The Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet
Diet, healthy eating, nutrition, food and drink…call it what you will, it can seem very complicated. There are countless books on the subject, and the worst thing is that some say the complete opposite to others, they’re literally chalk and cheese! Although you won’t find any cheese in those lactose-free ones of course! What makes them all the more confusing of course is that there are lots of stories about how they worked miracles for people. Then there are lots of other stories about how they were terrible for others, and in some cases, dangerous to the extreme. I’ve spent years fielding questions from clients and PT’s in training about whether this diet is any good or if this one is a load of rubbish. And in my world of Personal Training, there’s often a blanket response of ‘diets don’t work’ or ‘they’re a load of rubbish.’ That’s not strictly true though, most diets contain an element of fact or useful advice. Some may take it to the extreme, but the principle on which it is founded is has a grain of truth (unless of course it’s wheat free, no grains in there)! OK I’ll stop with the bad jokes now. Years ago, I decided that if I was going to try to decode the fact from the fiction, there were two key things I needed to do: 1) Know the science – study the research, stay on top of the latest journal articles and news and come out armed with the best ideas at the time. It’ll never be right or wrong as nutrition is so individual, and it’ll change over time, but at least I’d know what the consensus thoughts were at any one moment in time. 2) Read all the diet books and information out there! Dr Atkins, Dukan, The Zone, Blood Type, Cambridge, Paleo, 5:2, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Cabbage Soup, high fat, low-fat, no fat, high carb, no carb, GI, GL, high protein, calorie counting, counting your macros, liquid only, shake plans, you name it, I’ve read and researched it. This has done two main things for me; firstly it’s allowed me to compare the science to the diets. There’s always crossover, something taken from a snippet of science and moulded into a formula for people to follow. `Secondly, it’s allowed me to see the commonalities; what are the things that are generally accepted across the board? There’s a reason they appear so many times; it’s because they’re the things that actually work. Here’s an example, albeit not from a diet. I once went into my gym for a workout and they’d installed this miracle device, a treadmill where your lower half is vacuum-packed into a special surround during your workout. Apparently it changed pressure constantly by pumping air in and out of the vacuum and this helped to decrease body fat…amazing! Upon looking at the information on the huge display surrounding the treadmill, it appeared that it was guaranteed to work for me if I paid to use it three times each week for 30-60 minutes (I could walk or run, my choice) and then also ate plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and drank 2 litres of water each day. Now I am not a Professor of Science but something told me that the guaranteed results might have more to do with the consistency of exercise and the healthy dietary changes encouraged alongside it. The same is true of diets, we just need to be able to cherry-pick the good bits. That’s where the Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet were born. They’re the things that science currently says there is good evidence for. So what are they? Put simply, they can be divided into four sections; what, how much, why and when. The first steps are all about what you’re actually eating, outlining the different types, the affects of these according to the research and which we should focus on or limit. 1) Carbohydrates 2) Fats 3) Proteins 4) Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other healthy stuff 5) Water What you’ll discover is that, unlike many diets, we don’t emphasise the importance of one nutrient over another; rather we focus on getting the right balance for you to meet your goals and needs and recognise that all of them have a vital role to play in a balanced diet that keeps you fit, healthy and happy. There’s one other ‘what’ step in the process: 6) Quality control – here we look at all the things that you might like to limit or reduce in your diet. We don’t say cut out because that’s often an extreme choice and you must decide what’s right for you. Linking this together, we can then focus on how much you’re having of these foods. 7) Quantity control – We look at ways to control portion size, working through a range of approaches to find out what suits you best – calorie-counting, weighing and measuring food or simpler tools for gauging how much you’re consuming. The final three steps take different angles on why you eat the foods you do: 8) Planning and preparation – this step focuses on shopping, ordering food, making lists, preparing food to take to work and making meals in healthier ways. 9) Food and mood – here we delve into the impact of psychology on food; just why do you eat certain things and what can you do to change this. 10) Meal timing – the science on this step is weaker than the others, but that’s not to say it can’t be helpful. Getting yourself into eating routines can be an effective tool to help you ensure you’re eating the right things and in the correct amounts. The underpinning elements Generally, I’ll show a client the Ten Steps and then we’ll work through them in one of two ways: 1) They’ll have a clear idea of a step or steps they want and need to work on, so we’ll start with just one
How to have yourself a balanced little Christmas: five festive coping strategies
It’s that time of year again. Parties, work nights out, seeing friends, three course meals, mince pies, wine, mulled wine, hot wine, more wine, beer, cheese, hot dogs at the German market, Christmas cake, biscuits, chocolate, oh and maybe a bit more wine! How do you, and more to the point your scales, survive all of this? To help you through the festive minefield I’ve included below five ways to fight the festive flab. 1) Don’t! I bet that surprised you!? The key question you need to ask yourself is do you want to be conscious of your eating, drinking and exercise for the next few weeks? If the answer is yes, read on for the next tips. If it’s no, then why beat yourself up about it or go through the pretense of saying “oh I won’t eat this” or “I’ll just go and have one or two drinks”? If you’re well balanced for 11 months of the year, and you want to lose balance just for one, then so be it, accept it and get planning to get back on it in January. Alternatively, ask yourself, is it really worth potentially giving up all of those valuable improvements you’ve made this year for the sake of a few weeks? 2) Use a buddy Friends, work colleagues and partners can be extremely valuable. In fact, everybody can benefit from having a “Santa’s Little Helper”. Get them to remind you of your goals at the office Christmas party, plan your meals with you or help in any way that you agree with them. 3) Get an advent calendar No not the chocolate type, but use a proper calendar to plan your Christmas schedule. Plan in your Christmas parties, evenings with friends, shopping expeditions etc and then make sure you plan in some exercise sessions around it. If it’s in the calendar it’s far more likely to get done. 4) Choose your own presents Not the ones from Santa obviously, they’re made by the Elves at the North Pole so you can’t change what you get, that depends on whether you’ve been naughty or nice this year of course. You can choose which of the festive treats you will indulge in though and which you will say no to. Select a couple of your absolute favourites and plan to have these as your treats. I’ll be choosing mince pies with Baileys clotted cream and Lindt chocolates. I’ll be saying no to Christmas Pud and Christmas Cake as I don’t really like either that much. 5) Write to Santa Instead of writing your present wish list, write out your goals for the holiday period. It might be to maintain weight, exercise a certain number of times, consume 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day to balance off the festive goodies, or even to set a realistic goal for weight gain, whatever works for you. However you choose to do it, may your days be merry and bright….and balanced of course. Paul
Detox…….debunked
I’ve been asked to put this blog piece together by a good friend of mine Emma. She’s a very good runner who works in an office and regularly sees colleagues go on juice detox diets, losing a substantial amount of weight in a short space of time, only to put it all back on again and more in the following weeks. She’s not alone in being frustrated by the ‘detox’ industry. There are numerous detox diets out there that claim to guarantee weight loss, rid your body of harmful toxins, revitalise you and improve your health. They vary in their structure but generally advocate the complete removal of unhealthy foods from the diet alongside a large increase in water, fruit and vegetables whilst at the same time cutting calories quite dramatically. So what is the truth behind all of this? The evidence Well, in reality, there’s a very limited amount of data on the benefits of a detox diet. Searching through the journals I came across one study from 2012 that asked 31 volunteers to go on a 4-week detox plan. At the end of the period the participants had lost an average of 9 pounds each, which in fairness is not far above the recommended guidelines of 2 pounds per week. So what’s the issue here you might ask? It works doesn’t it? Well yes, but it most likely worked because participants consumed between 850 and 1000 calories per day. There was likely no miracle detoxification process going on inside the body; it was simply a reduction in calories. And as you’ll know if you’ve read my previous pieces, decreasing calories below what your body needs to function normally will: 1) Lead to rapid decreases in weight loss as your energy stores and the water that binds to them are used up. 2) Leave your body with too little energy for what it needs, forcing it to go into a kind of ‘starvation mode’. 3) Make you very hungry and likely to crave foods in the long term that are less healthy and will lead to weight gain above the point where you started. 4) Possibly cause your body to turn to itself to provide energy. This can lead to a decrease in muscle mass, lowering your overall metabolic rate and making it even harder to lose weight and keep it off in future. Let’s take a balanced look at detox diets in general then and see what we can learn and use from them. What’s good and bad about detox? 1) It encourages an increase in water intake. This is not a bad thing for most of us. Water is essential to make our bodies work properly and many don’t get enough. It’s all about balance though; too much water can also be harmful so stick to the sensible guidelines of 1.5-2 litres per day alongside a healthy diet, increasing of course if you exercise a lot or live in a warm environment (not the UK)! 2) It emphasises the need for fruit and vegetables. We all know they’re packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants so getting our 5-a-day or possibly even slightly more is going to help keep us healthy. Again though, too much can be a bad thing; raw food diets and too much sugar from large amounts of fruit can cause health problems. Emphasise vegetables over fruit and be sensible on the quantities. 3) It helps us to minimise processed foods. Of course, detox diets will demonise things that come in packages, telling you they’re the reason the world is in the state it’s in. They’ll also tell you that we are all allergic to these foods, but whilst some can be, this ‘fact’ is certainly yet to be ascertained by science. So whilst there’s some truth to this, there’s room for a more balanced approach. If cutting processed foods completely is what you feel you need to do to lose weight and get healthy, then there is nothing wrong with that. As long as you get enough calories and of course can sustain your new eating routine in the long run, go for it. For many though this is seen as too extreme, and so after a short spell avoiding certain aisles in the supermarket and hiding behind a pillow when that chocolate advert comes on, they give in to temptation and binge, hiding the evidence by putting the wrappers in next door’s wheelie bin. If this is you, then find a middle ground, choosing the more processed foods as occasional treats to be enjoyed instead of making yourself feel like you’ve committed some sort of crime just by peeling open the packaging. 4) It prays on our weaknesses. Yes it took us five years to gain that weight steadily, but we can get rid of it all in just four weeks, can’t we? Well, sadly no we can’t. The old saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’ applies to weight loss more than almost anything else. To avoid impacting the functioning of your body, you need to fuel it right. Over time it can then start to bring itself back into balance, decreasing weight and improving health. I’ve borrowed a few quotes here from a very good article I found online by Kathleen Zelman, director of nutrition for WebMD. She spoke to some nutrition experts and here’s what Connie Diekman, a registered dietician said. “Detox diets prey on the vulnerability of dieters with fear tactics while gaining financially by selling products that are not necessary and potentially dangerous.” 5) There’s an over-reliance on juicing. If using lots of fruits, the sugar content here can actually be very high. Recent studies have suggested that consuming too much fruit juice regularly may be as harmful as using fizzy drinks. Some do emphasise vegetables instead which do have a lower sugar content. 6) It implies that we need to drastically change the way we eat and drink regularly to ‘detoxify’ our systems. This is a myth. Our bodies are designed to detoxify themselves on a daily basis, as Frank Sacks from Harvard Medical School points
The 5 best websites containing the 3 best magazines with the 7 best articles on the 10 best foods to eat and 5 best exercises to do to lose weight
Do you know what the 5 best exercises are for weight loss? Do you know which 3 foods will boost your energy levels more than any other food on the planet? What about the 10 best workout DVD’s? 6 most effective cellulite busting tips? 7 most effective running workouts to improve your marathon time? No, I didn’t think so. And I suspect and hope that this is because you realise that there aren’t 5 best exercises for weight loss, or 3 miracle energy-giving foods. There’s nothing wrong at all with the media highlighting effective exercises to help you stay fit and healthy, or to promote foods that you may not have tried or that have possible health benefits identified in scientific research. The problem comes when you’re led to believe in these things as miracles and cure-alls. Stocking up your cupboards with acai berries will not mean you never get a cold again, drinking endless litres of grape juice will not mean you’re guaranteed not to suffer from heart disease and eating a grapefruit a day is the not answer to all of your weight loss goals. So what can you take from these articles? Think of yourself as a plumber, your aim should be to expand the number of tools you possess. You may learn that there are one or two exercises you’ve never done before and you can add them into your weekly exercise routine. Or you’ll see a food that you’ve just discovered might support your goals in doe way, so you think you could add that to your weekly shop occasionally. No single exercise or food will provide the answer or everybody would have done it a long time ago and somebody would have earned a lot of money in the process. Similarly, there is no one tool that a plumber can carry to provide a solution for all jobs they do. The best and most effective plumbers are the ones that literally have a tool for every job. When I teach Personal Trainer courses, one of the most important pieces of advice I give to any budding PT is to build up their toolkit as much as possible. Know a wide range of exercises and methods and different ways of helping people to change. Many business in health and fitness these days have been built on the notion that their way, or their piece of exercise kit is the best, the one for you, the answer to everybody’s problems. As a public we believe in this, probably for a few reasons: 1) It is a quick fix – it looks pretty easy. I just stand on that wobbly thing three times a week and I’ll look just like I want to. 2) It doesn’t take me much effort – I don’t need to think. I just eat add water to those powders twice a day and then eat dinner and I’ll be the weight I want to be in no time. 3) It might work – i’ve tried so many things and I’m desperate to get back to the weight and size I used to be so I’ll give it a go. And of course it may work, but it also may not. People are different and some respond better to certain types of exercise than others. Equally, one diet may make a real difference to one individual whilst at the same time having no effect on another, or even worse cause another to gain weight. Unfortunately there is no ‘wonder test’ that tells you which eating pattern works best and which exercise routine is right for you. And of course what is right for you can change over time as your life changes. Age, stress levels, sleep patterns and a whole host of other factors can affect your energy levels, metabolism and hormones, which in turn change how much physical exertion you can cope with and which foods will help you. Over time a personal trainer gets a good ‘feel’ for how these factors work together, and can advise you on what may well be the best options for you, but cannot say with 100% certainty that it will definitely work. It often does, but even then your life situation may change and things will again need adapting to best suit you. Even without a PT to support you, it’s important to remember: 1) There is no such thing as failure, only learning. Trying a new exercise routine and eating pattern may not work in its entirety for you but you’re bound to learn something, even if it’s what not to do in future. I read a wonderful quote this week from Michael Jordan, one of the best basketball players of all time. It encapsulates this idea wonderfully: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” 2) The best way to achieve long-term success in health and fitness goals is to become attuned to your body and its needs. It will always tell you what it wants and you can learn from its reactions what the ‘5 best exercises’ and ‘3 best foods’ are for you. So, remember to take any ‘x best’ lists with a pinch of salt, learn from them and use them to try changes in your own lifestyle but whatever you do, don’t rely on them as gospel and don’t be disheartened if these miracle cures don’t work for you. Note what you’ve learned form your attempts and then adapt, maybe make a small tweak if you think that will work better or try something completely different. Over time you can make your own ‘x best’ and ‘x worst’ lists for you. Here’s a few examples of things I’ve learned about my own body through my journey through health and fitness: If I
The hare and the tortoise….on a weight loss programme
Once upon a time there was a hare and a tortoise, and they were good friends. They had once had a race and surprisingly the tortoise had won! The hare was much faster but when he was far ahead he’d become cocky and decided to have a rest. He dozed off to sleep and the tortoise had sneaked by and ended up winning. Image courtesy of digitalart at freedigitalphotos.net After the race, both lost their motivation to exercise. They had trained hard for their event, the tortoise, victorious and pleased with himself became complacent and lazed around all day eating chocolate and chips instead of lettuce. The hare felt down after his loss and consoled himself with beer and takeaways in front of the TV. A few months went by and one day and Mr Fox came to visit. He couldn’t help but notice how much weight both had gained and felt he should say something. He was in fact a doctor, he didn’t use the title as there had been an unfortunate incident when he had been confused with a radio DJ and followed by the paparazzi on holiday in Turkey. He offered to help the hare and the tortoise to lose weight, and although surprised at first, they agreed. The tortoise did say that his shell had been feeling a little tight recently and the hare had noticed he could no longer see his big paws. Mr Fox started the pair off on a healthy eating routine, carrots and lettuce leaves, as well as a sensible amount of daily activity. They both had to go for a walk in the park for half an hour every day which they could do together so they had some moral support and to make it a sociable task. Both felt motivated by having a new challenge and encouraged each other by preparing healthy evening meals, taking it in turns to cook. A week passed by and Mr Fox came to carry out his weekly weigh in with the pair as he had promised. Both had lost 2 pounds and were on the right track. Tortoise felt pleased with himself and could feel that his shell was already a little looser and easier for him to curl up into at night. Hare was less happy; he wanted to lose one and a half stone, and he thought that at this rate it was going to take him forever. He decided that he would cut back on his food and do more exercise, but he didn’t tell tortoise as he wanted to lose more weight than him to impress Mr Fox. Next week the pair continued to do their walks together, but tortoise became frustrated as hare would speed off and he would struggle to keep up. Hare started to run off into the distance and then run back to tortoise, jogging on the spot next to him. This annoyed tortoise, but he didn’t say anything as he was focused on his own goals and he knew what he could and couldn’t do. Hare found that if he skipped breakfast in the morning and got out for a quick run he could be back before tortoise woke up and then still be able to do their exercise session together. At the next weigh in tortoise had lost another 2 pounds. Fox congratulated him for continuing to work hard. Hare though had lost 4 pounds and Fox praised his hard work but warned him that losing too much weight too quickly could be unhealthy. Anything more than 2 pounds a week was likely to mean that hare was not just losing fat but probably not eating enough. This meant his glycogen stores (carbohydrate supply) were being depleted and with it he would be losing water. His body may also start to break down his muscles to supply him with energy if he continued for a long period of time at this rate. Hare though was pleased that he had lost more weight, and determined to reach his goal as quickly as he could he decided to ignore Mr Fox’s advice. He continued on his strict diet and did as much running as he could. He stopped exercising with tortoise as he felt he was not fit enough to keep up with him. Tortoise decided to add a little weights routine into his program as he did not want to get bored of doing the same thing and had heard that weights training could build lean muscles, which in turn would increase his rate of calorie burn and help him reach his goals. At the next weigh-in hare had lost another 4 pounds and tortoise another pound. Fox was now concerned that hare wasn’t eating enough to fuel his body properly and had a chat with him after the session. Hare reacted angrily and was confused; why was Fox not pleased that he had done so well? He told Fox that he no longer needed his help and that he would carry on alone. Fox, not wanting to argue, asked hare to reconsider his weight loss methods but wished him good luck. Another week went by and tortoise lost another pound. Hare was now weighing himself and was surprised and upset when he fund he had gained two pounds when he was so close to his goal. How could this have happened? He had barely eaten all week and he had exercised very hard! But he had been starving and gorged most of that cake the one day. And he had treated himself on Friday night with pizza and ice cream as he had been good and only eaten one lettuce leaf all day. Hare decided to up his training so he joined the gym and spent hours on the cardio kit and went in the sauna as he though he might be able to sweat out more of the weight. Tortoise joined too and took up Body Combat, although it didn’t work as
Exercise is medicine, but which type should you prescribe?
After reading an article on the BBC News website this week about how a study has shown that exercise can be as effective a treatment for managing the risks of a stroke as medications, we got to thinking about why this idea isn’t already more embedded into society. If you read any of the government reports on exercise, you’ll know that it has been well established for some time that picking your body up off the sofa and moving it around, however hard those first few steps might feel, is very good for you, and that whilst medications certainly have their part to play, activity comes without all of the unwanted side-effects. This is why a few years ago, the American College of Sports Medicine started a campaign they called ‘Exercise is Medicine’, and what a wonderfully clever title that is! The notion that exercise could, and indeed should be prescribed by doctors is a brilliant one, and hopefully one that will seep through more and more in the coming months and years. Some exercise schemes run for those with medical conditions in the UK are known as ‘exercise on prescription’, with funding provided to make the exercise sessions cheap or even free for people to attend. The problem is, doctors have specific medications for conditions, but there’s a huge variety in the types of exercise available, it’s like having a medicine cabinet full of pills and not knowing which one should be taken. And in the fitness industry you’ll often hear debate about which type of exercise is ‘the best’ for people. The truth is, it depends who you are, what you want and on a whole host of other factors, but the one thing that is certain, is that regardless of what it is, it does you good. One debate that has raged on in those of us who spend our days getting up at 6 to train someone, pop to the gym ourselves before the day begins, work in the gym all day, train a few more people and then go home and read a book about exercise, is that of cardio versus resistance. Or for those who aren’t familiar with these terms, rhythmical exercise that makes you hot and sweaty (those with the filthy minds can stop right there, research shows that doing that probably doesn’t count as you’re probably lying down and not getting the heart rate up enough) versus lifting weights, or your own body weight for that matter. So which is better? Let’s have a look, but obviously we’ll be giving you a balanced view, hence the name. It can be very uncomfortable sitting on this fence all the time, those splinters in your backside can really hurt! 😉 Well, cardiovascular exercise has been shown time and again to benefit the body if done effectively. I can help to reduce blood pressure, manage stress, depression and anxiety, boost energy levels and of course burn a few calories along the way. Too much of it can be a bad thing as it is catabolic, this means that it can actually cause muscle wastage if people overtrain. It can also increase the risk of injuries if supporting exercises are not done to help the body cope with the stresses of regularly, repeatedly performing the same movements, often with impact in the case of running. But this doesn’t make it bad, it just means people need to find a healthy balance. Resistance training has been exalted in recent years as the answer. It is certainly true that resistance training, whilst not burning as many calories during an exercise session, can lead to a greater overall calorie burn through EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. This is the amount of energy expended after a workout in helping the body to recover and repair, and challenging resistance training sessions can increase this more than cardiovascular workouts. Also, resistance training develops muscles and muscles consume energy, helping you to burn calories even when you are sat on your sofa. Lean people who have low body fat levels and decent muscle mass, the ones who people see on the front cover of magazines and think ‘I want to look like that’, not oversized bodybuilders, will be at a decreased risk of ill health over the years, and certainly at less risk of weight gain. Thin people who have a small frame but low muscle mass and high body fat percentage are at a surprisingly high risk of illness, it’s about how much fat you have and not just how much space you take up. Resistance training is anabolic, in that it builds lean muscle tissue. But there can be downsides, people can overtrain if they do too much just like with cardio, and the risk of injury is just as great if lifting too much or using bad technique. Some will fear entering the weights area of a gym, but you on’t have to, there are many ways to add it in to your exercise schedule: Body weight exercises such as squats and press-ups can be done anywhere and are great because they use so many muscles. Classes such as Bodypump have become very popular these days and are a great introduction to resistance training for some, although be careful as the repetitions are fairly high and done at a reasonable speed with the music. Start with sensible weights and just do one to two classes per week to begin with, you can always mix in other exercise sessions to get a good balance. Pilates and Yoga all involve bodyweight-based exercises and count as resistance training. Swiss balls, dynabands, suspension training and a host of other tools mean that it’s easier than ever to find something that you enjoy and that fits into your lifestyle. But what about keeping your heart healthy. Well, if resistance training uses big muscle exercises and is suitably intense then it can do this too. Research shows that circuit-style training can keep the heart
balancing light and dark
That time of year has come. Your alarm goes off, your eyelids peel open slowly, feeling heavier than a truck full of elephants. You press snooze, they close, your alarm sounds again. Surely that wasn’t five minutes? You fight back, hitting snooze for a second time, managing a rather smug grin for cleverly setting your alarm ten minutes before you actually needed to get up. But there it goes again! Have you entered some sort of time warp??? This time, there’s no back-up plan, and no wry smile. Instead a reluctant hand creeps from beneath the nice warm duvet and pulls slowly at the curtain, looking to let in a bit of light and stir your brain into action ready for the day ahead. But to your disappointment all you are greeted by is yet more darkness, somebody has stolen the sun. And the warmth you’ve become accustomed to in summer, especially this year for a nice change. Zombie-like you rise, arms hanging loosely by your side as you shuffle to the bathroom in your fluffy animal slippers. You know you’re still half asleep as after getting out of the shower you find yourself trying to comb your hair with your toothbrush. Time for a coffee. If you recognise the scenario above you’re not alone. This scene, and many like it are repeated at least five times a week across Britain between the months of September and March. And that’s over half the year! So what’s going on? Well it’s all to do with your big warm friend in the sky, the sun. As well as offering warmth in the summer months, he also gives you something essential for life, light. Sunlight is a rich source of vitamin D which helps build healthy teeth and bones. It also helps your food to grow and gives it the nutrition you need to perform at your very best. And very crucially, it helps to regulate levels of hormones like cortisol, melatonin and others that play such a big part in regulating your mood and energy levels. A lack of sunlight can leave you feeling down, as in Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, lethargic and demotivated. Obviously too much can be bad for you too with sunburn and the associated risks, but in British winter you’re far likely to get too little. So what can you do about it? Well, quite a lot actually. To start with, you can realise that your body clock, or circadian rhythm changes with the seasons. In the shorter days of the year you’ll probably need more sleep and be more tired. Up until Thomas Edyson interfered with nature with the invention of his now fairly widely used lightbulb (you may have seen them in the shops), people generally went to bed much earlier in the winter months. In fact, research shows that before TV’s, the internet, 4G phones and electric lighting, people slept for many more hours than they do these days, averaging over 9 hours a night if not more. OK, so you may not be able to hibernate for winter (some remote villages in France and other parts of the world still effectively do this) but you can get yourself to bed at a reasonable time and prepare your sleeping environment as best you can to wake feeling refreshed in the morning. Try these tips to help manage your way through the darker months: Get to bed before 11pm. In fact get to bed and switch off by 10:43 pm as on average it takes just over 15 minutes to fall asleep. Sleep in complete darkness. Get good curtains and switch off standby lights on electrical goods, or remove them altogether. Charge phones elsewhere or away somewhere if possible. Even the tiniest amount of light on any part of the skin can interfere with sleep quality. Don’t have it too hot. Sleeping in a cooler environment can help improve sleep quality. Light up your mornings. Try a Lumi clock, it wakes you up with a gradually increasing light instead of the stress of a noisy alarm clock. Not convinced it will work? Try it on a weekend morning when you don’t have to get up, you’ll be surprised. Get outside – make the most of breaks at work and in life to get some light in the day. Wrap up warm and get out for a walk, a run or just a trip to the park with Autumn in full splendour. Get away – plan a winter sun holiday, it’s amazing what an energy boost it can supply. Try a classical wake up – ditch the aggressive alarm for a calmer start to the day. Annoying alarms can be stressful causing big surges in adrenaline levels, which may be followed by a subsequent slump and not particularly good for you. Synchronise – if you can rise with the sun. This isn’t possible for everyone, but if you can, try it and watch your mood rise like the warm orange ball over that hill you can see out of your window. Sleep well, wake better. balance your light and dark, balance your life, balance your scales 🙂
