CHACONIAC's Blog

My dad has a saying: "se tiene que cuidar la maquina"...in Spanish it means "you gotta take care of the machine". He used to say it when I was a teenager and he thought I was driving his cars too hard. But it also applies to how we take care of ourselves. This winter I've learned a couple new tricks that help keep me running.

I'm a morning person by nature, but I've worked nights for a decade. On top of that  my bio-rhythms get out of whack during the winter, what the doctors call "seasonal affect disorder". Typically what happens as soon as the days get shorter, as early as October,  I start waking up later and later and then have trouble getting to sleep at night. I'm groggy and irritable during the day and have trouble focusing.

But not this year! I started using a full-spectrum light. It's a bright desklamp with a reflector: you can find them for sale on the Internet, about $150. During the short days of winter I wake up and sit in front of it and read the paper and drink my coffee, for about a half an hour. It helps me wake up in a good mood, and when bedtime rolls around I'm ready to crash.  It's really made a difference and has taken some of the misery out of our long winters. (It's also really good for doing your nails: you can see everything!)

The other good news is I rarely get sick. I do take good care of myself, eat right and get regular exercise, and I'm a genius at getting enough sleep. I can nap at the drop of a hat,  just 10 minutes to shake the grogginess, and I wake up alert and frisky. (don't tell my boss). I haven't been sick in a long time, and here's what I think helps. At the first sign of a cold coming on I go to bed, and start taking Airborne, that fizzy vitamin immune booster you see advertised on late night t.v.  I take it every 4 to 6 hours and by the next morning I'm feeling 100%. I think it really works, and for insurance I take zinc lozenges too. I might miss one day of work (rarely) but I never get laid out for a week, and no one else gets my germs.

These are some of the things that really seem to work for me. If you've got any more ideas please feel free to share...we can't be too healthy!

Regards,

Lilia