Oh, autumn! What a time. Leaves are changing, everyone’s favorite flavors are back at the coffee shops, cute sweaters can come out, and… the average person eats at least 220 more calories per day ? Everyone you know seems to have gotten sick recently? Getting out of bed feels harder and harder? Wellness seems to be difficult this time of year. Let’s talk about it.
Don’t give in to sugar-spiced marketing
Because that’s what it is. More often than not, “pumpkin spiced” treats are devoid of pumpkin and simply have spices, sugar, and orange dye.
Recent evidence has suggested that like hibernating animals, humans also have genes that predispose us to crave carby, heavy foods in the winter to prepare for the scarcity season. Unfortunately for us, our cravings have not caught on to the fact that there is no scarcity season in the modern first world. It doesn’t help, either, that there seem to be advertisements for sugar-filled pumpkin-spiced treats everywhere. While having one once in a while might seem harmless, the effects can truly add up. The maximum amount of added sugar is no more than 10% of one’s daily calories (roughly 50 grams of added sugar). Some of these drinks are more than 150% of that in one serving. Many people indulge in one of these every morning from September-November, on top of the other bits of added sugar from other foods in their diet.
The food world knows what we crave this time of year and they will choose to capitalize on it because it’s good for business. How can one avoid being their victim?
-Reframe the idea of a PSL in your head for what it actually is, a dessert.
-Limit your desserts depending on your goals (I’d recommend once per week if you’re pursuing weight-loss or anti-inflammatory goals).
-Make healthy versions of pumpkin treats at home, such as this one.
-Make sure you get your sleep. Sugar cravings will vastly reduce if you sleep enough (more on the many benefits of a good night’s sleep here).
Protect your immune system
What if it isn’t the drop in temperature alone that causes everyone to get sick, but the fact that we’re gorging ourselves with highly inflammatory sugary foods in the name of “fall festivities”?
Once you have placed a limit on your sugar, look to take a supplement to help strengthen your immune system, something containing garlic, echinacea, and vitamin C is a great place to start.
Flu and COVID vaccines are also excellent, and pretty basic. If you do vaccines, head to your local CVS, where you can usually just walk in and get them for free with most insurance policies.
Make sure you’re sleeping well
Not only will this help with the previous two points, but it will give you more energy to work out, manage the stress of your newly full schedule, and just make you a more functional human being.
As work ramps up, consider starting a bedtime routine, even if it’s just a brain dump before bed to leave the day behind. Nights kept up with tomorrow’s problems will add up quickly and take a bite out of your health. Lack of sleep will lead you to crave more sugar, and probably right into one of your favorite coffee chain’s pumpkin-spiced traps.
Sleep can be improved this month in the basic ways; limiting blue light exposure throughout the evening hours (please stop scrolling before bed), having set sleep and wake times throughout the week, and not eating within three hours of bedtime. It’s especially important to get your schedule down this month, as the coming winter months will require you to get more (and better) sleep and October is a great time to adjust to a new schedule, as the rest of your life is starting to fall back in place, anyway.
Take time to actually have a look at your calendar and think about these things, finding a midpoint between what is optimal and what is realistic:
When are you most creative and productive? This is a great time to schedule deep work.
When do you have the best energy to work out and when can you absolutely not? Choose your daily activity around this time.
When is a good, realistic dinner time?
When do you need to wake up to have a successful morning routine?
When can you put the work aside and begin to wind down?
Enjoy the fall weather
Sure, summer is gone and that may be a downer, but fall is the perfect time to get into outdoor workouts! The air is crisp and the scenery is gorgeous. Find the beauty in nature even when you can’t go to the beach. Why not try to finally get into running? You don’t need to worry about sun protection, or being as on-top of your water, or sweating like a madman. A new season is a great time to do a reset and try new things. The leaves are getting a makeover, why can’t you?
