Time change woes

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Anyone else having a hard time staying motivated with the time change, it being dark when you wake up and eat dinner? I'm feeling it and the cold start to the morning isn't helping. I fear my outdoor exercise days are numbered...the cold is not my friend. I'm going to start a morning exercise routine to get pumped, get the blood flowing and try to overcome this blah season.
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Replies

  • TomKershawUK
    TomKershawUK Posts: 65 Member
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    I think if you wrap up warm, then outdoor activities are fine, depends on what you count as exercise. Otherwise, yes I agree the limited daylight can get in the way.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    The joke in my family is that this time change is my moms favorite holiday (she likes the extra hour of sleep on one night) and the other one in the spring is my favorite holiday (I need sun!). Seriously, i celebrate the one in the spring - more than Christmas.

    My suggestion is to take a multi vitamin high in D, get outside at lunchtime even for 5 minutes, and yes - exercise in the morning... I am not happy with the cold. I can easily wear 6-7 layers of pants and tops and still be miserably cold. But if I work out hard in the morning (get a good sweat going), it tends to keep me warmer in general all day. Motivation is fleeting, so just make it an appointment you dont think about missing. No laying there debating it.
  • cstehansen
    cstehansen Posts: 1,984 Member
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    I am of the opinion that below 70 F is cold. This is part of why I live in Texas. I have suffered through living other places during my life like Cleveland and Germany (back when it was called West Germany) and would prefer to only see snow in pictures.

    I also can tell a huge difference when I get less sunlight. It can definitely have a negative effect. That said, I will bundle up in the winter here and go for a lunch time walk just to get some sun. Even people here think I have a low tolerance to cold when they see what I wear to go on these walks when it is 40-50 degrees. However, it seems lack of sun is more depressing than the cold, so I suffer through.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I work 12-16 hours per day in the summer, then we cut back to 8 during the winter. It's basically like nothing changes for me, so far as free time in the daylight goes.
  • jenngerpeacox
    jenngerpeacox Posts: 205 Member
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    Yes, more sunshine and D would prob help. I've noticed I've been having more trouble sleeping lately since starting this woe and I'm wondering if some vit D would help that as well. I have to say, I agree with aylajane, no amount of clothes can keep me warm once I'm cold...but I'm either going to have to suck it up and walk/run in the cold and when I have the day light or find another form of indoor exercise. The early darkness/cold weather cannot be an excuse for not moving anymore.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    You can find a sunny window to lay naked in front of on your days off...or a bikini would work too.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    I woke up this morning ready to head to the gym at 3:30am. I went back to bed and then when my alarm went off, I turned it off. Totally get it.
  • coloradoartstudio
    coloradoartstudio Posts: 104 Member
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    I was saving my walk until after 5pm, and then I realized it would be dark. :s
  • MKknits
    MKknits Posts: 184 Member
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    My schedule is all off but for me it was nice to get up for school and have it be light out...much easier to wake my girls up. The last 2 weeks it has been pitch dark when we left with early dusk starting just as we got to school at 7...that stunk. Getting dark earlier at night is easier for me with kids...they are willing to go to bed earlier :smile:
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    I was saving my walk until after 5pm, and then I realized it would be dark. :s

    Yeah, I get off work at 4 and it will be getting dark by then. I also get up before the sun to go to the gym.

    I should look into the Vitamin D if I find myself being affected by the lack of light.
  • jenngerpeacox
    jenngerpeacox Posts: 205 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I was saving my walk until after 5pm, and then I realized it would be dark. :s

    Yep up until the time change I was walking with my boys in the evening, carrying my 13 month old and pushing my 2 year old in the stroller...burned some great calories.
  • kimberlyb6682
    kimberlyb6682 Posts: 79 Member
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    I really dislike DST, I read somewhere that a himalayan salt lamp helps with SAD, my mom gave me one last Christmas. I figured what the heck I'll give it a try so I pulled it out of the box and plugged it in. I don't know if it's working because it's been really Sunny and nice here in southern MI the last few days but if nothing else the lamp is pretty.
  • emaline2210
    emaline2210 Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm in az, and we don't switch! But I do feel you on the colder mornings. I switched my walk to the afternoon, when my daughter gets home from school so she can go with me. Built in bonding time! And my husband and I are shooting for the gym in the mornings. I just have to magically turn into more of a morning person to get there earlier. On non gym mornings, I'm hoping to incorporate yoga at home. I love the morning energy boost, but agree that everything is more difficult in the cold.
  • cstehansen
    cstehansen Posts: 1,984 Member
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    I changed to a morning workout several years ago. Never thought it would work at the time. However, it was easier than I thought mostly because i was halfway through before I was awake. Now I have no problem getting up 5 days a week to go to the gym. It all started to not take away time with my family.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I live near the Rocky Mountains in Canada. All I can say is own the cold (and the dark).

    We're in the middle of a heat wave right now, I think it hit 60F today, but we've had snow a few times already... It feels more normal when winter is dark. I equate cold with dark and summer with long days. I remember travelling to Costa Rica about 20 years ago and it was soooo weird how the sun set at 6pm and not 10pm, nevermind the fact that there was not twilight that lasts for hours. It seemed so wrong. LOL

    We take a perverse pride in handling cold temperatures. It helps that our humidity is very low. Minus 20C? Pfft. We'll go sledding. Minus 30C in the dark? Pft. Wear a balaclava and headlamp.... That actually looks really cool afterwards because of all the frost that freezes onto your face and eyelashes. It's an "I am woman, hear me roar" sort of thing. ;)

    I do have to admit that the short days were a drag when I was teaching. I arrived at work in the dark, left in the dark, and had a classroom in the basement so my window was pretty tiny.

    Getting out in the sun is nice to be able to do. I'll have to enjoy it while our heat wave lasts! :)

    Off topic, does anyone else wish they would just leave it on daylight savings time and quit switching back and forth? It's the switching that I dislike.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
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    I can't stand the switching - it takes me a week to get my body synced with the clock. It is especially tough in the fall because I work overnight so I don't get an extra hour of sleep.... I get a surprise extra hour of work (I am paid of course) and just when I'm ready to go home ... nope 60 more minutes to go :#
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
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    ya the switching gets me. I'm exhausted today. I don't mind the cold.. it's not cold in ontario yet but it's so dark after work it's bumming me out for walking. I take the dog amd the critters come out so I won't go. I go on my lunch but I like to go back out at night. atleast when the snow comes it brighten things up a bit
  • Aquawave
    Aquawave Posts: 260 Member
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    I'm in Georgia, winter here is lovely and doesn't last long enough. The air is brisk, clean and invigorating. There are no yard chores and no bugs.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    I'm definitely more tired in the evenings, which doesn't make any sense when I should be getting extra sleep, but I'll just take it a little light for a few days until I get used to it!
  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
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    I love the cooler weather (a high of 91 today??? I'm giving you the side-eye California) but don't love the dark. I'm OK now, but since I work 10s, it's dark when I get to work, dark when I leave and by mid December, I'm usually feeling blue and like I'm wasting my entire life at work. That magically goes away with the Spring time change when it's light and I can be outside with my kids after work.

    I'm hoping walks at lunch will help with this feeling as well as being better about not checking my work e-mail during my off time and being more present with my family and less stressed about work.