Combating the winter blues

[fit44]

Somewhere a while ago there was a thread on depression. No one should ever feel ashamed that they have it or have had it.

This is 100% true. Depression can be and is often hereditary. My depression stems from a poor diet filled with processed sugar and food, but depression runs in my family. I also eat very different in the winter.
I seriously need to remove winter from my life!!! I would be so happy with Fall, Spring, Summer. I've had so many people tell me that the hot Florida weather will grow tiresome. No way, not for me!!! Bring on the heat and sandy beaches

 

[LaughingWater]

I'm glad to hear of your success beating depression, Baylian. I've had reactive depression, but nothing cyclical or seasonal fortunately. I have loved ones who suffer though.

I dig Winter for the holidays, but once February hits, I start to drag a bit. I shall take some of the advice offered here, bundle up, and get outdoors more.

 

[looking good]

Cynthia, I agree with you 100% I would like to go straight from Fall to Spring. I will take the heat anyday over the cold. I'm in NY and I don't mind the first snow fall but that it for me. I would someday like to be a snow bird. Have to wait till the kids are out of school.

Therese

 

[LauraMax]

Somewhere a while ago there was a thread on depression. No one should ever feel ashamed that they have it or have had it.

No, but people should feel ashamed for disgusting, foul & classless personal attacks on other forum members.

Although it still does explain EVER SO MUCH! ROTFLMAO!

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

Lower Michigan is a very cloudy place and it's much more noticeable in the winter. Northern Michigan has a lot more sunshine.

I also crave heavier foods in the winter and that's already started. Plus I spend a fair bit of time soaking a hot tub to warm up.

At least I have lots of company in trying to manage it.

 

[baylian]

I seriously need to remove winter from my life!!! I would be so happy with Fall, Spring, Summer. I've had so many people tell me that the hot Florida weather will grow tiresome. No way, not for me!!! Bring on the heat and sandy beaches

AGREED!~

Someone once asked me how I could get in the CHRISTmas spirit if I were to live in the warmer climate (Caribbean preferably) and I said I would have no problem stringing a set of lights onto a small palm tree and sticking my feet in the sand like the Wise Men did and calling it a good thing!!

 

[baylian]

Lower Michigan is a very cloudy place and it's much more noticeable in the winter. Northern Michigan has a lot more sunshine.

I also crave heavier foods in the winter and that's already started. Plus I spend a fair bit of time soaking a hot tub to warm up.

At least I have lots of company in trying to manage it.

A hot tub - hmmm - never thought of that - now there is a possibility!!

 

[LaughingWater]

Heh...Christmas lights on a palm tree. If I could get away with it, I'd have Christmas lights up all year long.

I was once in a hot tub outside during a light snow fall. It was pretty cool.

 

[skimi]

fortunately, i have no winter blues...that is when i come alive....i LOVE skiing so for me, it is time to have some fun....this summer was very hard for me to get through.....honestly, i get sick of walking outside and seeing cloudless skies and perfect weather all the time...i miss the rain....also, it is an undescribably beauty to walk outside and see everything covered in white! give me a winter wonderland every day, and i will be in my own utopia...i also love the beautiful lights that people put up for my birthday every year (my b-day is december 19 )...

 

[fit44]

Heh...Christmas lights on a palm tree. If I could get away with it, I'd have Christmas lights up all year long.

I was once in a hot tub outside during a light snow fall. It was pretty cool.

YES!!
I have this cookie cutter of a flamingo wearing a Santa cap. I'm ready!

 

[Gayle]

fortunately, i have no winter blues...that is when i come alive....i LOVE skiing so for me, it is time to have some fun....this summer was very hard for me to get through.....honestly, i get sick of walking outside and seeing cloudless skies and perfect weather all the time...i miss the rain....also, it is an undescribably beauty to walk outside and see everything covered in white! give me a winter wonderland every day, and i will be in my own utopia...i also love the beautiful lights that people put up for my birthday every year (my b-day is december 19 )...

You and me both, Gayla!!! Don't get wrong...I love summer, but as soon as Labor Day hits, I'm moving into ski season mode.

 

[LauraMax]

Awwww whatsa matter baylian, are you ignoring me? Have you no trailor-trashy swear words or insults to throw around today? Alrighty then, do us all a favor & tell us a little about your (alleged) fitness quest. Sure, I've seen the (alleged) DVDs you own & the (alleged) p/t job at a gym, but I have yet to see you actually contribute to a thread about fitness (other than "I hate lunges too" ). I must confess, I've never seen anyone (claim) to stop B&G right in the middle just to check in on a fitness forum. So tell us,

What's your favorite Cathe DVD?
What's your favorite Cathe ab routine?
How long is your favorite Cathe ab routine?
What's Cathe's toughest circuit w/o?
What's Cathe's toughest cardio?

What's that you say? No answer? No answer at all? Could that perhaps be b/c you DON'T EXERCISE?????? LMAO! Because you're only here to stirr up trouble? HMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

Yep, that's what I thought.

 

[tryingtokeepup]

Okay, I have an opposite problem! I love winter, and we don't seem to be getting much of it down here anymore! (I feel bad saying that considering how awful some of you get it!) I want snow! Last year we got none, and I barely wore any nice bulky sweaters EVER! (but I still managed to put on some "winter pounds"---go figure!)

 

[TeTe]

Me, too! I live in Richmond, VA and last year was sooo mild. Not a speck of snow! Sorry Northern, gals! I'm not gloating, believe me! I LOVE SNOW. And, yes, tryingtokeepup, the milder clime did not keep me from getting a little winter padding! What's up with that!?

 

[Beavs]

I like to reenact scenes from Mommy Dearest to keep depression at bay. There is something about sporting a headband, covering your face in cold cream, and screaming "NO WIRE HANGERS!" at the bedroom mirror (which was purchased at Walmart) that brightens a gloomy winter day for me.

 

[TeTe]

 

[LaughingWater]

Didn't she plunge her face into a bowl of ice water too (or did I dream that...I never know)? That'll get the heart pumping!

I need to go for a sleigh ride this year.

 

[LauraMax]

Didn't she plunge her face into a bowl of ice water too (or did I dream that...I never know)? That'll get the heart pumping!

She did. Right after steaming it. Supposedly it shrinks the pores. Evidently it diminishes the genetic disposition to nurture as well.

<sigh> I just love Joan Crawford. I even named a room in my house after her.

 

[maddiesmum]

OK well, screaming and coat hangers aside....... thanks for the laughs Beavs!

To the original poster!!

I also live in Michigan and also have a history of depression and already I can feel the tug and pull of the bedcovers calling to me at virtually any and all times of day....aargh!

I don't really have a solution, just grim determination to keep at least 4 workouts per week when things get really tough. Forming new goals and trying out a new activity helps me for a while because I am a person who needs to master things and succeed at them and the drive to do that will keep me working out regularly for about 3 weeks!

All I would say is to find the solution that works for you, no matter how weird others might find it. For example, I work out most often late at night. I'm a night time person and after the kids are in bed, and the hubby too and the house is quiet and mine again, I give myself permission to watch TV shows on DVD provided I am weight training while I watch. I choose shows that interest me but that I don't feel passionate about (so CSI rather than House!), so that I can focus on my weights and form but luckily my mind has something else to entertain it while my body works. My husband thinks I am totally strange and that I must be the only person in Michigan who does this, but it works for me!! It helps me stick to my workouts and prevents the boredom that can set in when you are doing the same DVD/routine that you have done so many times already you know it like the back of your hand. I could quote you verbatim the content of all Cathe's weight training DVDs, I no longer need to watch them to do them and my boredom threshold is so low it drags behind me on the ground, so.... this solution works for me. It helped me get through last Winter in Michigan.

I like the night time, it suits me. Probably this idea would horrify doctors who would instead prescribe light therapy for me, but, you have to do what works for you and we are all different.

Clare

 

[SirenSongWoman]

I get like this every year. I spend my whole winter going from my house to my workplace and back again, but not going anywhere else, hardly. My skin gets weird... And I'm terrified of driving on snow so the whole time I'm just waiting for spring. I'm hoping this winter will be mild but nothing's going to stop it from being dark.