Rainy days and Mondays

To paraphrase the lyrics of the Carpenters’ hit song; ‘rainy days and Mondays always get us down’, and there seems to have been an awful lot of them recently – rainy days that is, not Mondays.

When the weather is consistently dreary it can be difficult to stay upbeat. But have no fear; the team at Allison Homes has been putting heads together to come up with some favourite ways to keep on the bright side:

• Get some exercise. Try to get out in natural light during the day as much as possible and remember, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing, so wrap up and take your waterproofs.
• If you really can’t get outside because it’s raining cats and dogs, try doing a pleasurable activity. Watch a funny film, read a good book, play a game or do something creative.
• Use bright, full spectrum bulbs in overhead lighting at home. Only use these in the morning though. Use muted lights at night because bright lighting will affect the quality of your sleep.
• Have your vitamin D levels checked. Low levels of this vitamin can indicate you’re not exposing yourself to sufficient sunlight. To help cheer yourself up take supplements if you find you are not getting enough vitamin D naturally.
• Eat a healthy diet low in carbohydrates with plenty of fruit and vegetables, lean meat, fish (especially fish rich in omega 3).
• Get lots of sleep.

If you are affected by depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder, in the first instance you should seek the advice of your GP.

Take heart, we’re heading towards May now and the Met Office tells us that good weather is just around the corner so happy days will be here again.