Managing Blue Monday
The third Monday of January is coined “Blue Monday” because it is apparently the saddest day of the year. Back in 2005, a British travel agency commissioned a psychologist to determine when people are most gloomy and would be most inclined to book a trip. The psychologist looked at factors including the weather, debt levels and failed new year resolutions. Despite the fact Blue Monday has not been scientifically confirmed, many people say they feel down during this time of year
We don’t want to “cope” with this Monday (and other Mondays) but rather manage it. There are typical a set of negative emotions that many people get at the beginning of the workweek if especially if they’re not happy at work or in life It contains elements of depression, tiredness, hopelessness and helplessness with a loss of willpower.
The 3 A’s
Assessment: how are you doing?
Awareness: what are those things that might positively impact how you are feeling?
Action: take action
Note: if you feel sad/depressed for more than three weeks to seek professional help no matter what day of the year it is.
How to fend off the blues (Monday and every day)

• Boost Mood with Food: The Dopamine Diet (see below for notes and foods highest in dopamine)
• Exercises: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) first thing in the morning
• Positive Thinking: MBSR (Heart Breath – breathing through your heart 5, 7, 8), positive aphorism first thing in the morning
• Supplement Support (Vit D: get tested), EFA’s, L-Tyrosine, 5HTP. For best in class supplements, go to https://healthwavehq.ca/welcome/wyldeonhealth
• Plan to complement 5 people throughout the day using various means (face-to-face co-worker or family member, call a friend, email a friend, post a social media comment to a friend or even a random person)
• Get a good night sleep: set your alarm clock at night to alert you to the time you need to be in bed to achieve 7-8 hrs restful sleep – wake with very bright light
• Make a list of things to look forward to that evening and during the week

Notes on Dopamine:

• Dopamine is one of the most powerful chemicals in our body that controls and influences our moods.
• A “feel good” chemical tied to emotion & pleasure. Ex: when you eat chocolate, drink coffee or receive a text message, dopamine is being released.
• Low dopamine levels in the brain can impact low mood on Blue Monday
• Here’s how this can happen: the brain uses dopamine to control pleasure and emotion, so when large amounts of dopamine are present in your brain, you feel good and experience a “high.”

 
Top 10 foods highest in L-Tyrosine  (mg per 200-Calorie serving)
1 Seaweed, spirulina, raw Tyrosine: 2046mg
2 Soy protein isolate, potassium type, crude protein basis Tyrosine: 2008mg
3 Egg, white, raw, fresh Tyrosine: 1904mg
4 Cottage cheese, lowfat, 1% milkfat Tyrosine: 1833mg
5 Fish, Salmon, Chum, raw (Alaska Native) Tyrosine: 1774mg
6 Turkey, fryer-roasters, light meat, meat only, raw Tyrosine: 1771mg
7 Quail, breast, meat only, raw Tyrosine: 1704mg
8 Game meat, buffalo, water, raw Tyrosine: 1653mg
9 Crustaceans, shrimp, mixed species Tyrosine: 1620mg
10 Mustard greens, cooked, boiled, Tyrosine: 1587mg
 
Sample Breakfast:
Oatmeal with Wheat germ (0.4g & 0.9g tyrosine per 100g)
Sesame seed butter on oat bread (2.1g tyrosine per 100g)
 
Sample Lunch:
Turkey Slices – (0.7g tyrosine per 100g)
Chicken noodle soup – (0.47g tyrosine per 100g)
Seaweed salad (ie. sushi) – (2.6g tyrosine per 100g)
 
Dinner:
Game – buffalo/moose/rabbit/elk/lamb etc (1.1g tyrosine per 100g)
Fava Beans – NOTE: these contains LevoDopa — even more potent than tyrosine!  (and contraindicated in Parkinsons patient taking LevoDopa)
Edamame beans (soy) – (1.5g tyrosine per 100g)