On Sunday, November 3, 2019, most of the U.S. falls back one hour and we get an extra hour’s sleep. But as the days get shorter, I long for more light in the morning to get me out of bed. I want the clock to change sooner rather than later. 

Did you know that only 40 percent of the world uses Daylight Savings Time? It was instituted back in World War I to conserve energy and make better use of the daylight.

So, this concept is barely over 100 years old, but I’ve been feeling its effects heavily these last few years. With the early onset of darkness, my mood slumps. I often feel like hibernating, keeping myself enclosed in the house and vegging in front of the TV. (Yes, last October I binge-watched all seven seasons of Game of Thrones to prepare for this year’s final eighth season—so depressing it’s over. What shall I watch this year?)

This, however, is not a good thing. I would sleep longer, and then my writing/work would suffer, and my weight would blossom because I couldn’t motivate myself to get to the gym. Sound familiar?

So, this year I decided to prep for Fall Back time.

With instituting my Me Goals (which I talk about in another blog), I get up each morning and take the dog for a walk in the park. This gets me loads of light and Vitamin D, which studies say help my body clock to adjust. Now I am definitely no doctor, but I love to read interesting stuff—like circadian rhythms or animals. (Yeah, odd, but stay with me here.) Did you know animals in the wild always prepare for winter? Some store food and prep for the cold, some fly south, some hibernate. They basically do one of three things—hibernate, migrate or adapt.

Now for myself, hibernation is not good, each winter I gain ten to fifteen pounds and then struggle all spring and summer to lose it, only to gain it back the next winter.

We’ve all heard this Albert Einstein insanity quote but here’s a handy reminder.

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

This is me, and it must stop. Are ya with me, here?

And, since I also don’t have the money to go to warmer climes, my only option is to adapt. Here are my tips to handle the oncoming clock change.

• Start now, because if you wait until Sunday, November 3, you might have a week or two of hard adjustment. Health professionals talk about low energy (yep), hypersomnia, overeating (that’s me!), weight gain (ditto!), craving for carbs (hmm), and social withdrawal (ding!)

And, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), women are four times more likely to get depressed with Daylight Savings Time than men. 

• So, I’ve already started adding in more sunlight each day by walking my Bella. For those who don’t have a dog to motivate them to get outside, I suggest buddying up with a friend to meet each weekend for a long walk, or even simpler, after you’ve eaten your lunch at work, just go outside for 5 to 10 minutes and soak in some rays.

• Starting in October, adjust your clock back two minutes each day and go to bed two minutes earlier each night. We are all creatures of habit. We get up at a certain time each morn and tend to go to bed around the same time each night. That one hour on November 3, 2019, we think we gain, throws everything helter-skelter. So, I say start adjusting it now. Such a miniscule adjustment. Two minutes each day. Once you’ve adjusted one hour, stop.

• Also, for October, don’t sleep in on the weekends. Use the extra time constructively on you. Go for that walk, get your nails done, read a chapter or two of that book sitting on your end table, anything that moves YOU!

• Eat a healthy breakfast first thing—my go-to tends to be steel-cut oats with sunflower seeds and blueberries. Food tells your body: wakey wakey, time to start the day.

• Cut back on carbs and insert more energy producing foods, like bananas, almonds, Greek yogurt, chickpeas, salmon, and dark leafy greens.

• For those with little tykes, help your child adjust by putting them to bed a bit earlier the week before the time change—I would do ten minutes each day until you get to one hour.

There you have it. Let’s prepare together and if you have other ways of prepping, I’d love to hear them, so please comment below.