How many have used tanning in winter to combat depression

[mommatbird]

I just hate this time of year and of course, it is when i try a new diet. Dummy me. I am on second week of Atkins induction and am thinking of sabotaging all my work. I am sick of being a virtual prisioner in my own home. I am a stay at home mom with one in preschool and one in 1/2 day kindergaten so I am either picking someone up or dropping someone off. I go to school two nights a week. The rest of my time is stuck in my house. Weekends are the worst - hubby and boys in house with me and I never feel like doing anything. Anti depression meds do really bad thing to me.
In spring, I want to get out and work on planting green stuff around the house but what to do until then.

ps If anyone mentions a complete cleaning of the inside or decluttering or remodelling, I'll scream and you will hear me.

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by mommatbird
I just hate this time of year and of course, it is when i try a new diet. Dummy me. I am on second week of Atkins induction and am thinking of sabotaging all my work. I am sick of being a virtual prisioner in my own home. I am a stay at home mom with one in preschool and one in 1/2 day kindergaten so I am either picking someone up or dropping someone off. I go to school two nights a week. The rest of my time is stuck in my house. Weekends are the worst - hubby and boys in house with me and I never feel like doing anything. Anti depression meds do really bad thing to me.
In spring, I want to get out and work on planting green stuff around the house but what to do until then.

ps If anyone mentions a complete cleaning of the inside or decluttering or remodelling, I'll scream and you will hear me.

:agree: me...raising hand...really look forward to my tanning sessions especially when this morning temp was -32 degrees C :eek: :eek: ...here is another thread that touches on this:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?threadid=79501

[jaykay]

I don't tan, cos I'm a redhead so all I'd get would be extra freckles and lobster pink - not a good look :rolleyes:

I do however use a light box and take St John's Wort through the winter otherwise I really dive. I guess your tanning gives you the light boost that some of us seem to need so much - plus, if you tan, it makes you look good and feel nice too.

Take care of your skin while taking care of your mind - spring is nearly here. Like you, I'll be out growing things and looking for the little bulb shoots coming through as soon as it arrives.

Jay :wave:

[mommatbird]

Oh, I don't tan. I've just read posts that others do and it seems to chase winter blahs away. I have my down times all year round, but I so dread from my birthday in October until warmer weather comes around.
Today was a low day and I just feel so imprisioned. I screamed and yelled and then ate a lot of stuff that is definately not low carb and definately NOT on induction. I just want to sleep eat eat eat. \Just wondered how many tanned to fight SAD since I've read a few posts on the subject.

[Alleine]

I love Winter. Bring it on! That is specifically why I am getting out of San Diego and back to New England. I hate constant sun and heat. Guess to each his own eh?

[mandykate8]

Hey there, so weird that I found this post because I just started tanning this week. I definately find that it helps me in many ways. Relaxing, helps my skin AND time away from the kiddies. I too am stuck at home all day with two toddlers, no visitors and no help. I cant tell you how sick I am of teletubbies.

Plus I always say that tan fat looks better than white fat, so at least until Im at my goal this will make me feel better... :)

[Tigra1965]

How Strange !!!!!!!!!

I too have booked a course of tanning at our local tan shop. To be honest I'd not even thought about it - I just did it on the spur of the moment. I also enjoy the sunny days and my job does not help with that.

I am an Information Technology trainee teacher and our computer suites hardly have any natural light in them at all and because of this I seem to be constantly tired. I find the overhead strip lighting offensive to my eyes and make sure now that I go out of the building every lunch time.

I am on amtriptyline (10mg) a day for depression. My meds really are only to help me get some sleep, as I went through a period of having hardly any and I was so weepie. But what ever they are for depression, sleep etc they seem to be doing there job, because i have felt so much better recently.

Anyway I hope everyone is having a good day :wave:

[*April S*]

I do a light bottle tan, just to take the edge of the white glow ;)

It seems to help me get through the blahs of winter.

[37-48Ford]

I am 34 now... but have not worked since I was 23...No Kids...I always have to make myself go to bed...thinking about all the things I want to do tomorrow!

Here is my list but not in this order!

I like to sew...
needlepoint...
and cross stitch...
flower arranging...
Interior Decorating
Read...look through magazines
Plan my garden for spring...
organize anything and everything...
then there is always the house work
laundry
Internet Surf...
Cooking (I Love Cooking)
and Grocery Shopping
spend time with my hubby
and Mom and Dad!
Exercise at home and the GYM
Tanning Bed
I take an afternoon nap
I also do geneology on the Family of the Old Farm House that I live in.

Once Spring Starts I do most of the lawn work myself.
We also have a vegetable garden, fruit trees, herb garden, Heirloom Flower Garden, Fish Ponds.

And hubby and I travel throughout the year on weekends we go to car shows, and with my parents and our car club, just to different places mostly in the same state!!

I know alot of this does not interest everyone but I think if you have an interest...Study up and be the best you can be at what interest you...study up on the internet...If I am redoing a room...I look all kinds of possibilities even though I might not be able to afford that look...I can educate myself about what i can afford to get the "same look." Lately I have been just looking at clothes on-line! Or I throughly plan our vacations! And I Am Also Reading Up On This WOL! And then there is this forum!~

Sorry You Asked?
Julie! :wave:

[zoegirl]

Actually, tanning does help because it is full spectrum lighting which is the lighting light boxes use. Light boxes are pretty expensive but you can make them yourself. Get a fixture that holds fluroscent lights. Purchase the same size full spectrum tube lights as the fluroscent lights you would have placed in the fluroscent fixture. Plug it in and WOW you have a light box. Sit under or next to the lights 15 minutes each day.

From the beginning of October through April, the days are not as long as the summer months. If you use a light box during these months, you won't get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is caused from lack of full spectrum lighting (the kind of light the Sun gives off)

Using a light box, or tanning decreases you appitite the same as the summer months does. It also gives you more energy and less weight gain. It should also curb your appetite for complex carbs.

When we don't recieve the full spectrum light our desire for complex carbohydrates increases. It seems we have a tendency to hibernate, just as bears do. We put on that layer of fat to protect ourselves while we sleep.

Wintertime can be hard on the very best of us, even if someone is on antidepressants.

I bet if you try tanning or a light box you will find it does help. You can get full spectrum lights if you surf the web. They really aren't as expensive as getting a light box that can run up to $300.00 (U.S. dollars).

I was lucky, a health food/medical store was going out of business and I purchased mine for $80.00. So that proves they really aren't that expensive.

[Jenny6802]

Yes I love to tan, It has been a very unusually cold and snowy winter here in Indiana, so I have been Tanning alot. Plus I think (and maybe its just me) tanning makes you look thinner.

[heidibug]

I too have found that tanning helps a little in the long, cold winters here in MI, but, like most of you have stated, I still have many bouts with depression and really almost violent mood swings. I was on Wellbutrin last year around the same time but it didn't seem to help except for the first two days I started it because of the "high" you get from it. This sounds really bad, but I have taken a lot of diet pills (mostly the strong stuff like Xenedrine and Hydroxycut, which are pretty potent) while on this or any diet because it takes off the edge of leaving all of my comfort foods (carbs) behind. They give me enough energy to forget about wanting to lay down and sleep away my time or hate being at work or whatever the case may be. My husband recently told me about a major league baseball player who collapsed and died from use of Xenedrine because he had a heart attack, so needless to say, I am not to jazzed to take it right now. I desperately need something to help me out of my hole because I started Atkins Induction about 21/2 weeks ago and had to stop last week because I had nasal surgery and just couldn't swallow very well. I started back up on Wed. the 2nd and immediately sabbotaged my efforts that evening after being so perfect all day long. I've heard a lot of you are seeing therapists and I could probably do well with that, but I don't know where to begin and even if I did find one I don't know how I would tell my husband. He is a great guy but emotional issues are not his strong suit. He grew up in a very emotionally devoid household and was never shown much affection as a child. He acts very "hardened" a lot of the time and me going to a therapist would be like admitting "defeat" to my emotions. I'm sorry that I am rambling on like this, but I think it helps and I am new to the forum and I am not the most computer literate person and I don't "get" how to use this forum very well. If anyone has any advice on any of this, I can use all the help I can get.
Heidi

[faeriegirl]

Hi there,
I don't tan, although i have thought about it to combat my SAD. My theripist told me that i was the worst case of SAD she had ever seen. I have a lamp, but i rarely use it (it is just so big an awkward). I found when i moved out, it was really bad, because i was living in a basement suite. One thing that i have found that has helped me out a lot, and is quite inexpensive is changing the lightbulbs all over my house from regular to G.E. 'Reveal' white lightbulbs. You would be so surprised at how much of an instant improvement it is on everything. Although i do wish that i lived in a house that was made entirely out of windows so the light would come in all day :)

[Froggirl]

I grew up in sunny AZ...Then moved to Louisiana..I was a mess! My Dr. suggested tanning. IT WAS A COMPLETE CHANGE! Then for me it was easier to move back to the Southwest! :roll:

[Greenwings]

I am two different people, winter and summer. In winter I become and bear and want to hibernate. The minute I start working in the yard again, I am a new creature. I just bought a tanning canopy from ETS. and keep it in my guest room. It takes up less room that an complete bed, is movable, and works with a regular outlet. The only drawback is you must flip over and double your time compared to a regular bed. Big Deal!