A new year, new resolutions and with that, new habits. It’s the same every year, isn’t it?
February. Definitely not my favourite time of the year. Everything’s grey and cold and you don’t even want to leave the house. Winter blues time. There are days that I’m actually looking forward to going back to bed from the minute my alarm clock rings in the morning. Definitely not ideal. If it was possible, I’d move to California or the south of France, at least for the months of January to March. Since that isn’t possible and I don’t want to continue wishing my days away, I’ve come up with some ideas, how to brave this time of year.
I don’t really understand why, but there are some kind of foods that actually make you feel better and have a more positive outlook on the day. They force your body to produce serotonin (which in turn makes you happy and let’s the winter blues go away). The best known examples are bananas, dark chocolate and pasta, but other great examples are nuts, oats, potatoes, lentils, chicken and eggs. Don’t even think about dieting (the good thing about winter is that you can hide those extra kilos under your sweaters ;). Don’t over-indulge too much though: Feeling sick and having an upset stomach isn’t going to make you feel better about winter. Everything in moderation, I’d say.
Even if the sun isn’t shining, just half an hour outside helps you feel calmer and happier. Your metabolism needs light to work properly and artificial light just isn’t enough. And I don’t know about you, but somehow I often feel as if I have achieved something after going outside, even though I just took a walk.
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Germany, but nevertheless I think that just sitting down for a moment and counting your blessings is so important everyday.
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.
