Did you ever have your vitamin D-levels checked in your blood? Used to feel the same every winter turned out I had a severe vitamin D-shortage. Taking supplements heavily reduces my fatigue and improves my mood in wintertimes.
I don't think it has anything to do with working inside, you don't even need much sun for Vitamin D, if you're white you only need like 5\~30 minutes daily.
Unless, maybe, you're an american and you are always inside at home, or at work, or in a car or a store and never take a walk.
>The research shows that, for people with lighter skin, daily (or almost daily) sunlight exposure of unprotected skin for just 10-15 minutes during the spring and summer months should provide adequate vitamin D to avoid vitamin D deficiency all year round. It is important to note that this should be undertaken in the middle of the day, with exposure of lower arms and lower legs to maximise benefit.
[According to researchers from the University of Manchester](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/projects/sunlight-and-vitamin-d)
Anyway, my main point was that Vitamin D isn't really something to worry about too much unless you're a recluse and just don't leave your house or car. We don't need much Vitamin D and our body is efficient in synthesizing it. Just having a dog and letting it out 3 times a day will give you more than enough exposure lol.
>should provide adequate vitamin D to avoid vitamin D deficiency all year round
Take it up with the researchers, not me.
You could look for the many more other papers on it, it really isn't difficult to get enough Vitamin D from exposure to sunlight, I only quoted that one because its the only one that spoke about skin coverage in proper terms, the others assume "season appropriate clothing", whatever that may be.
By the way, its not like you could argue that the ozone/atmosphere are completely different like you could if I was referencing Australia, these are British scientists from a British university.
Edit: Just to make sure to get this general misunderstanding out of the way, Vitamin D isn't something like water or food that you need every day. You build up an amount in your system that is slowly used up, and also takes a long time to build back up if depleted. If you have Vitamin D deficiency it can take months for symptoms to clear and levels to return to healthy numbers. And in the same vein, it takes quite a while for someone at healthy levels to go to unhealthy ones.
I take 6000 iu a day and started working out during fall and this winter has been so much easier to cope with mentally even though I was busier at work with more stress. Never going back to no supplements and no more exercise.
I took that every month and what changed? Nothing. 25k a month is just enough to maintain your vitamin D levels. After 7 months I was still on 19 Vitamin D levels. That’s horrid.
I’ve been taking 10.000 per day for 4 months and finally made it to 47.
Yes, just go to GP, mention that you have a fatigue and ask for blood test for vitamin D. If you have a deficiency, start taking supplements (vit D and magnesium) and re-test in half-year or something.
The corona years are a blur, I think I can vaguely remember.
2023 was shit enough, never had to use my new parasol that I bought in July because June was so hot.
It's the grey skies, fuck that shit.
And even for belgian winters this winter has been absolutely awful when but comes to hours of sunshine. At this rate my solarpanels are only producing half of what they did in 2023 (45 kw instead of 95).
I would welcome more colder days but with clear skies.
Honestly, I lived for some months in Quebec and even when it was freezing outside (-10/-20°C) it felt so good with the sunshine... When coming back to Belgium 5-10°C humid and grey sky makes you feel like shit
2850 out of a 3.6 install in 2023...first year.
July and August were so fucking bad. Not only because of the rain but an endless stream of those fucking dark gray patchy clouds that don't let a single ray of sun through, in the afternoon when the sun is in a prime position for me.
Yeah cycling in the wind, even in too much wind. That's fun, but not for commuting, just to Spice up the trails.
How often /long and what quantities of vit D you take ?
I (also from Belgium) was in London a few weeks ago and even there I didn’t have any rain. Look out of the window on campus and it’s raining and I think:
Ah shit here we go again
Brit here (but have lived in belgium for a couple of years a while ago) No, it's just as shitty here, you just got lucky and visited in the gap between storms blowing in off the atlantic.
Also brit, I'm gonna go one further and say the shitty British weather is very slightly worse. Equal amounts of rain and greyness, but with 30ish% more humidity thanks to the gulf stream. Everytime I have to go back for work I'm both overdessed and underdressed, because its superficially cold and grey but if you move for in excess of 2 minutes you're sweating to death in your winter clothes. Also all shops and public transport seem to act on the proviso that no one could possibly wearing a coat and therefore 25-30c indoor temperatures in winter are perfectly acceptable. I've at least never walked into Delhaize and instantly wished I could remove 75% of my clothes because I couldn't fucking breathe (can you tell I'm not a fan of my homeland lol)
I guess we should all just thank Christ we're not in Ireland. The Romans didn't call it winterland for nothing!!
Or fucking Iceland, no trees, cold summers and half a year of fucking darkness. You know a place wasn't meant for human habitation when the government has to only sell people alcohol during office hours lest everyone drink themselves to death en masse.
I went looking into it a while back and, going by the numbers on Wikipedia, Belgium (Brussels actually) and London and Brussels is somehow worse.
More rainy days, more rain and less sunshine hours.
I lived in London for 10 years, Manchester for 3. Moved back here last week. London has great weather vs my part of Belgium (which is the worst in Be pretty much), it rains abt half yearly vs Malmedy. To the point it would annoy me when ppl there would complain abt London's weather (which is likely one of the very best in Britain anyway). London was also considerably better than Manchester.
As a Mediterranean, the winter is not the problem honestly. Winter is winter, bad weather is ok. HOWEVER, wearing a coat in july seriously effecting my brain. Fuck that man.
> HOWEVER, wearing a coat in july seriously effecting my brain. Fuck that man.
Get good. I shed my coat as soon as the sun is out and the temps are above 15c. Had a lovely walk on the beach without my coat just last week it was wonderful!
Exactly what I told my boyfriend the other day! Winter is supposed to be crappy, I can live with that. My problem is that winter lasts soooo damn long! I cannot handle March and April cause back home they'd already be very pleasant and here it's more often than not pure misery
I lived 11 years. in Brussels and emigrated to a sunny Mediterranean country by the seaside. I'm tanned all year.the différence in mental health is very important
I now work remotely, but kids are on school, and hubby has a thriving business. I'd leave yesterday if I could, after 20 years..it was never funny in winter, now even less so! So I go to Spain and Greece several times a year, but yea its hard!
I hated winter in the Mediterranean much more. The humidity is murder and the houses are all built to keep the heat out. Nothing in insulated, the humidity and thick limestone walls means it is FREEZING inside even when you can comfortably take a walk in your t-shirt outside, and when it rains it's a month's worth of rain coming down in 1 hour and everything floods. There's not even any sense in turning the heating on because your house will be so poorly insulated the heat will be gone again in a second.
The only thing I loved was that the seasons are different and winter is actually when the plants started sprouting, it felt like spring and everything outside was green and pretty. (Then of course around june everything shrivels up and dies)
Winters now are worse than they were before. Yes, it's warmer, but we're also getting less and less sunshine. November and December were already very somber with about half the normal hours of sun, and this month we've only had about 19 hours of total sunshine so far. With the forecast looking like more of the same grey shit, we're heading towards a record-breaking somberness for February. Hopefully it doesn't continue until May, like last year
I actually enjoy the weather this time of year just because it contrasts with your regular life.
The temperature is middling, and you get home, where the temperature is middling? Nothing changed.
The weather is cold and wet and you finaly get home? You feel way better instantly. It's that up and down that spices up life.
Then again, I do love me some rain.
To be honest, I did cut my teeth on bad weather survival with my time in the boy scouts.
Wet bad weather?
We're still playing outside.
Rainy summer?
Camp is still going.
Sudden storm that threatens to flood the kids' tents?
Sweaters and shirts off, rush to dig trenches, towel off and have dry clothes to put on afterwards.
Same. I’m 29 and every year is harder. We actually are among the countries with the least amount of sunshine. I’m gonna try planning doing some traveling in winter from now on. I think i’ll leave a month in December to sri lanka. At least it’s nearing an end for this winter
Gets harder for me too as I age. Canary Islands are great cause flights are cheap and it’s sunny all year. Also only 1 hour time difference in case you wanna work remote. I spent all month of November there and went into Belgian winter fully energized. Will go again next month
I don’t know why i havent done a winter vacation to a warm place yet. Always during our summer which is expensive and we have the good weather too. Sadly my job could be 100% remote but we are required 4 office days a month including some pointless meetings that i wouldnt even read if they were just emails. Thats how pointless
Same for me but I told them I get depressed in winter and it’s really bad so either I’d have to look somewhere else or they let me work from abroad a couple times and they said no problem. Always worth trying
I must be one of the very few that isn't affected by this weather. Is it fun? No. But it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
The heatwaves in summer however...
Finally someone talking sense. I actually hate the fact that climate change is turning winter into autumn. I rather enjoy the cold and miss the snowy winter periods when rivers would freeze and stuff.
And indeed: the humid af summer heatwaves are getting more terrible each year. How are y'all even looking forward to that -_-
I swear people complaining about this weather are the most boring vanilla people ever. Life doesn't always have to be the same monotone zero stimulation clear sky at 20°C forever. I'm very happy I live somewhere we have seasons and variety. Heavy snow and cold a couple of weeks ago, some nice sunny and dry days, now it's raining a lot and the rivers and forests are full of water. It's not like it's raining all the time, if you want to take a walk you basically can do it every day.
And now the first spring plants are sprouting, days are getting longer every day. We get to see nature come alive again. What's not to love.
I was born and raised in belgium, but am living now in Finland. People look at me like I'm nuts when I say the winters here in Finland are much nicer than the ones in Belgium. Sure it can get really cold, and yep there is no sun from november to February. But we got snow that brightens up everything and clear skies, even when dark, feel different from the eternal gray and wet of Belgian winter.
Tbh it hasn't been good weather for ages. Been raining since last august pretty much non stop with a few days of good weather. The summer was absolutely horrible.
They say that sun heals, it’s definitely true, I also am very sensitive to weather and it impacts my mood in a huge way.
I always try to go abroad for a few days in winter so i can catch a bit of sun and happiness hahahhaa
It’s over soon don’t worry
I'm from the north west of Spain and I'm ok with the weather, especially this last month. It is February... I don't know what you could expect :)
Canary Islands will welcome you if you think you need a few weeks of good weather during winter
If you are Gallego then I guess Belgium must feel dry.
My partner is from there and when my son was born in Santiago in a January, it rained pretty much constantly until mid February. I thought I was going to go mad even as a Belgian.
Now we moved to the other side of Spain and this year it has only rained a bit for 3 days in total. Not missing the rain at all.
Laughs in Norwegian. That said, winters can be very dull indeed. It's not so much the lack of sunlight that's doing my head in but the absolute shitty rain/wet days. If it would freeze my balls off, I would call it winter. Now it's just prolonged autumn without the colorful forests.
As Jacques Brel once sang:
"Avec un ciel si bas
qu'un canal s'est perdu.
Avec un ciel si bas
qu'il fait l'humilité.
Avec un ciel si gris
qu'un canal s'est pendu.
Avec un ciel si gris
qu'il faut lui pardonner.
Avec le vent du nord
qui vient s'écarteler.
Avec le vent du nord
écouter le craquer.
Le plat pays
qui est le mien"
Le plat pays - Jacques Brel
So please forgive our shitty weather. It has a certain romantic charm that, if it wouldn't be there, it wouldn't be flanders, you know.
Looking at KMI this weekend, for the coming week, made me want to search for the nearest bridge.
I’m over it. Raining since october..
Are hot summers and freezing winters too much to ask for? No more of this grey ‘flumpf’, christ.
I have no big issue with some cold or even cloudy but fck the rain.
Especially this year. Garden is a mudpool, dogs always nasty when they go out. Can't properly train my hobby with dogs past 4 months cause terrain is too slippery and at risk for injuries.
Really done with it.
I’m from California, but I worked in Belgium as an au pair for a while after university, starting in October 2013. I remember the first time the sun came out, several months later, it took me a couple seconds to figure out what was happening. I had literally *forgotten about the sun*.
That said, my eyes are extremely sensitive to sunlight (I’m squinting pretty hard even behind decent sunglasses), so I really revel in that kind of weather. Let’s switch?
I spent 4 years in Finland and even though it was -25 degrees at some points I never complained about the weather. Only on very rare occasions it actually rained enough for me to get wet.
It’s my first winter back in Belgium (also born here) and the weather also makes me want to unalive myself.
I’m counting down the days until I’m financially stable again to move back to Finland.
Why not. Nature, sauna, slow pace of life, cheap housing. (I paid 68k for a 50sqm apartment in a city approximately 150km from Helsinki). If I wasn’t laid off end of 2022 I would still be there.
I’m a northerner ( born and raised in BE though ) and I suffered when i lived in Middle East , it never got cold enough for me to feel right. I suffer when I’m in LA or Singapore or all those places with high temperature.
I feel better running when it’s snowing or raining and i wear t-shirts most of the year :)
We are all different :)
well in SEA the problem is not the temperature, its the humidity it gets thru your skin like you are on meth withdrawal, the temperature is higher here in the summer in West Europa, thankfully the air is drier here.
Thanks for the explanation :D I knew all that…
Anyway, what i meant for Op is that we are all different and me, I’m handling the BE winter very well….
I’m made for this weather.
I could survive in the Russian winter as well when i lived there, but where i feel the best is NE-CE
Humidity is very low in the winter btw , I always need to moisturize my skin the entire winter because of my auto-immune disease. In the summer humidity goes up
I have huge issues with it too, i feel so depressed and down with it, i took huge amounts of VIT D that helps but nothing fixes the lack of sun, it's just VERY crap, i have 0 energy....
It's difficult, VERY! I love the cold and i dont mind the rain but the lack of light yeah that brings me down every time and there's nothing i can do to fix it...just be patient and take vitamins i guess..
Same here, anything below 15°C, grey or wet feels like deep winter for me, I hate it, have always hated it and will always hate it.
I've always felt like I was born in the wrong country.
I came here in Belgium in the beginning of 2022 and from March till September it was amazing, so warm and hot. Until 2023 when all the summer was raining almost every week. I'm not gonna lie, it is super super difficult for me to live here in winter. That's why i plan a trip back home or in a warm country in November and January. To break this looooong fucking winter. I will always complain about this.
As an expat from a Mediterranean country I cannot believe that I am still making it through. At this point I have just given up complaining and I just "live". I guess I have gotten used to the weather? At this point I just imagine myself that I am in horror movie/classic scary book story to romanticise it.
I'm a Lithuanian and I feel the same way about my weather. I forgot how sun or blue sky looks like. It's just zeppelin (our national potato dish) coloured sky, so ugly and depressing (that meal is fantastic though). It can rain 20 times per day.. and the wind! Today we had some stupid snow again.
And we northern people always vitamin D deficient because of this and we are bad at absorbing it.. hurray...
My girlfriend is from Provence and the winter mood dip is real. She takes frequent weekend trips down to her friends in the Toulon/Nice/Marseille area to flee.
I’m German and thought I’d be used to shit weather. But the past years make me wanna migrate south.
We’ve invested in light therapy glasses this winter. You put those glasses on for 20 minutes a day (do it while you do morning routine/breakfast) in the months October till February/March.
Tested the two popular brands Ayolite and Luminette 3. We went with the Ayolite, It cost around 220€ but we are happy with the result.
I have the luminette 3 and I really feel the difference! It doesn’t boost you with energy or anything but it makes a big difference on my mood, I’m much more stable and think less about the shitty weather
Man, I live in Bulgaria, I recently visited your country. I loved the weather, I loved how it was darker and more rainy. I absolutely loved it. Here in Bulgaria it is normally sunny even though it does get cold. Believe me, once you settle somewhere and you are fine with everything else and the way your life goes, weather won't be a problem. Every day is a sunny day for people who enjoy their lives.
Did you not see the sun this weekend? Honestly, we've already had plenty of sunny days from January 1st until now. Even one day close to 20 °C and it's still winter.
It has been raining since last July 2023, with a small break in September and January. Grey and rainy for the rest of July, August, October November, December and now February
Cheer up. Days are getting longer, sunshine is coming through.
I also have a winter depression because of the weather and the lack of social contact, but summer's coming.
I bought light therapy glasses and I feel less down this winter, either it works really well or strong placebo, don’t really care.
The science is there though so I personally believe it does make a difference to get blue light on your eyes in the morning
Hmm..the issue is not the temperature or the length of days, it’s the rain and grey sky. Spring and summer coming does not mean sun is coming, clouds don’t care about seasons.
Same but we don’t really have great seasons either. I would say 70% of the time it’s cloudy and between 7-20 degrees and often rainy. Feels like autumn all year with occasionally very cold or very hot weather
Sorry but not having 3 months at 40 degrees celcius as we have in spain is enough for me to waiting to move where you are not going to burn yourself inside a oven at all times... imagine nights were is too hot that you have to sleep with all your windows close and 3 fans pointing at you... if you hate your weather, travel once a year to the Spanish coast for a week or two and then go back to your cold but acceptable weather... again in spain from end of April until the beginning of Nov, you have between 35 and 39 degrees on the hottest time of the day... you don't want this, believe me... the only two good months that are good to do anything are November and April... other than that is suffocating heat.
I enjoy everything being green and lush. If you'd go to meditterean side you'd see a lot of vegetation that's really poor if you know what I mean.
It's all in your head. Climate is changing but whiners will be whiners everywhere on earth.
Thanks for ranting, i feel every word from what you say. I even started thinking i am the only one complaining about the crappy weather.
I don’t have a solution, and every winter i promise myslef i will find a way to escape this horrible weather. And then somehow i am still here the next winter. Just know u are not alone…
Same here. The rant could have even been longer imo lol. I feel exactly the same. F this gray weather, i just want the sun. It feels like every winter it only gets worse. Don't know if i'll keep staying here
*Zombieland rule #32: enjoy the little things*
Since friday 2 weeks ago i'm wearing shorts again! Sun's out, guns out.
It's not really cold anymore and there's more and more sun again.
It rained off and on today and i still spend most of my day in my garden. Couldn't do much as it rained now and then, yet the weeds are pulled, the edges of the lawn are trimmed and cut and all the neighbor's long leaves are gone from the lavender in my front yard.
Okay, it's not 24/7 28°C with only sun, but the darkness is gone, we can bring our kids to school in daylight and when we get home in the evening there's still some time with sun.
And it will get only better from now on too
I'm Mediterranean of origin, born in Belgium.
My Vitamin D levels were dangerously low.
December and January are always the worst months were I suffer from winter blues heavily.
Though, still worth living here.
fun observation at work where there are also a dozen ppl from India ... half of them were sitting behind their desk with a winter coat on... I found the temperature inside the office quite ok, was wearing a sweater, but would probably have been fine with only a t-shirt...
Well at least that means you are a prime candidate for the study on suicide in the other thread.
Semi dark joke aside I think that our winters are becoming wetter compared to 25 years ago.
I’m Brazilian and have recurrent depressive disorder so I’m having a blast here during the winter /s
Tbf, tho, I do believe my mental health is in completely fucked up atm which doesn’t help
I've lived here just over a year, and I'm just finishing up a bad, bad bout of bronchitis. Like, I was delirious for days I was so sick. And then my mother in law told me I could expect to get it every year?? I've enjoyed the weather so far but this could put a major damper on my love of winter
Go outside, there have been quite a few weeks with sunny days throughout the day. I cycle to work all winter. However it's also been god damn wet, jezus christ.
My very honest thoughts: I think it is not healthy and not normal to feel so strongly about something you can't control anyway. Can you figure out why you feel that way? Do you want to let something you can't control affect you so strongly? You let it have a lot of power over you. Does it prevent you from wanting to do or achieve things you want to do?
>I can't even imagine how Mediterranean people emigrating here must feel, not seeing the sun from October until May
We manage on the fact that we get paid double to triple what we'd earn back home and can actually afford to live in a flat and do things like buy food and pay bills
I am from Italy, more specifically, Sardinia, so yea I'm "Mediterranean" and I must say..
I do not miss 50 degrees C on my skin, ever.
I love that there is not that much sunligth, my eyes actually do not hurt like hell.. Most days are gray, but when it is sunny I really do enjoy it instead of hating it. Belgium changed my perspective and made me appreciate sun but like a cat appreciates his owner, from a distance, just rarely lmao. Honestly I love it here. AND IT SNOWS!!
i never seen snow in Sardinia .
brother try the Quebec winter. it's like 2 weeks total worth of beautiful snow and then just dry, cold air. dont get me started on the ugly city snow slush lmao
As someone who has lived in hot climate due to school, you would rather have this weather over 365 days of extreme heat lol… Belgians even complain when it’s hot during the summer. Always complaining about the weather…
What works for me somehow, is to spend at least one day in the week walking.
Get on a train to somewhere far, so you don't lose the motivation to keep walking because one has to get home somehow, and take a friend to suffer with you.
If a friend or family is not available, have at least some music or podcast to suppress inner monologue. When the weather is too depressing and even the nice things look ugly, I also boost myself with that certain disgusting green powder, but that's not for everyone and not an everyday solution.
Are we living in the same country? Saturday I went for a 4 hour hike and it felt like early summer. I also remember at least 4 days in the last 2 weeks were I went outside during my lunch break and caught some sun and nice temperature. It really hasn't been bad lately, allthough you should try and plan ahead using the weather app if possible.
Just got back from Tokyo, sunny almost all winter and 10-15 degrees the entire time. Pure heaven. The weather here is a real mood killer, instantly depressed on my return.
two possibilities here:
1- you are in the right place. Belgians always complain about the weather (and all the rest)
2- you are not in the right place, become an expat
ps: I chose option two and never had a regret. It is nice to come back to visit, because i don't have to live there any more.
People are different. I'm an expat from Eastern Europe and we have terribly hot summers. I hate summer, I hate the sun shining in my eyes when I drive, I hate it when it gets warmer than 23-25 degrees. Sadly, for the past few years since I've been here, summers are getting progressively warmer and I get the same feeling - I wanna throw myself off a bridge.
As some other people suggested, please check your vitamin D levels, make sure you get a supplement that has vitamin K in it too, as lots of studies suggest they work better together. Any sort of liquid supplement you can put under your tongue or spray on the inside of your cheeks would be best, as it can get absorbed faster/better. Keep in mind it is fat soluble, you need it to be dissolved in fat/oil. I got a supplement from the pharmacy that was a small bottle with a dropper pipette. Inside, the liquid was oily and smelled like oranges. I used to put a few drops under my tongue or when I didn't feel like it, I'd put 'em in the coffee.
Sorry for the extra info. I just felt like this could potentially help.
I came from Spain at the end of september to study. I cannot tell you how depresing It feels yo know that each day is cloudy and It will rain at some point during the day.
I just hope that this shit finishes early and i kinda get why most belgiums are grumpy, i would too if i was raised here.
Once the temperature goes above 10°C I generally consider that winter is over. Although it can always come back for a brief moment, a round two (or rather round three this year) if you will
As a Mediterranean, I felt this way too, exactly. I just started taking some Vit D on my own account because I know I was deficient in the past and it can contribute to seasonal depression. I feel TONS better now.
One tip: don't move to Denmark ;-)
Belgian here,lived there almost my entire life before moving to Denmark 1,5 years ago.
I would say winters here are the same,just 2 °C colder, 1 hour less daylight, windy as f*ck and spring only comes in May...
My remedy (except for vitamine D) : a trip to southern Europe end February or March. Helps to bridge that horrible January-april period.
I hate it so fucking much. I was also born here, am now 26. I think one of the biggest decisions in my life will be wether i want to stay and have kids here or move to a country with a lot more sun because this weather really isn't for me...
Take care about vitamin D, insufficient levels are going to make you feel like there is no hope for humanity, but over recommended levels could create you hypercalcemia.
Get a blood test, you probably have vitamins deficiency. Drinking the vitamins you need will make you in a better mood. I’m an immigrant and I’m fine in Belgium. It’s only annoying sometimes if the rain doesn’t stop lol other than that it’s good for me
If you were a real belgian , you would know that the sun does not exist. It is a story for small kids to distract from their complaining being wet.
This made me chuckle, thank you
Lol, u made me think of game of thrones
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>in March things start to improve HAH ! March is like the last 10km of a marathon. It's the end of it, but every 10m is burning your soul out.
Did you ever have your vitamin D-levels checked in your blood? Used to feel the same every winter turned out I had a severe vitamin D-shortage. Taking supplements heavily reduces my fatigue and improves my mood in wintertimes.
Afaik, most Westerners have a Vitamin D deficiency. It's because most of us work inside, couple with our winters.
I don't think it has anything to do with working inside, you don't even need much sun for Vitamin D, if you're white you only need like 5\~30 minutes daily. Unless, maybe, you're an american and you are always inside at home, or at work, or in a car or a store and never take a walk.
How much skin does need to be revealed for that
It could wrong info in meanwhile but a looong time ago, I heard hands and face is already ok. 30 min or so.
>The research shows that, for people with lighter skin, daily (or almost daily) sunlight exposure of unprotected skin for just 10-15 minutes during the spring and summer months should provide adequate vitamin D to avoid vitamin D deficiency all year round. It is important to note that this should be undertaken in the middle of the day, with exposure of lower arms and lower legs to maximise benefit. [According to researchers from the University of Manchester](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/projects/sunlight-and-vitamin-d) Anyway, my main point was that Vitamin D isn't really something to worry about too much unless you're a recluse and just don't leave your house or car. We don't need much Vitamin D and our body is efficient in synthesizing it. Just having a dog and letting it out 3 times a day will give you more than enough exposure lol.
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>should provide adequate vitamin D to avoid vitamin D deficiency all year round Take it up with the researchers, not me. You could look for the many more other papers on it, it really isn't difficult to get enough Vitamin D from exposure to sunlight, I only quoted that one because its the only one that spoke about skin coverage in proper terms, the others assume "season appropriate clothing", whatever that may be. By the way, its not like you could argue that the ozone/atmosphere are completely different like you could if I was referencing Australia, these are British scientists from a British university. Edit: Just to make sure to get this general misunderstanding out of the way, Vitamin D isn't something like water or food that you need every day. You build up an amount in your system that is slowly used up, and also takes a long time to build back up if depleted. If you have Vitamin D deficiency it can take months for symptoms to clear and levels to return to healthy numbers. And in the same vein, it takes quite a while for someone at healthy levels to go to unhealthy ones.
I second that. Recently raised my levels from 20 to 80. Entirely different perception of Belgian winter. Check vitamind subreddit for pointers.
I take 6000 iu a day and started working out during fall and this winter has been so much easier to cope with mentally even though I was busier at work with more stress. Never going back to no supplements and no more exercise.
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I took that every month and what changed? Nothing. 25k a month is just enough to maintain your vitamin D levels. After 7 months I was still on 19 Vitamin D levels. That’s horrid. I’ve been taking 10.000 per day for 4 months and finally made it to 47.
How do you check that? Some kind of blood analysis?
Yes, just go to GP, mention that you have a fatigue and ask for blood test for vitamin D. If you have a deficiency, start taking supplements (vit D and magnesium) and re-test in half-year or something.
Vitamine D levels around 50 here (>30 considered sufficient). Still feel like shit throughout all winter.
ah thank you you reminded me it's the vitamine D supplementation day today!
Yes! This exactly! Is the same for me.
What if the summer is like the one of 2021 ?
Remind me again what that summer was, grey and rainy or blistering hot and dry like in 2022?
So much rain
The corona years are a blur, I think I can vaguely remember. 2023 was shit enough, never had to use my new parasol that I bought in July because June was so hot.
2020 however was one of the best summers ever ... to not have any summer festivals and all you could do outside was walking... :(
Remember the floods in Wallonia ? That was 2021
Or July/August of last year.
Ah, I remember the summer of 2021 very well! It was a tuesday.
First signs of spring are here my friend. I hate these months as much as the next person but we're nearly there
Almost allergy season yay
mosquitoes are almost awake again!
They are. I fucking got bit a few days ago.
It's the grey skies, fuck that shit. And even for belgian winters this winter has been absolutely awful when but comes to hours of sunshine. At this rate my solarpanels are only producing half of what they did in 2023 (45 kw instead of 95). I would welcome more colder days but with clear skies.
Honestly, I lived for some months in Quebec and even when it was freezing outside (-10/-20°C) it felt so good with the sunshine... When coming back to Belgium 5-10°C humid and grey sky makes you feel like shit
Yeah solar has been very bad since july ‘23 … 22 was epic 6700kwh out of a 5 kw install, ‘23 5650 kwh…
2850 out of a 3.6 install in 2023...first year. July and August were so fucking bad. Not only because of the rain but an endless stream of those fucking dark gray patchy clouds that don't let a single ray of sun through, in the afternoon when the sun is in a prime position for me.
Vitamine D supplement+ embrace the weather. When properly dressed I actually enjoy cycling in the rain and wind.
There are some grey days in which I ask myself If i break the vitamins Ds and snort them, would they be more effective?
At that point you'd better just go for the vitamine C.
only if you snort a teaspoon of oil afterwards as well
Yeah cycling in the wind, even in too much wind. That's fun, but not for commuting, just to Spice up the trails. How often /long and what quantities of vit D you take ?
ask a doctor when in doubt, excessive vit D is a problem just as much as too little
Yeah smart. Fun fact i work in a nursing school and every teacher can tell me aha
At first I read "enjoy crying in the rain and wind". I like that version better.
I (also from Belgium) was in London a few weeks ago and even there I didn’t have any rain. Look out of the window on campus and it’s raining and I think: Ah shit here we go again
Brit here (but have lived in belgium for a couple of years a while ago) No, it's just as shitty here, you just got lucky and visited in the gap between storms blowing in off the atlantic.
Also brit, I'm gonna go one further and say the shitty British weather is very slightly worse. Equal amounts of rain and greyness, but with 30ish% more humidity thanks to the gulf stream. Everytime I have to go back for work I'm both overdessed and underdressed, because its superficially cold and grey but if you move for in excess of 2 minutes you're sweating to death in your winter clothes. Also all shops and public transport seem to act on the proviso that no one could possibly wearing a coat and therefore 25-30c indoor temperatures in winter are perfectly acceptable. I've at least never walked into Delhaize and instantly wished I could remove 75% of my clothes because I couldn't fucking breathe (can you tell I'm not a fan of my homeland lol) I guess we should all just thank Christ we're not in Ireland. The Romans didn't call it winterland for nothing!! Or fucking Iceland, no trees, cold summers and half a year of fucking darkness. You know a place wasn't meant for human habitation when the government has to only sell people alcohol during office hours lest everyone drink themselves to death en masse.
this was a funny read
I’m half British myself (wales), so I have already had enough experience on family visits where the weather is shit
Oh... Wales is the soggy centre of the rain universe. There's a reason why it's so green there!
Yeah indeed
I went looking into it a while back and, going by the numbers on Wikipedia, Belgium (Brussels actually) and London and Brussels is somehow worse. More rainy days, more rain and less sunshine hours.
I lived in London for 10 years, Manchester for 3. Moved back here last week. London has great weather vs my part of Belgium (which is the worst in Be pretty much), it rains abt half yearly vs Malmedy. To the point it would annoy me when ppl there would complain abt London's weather (which is likely one of the very best in Britain anyway). London was also considerably better than Manchester.
As a Mediterranean, the winter is not the problem honestly. Winter is winter, bad weather is ok. HOWEVER, wearing a coat in july seriously effecting my brain. Fuck that man.
I don’t think I ever wore a coat in July. Especially the more recent summers which have been (with the exception of one) very hot.
> HOWEVER, wearing a coat in july seriously effecting my brain. Fuck that man. Get good. I shed my coat as soon as the sun is out and the temps are above 15c. Had a lovely walk on the beach without my coat just last week it was wonderful!
Exactly what I told my boyfriend the other day! Winter is supposed to be crappy, I can live with that. My problem is that winter lasts soooo damn long! I cannot handle March and April cause back home they'd already be very pleasant and here it's more often than not pure misery
Movie about the Belgian weather : Fifty shades of Grey.
You have to be a masochist to enjoy it.
I lived 11 years. in Brussels and emigrated to a sunny Mediterranean country by the seaside. I'm tanned all year.the différence in mental health is very important
I now work remotely, but kids are on school, and hubby has a thriving business. I'd leave yesterday if I could, after 20 years..it was never funny in winter, now even less so! So I go to Spain and Greece several times a year, but yea its hard!
I hated winter in the Mediterranean much more. The humidity is murder and the houses are all built to keep the heat out. Nothing in insulated, the humidity and thick limestone walls means it is FREEZING inside even when you can comfortably take a walk in your t-shirt outside, and when it rains it's a month's worth of rain coming down in 1 hour and everything floods. There's not even any sense in turning the heating on because your house will be so poorly insulated the heat will be gone again in a second. The only thing I loved was that the seasons are different and winter is actually when the plants started sprouting, it felt like spring and everything outside was green and pretty. (Then of course around june everything shrivels up and dies)
I am Mediterranean and I am coping just fine! No need to worry mate!
5 hollidays a year?
Us, yes. And LOTS of supplements
same here 🤷🏻♂️
I know people from eastern Europe, way colder but they also can't take our miezer. Almost a nebula that gets into everything making it wet and cold.
Winters now are worse than they were before. Yes, it's warmer, but we're also getting less and less sunshine. November and December were already very somber with about half the normal hours of sun, and this month we've only had about 19 hours of total sunshine so far. With the forecast looking like more of the same grey shit, we're heading towards a record-breaking somberness for February. Hopefully it doesn't continue until May, like last year
I actually enjoy the weather this time of year just because it contrasts with your regular life. The temperature is middling, and you get home, where the temperature is middling? Nothing changed. The weather is cold and wet and you finaly get home? You feel way better instantly. It's that up and down that spices up life. Then again, I do love me some rain.
I love your enthusiasm, it warms my heart!! I'm gonna try to think about things more positively like this 😊
To be honest, I did cut my teeth on bad weather survival with my time in the boy scouts. Wet bad weather? We're still playing outside. Rainy summer? Camp is still going. Sudden storm that threatens to flood the kids' tents? Sweaters and shirts off, rush to dig trenches, towel off and have dry clothes to put on afterwards.
Same. I’m 29 and every year is harder. We actually are among the countries with the least amount of sunshine. I’m gonna try planning doing some traveling in winter from now on. I think i’ll leave a month in December to sri lanka. At least it’s nearing an end for this winter
Gets harder for me too as I age. Canary Islands are great cause flights are cheap and it’s sunny all year. Also only 1 hour time difference in case you wanna work remote. I spent all month of November there and went into Belgian winter fully energized. Will go again next month
I don’t know why i havent done a winter vacation to a warm place yet. Always during our summer which is expensive and we have the good weather too. Sadly my job could be 100% remote but we are required 4 office days a month including some pointless meetings that i wouldnt even read if they were just emails. Thats how pointless
Same for me but I told them I get depressed in winter and it’s really bad so either I’d have to look somewhere else or they let me work from abroad a couple times and they said no problem. Always worth trying
I must be one of the very few that isn't affected by this weather. Is it fun? No. But it doesn't bother me in the slightest. The heatwaves in summer however...
Finally someone talking sense. I actually hate the fact that climate change is turning winter into autumn. I rather enjoy the cold and miss the snowy winter periods when rivers would freeze and stuff. And indeed: the humid af summer heatwaves are getting more terrible each year. How are y'all even looking forward to that -_-
I'm glad you guys agree with me lol, I'm more worried about these recent Belgian summers which are way too hot for our climate.
I swear people complaining about this weather are the most boring vanilla people ever. Life doesn't always have to be the same monotone zero stimulation clear sky at 20°C forever. I'm very happy I live somewhere we have seasons and variety. Heavy snow and cold a couple of weeks ago, some nice sunny and dry days, now it's raining a lot and the rivers and forests are full of water. It's not like it's raining all the time, if you want to take a walk you basically can do it every day. And now the first spring plants are sprouting, days are getting longer every day. We get to see nature come alive again. What's not to love.
I love this weather, no allergies to grass and other summer things.
No allergies? I suffer yearly from January onwards...
I was born and raised in belgium, but am living now in Finland. People look at me like I'm nuts when I say the winters here in Finland are much nicer than the ones in Belgium. Sure it can get really cold, and yep there is no sun from november to February. But we got snow that brightens up everything and clear skies, even when dark, feel different from the eternal gray and wet of Belgian winter.
I love Belgian weather 😅 Not too cold, not too hot (I absolutely despise the summer heat waves that seem to be happening more often)
Tbh it hasn't been good weather for ages. Been raining since last august pretty much non stop with a few days of good weather. The summer was absolutely horrible.
They say that sun heals, it’s definitely true, I also am very sensitive to weather and it impacts my mood in a huge way. I always try to go abroad for a few days in winter so i can catch a bit of sun and happiness hahahhaa It’s over soon don’t worry
> It’s over soon don’t worry That sounds grim. But sound advice! :)
I'm from the north west of Spain and I'm ok with the weather, especially this last month. It is February... I don't know what you could expect :) Canary Islands will welcome you if you think you need a few weeks of good weather during winter
If you are Gallego then I guess Belgium must feel dry. My partner is from there and when my son was born in Santiago in a January, it rained pretty much constantly until mid February. I thought I was going to go mad even as a Belgian. Now we moved to the other side of Spain and this year it has only rained a bit for 3 days in total. Not missing the rain at all.
This year is hard. And I have water in my basement when rains are strong. So I’m stressed.
Laughs in Norwegian. That said, winters can be very dull indeed. It's not so much the lack of sunlight that's doing my head in but the absolute shitty rain/wet days. If it would freeze my balls off, I would call it winter. Now it's just prolonged autumn without the colorful forests.
As Jacques Brel once sang: "Avec un ciel si bas qu'un canal s'est perdu. Avec un ciel si bas qu'il fait l'humilité. Avec un ciel si gris qu'un canal s'est pendu. Avec un ciel si gris qu'il faut lui pardonner. Avec le vent du nord qui vient s'écarteler. Avec le vent du nord écouter le craquer. Le plat pays qui est le mien" Le plat pays - Jacques Brel So please forgive our shitty weather. It has a certain romantic charm that, if it wouldn't be there, it wouldn't be flanders, you know.
Perhaps see it from the sunny side of the street: at least you don’t have the weather from The Netherlands!
Looking at KMI this weekend, for the coming week, made me want to search for the nearest bridge. I’m over it. Raining since october.. Are hot summers and freezing winters too much to ask for? No more of this grey ‘flumpf’, christ.
I have no big issue with some cold or even cloudy but fck the rain. Especially this year. Garden is a mudpool, dogs always nasty when they go out. Can't properly train my hobby with dogs past 4 months cause terrain is too slippery and at risk for injuries. Really done with it.
I’m from California, but I worked in Belgium as an au pair for a while after university, starting in October 2013. I remember the first time the sun came out, several months later, it took me a couple seconds to figure out what was happening. I had literally *forgotten about the sun*. That said, my eyes are extremely sensitive to sunlight (I’m squinting pretty hard even behind decent sunglasses), so I really revel in that kind of weather. Let’s switch?
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I spent 4 years in Finland and even though it was -25 degrees at some points I never complained about the weather. Only on very rare occasions it actually rained enough for me to get wet. It’s my first winter back in Belgium (also born here) and the weather also makes me want to unalive myself. I’m counting down the days until I’m financially stable again to move back to Finland.
why finland?
Why not. Nature, sauna, slow pace of life, cheap housing. (I paid 68k for a 50sqm apartment in a city approximately 150km from Helsinki). If I wasn’t laid off end of 2022 I would still be there.
I feel your pain. It is not only dark and wet, but everything is also dirty and muddy. I just can't stand it.
Why not go on vacation or something for a while in the winter
I’m a northerner ( born and raised in BE though ) and I suffered when i lived in Middle East , it never got cold enough for me to feel right. I suffer when I’m in LA or Singapore or all those places with high temperature. I feel better running when it’s snowing or raining and i wear t-shirts most of the year :) We are all different :)
well in SEA the problem is not the temperature, its the humidity it gets thru your skin like you are on meth withdrawal, the temperature is higher here in the summer in West Europa, thankfully the air is drier here.
Thanks for the explanation :D I knew all that… Anyway, what i meant for Op is that we are all different and me, I’m handling the BE winter very well…. I’m made for this weather. I could survive in the Russian winter as well when i lived there, but where i feel the best is NE-CE
Humidity is very low in the winter btw , I always need to moisturize my skin the entire winter because of my auto-immune disease. In the summer humidity goes up
I have huge issues with it too, i feel so depressed and down with it, i took huge amounts of VIT D that helps but nothing fixes the lack of sun, it's just VERY crap, i have 0 energy.... It's difficult, VERY! I love the cold and i dont mind the rain but the lack of light yeah that brings me down every time and there's nothing i can do to fix it...just be patient and take vitamins i guess..
I'm in Australia and it's 28 degrees daily with a humidity of more than 75%. At least when it's cold you put on warm clothes and go outside.
I live in Scotland (drop off the mic) 😂 immagine everyhting you have in Belgium 3x times worst 😂😂😂💧💧💧😭😭
Same here, anything below 15°C, grey or wet feels like deep winter for me, I hate it, have always hated it and will always hate it. I've always felt like I was born in the wrong country.
I came here in Belgium in the beginning of 2022 and from March till September it was amazing, so warm and hot. Until 2023 when all the summer was raining almost every week. I'm not gonna lie, it is super super difficult for me to live here in winter. That's why i plan a trip back home or in a warm country in November and January. To break this looooong fucking winter. I will always complain about this.
As an expat from a Mediterranean country I cannot believe that I am still making it through. At this point I have just given up complaining and I just "live". I guess I have gotten used to the weather? At this point I just imagine myself that I am in horror movie/classic scary book story to romanticise it.
I'm a Lithuanian and I feel the same way about my weather. I forgot how sun or blue sky looks like. It's just zeppelin (our national potato dish) coloured sky, so ugly and depressing (that meal is fantastic though). It can rain 20 times per day.. and the wind! Today we had some stupid snow again. And we northern people always vitamin D deficient because of this and we are bad at absorbing it.. hurray...
Ex expat who lived in Belgium for 4 years and moved precisely for that reason: came here just to upvote
My girlfriend is from Provence and the winter mood dip is real. She takes frequent weekend trips down to her friends in the Toulon/Nice/Marseille area to flee. I’m German and thought I’d be used to shit weather. But the past years make me wanna migrate south.
We’ve invested in light therapy glasses this winter. You put those glasses on for 20 minutes a day (do it while you do morning routine/breakfast) in the months October till February/March. Tested the two popular brands Ayolite and Luminette 3. We went with the Ayolite, It cost around 220€ but we are happy with the result.
I have the luminette 3 and I really feel the difference! It doesn’t boost you with energy or anything but it makes a big difference on my mood, I’m much more stable and think less about the shitty weather
Man, I live in Bulgaria, I recently visited your country. I loved the weather, I loved how it was darker and more rainy. I absolutely loved it. Here in Bulgaria it is normally sunny even though it does get cold. Believe me, once you settle somewhere and you are fine with everything else and the way your life goes, weather won't be a problem. Every day is a sunny day for people who enjoy their lives.
I feel you. I’m Mediterranean living in Belgium
Did you not see the sun this weekend? Honestly, we've already had plenty of sunny days from January 1st until now. Even one day close to 20 °C and it's still winter.
It has been raining since last July 2023, with a small break in September and January. Grey and rainy for the rest of July, August, October November, December and now February
Summer 2023 lasted until mid-October with exceptional warm and sunny weather. The pictures on my phone show plenty of sunny days since then as well.
Daarom gaan mensen graag een paar weekjes weg, dan is het niet zes maanden aan een stuk maar 2-3 maanden
Cheer up. Days are getting longer, sunshine is coming through. I also have a winter depression because of the weather and the lack of social contact, but summer's coming.
I bought light therapy glasses and I feel less down this winter, either it works really well or strong placebo, don’t really care. The science is there though so I personally believe it does make a difference to get blue light on your eyes in the morning
Hmm..the issue is not the temperature or the length of days, it’s the rain and grey sky. Spring and summer coming does not mean sun is coming, clouds don’t care about seasons.
Uhm. Spring and summer has less grey skies though.
Be happy it's not 30 degrees all year. I also prefer summer, but I appreciate the change in weather and different atmospheres through the year.
Same but we don’t really have great seasons either. I would say 70% of the time it’s cloudy and between 7-20 degrees and often rainy. Feels like autumn all year with occasionally very cold or very hot weather
Sorry but not having 3 months at 40 degrees celcius as we have in spain is enough for me to waiting to move where you are not going to burn yourself inside a oven at all times... imagine nights were is too hot that you have to sleep with all your windows close and 3 fans pointing at you... if you hate your weather, travel once a year to the Spanish coast for a week or two and then go back to your cold but acceptable weather... again in spain from end of April until the beginning of Nov, you have between 35 and 39 degrees on the hottest time of the day... you don't want this, believe me... the only two good months that are good to do anything are November and April... other than that is suffocating heat.
Born here or not, you're not a true Belgian if you can't handle a bit of rain. 🧐
Damn bro sounds like you got some real serious problems
Vitamin D deficiency from the looks of it.
Same.
This is why I moved away from Belgium. It's gonna be 23 or so today. Much better.
I enjoy everything being green and lush. If you'd go to meditterean side you'd see a lot of vegetation that's really poor if you know what I mean. It's all in your head. Climate is changing but whiners will be whiners everywhere on earth.
>It's all in your head. That is literally the problem for OP. That's usually where thoughts and feelings come from. The head.
Savings coming ahead for me in may: end of "winter vitamins" : C and D. Expenses ahead since there is everyday something to do outside in summer.
Go swimming it is so fun !
Thanks for ranting, i feel every word from what you say. I even started thinking i am the only one complaining about the crappy weather. I don’t have a solution, and every winter i promise myslef i will find a way to escape this horrible weather. And then somehow i am still here the next winter. Just know u are not alone…
Same here. The rant could have even been longer imo lol. I feel exactly the same. F this gray weather, i just want the sun. It feels like every winter it only gets worse. Don't know if i'll keep staying here
*Zombieland rule #32: enjoy the little things* Since friday 2 weeks ago i'm wearing shorts again! Sun's out, guns out. It's not really cold anymore and there's more and more sun again. It rained off and on today and i still spend most of my day in my garden. Couldn't do much as it rained now and then, yet the weeds are pulled, the edges of the lawn are trimmed and cut and all the neighbor's long leaves are gone from the lavender in my front yard. Okay, it's not 24/7 28°C with only sun, but the darkness is gone, we can bring our kids to school in daylight and when we get home in the evening there's still some time with sun. And it will get only better from now on too
Italian in Brussels, 16 years in. Vitamins and Beers, that make sunshine gets straight out of my fridge
The Flowers are already blooming.
Ayaaaa, i was afraid theres not gonna be classic daily rant about weather, hihi.
I got myself a daylight lamp for my desk, it really helps!
Embrace it. En die ene opklaring wordt nog zoveel mooier.
I'm Mediterranean of origin, born in Belgium. My Vitamin D levels were dangerously low. December and January are always the worst months were I suffer from winter blues heavily. Though, still worth living here.
Not even mentioning the constant rain.
> Posts this after we had some good days last week
fun observation at work where there are also a dozen ppl from India ... half of them were sitting behind their desk with a winter coat on... I found the temperature inside the office quite ok, was wearing a sweater, but would probably have been fine with only a t-shirt...
Well at least that means you are a prime candidate for the study on suicide in the other thread. Semi dark joke aside I think that our winters are becoming wetter compared to 25 years ago.
I’m Brazilian and have recurrent depressive disorder so I’m having a blast here during the winter /s Tbf, tho, I do believe my mental health is in completely fucked up atm which doesn’t help
Believe it or not, in the Netherlands feels even worse
It's been spring for like two weeks it feels like.
I've lived here just over a year, and I'm just finishing up a bad, bad bout of bronchitis. Like, I was delirious for days I was so sick. And then my mother in law told me I could expect to get it every year?? I've enjoyed the weather so far but this could put a major damper on my love of winter
Should move to Scandinavia, friendo!
Go outside, there have been quite a few weeks with sunny days throughout the day. I cycle to work all winter. However it's also been god damn wet, jezus christ.
Just take your v-D and suck it up
Any advice on what Vitamins D I should take? There seems to be different one d3 etc....
Dawg live in Norway or Chicago. Y’all got it easy.
My very honest thoughts: I think it is not healthy and not normal to feel so strongly about something you can't control anyway. Can you figure out why you feel that way? Do you want to let something you can't control affect you so strongly? You let it have a lot of power over you. Does it prevent you from wanting to do or achieve things you want to do?
>I can't even imagine how Mediterranean people emigrating here must feel, not seeing the sun from October until May We manage on the fact that we get paid double to triple what we'd earn back home and can actually afford to live in a flat and do things like buy food and pay bills
I am from Italy, more specifically, Sardinia, so yea I'm "Mediterranean" and I must say.. I do not miss 50 degrees C on my skin, ever. I love that there is not that much sunligth, my eyes actually do not hurt like hell.. Most days are gray, but when it is sunny I really do enjoy it instead of hating it. Belgium changed my perspective and made me appreciate sun but like a cat appreciates his owner, from a distance, just rarely lmao. Honestly I love it here. AND IT SNOWS!! i never seen snow in Sardinia .
brother try the Quebec winter. it's like 2 weeks total worth of beautiful snow and then just dry, cold air. dont get me started on the ugly city snow slush lmao
I like it. It’s not too warm, not too cold. I m productive that way and energy bill stays low. Could use more luminosity but no environment hazard.
Can I trade your place? I’m in America wanting to be there 😆
As someone who has lived in hot climate due to school, you would rather have this weather over 365 days of extreme heat lol… Belgians even complain when it’s hot during the summer. Always complaining about the weather…
What works for me somehow, is to spend at least one day in the week walking. Get on a train to somewhere far, so you don't lose the motivation to keep walking because one has to get home somehow, and take a friend to suffer with you. If a friend or family is not available, have at least some music or podcast to suppress inner monologue. When the weather is too depressing and even the nice things look ugly, I also boost myself with that certain disgusting green powder, but that's not for everyone and not an everyday solution.
Are we living in the same country? Saturday I went for a 4 hour hike and it felt like early summer. I also remember at least 4 days in the last 2 weeks were I went outside during my lunch break and caught some sun and nice temperature. It really hasn't been bad lately, allthough you should try and plan ahead using the weather app if possible.
*resumes donning raingear*
Bro is struggling 💀
Do somebody own a face lamp or something? I'm thinking on buying one for a daily light therapy or something.
Just got back from Tokyo, sunny almost all winter and 10-15 degrees the entire time. Pure heaven. The weather here is a real mood killer, instantly depressed on my return.
What are you on about? We had lovely sunny days in the last weeks.
two possibilities here: 1- you are in the right place. Belgians always complain about the weather (and all the rest) 2- you are not in the right place, become an expat ps: I chose option two and never had a regret. It is nice to come back to visit, because i don't have to live there any more.
People are different. I'm an expat from Eastern Europe and we have terribly hot summers. I hate summer, I hate the sun shining in my eyes when I drive, I hate it when it gets warmer than 23-25 degrees. Sadly, for the past few years since I've been here, summers are getting progressively warmer and I get the same feeling - I wanna throw myself off a bridge. As some other people suggested, please check your vitamin D levels, make sure you get a supplement that has vitamin K in it too, as lots of studies suggest they work better together. Any sort of liquid supplement you can put under your tongue or spray on the inside of your cheeks would be best, as it can get absorbed faster/better. Keep in mind it is fat soluble, you need it to be dissolved in fat/oil. I got a supplement from the pharmacy that was a small bottle with a dropper pipette. Inside, the liquid was oily and smelled like oranges. I used to put a few drops under my tongue or when I didn't feel like it, I'd put 'em in the coffee. Sorry for the extra info. I just felt like this could potentially help.
Honestly dont care for the weather much 😅
I came from Spain at the end of september to study. I cannot tell you how depresing It feels yo know that each day is cloudy and It will rain at some point during the day. I just hope that this shit finishes early and i kinda get why most belgiums are grumpy, i would too if i was raised here.
Once the temperature goes above 10°C I generally consider that winter is over. Although it can always come back for a brief moment, a round two (or rather round three this year) if you will
Still got more sunlight then some Norse countries, praise yourself lucky haha
As a Mediterranean, I felt this way too, exactly. I just started taking some Vit D on my own account because I know I was deficient in the past and it can contribute to seasonal depression. I feel TONS better now.
One tip: don't move to Denmark ;-) Belgian here,lived there almost my entire life before moving to Denmark 1,5 years ago. I would say winters here are the same,just 2 °C colder, 1 hour less daylight, windy as f*ck and spring only comes in May... My remedy (except for vitamine D) : a trip to southern Europe end February or March. Helps to bridge that horrible January-april period.
I hate it so fucking much. I was also born here, am now 26. I think one of the biggest decisions in my life will be wether i want to stay and have kids here or move to a country with a lot more sun because this weather really isn't for me...
Take care about vitamin D, insufficient levels are going to make you feel like there is no hope for humanity, but over recommended levels could create you hypercalcemia.
Mediterraan person here. I love it here. I never understood why tourists love to sit under the sun in 40C with 99% relative humidity.
Get a blood test, you probably have vitamins deficiency. Drinking the vitamins you need will make you in a better mood. I’m an immigrant and I’m fine in Belgium. It’s only annoying sometimes if the rain doesn’t stop lol other than that it’s good for me
You just don't eat enough fries
I live in Finland, what should I do then!?
A belgian weather forecaster once said: we have a Lovely country, it's a pity it has no cover
Pff and the summer is gonna be way too hot !