There’s nothing worse than knowing that your jet lag is going to impact how good you feel while you’re on holiday. It’s something that seems impossible to avoid, so how do you help your body become accustomed to the new times and customs? Routine is an essential part of many of our days, whether we stick to a specific time to eat, or our body is used to going to bed at the same time every day. Here are some ways you can help tackle against jet lag.
Start preparing early
Believe it or not, preparation is vital. It’s much better to start preparing your body as soon as possible and is more effective than trying to tackle it at the other end. In many ways, once the damage is done, it can be tough to regain your ground or sleep, for that matter. If you start preparing your body a few days before you’re set to leave, it’ll be annoying, but it’ll help a lot. It also depends on where you’re going. If you’re heading off to the west, then you’re going to want to try and stay awake for longer than usual, whereas if you’re heading more toward the east, then you need to do the opposite and head to bed a few hours sooner.
Work out your sleeping pattern
Work out what you need to do while you’re on the plane. If you need to stay awake for as long as possible, then that’s what you need to do. So, if you’re heading west, then you know that the aim is to distract yourself with as much as possible. Get stuck into those on-flight movies, bring a super exciting book, just keep yourself up. If you’re going more toward the east, then block out all those distractions and start catching those Z’s as soon as possible.
Eat smart
So we know that going east we want to sleep and going west we need to stay awake. That means you also need to be smart with your food choices. Both on the plane and when you’ve arrived, if you need to feel tired then find foods that are super-packed with carbohydrates. Anything that fills you up like this can help your body feel more heavy and sleepy. Alternatively, find those meat, eggs, and fish if you want to fill yourself up with all that healthy energy.
Get outside or shut everything out
Depending on the time when you land, you need to sink into the rhythms of the destination as soon as possible. If you’re desperate to sleep when you land, don’t, because it will only make things a lot worse. All you need to do is keep yourself awake as much as possible to ensure you get to the end of the day. Alternatively, if it’s the evening, head straight to bed. Your mind might be buzzing, but you’ll have to use various sleep-inducing methods to help combat that.
Take it easy
It might sound obvious just to take it easy the first few days you’re there, but it’s essential to allow your body to adjust as much as you can. If you’re sleep deprived of jet lag, then you’re going to have to watch you’re not overdoing anything. Take it easy.
There is no single way of combating jet lag, mainly because everyone’s bodies are different. These tips will help you tackle it both before and after your journey, as you’ll have to think about it on your return trip too.
