The snow has literally turned the whole country into carb-craving zombies who want to stay inside and never leave the couch…or maybe that’s just me.

And this is taking into account that the snow has now melted AND it’s about 10 degrees celsius today. So why aren’t we counting down the days to summer…?

Well, I can only talk for myself but work has been a little crazy, which, for me, usually means less sleep or disrupted sleep patterns. This in turn makes our poor brains crave sugar as our cortisol levels are elevated when we don’t sleep and we crave the bad goodies.

So what, pray tell, can we do to reverse science?

Well, we can start with tracking our steps, either on our phones or our FitBit, trying to aim for approximately 10k each day. I work in an office and usually mine sticks at around 8k only but I’m tracking on my phone and I don’t always carry it with me! It has made me more conscious to take the stairs though 🙂

Secondly, to mitigate those terribly poor sleeping patterns try taking a good magnesium supplement before sleep, about 1 hour before you hit the sack. Better still, have  a bath with magnesium salts and soak up as much as you can!

Next up you want to make sure you are staying hydrated- brain fog anyone?!- and eating regularly so you don’t end up depending on sugary drinks or caffeine to stay awake.

Start your day with a high fat, high protein breakfast to keep any cravings at bay and try supplementing with chromium for about 1-2 weeks (around when you  have your period v when you start having any PMS symptoms) to help balance your blood sugar levels.

Allow yourself a treat too at the weekends or your poor brain will be driven demented- BUT only if your health professional recommends you to do so. Some people who are on a fat loss program due to pre-diabetes or obesity may need to restrict sugar completely until they reach a healthy body fat %. Always consult your GP in these kinds of cases.

Try and avoid eating out too often- I’m terrible at this and have a big appetite so it can be hard to know what’s in your food and sometimes when enough is enough- yikes!

Try and get outside for at least 20 minutes each day to move around, stay active and get some vitamin d. When  our immune system is down, we are more likely to crave sugar, which leads to further inflammation which makes us more likely to get sick. Why brain WHY!

Finally, I also find, if budget allows it, that booking a little sunny break gives us all something to stay motivated for. It doesn’t have to cost the sun moon and stars either! I booked Villamoura in Portugal for mid-April for a few days to train and eat nice fresh sea food and accommodation for four days was just €120 (between two!)  flights around €140 each so an easily justifiable few days for me 🙂

Any excuse eh?

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