Challenge (Week 10): Be outside for a total of 1.5 hours per day during sunlight hours. Baseline Goal: 6 of 7 Days.
Working in an office, it can be difficult to spend much time outdoors. However, with the wide-range of benefits sunlight offers, it’s worth making an effort to get some sun (with proper precautions).
Benefits of Sunlight
- Vitamin D Production – Skin exposure to UVB rays will cause your body to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D is very important and is hard to obtain from diet alone without supplementation. Vitamin D benefits your immune system, keeps bones strong, and aids your mental health. According to skincancer.org, around 10 to 15 minutes of unprotected exposure on your arms, legs, and abdomen 2–3 times per week will give you sufficient vitamin D levels. However, even this amount of unprotected time in the sun could lead to skin damage or skin cancer. (see the Sun Safety portion below)
- Increase Energy – Bright sunlight is a signal to your brain that it should be alert and active and will give you a boost of energy.
- Better Sleep – Getting sun in the morning helps to keep your circadian rhythm… in rhythm. It’ll signal your brain to stop producing melatonin, and the absence of sunlight (or artificial blue light) in the evening will signal to your brain that it’s time to sleep.
- Relieve Depression – The sun can boost your mood and trigger vitamin D production (sometimes called the Happiness Vitamin). This is why many people get Seasonal Effective Disorder in the winter, when sunlight is scarcer.
How to Spend More Time Outdoors
Here are a few ideas for spending more time outdoors and getting some sun exposure.
- Invest in a Comfortable Patio Setup – If you have a backyard, make it as comfortable as possible, so you’ll actually want to spend time outdoors. Consider making an addition like a pool or a hammock in a shady spot.
- Take a Trip – Travel to someplace new and walk around outside in the town, or in nature (depending on where you go).
- Go to a Park – Pack a lunch and plan to make a day of it. Or you could go walking in a park during your lunch break.
- Attend an Outdoor Event – Visit an event listing site and search for events that take place outdoors, like a farmer’s market or a concert.
- Do Some Gardening – Even if you live in the desert, you can still have a green thumb and plant some plants that will do well in your area.
- Exercise Outdoors – Go for a jog or use the exercise equipment found at some parks. Make sure when you exercise outdoors in the summer that you stay properly hydrated. Water is good, but if you’re sweating, you may need some kind of Gatorade type drink that contains electrolytes.
Sun Safety
We’re encouraging you to be outdoors more, but be smart about your sun exposure. The sun gives off two types of UV rays, UVA and UVB. UVA rays are responsible for aging your skin and UVB is responsible for burning your skin.
Make sure you’re wearing a full-spectrum sunscreen (that blocks UVA & UVB rays) of SPF 15 or greater. SPF 15 sunscreen blocks 92.5% of UVB rays, and SPF 30 blocks 97%. Wearing SPF 30 for 30 minutes would give you as much sun exposure as being outdoors unprotected for 1 minute. While sunscreen over SPF 60 will give you more UVB protection, it can actually have less UVA protection. By wearing sunscreen, you’ll still be receiving some vitamin D producing benefits of UVB without all the burning.
Other good tools for sun protection are sunglasses, wide brimmed hats, loose-fitting long-sleeved shirts, or simply staying in the shade.
