love to tell you otherwise, by including a little of it every day, you will find tremendous improvement in your attitude and demeanor. When you engage in a good aerobic workout, you get your heart pumping which releases endorphins into your system. Endorphins are the natural feel-good hormones, which not only make you feel happier and less stressed, but give the body more energy.

It doesn't have to be a lot, it doesn't have to take all the time in the world, it just requires that you do it consistently and with the right intensity to get results. You don't need a lot of equipment, you don't need to join a gym and you don't even need to hire an expensive trainer. You just have to get off your butt and do something.
That's how simple it can be! In fact, you don't even need to leave your living room or miss a single minute of TV.

Tomorrow...the “get your butt off the couch workout”!