Seasonal Affective Disorder really does exist. The University of Toronto has published extensively on the matter, and although they haven’t found the direct cause of winter blues, they have found some common links. Seratonine for example, is one factor. Seratonine is the chemical that affects mood, sleep, concentration to name but a few. It seems like some individuals the seratonine transporters are more active in the winter and fall, removing the seratonine from the brain and leaving these people with mood drops. I’m simplifying it of course… Some research show that light is the key, or rather the lack of light. Although is no direct link to light therapy and beating these winter blues, there does seem to be some truth to it.
I live most of my free time outside, in the fresh air. I have to admit that I have never suffered from S.A.D. Now this is all my own personal opinion…
I’ve been doing alot of thinking of late about vision boards and it suddenly dawned on me:Â A vision board is not a wish list.. rather, it should be a road map!
It’s just not enough to put the pictures up, it’s not enough to just keep looking at it without direction. It should also include a list of steps on HOW to get there. For example, if I wanted to drive to see my brother in Toronto, I could put a picture of him and I, I could even date the event. My problem is that I don’t how to get there. I can drive, sure, but what roads do I take? And even before that… Do I have gas in the car, do I have money in my pocket, do I have my driver’s licence, what time is best to leave to avoid traffic jams accross the city? see where I’m going with this? it’s a simple analogy, I know. It’s one I can apply to my vision board.
It’s here folks! the aftermath of holiday eating is NOW sitting on your belly and your hips! What are we going to do about that? Thinking of making some changes for yourself in 2011? thinking of joining a diet centre? thinking of making some time for yourself? Let’s do it together!
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It’s funny the myths that are out there! I overhear people give their friends advice on how to loose body fat, on how to eat properly, on how to get fit.. most of it is WRONG!!!! Let’s take a look
Myth 1 – You only have to do cardio 20 mts before breakfast every day to loose body fat – FALSE
The truth is that cardio workout before breakfast is a strong tactic to burn body fat if and only if it’s done for a minimum of 45 minutes then is fueled with a protein rich meal. Your body uses it’s stored energy for the first 20 minutes then will go to the body fat as a secondary source of energy, go longer to see the benefits
My grand-mother used to tell us to keep dry, or we’ll catch a cold… The truth is, well, it’s true!! sort of. It’s not being wet that causes us to catch a cold, it’s actually virus in the air. However, being wet and cold does diminish our capacity to fight the surrounding virus. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t exercise in the great outdoors in winter, quite the opposite. Breaking a sweat in the cold burns 14% more calories! Here’s the catch… sweating means being wet! here are a few tips to help stay dry in the cold… by the way.. there is nothing like the feeling of being warm when surrounded by cold air… truly amazing…
Have you ever taken notice of how much self-talk we do in a day? Have you ever taken notice of how many negative words we use in our self-vocabulary? I have, and it’s not pretty!
It’ amazing how we tend to be able to tell ourselves how inadequate we are in that moment. For example, as I am learning to use this new computer, I’ve called myself a dork a least 6 times in less than an hour. I became a dork because I told myself I was. I became afraid of making the mistakes even though no one was here to witness it! Yet, when I began to change the dialogue, i became empowered by the self-affirmation that I could do it! and I did!
Waking up tired, need a nap during the day? gotta be REALLY exciting to stay up past 9:00 pm? It’s amazing how many Canadians feel stressed and tired during the winter months. Researchers have put it down to 5 reasons…
1 – = over active schedule
kids in organized activities (for example: hockey, figure skating) keep us on the go and rob us of precious recuperating time while we wait patiently in cold arenas. It’s not that we resent the time given to supporting the children in what they love to do, it’s just fact that we are <busier>… If you take notice, you’ll see that all of the other parents are looking and feeling the same as you do. A solution might be to organize a rotating car pool system. Kids love carpools, they get to goof off with their friends…
Goal setting.. here we go again… It’s amazing how many times I’ve heard or read those words this week. Set goals for business, weight goal, fitness goal…. it’s that time of year when we make resolutions, when we make promises to ourselves, when we convince ourselves that this is the time… yet, we remain doing the same old thing because we remain unclear.. here’s a definition I like:
I was at the grocery store, I heard a woman say to the butcher: I’m tired of eating, do you have anything new? what she’s really saying is: I’m bored and unspired… been doing the same old thing for too long…
Here’s the problem.. in our busy lives, we tend to make the same meals over and over again until finally, we get into a rut. The family is bored, we’re uninspired, the same old battles with the children…
to keep my family engaged at meal times, this is how we do it, BEFORE I make my weekly menu:
Seasonal Affective Disorder really does exist. The University of Toronto has published extensively on the matter, and although they haven’t found the direct cause of winter blues, they have found some common links. Seratonine for example, is one factor. Seratonine is the chemical that affects mood, sleep, concentration to name but a few. It seems like some individuals the seratonine transporters are more active in the winter and fall, removing the seratonine from the brain and leaving these people with mood drops. I’m simplifying it of course… Some research show that light is the key, or rather the lack of light. Although is no direct link to light therapy and beating these winter blues, there does seem to be some truth to it.
