And March is the WORST in Michigan! My little East Tennessee brain thinks it should be almost SPRING!

Just wanted to start a thread for support! I almost left this weekend when we had a monsoon and snow and a 20 degree drop in temp in one day!

-animaldoc

I was going to put the little unhappy face, but decided the lightbulb would be better, to brighten things.

We had one of those bizarre weather days on Thursday .. the first day of Spring, ha ha It was around 0°C (32°F) to start .. then it started raining and really windy. That soon became freezing rain with ice pellets, then a blizzard combined with ice pellets. The wind really whipped up, and it dropped to -12°C (10°F) within the hour. I had to be out at appointments that day, and took all my strength to wham the car door open with my shoulder ... it had frozen shut in the time it took to drive home It isn't much better today either ... where's the sun??????

Anyway, the days ARE getting longer, and it's only 2 more weeks, then we can set our clocks ahead to Daylight Saving Time (April 7).

Hope you're feeling better now.

Doreen

Getting there......of course in Michigan we've had much the same weather. Our first day of Spring wasn't either, then Sunday it was 44 degrees (F) around lunchtime and sunny, but then dropped and got COLD later in the afternoon!

I'm going home to Tennessee for Easter and they assure me that it will be nice for my visit.......that has mostly helped me this week. Then when I come back it will be April and hopefully might start to be Spring!

-animaldoc

Hey I am glad to hear of someone from the North complain about how the weather affects your weight. I am from Akron Ohio and recently moved to east Tennessee. I love it here . Nice weather. Nice people. Above all, a 15 pound weight loss for me. Since I moved here I can get out and walk. There are alot of really nice parks here also. When the weather is dull and ugly out...seems like you lose motivation! ALso I read in a Medical Journal that sunlight is a treatment for depression. So makes since that it goes hand in hand. Bye Now

Hi, its funny to hear that the weather is so bad in the US, we think its only the north UK that has such a miserable climate.
I got so bad last year with grey skies and no proper sun for more than half the year that I bought a light box. Its magic, I put it next to my computer at work and switch it on for an hour a day all through the winter. I am so much better with it.
Folk at work were curious, lots were sympathetic.
All I can say is that I've been pleasant, optimistic and cheerful through a winter. Took St John's wort too, that helps I think, thought I'd taken this on its own and it didn't do enough of a job - the light box was the thing.
Just finished with both, fingers crossed its mainly sunny now.
Take care, hope you're feeling better by now. Jay

Well I'm in Calgary, CANADA & we had a huge snow blizzard in MAY!!! MAY for heaven's sake!!! It's beautiful & sunny now, but spring was VERY slow in coming.

My sister lives in Peachland, B.C. where it's sunny & beautiful from March - October, but they don't get ANY sunlight during the winter ...she usually can't wait to come to Calgary at Christmas, where it may be freezing cold, but the sun still shines in the winter. She found that going to a tanning salon helped her SAD symptons...even artificial light helped her mood a bit. (That's why I thought Doreen's lightbulb was fitting!)

Hello Animaldoc,

I'm living in Dansville, just a hop-skip away. I've lived in Mich. my entire life, and my SAD is very bad. I use a light box and exercise, but still needed prozac to get me close to normal. This is a bad state to live (one of the worst in the nation) in if you have the problem. One side-effect is that I would get uncontrolable cravings for carbs. I'd eat no matter how full and miserable I was. I gained 18 pounds in one winter alone. Now that I've got my SAD under control, I'm going to get my weight under control again. I can't wait to pull out the boxes of all my "old clothes" .

Unfortunately, we are approaching another winter. Maybe several of us can offer encouragement and support to each other.

judi

p.s. I've been in Tennessee several times to work on genealogy and become reaquainted with my cousins.

I'm originallly from Boston. The older I got, the worse my SADs got. I had to use my light box from August through April. Unbelievable! I finally relocated to Washington, DC and am doing much better.

I am actually on two LC plans. In the spring and summer, I'm on the Atkins plan and during the late fall and winter, I'm on the Carbohydrate Addicts diet.

My actual body chemistry changes in the winter with the lack of light and I have a hard time losing even on Atkins induction. So I use CAD to control the cravings and to maintain my Atkins weight loss or only gain in February and March. By the time spring comes around again, I can actually feel a switch turn on in my body when there is enough light and I'm ready for Atkins again. I've been doing this for 3-4 years.