Staying Healthy Throughout Winter

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is truly the holiday season. The season of giving, and being merry, and spending time with the people you love. It is also the season of eating, whether it be holiday baking, Christmas/Hanuka/New Years parties, or just making nice dinners with friends and family. As wonderful as all of this is, I am a firm believer that it's important to remain active throughout the cold seasons when you most likely would rather stay inside curled up with a blanket than brave the cold and go for a run or head to the gym. But however hard it may be to get motivated to exercise, it is doable and absolutely worth it. Don't wait until until New Years to make a resolution to get back into shape; start now: there's no time like the present!

Exercising will give you more energy and enhance your appreciation for all the holiday treats, since you can indulge without feeling guilty. With that said, I know that it can be hard to remain enthusiastic; it's something I struggle with every year. I have come up with some little ways that have been helping me stay more motivated, so I thought I would share my tips for remaining healthy and active throughout winter.

1. Have an allotted time for exercising. I go to the gym directly after school (without going home first!) 2-3 times a week. Although I am often tired after a long day at school, the gym actually helps invigorate me; not only it my body producing endorphins but it can be a stress reliever to break a sweat. Additionally, when I go home after finishing up at the gym I feel more accomplished, and a shower always feels wonderful. Going to the gym directly after class or work will insure that you don't just continually put it off, which is typically my biggest problem during the cold winter months. If you have the time, working out in the morning can also be a great strategy because you get it done right off the bat, and can start your day already feeling good.

2. Switch up you exercise routine. During the months of warmer weather, I do a fair bit of running, but between it being cold and getting dark earlier and earlier, outdoor runs often do not sound good. If you're similar, don't force yourself to do something you don't like. This will just create negative associations with exercise. Instead, think outside the box and come up some different ways to remain active. For me, rather than falling back on running for my day to day exercise, I start doing a lot more yoga. Signing up for classes is great, because it's not only fun, but also provides a set time for exercise. If you're wanting something with more cardio than yoga, I definitely recommend trying out spinning and kickboxing! I also love hiking for the winter. Although typically an activity for warmer weather, it's still fun when it's cold, a great workout, and an easy way to be social (that doesn't involve food :P ).

3.  A little is better than none. The holidays are often a very busy time of year, and as wonderful as that can be, it can lead to exercise being put on the back burner. If a gym trip typically takes you about an hour, and you only have 20 minutes it can be easy to blow off exercising. But 20 minutes can be plenty of time to get in a minimal workout. When I don't have a lot of time, I love going for short runs where I really push myself as hard as I can or look up workouts on YouTube. A channel on YouTube which I often turn to is XHIT Daily (here), because their videos will target different muscle groups and are normally only between 5-15 minutes. If I have more time, I will go through the video three times, so it's as if I am doing 3 sets of a circuit. Only doing 10 minutes of exercise on a given day may not seem like it would really have an impact, but over the course of a couple weeks, those singular 10 minute sessions will add up.

4. Stay balanced. I have always thought it's not good to restrict yourself with food, but during the holidays this is especially prevalent because you don't want to feel like you're missing out of the fun of holiday baking or whatever other food-related activities there are. It may seem like it would be hard to remain healthy while keeping this mindset, but it's actually quite easy. My strategy is to be pretty healthy and mindful for everyday eating, but then enjoy when there's something special for the holidays. For example, on Thanksgiving I knew there would be lots of wonderful food (turkey, mashed potatoes, fresh baked rolls, and of course lots of pie), so that morning I stuck with just a big green smoothie for breakfast. On a more day to day basis, on week mornings I love having either a big smoothie or eggs with avocado toast and then try to keep my lunches high with fruits and vegetables. Then I won't feel guilty about having a nice dinner with my family or having some Christmas cookies with my tea in the evening.

5. The holidays are a time full of happiness... so always remember that it's OK to just enjoy yourself. This is a post about being healthy, so this may seem somewhat contradictory, but my philosophy is that part of being healthy is knowing and accepting that you don't always have to keep a strict and wholesome diet. Fruits and veggies may be good for the body, but cream, butter, and chocolate (in moderation, of course) are good for the soul! Because I am quite conscious of my weight, I constantly have to remind myself that I should not be stressed about food, but instead practice moderation and mindful eating. I try to keep in mind that food is something to be enjoyed and to bring people together, so be thankful for it.

These tips are quite straightforward, but I hope that they will be beneficial to you during the holiday season.

xx

Erin