Who among us has not experienced spells of tiredness or lack of energy over the last few weeks?
The cold and darker months can take their toll on the way we feel. Often, the shorter days, dismal weather and changes to the way we eat and sleep mean we can feel tired in winter – making it difficult to get out of bed with any va-va-voom! But why can our energy levels drop over winter – and how can you boost your energy?
The reasons for feeling tired can vary but there are many opportunities to boost our energy levels on a day-to-day basis. Please keep reading for some great energy hacks …
Why am I more tired in winter?
There are several reasons we might feel more tired in winter. Firstly, as the days become shorter, our sleep and waking cycles may become disrupted and we may experience hormonal changes as a result.
One reason is due to the changes in the hormone melatonin, which helps regulate our wakefulness and sleep. When it is dark, we produce more melatonin, which gives us feelings of tiredness. So in the winter when it is darker, we may produce more melatonin, which can impact on our mood and leave us feeling more tired compared to the lighter summer months.
Low vitamin D can also make us feel fatigued. The body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin when outdoors, which is far easier in the summer when the days are longer and we spend more time outside. But between October and early March in the UK, we don’t make any vitamin D. Vitamin D is fat-soluble and (unlike water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C) we can store it in our bodies and don’t need a daily supply. Nonetheless, over the course of the winter our supplies become rapidly depleted.
Also, our food choices often change during the colder months. In winter, we tend to reach for comforting foods that aren’t always healthy – and can make us feel more tired and sluggish. Research suggests that we may be more likely to turn to comfort foods in winter because they release mood-enhancing neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. When it’s cold and dark out, these foods can give us a temporary boost.
Lastly, physical activity can make us feel energised and help us to sleep better, but it can be difficult to feel motivated to exercise in the winter. It is vital that we continue to move regularly, ideally outside in nature, not only to boost our energy but to protect our mental and physical health!
How to boost your energy.
Here we’d like to share our top energy hacks! These are simple yet super effective ways to boost your energy during the winter months.
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Be more “Mindful”.
Texts, WhatsApp, YouTube, checking Facebook – they all contribute to keeping our brains on high alert. We recommend that unplugging (a daily digital detox) from constant mental stimulation will allow your brain to focus and overcome fatigue. Mindfulness can play a great part in this process. It can help you create a restorative bubble of stillness and peace. Once you eliminate the stimulus & focus on the present, your brain will reach a calmer state and a deeper level of focus in as little as 15 minutes. Check out our brand new live mindful sessions here!
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Get Outside in Nature & (ideally) Move!
According to the a growing body of evidence the simple act of going outside will give you more energy. The study found that being in nature for just 20 minutes a day made participants feel more alive. In fact, studies from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in England found that compared to working out inside, increasing your heart rate while you’re outside can make you feel more energetic. Even a 10-minute walk around the block will give you an energy boost. Specialists from Harvard Medical School have proved that any form of exercise “increases your body’s oxygen-carrying capacity”, boosts circulation and helps your cardiovascular system work effectively. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily activities.
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Get More Sleep
Sleep experts agree: Seven hours is the recommended minimum an adult needs for optimal cognitive, emotional, and physical health. You can sleep longer if you like, (7-9 hours we say). Sleep is vital to recovery, which is even more critical during the winter months with the prevalence of coughs, colds and viruses, so we need our immune systems on high alert and working well .
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Hydrate
If your body is short on fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue. You don’t necessarily have to follow the “eight glasses a day” rule, but you do want to drink enough water to keep your body well hydrated. Herbal teas count in yoru tally, as does milk and squashes. Also oranges, grapefruit and water count, and will help keep your skin nails and hair healthy and impact heart rate and blood pressure , as they help keep you hydrated. How can you tell when your body is hydrated? When you don’t feel thirsty and your urine is light-colored.
All of these energy hacks are inter-related of course! When you practise mindfulness regularly, you will sleep better! When you move more, you are more likely to make healthier food choices and will hydrate too! A positive cycle of behaviours and lifestyle choices!
For a reminder of the above tips plus some extras download this great poster, and pop up in your workplace: Energise-Me
We hope this post was helpful to you! If you have any energy hacks you’d like to share we’d love to hear from you at hello@choosetonic.co.uk And please sign up to our Tonic News here to receive more helpful blog posts and wellbeing insights straight to your inbox.
