What about winter makes me so SAD?

One of the hard parts about writing a weekly column, one that is supposed to be either personal or humorous, is that sometimes nothing funny happens.

As I sat here stressing today over things like Lizzie's sudden flea infestation, the dent in my Jeep door for which I'm not responsible, my checks that were lost in the mail, my upcoming "over the hill" birthday, Christmas plans, and writing this column -- when I've had a pretty uneventful week -- I found myself stressing even more.

On the flip side, one of the great joys of writing a weekly column is that even when things aren't so funny, I have an outlet to vent my fears and frustrations, in hopes that whoever chooses to listen to what Sadie Says might read something to which they can relate.

In addition to feeling stressed out over the minor aforementioned things, I've also recently discovered that I am SAD.

After whining to a friend of mine about feeling so tired and frustrated lately, my friend told me two things. First, my friend said, "Well, Sadie, you aren't 20 years old anymore ... your lethargy could be related to the fact that you are getting older."

Once I got over that comment -- which made me feel even worse than I already do about turning 30 in a few months -- I settled down to listen to my friend's second comment, which was even worse.

"Sadie, I think you're sad," my friend told me.

What? First I'm old, and now I'm SAD! With friends like this, who needs enemies, right?

After simmering down for the second time, I realized that SAD is the acronym for seasonal affective disorder ... and yes, I do believe I might have it. Seasonal affective disorder -- the winter blues -- is a mood disorder in which otherwise normal people experience depressive symptoms in the winter.

A few weeks ago, I stopped going to the gym, because it was too dark and cold in the morning, and I just couldn't pull myself out of bed before 6:30 a.m. I began working out after work, but I quickly learned that I can't rely on that routine because it's way too easy to find excuses not to workout at 5 p.m. All it takes is one invitation to do ... well, anything, and my workout takes the backseat.

When we turned the clocks back, it all got worse because now it's cold and dark when I leave the office, and excuses come even easier. And even though it's lighter in the morning, I still haven't been able to pull myself out of bed before 6:30 a.m. Can you say lazy?

Monday night, I went to the gym for the first time in two weeks, and I thought I had overcome the physical recession I'd slipped into. But when I got home at 7 p.m., after having pigged out on Chinese food, and made the bad and premeditated decision not to set my alarm for the gym Tuesday morning (as if 10 hours wouldn't have been enough sleep) I knew my friend might have actually been right about my condition.

Uh oh ... My jeans are beginning to feel a little snug, and I really need to get over this SADness. So now what?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to really try hard to get back into a workout routine, even if it means making myself go after work, because I need to get my endorphins back up and running.

If that doesn't work, I might have to try phototherapy -- or else hibernate until spring -- because the fact that I have become so lazy is definitely ... sad.

-- Sadie Fowler is a staff writer for the Times-Gazette. She can be reached at (931) 684-1200, ext. 214, or by e-mail at sfowler@t-g.com. This column is scheduled to print every Thursday.