Monday Shumday

Lets be honest. Mondays are hard. The weekend either ends with us longing for more or beats us up, leaving us in a miserable toxic state or both.

Even if you have one of those rare occurrences where you are productive AND relaxed over the weekend, the Monday commute with all the sleepy depressed faces can really bring you down.

As it gets cooler and darker, Mondays will become increasingly challenging, and for some, Fall beings a downward spiral into Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which becomes increasingly challenging the closer we approach the winter doldrums. While I luckily do not suffer from SAD, I know many who do, including my overworked mother. And I think we all deal with it in some way. After all, its hard to get motivated to rise and “shine” when its dark out and that comforter is just SO comfy its practically begging to be held.

Eons ago, when I was in High School, I refused to get out of bed on Mondays. My mother, the eternal optimist, would come into my room singing, encouraging me to have a great start to the week. I scowled, threw the covers over my head and hit the snooze button. Minutes later, my older brother would come in, turn on the lights and rip the covers off of me. What an ass making me go to school, but it was the only thing that worked. Over the years, I have tried to develop strategies to fix this problem. After all, we all want to start off on the right foot! Now that we are entering a new season and a new week, here are some tips to get through it and tools to deal with the SAD before it knocks you down.

Yoga– Just do it. You read about it all the time, its really cool to flip upside down and challenge yourself. Also, you will really hate this blog if you don’t like reading about yoga. Most importantly, believe it or not, you release toxins. The best lessons I have are when I am partook in one to many alcoholic beverages and/or binged on fast food. They suck, I hate every second, but its as though your body was given a reset. I always go to yoga on Monday and Fridays. One to prepare for the weekend the other to fix the weekend. Try it for a week, I’d love to say “I told ya so”.

Break Your Fast Healthfully– Feed your body what it needs. If you do, you’ll find that your brain will catch up with you and you will WANT what the temple NEEDS. Fruit, veggies and protein are how I like to begin my day. My favorite and most healthy recipe is my Tropical Green Smoothie. Complete with 1 frozen banana, handful of spinach, mango and pineapple with a scoop of greek yogurt. Mix that bad boy up and you are ready to conquer the world! Or at the very least, will stay full and feel great ’till lunch. Which brings me to lunch…

Make Your Slow-Cooker Your Best Bud– It is challenging to break bad habits. After a weekend of eating out or ordering in, it can be really easy to slip back into that. I admit that I almost forgot that I had a slow cooker. It was packed deep away in my cabinet since last winter. Not anymore! While it is easy to slap together that PB and J, why not give your body something wonderful. I found this AMAZING Taco Chicken Bowl recipe  which is inexpensive, ridiculous simple and totally hit the spot for lunch. Throw it all in there Sunday afternoon, set out for lunch(es) for the week and freeze some for a lazy day. I served mine with some brown rice and avocado and let me tell you, its a winner.

Water – DRINK IT! We are made up of 60% water. Those beers you had during football Sunday did not do anything to keep you hydrated, quite the opposite. Rule of thumb, drink a glass of water before you eat anything and always keep water at your desk. You’ll find yourself sipping all day and feeling great.

Change It Up – We usually are so beat by the end of Mondays we dont’ want to do much more than plop down in front of the tv and tune out. Weekends are not just for fun, we only have a limited time on this Earth. Go to a movie, take an evening stroll, go to a show. You’d be amazed how lovely Mondays can be.

Remember, your body is your temple. Treat it right, it’ll return the favor. Promise.