Winter blues? Plan This To Boost Your Mood

Chronically lacking motivation? Feeling like not getting out of bed? Lashing out more easily?

A quick reminder that it's good to check in with a medical professional if you are feeling this way for more than a few weeks.

While many of these responses are NORMAL due to stressors, it is important to seek help if you are not finding any relief from your normal coping skills-- I suggest taking a free screening here and seeking help!

If your moods come and go, you may benefit from this plan to boost your mood + metabolism:

Get your Vitamin D levels checked (especially in the winter) This is a simple fix that can improve energy and mood

Check Your Sleep Hygiene. Often a low mood leads to more scrolling, less structured bedtimes and eating or drinking alcohol late at night which causes more nighttime waking. Consider leaving your phone to charge in the bathroom or away from your bed as well as going to bed at the same time every night.

High Protein Breakfast Reduces Anxiety. Thirty grams of protein before nine in the morning is a great way to reduce blood sugar swings throughout the day and reduce nighttime snacking overall, which can lead to less feelings of low-grade anxiety.

Double Your Greens. The power of magnesium from plants is well known to reduce anxiety and improve your gut microbiome, which makes more serotonin (hooray! free happy hormones!) For a list of 17 ways to incorporate more veggies, visit this blog post here. Too cold for salad? Try adding more green vegetables into warm broth based soups or cooked, steamed vegetables.

High Fiber Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates that contain fiber are your friend when your mood is low-- skimping on them or skipping them may be adding to your anxiety! In fact, Dr. Emily Green says this:

"{The} ingestion of carbohydrate leads to the preferential shuttling of the rare dietary amino acid, tryptophan, into the brain.  Tryptophan is what we make serotonin from. The best way to understand this phenomenon is to think of a bunch of guys in red, blue, purple, and green shirts all fighting to get onto an elevator. The guys in green are the happy ones who will help us make serotonin. By eating carbohydrates, we effectively unleash bouncers on the red, blue, and purple guys, leaving the green guys free to go to the front of the line, enter the elevator, and go up to the brain.

If you want to learn more about how to boost your mood and metabolism, consider booking a free jumpstart call with Nora this month.

Hugs 💛

Nora