The Daily Telegraph - 26.08.2019

Pickles and Balls

The makings of an

unlikely political

bromance

Page 23

Making waves

How surf school

finally quelled

my anxiety

Page 21

Bad blood

Is there a lifesaving

stem cell donor out

there for me?

HEALTH Page 20

FEATURES

noon fell asleep more quickly at night

and had fewer sleep disturbances.

They were also less likely to report

feelings of depression and stress. In

other words, the croissants and coffee

you enjoyed on the terrace every

morning on holiday really were doing

you good.

“When you look at the sun, for your

body it’s like looking at Big Ben and

checking the time – a process called

entrainment, where your bodyclock

synchronises with the local time,” says

Leon Kreitzman, author of Seasons Of

Life. He advises getting into the habit

of going outside as soon as possible

after waking – or at least opening your

curtains to let the sunlight in.

Walk and talk

A blissful two weeks can pass with

very few arguments (barring the

inevitable tense exchange while

picking up the hire car), and we

return refreshed and deeply in love.

Before long, though, we find ourselves

slipping back into old gripes and

squabbles. Relate counsellor Dee

Holmes says holidays can be a great

time to hit the reset button on your

relationship. “It’s quite a good sign

that things are OK in your relationship

if on holiday things are all right,”

she says. “At home, you can feel like

things aren’t going well, but actually

the connection is still there – it’s all

the other stuff in life which is making

things tense, whether it’s getting on

with the housework, doing packed

lunches or the school run.

“We can’t live for holidays but we

can use it as a bit of a wake-up call to

say ‘why are we letting life take over?’”

Psychologist Jane Ogden agrees:

“Some families have a ‘no arguments’

rule for holidays and there’s no reason

that can’t be sustained when you get

back. It can be a good reminder to pick

your battles and let some things go.”

The holiday habit of walking for

pleasure is another one to try and keep

up – especially when tensions are high.

“Walking side by side and talking is

much less tense than sitting opposite

each other at a table – you can look

around at your surroundings and it

takes you out of yourself.”

Make a Mediterranean kitchen

Granted, the daily ice creams and rosé

consumption probably shouldn’t form

quite such a large chunk of your diet

on returning home, but there are other

aspects of holiday eating which you

can work into normal life.

“Holidays are a great time to kick

start a change to your diet,” says Helen

Bond, a dietitian and spokesman for

the British Dietetic Association. “You

N

o matter how old I get, I still

subconsciously mark my

year by the school calendar.

Somehow, September always feels

more like the start of a new year than

January ever does.

Little wonder that experts

increasingly advise us to make

resolutions at this time rather than

in the New Year. If you’re going to

embark on a new healthy eating

plan or fitness regime, the chances

of sticking to it are surely far higher

now – when the days are longer and

you’re still tingling with a post-

summer holiday glow – than in the

depths of winter when you are 75

per cent roast potato, 25 per cent

Terry’s chocolate orange.

So I’m calling time on those

annual lists of unachievable aims

that I will later use to self-flagellate

with when I inevitably ditch them,

one by one.

Instead, I’m just going to try to

take all the best bits of a summer

holiday and work them into

everyday life. Here, experts reveal

the secrets of beating the back-to-

work blues and keeping the holiday

feeling alive.

Have breakfast in the garden

Why do we often sleep so soundly

on holiday? All the time we spend

outside is likely to be a factor.

Regular exposure to daylight –

particularly in the mornings – helps

to calibrate the body’s internal clock,

helping you feel sleepy at night and

alert in the daytime. One 2017 study

of workers in five government office

buildings across the US found those

who were exposed to the greatest

amounts of light between 8am and

Forget the back-to-work blues, Eleanor Steafel reveals how to keep those healthy holiday habits going at home

tend to discover new foods, expand

your repertoire and also get back to

mindful eating – eating together, at a

slower pace, and really enjoying it, all

of which can make it easier for us to

eat less.”

Holidays can also encourage you to

be more mindful in how you drink, she

adds – enjoying a glass of good wine

at lunch on the weekends, rather than

absent-mindedly finishing off a bottle

at night after work.

A good way to disrupt your old

eating habits after a holiday is to

change the way you shop for food –

focusing on fresh foods, and buying

for the next few meals rather than

doing a big weekly supermarket shop.

“Plan to be more adventurous,

even if it’s just at the weekends – visit

markets and challenge yourself to try,

say, one new vegetable or a different

grain each week,” says Bond. “See it as

a time to slow down and put cooking

at the forefront.”

Making the most

of it: if you eat a

healthy breakfast

outside on holiday,

why not do the

same at home;

likewise, go for a

bike ride or a swim

to keep healthy

‘Take half

an hour

out of

your day

to have

coffee

together,

or go for

a walk

before

dinner’

GETTY IMAGES/ PHOTOMONTAGE BY HAYLEY MOSELEY FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Continued on page 21

If you come back from a holiday

resolving to start eating melon for

breakfast or more fresh fish for

dinner, start doing it the morning

after you get back to give yourself

the best chance of sticking to it, says

Jane Ogden, a health psychologist at

the University of Surrey. “I always

make fruit salads on holiday for

dessert and vow to do it more,” she

says. “Set yourself reasonable goals

and start them immediately.”

Bond advises writing down the

meals and recipes you enjoyed most

while on holiday and stocking up

your kitchen with staples that you

ate during your break – whether it’s

canned lentils or nuts – so that you

rely less on heavily processed foods.

Take your workout outside

Away from the routine of the gym

and the spin class, many take the

opportunity to exercise outside on

holiday, whether it’s cycling through

fields or jogging on the beach. It’s a

great habit to keep up when you get

home, says Gary Brickley, a senior

lecturer in sport and exercise science

at the University of Brighton.

“Aside from the benefits of

sunlight and vitamin D, and the

mental benefits of being around

nature, the instability of the ground

means you’re activating different

muscles than you would on a

treadmill or exercise bike. You might

also find you go for a bit longer

because you’re absorbed by what’s

around you.”

Similarly, outdoor and wild

swimming needn’t be something just

for holidays, says Brickley, who

The Daily Telegraph Monday 26 August 2019 *** 19

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