Honeymoons are precious not only because its your first proper alone time as man and wife but because its your first real break away from the exhaustion of families, planning and the day to day humdrum that’s waiting for you when you get back.

So it goes without saying that you really want to make the most of it. Most of you will have booked exotic honeymoons half way around the world, where sunshine, powder white sand and crystal seas are going to be to waiting for you. But the one thing you won’t be expecting is the impact of jet lag.

A 12 hour flight to a desert island means you’ll be experiencing a two day travel hangover, and when you’ve only got a precious week to enjoy the beauty of your surroundings and each other, shaving two days off that time because you feel like hell, is guaranteed to give even the most enthusiastic bride, the wedding blues.

Preparation, preparation, preparation!

The key to beating jet lag is conquering the time zone. Crossing time zones really messes your body clock up, so give yourself a head start and wear two watches. Sounds silly, but if you can start adapting to the time zone of your destination before you get there then your brain won’t need as much time to adapt.

Your body clock can take 72 hours to adjust to the new time zone, so if you can get the sleeping and staying awake bit right in good old Blighty then by the time you land, you’ll be able to hit the sand running.

Get Some Sleep

• Never have you needed a bigger excuse for a lie in. But if you have problems nodding off, you need to increase your levels of Serotonin, which is a mood enhancing chemical in your brain. The more you have the more you’re likely to snooze. You can naturally raise these levels by eating foods which are high in Trypopan, an amino acid from which serotonin is made. If you’re feeling like you should have paid more attention in chemistry, fear not, its found naturally in foods such as chicken, tuna milk and yoghurt. So you have an even better incentive to lie in – you can eat more!
• You can also help your body to sleep by staying in what is referred to as “The Thermal Comfort Zone.” Now this isn’t a throwback to the electric blankets that your granny used in the 80’s, so leave the poor woman alone. All you need to do is make sure you’re body isn’t too hot or too cold. You’re more likely too sleep if you’re body is at the right temperature. Simple.
• Finally in this exercise of stating the obvious, it needs to be dark. If you have a habit of dimming the lights or nodding off with them on, then stop right now. You’re brain is programmed to associate light with the day, and unless you’re really lazy, that’s not the time you should be sleeping. So turn all the lights off, draw the curtains, and lie back and let your brain know its dark now, so it can do its job and produce melatonin, another chemical that’s essential in the fight against jet lag.

Wake Up!

• Okay we’ve just spent the best part of this feature helping you get to sleep, but now its time to rise and shine and stay that way. Whilst sleep is essential, so is staying alert at the right time of the day. It’s going to be hard resisting those heavy eyelids during your normal GMT night time. So this is when you need to turn on the lights, lamps, hell anything you can get your hands on to convince your brain it really is during the day.
• If staring into your torch is giving you a headache then exercise is another great way to stay awake. Get up, and go for a walk or do some brisk exercise for half an hour, this will help keep you going for a few hours longer.
• If at this point you’ve got a headache AND you’re feet hurt, then you might as well be cold too. Cold air can make you more alert and really wake the brain up. So get the windows open, turn up the air con or just have a plain and simple cold shower.
• Finally amuse your brain, it’s really important to keep it busy and stimulated. Don’t reach for the espresso just yet, as a bit of Brain Training or Ipod action will do the job. But if that fails then a cup of chai or coffee will keep your central nervous system ticking over.

So now you’ve retrained yourself to eat and sleep according to honeymoon time, all that remains is too enjoy the experience of a lifetime.