I look back on my first winter in Montreal with a lot of happy memories, but there’s two not-so-happy ones that come to mind immediately when the snow starts to fall every year. The first was when my partner and I lived through a long winter in a basement apartment in the suburbs. That meant little natural light and not a lot of family or friends dropping by since nothing was really around. I remember sitting at the kitchen table digging into our sixth and thank-fucking-god last container of frozen lentil soup of the season. Our spoons clanking against the bowls were the only things breaking the silence while we both gazed in opposite directions with little to nothing on our minds. “This weather needs to lift soon or I’m going to lose my mind,” I said to nobody in particular.
The other was when we were heading to a bed and breakfast with snow up to our knees. I wasn’t yet prepared for the amount of snow in Montreal and the city’s laissez-faire attitude when it came to moving the white puffy mounds off the streets. We had been walking for twenty minutes but it felt like hours. In frustration, I burst into tears in the glow of the Ogilvy Christmas windows. My tears froze my hair onto my face.
I’m being frank about this because a lot of people suffer from some sort of depression around the colder months and aren’t really sure what causes it. For some it’s the lack of light they’re getting, for others it’s the mass amount of alcohol and food they’re ingesting, and for more still it’s just the stress that comes with perfect gifts, perfect meals, and perfect demeanor for family. Whether you experience it every year or are feeling it for the first time, here are some tips from a very seasoned professional (me), backed up by a bit of science, to get through your winter woes.
Step One: Eat Yourself Clean
Around this time of year, the internet works itself into a frenzy spewing out how to’s and self-help guides to give us the blueprint to avoid gaining extra pounds during the winter. Those with hibernal sadness might especially want to take heed: the research of Judith Wurtman, founder of Triad, a Harvard hospital weight-management centre, has shown that people with some sort of seasonal affective disorder can eat upwards of 800 more calories per day than they would normally. Being cognizant about what you’re putting into your mouth can help tremendously. And don’t use that “it’s the holidays!” excuse when you’re digging in for seconds or hitting the dessert table more than a few times because it’s fairly easy to give into these urges. Think about picking up sensible carbs to stimulate serotonin, like popcorn, nuts and veggies.
After eating heavy meals throughout the holidays, it’s good to get into a cleaner and healthier eating routine. “Obviously, introducing any antioxidants or raw food into your regime is great. It cleans all of the crap you’ve been putting into your body during holiday festivities,” Shawn Arseneau of Aux Vivres, a Montreal vegan eatery, said. “Eating raw or vegan is so easy and is such a helpful way to flush your toxins, but be careful of what’s on the labels since eating this way has come into fad.” For example, a lot of grocery store staples like veggie burgers are chalk full of heavily processed fats and fillers like starch, MSG, and trans fats. To eat clean this year, my boyfriend and I have started to use a dehydrator we were given for Christmas, filling it with fruits, veggies, and of course lots of meat for jerky (um, for the B12…).
Step Two: Work Hard, Be Kind
You might be thinking that it was only a matter of time before I told you to go outside and get a workout, but I’m not going to do that. Sure, it’d be great if you’d take a hike, walk up a mountain, or hit the slopes, but I’d rather speak frankly to those who know the reality of winter. If you can’t drag yourself outside for half an hour of exercise a day, why not start making bundles of canned food and clothing you’re going to get rid of anyway and give it to a worthier cause than the dump truck? In the winter, I know it’s hard to get myself out to run around the park, so, instead of giving into an “exercise tomorrow” mentality, I pop in a yoga DVD in the morning (or find a YouTube video of a really awful 80s workout) or brew some green tea and start sorting stuff to give away. I’m not saying you need to turn into the Dalai Lama or anything; for me, I just find it easier to get off my ass when I know I’m helping someone. Plus, filling my day with movement instead of doing a few reps on the couch is way better for my mind and body. Don’t have a lot to give away? Try that new coffee place across town that you’ve been dying to go to and get off a few bus stops earlier to wander around. This isn’t rocket science!
Step Three: Get into the Habit of Being Awesome
Seriously. Start doing all that shit you want to do that you don’t have the “time” or “energy” for while you’re inside. I know this is the kind of crap you’d read on your girlfriend’s Pinterest board or a Facebook post, but it really does make a difference to start now, because starting now means that it’s more probable for your good habits or hobbies to continue during the spring and summer months. Personally, I’m making a habit of waking up early and completing one workout DVD before heading to work; I will sew myself a skirt before my birthday on April 1st; and I plan to socialize more by going to more shows and nightclubs because I think I went out like five times all of last year. Easy stuff, but it’s more likely I’ll do these things during the winter when I have so much time inside. One thing that could be pretty straightforward for you is to read a novel, which a recent study out of Emory University has shown to boost brain activity for up to five days.
Step Four: Talk to a Doctor
Allow me to get all “cool teacher” here. Imagine me sitting on a backwards chair. I’ve suffered from a chemical imbalance which has caused depression and anxiety since I was thirteen years old. It probably went undiagnosed for a long time because I remember being this way forever, but eventually my middle school guidance counselor noticed it and called my parents to tell them that I probably suffered from this issue. She got the answering machine, and my parents, at a time when ADHD diagnoses were being freely handed out to children who really just needed attention, deleted the message. Unfortunately, that lost diagnosis haunted me for a long time before I got help. Then I went on drugs, then went off drugs, and then got help again. If you really, truly feel that you’re suffering from something more than angst, winter woes that can’t be helped by a therapy lamp, a better diet, and shaking that slothful attitude, please talk to a doctor. I will literally go with you to your appointment if you need someone to sit with because this shit fucking sucks and I get it.
In closing, I’m going to tell you what my mom and dad say everytime I talk to them on the phone: “Take your B-12, take care of yourself, have one more shower, get outside, and take time for yourself.” It’s a hard time of year for just about everyone, so don’t feel bad about feeling bad.
I look back on my first winter in Montreal with a lot of happy memories, but there’s two not-so-happy ones that come to mind immediately when the snow starts to fall every year. The first was when my partner and I lived through a long winter in a basement apartment in the suburbs. That meant little natural light and not a lot of family or friends dropping by since nothing was really around. I remember sitting at the kitchen table digging into our sixth and thank-fucking-god last container of frozen lentil soup of the season. Our spoons clanking against the bowls were the only things breaking the silence while we both gazed in opposite directions with little to nothing on our minds. “This weather needs to lift soon or I’m going to lose my mind,” I said to nobody in particular.
The other was when we were heading to a bed and breakfast with snow up to our knees. I wasn’t yet prepared for the amount of snow in Montreal and the city’s laissez-faire attitude when it came to moving the white puffy mounds off the streets. We had been walking for twenty minutes but it felt like hours. In frustration, I burst into tears in the glow of the Ogilvy Christmas windows. My tears froze my hair onto my face.
I’m being frank about this because a lot of people suffer from some sort of depression around the colder months and aren’t really sure what causes it. For some it’s the lack of light they’re getting, for others it’s the mass amount of alcohol and food they’re ingesting, and for more still it’s just the stress that comes with perfect gifts, perfect meals, and perfect demeanor for family. Whether you experience it every year or are feeling it for the first time, here are some tips from a very seasoned professional (me), backed up by a bit of science, to get through your winter woes.
Step One: Eat Yourself Clean
Around this time of year, the internet works itself into a frenzy spewing out how to’s and self-help guides to give us the blueprint to avoid gaining extra pounds during the winter. Those with hibernal sadness might especially want to take heed: the research of Judith Wurtman, founder of Triad, a Harvard hospital weight-management centre, has shown that people with some sort of seasonal affective disorder can eat upwards of 800 more calories per day than they would normally. Being cognizant about what you’re putting into your mouth can help tremendously. And don’t use that “it’s the holidays!” excuse when you’re digging in for seconds or hitting the dessert table more than a few times because it’s fairly easy to give into these urges. Think about picking up sensible carbs to stimulate serotonin, like popcorn, nuts and veggies.
After eating heavy meals throughout the holidays, it’s good to get into a cleaner and healthier eating routine. “Obviously, introducing any antioxidants or raw food into your regime is great. It cleans all of the crap you’ve been putting into your body during holiday festivities,” Shawn Arseneau of Aux Vivres, a Montreal vegan eatery, said. “Eating raw or vegan is so easy and is such a helpful way to flush your toxins, but be careful of what’s on the labels since eating this way has come into fad.” For example, a lot of grocery store staples like veggie burgers are chalk full of heavily processed fats and fillers like starch, MSG, and trans fats. To eat clean this year, my boyfriend and I have started to use a dehydrator we were given for Christmas, filling it with fruits, veggies, and of course lots of meat for jerky (um, for the B12…).
Step Two: Work Hard, Be Kind
You might be thinking that it was only a matter of time before I told you to go outside and get a workout, but I’m not going to do that. Sure, it’d be great if you’d take a hike, walk up a mountain, or hit the slopes, but I’d rather speak frankly to those who know the reality of winter. If you can’t drag yourself outside for half an hour of exercise a day, why not start making bundles of canned food and clothing you’re going to get rid of anyway and give it to a worthier cause than the dump truck? In the winter, I know it’s hard to get myself out to run around the park, so, instead of giving into an “exercise tomorrow” mentality, I pop in a yoga DVD in the morning (or find a YouTube video of a really awful 80s workout) or brew some green tea and start sorting stuff to give away. I’m not saying you need to turn into the Dalai Lama or anything; for me, I just find it easier to get off my ass when I know I’m helping someone. Plus, filling my day with movement instead of doing a few reps on the couch is way better for my mind and body. Don’t have a lot to give away? Try that new coffee place across town that you’ve been dying to go to and get off a few bus stops earlier to wander around. This isn’t rocket science!
Step Three: Get into the Habit of Being Awesome
Seriously. Start doing all that shit you want to do that you don’t have the “time” or “energy” for while you’re inside. I know this is the kind of crap you’d read on your girlfriend’s Pinterest board or a Facebook post, but it really does make a difference to start now, because starting now means that it’s more probable for your good habits or hobbies to continue during the spring and summer months. Personally, I’m making a habit of waking up early and completing one workout DVD before heading to work; I will sew myself a skirt before my birthday on April 1st; and I plan to socialize more by going to more shows and nightclubs because I think I went out like five times all of last year. Easy stuff, but it’s more likely I’ll do these things during the winter when I have so much time inside. One thing that could be pretty straightforward for you is to read a novel, which a recent study out of Emory University has shown to boost brain activity for up to five days.
Step Four: Talk to a Doctor
Allow me to get all "cool teacher" here. Imagine me sitting on a backwards chair. I’ve suffered from a chemical imbalance which has caused depression and anxiety since I was thirteen years old. It probably went undiagnosed for a long time because I remember being this way forever, but eventually my middle school guidance counselor noticed it and called my parents to tell them that I probably suffered from this issue. She got the answering machine, and my parents, at a time when ADHD diagnoses were being freely handed out to children who really just needed attention, deleted the message. Unfortunately, that lost diagnosis haunted me for a long time before I got help. Then I went on drugs, then went off drugs, and then got help again. If you really, truly feel that you’re suffering from something more than angst, winter woes that can’t be helped by a therapy lamp, a better diet, and shaking that slothful attitude, please talk to a doctor. I will literally go with you to your appointment if you need someone to sit with because this shit fucking sucks and I get it.
In closing, I’m going to tell you what my mom and dad say everytime I talk to them on the phone: “Take your B-12, take care of yourself, have one more shower, get outside, and take time for yourself.” It’s a hard time of year for just about everyone, so don’t feel bad about feeling bad.