digcleopatra

I realized that I sometimes go days without going outside, save going to and from a car. Geez, no wonder I seem to be picking up some SAD symptoms a month before I usually do.

For a week now, I’ve been spending as much time outside as possible. Weekdays, I spread out a blanket and do homework in my yard until it starts to get dark. Weekends are even easier—I spend my days hiking, boating, etc.

I try to spend some time in front of my lamp, too.

I feel better! I’m happier, and more motivated.

My SAD symptoms usually start around late November. Strangely enough, said symptoms have already made their appearance this year (yes, in early October).

For about a week, I’ve felt sad and unmotivated during the hours following sunset. I worked through the negative feelings well, but I was confused as to why I was sad at all. The fact that I’ve been almost unbearably tired every day made things seem a lot more grave, especially when my fatigue brought about severely impaired vision.

It seems pretty obvious now that some premature Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder has come into the picture. No problem: I’ll spend as much time in the sun as I can, and I’ll use my lamp and various coping skills to fill in the gaps.

It feels good to know what’s going on—now I can cope accordingly. I’m glad that I realized what was going on, before my symptoms became really bad.

Unlike last year… I marked this goal accomplished, but I knew all along that I really hadn’t coped with SAD at all. I just didn’t care.

When it comes to this goal, I have progressed incredibly well.

I succumbed to binge eating disorder for years. Mid-summer, I left my binge eating behind me once and for all. It’s hard to say how it happened; I think that my food issues just kind of resolved themselves as I became a happier, more in-control person. All I know is that it has been shockingly easy for me to eat less junk food.

I could mark this goal ‘accomplished’ now, but I think I should write at least one entry on my progress before I get to that point.

By the way, I’ve lost at least twenty-five pounds in the past three or four months. My healthier-looking body is just one of the reasons that I know I’ve really made it.