3 Ways to Wake up With More Energy During the Winter / Fitness

Some days, it’s hard enough to get out of bed, but during the cold, dark winter months, it can seem nearly impossible. While nothing beats waking up to a pleasant morning of birds chirping and the sun shining, there are a few ways you can make waking up on winter mornings a lot easier.

Fix Your Sleeping Habits

It’s easy to blame the winter for making your winter wake-ups difficult, but there’s a good chance that you and your habits are at least partially at fault. Having poor sleeping habits causes much of the difficulty of waking up, which is magnified by the lack of light during the winter months. So, it’s worth taking a step back and examining the things you do before you go to bed and right after you wake up.

First of all, you should try your best to stick to a regular sleep schedule. Your biological clock is a real thing, and it depends on regular patterns of sleep. Also, avoid screens at least an hour before bed. While many of us have a habit of checking our phones at bedtime, the blue light cause mess up your body’s regulation of melatonin, which regulates sleep. Finally, when you wake up, try not to hit snooze over and over again. It only throws your body into a confusion over whether it’s actually time to wake up.

Exercise and Eat Well

The things you do directly before and after bedtime affect the quality of your sleep, but so do the other things you do during the day. Case in point: just a little exercise each day can make it easier for you to fall asleep, meaning you’ll wake up more refreshed and energetic. Further, regular exercise can help combat seasonal anxiety disorder, which is another unfortunate side effect of the winter months.

Eating and drinking well is also an important part of the sleep equation. Researchers suggest you avoid eating right before bed, but if you just need to have that midnight snack, pick something that won’t upset your stomach. Obviously, you’ll also want to avoid caffeine too late in the day, as we’re all aware of how that affects our energy and alertness. And upon waking up, try downing a glass of water first thing. Doing so will kickstart your metabolism, making you feel more ready to greet the day.

Let the Light In (Or Make It Yourself)

Most of the problem with waking up during the winter is that it’s still dark out when your alarm clock starts blaring. Facing the light of the morning is essential to helping your body wake up and ceasing the melatonin production in your body so that it can start again when it’s time for bed at night. So, you can see why waking up to a dark room in the morning might be a bit of a problem.

If there’s no light coming through the windows in the morning, you’ll just have to make your own. Technology has made it easier than ever to automate your home’s lights, so if you have a little money you can invest, consider buying a smart light starter kit or dedicated wake-up light alarm clock. These lights can pair with your phone or be set manually to turn on when your alarm starts going off.

While you’ll still need to exercise a little willpower to get yourself up and out of bed, making these small life changes will definitely help improve your sleep, and in effect, how you feel throughout the day. Perhaps you’ll even be able to carry these good sleep-related habits into the warmer seasons – no sunshine or chirping birds required.

_{[Image via Getty]}

3 Ways to Wake up With More Energy During the Winter

{{ oArticle.title }}

{{ oArticle.subtitle }}