3 Ways to Have a Healthy Winter

‘Tis the season to stay inside, be inactive and eat comfort food accompanied by high calorie drinks. As tempting as this can be, avoiding this sluggish winter routine will keep you healthier and happier. That’s a genuine bet, because when your immune system is strong, you’re moving and managing your diet and health conditions, you will we can still have a restful but healthy winter season.

1. Try Seasonal Exercise

Staying active is hard, even for people who enjoy it. For those who of you who are not very active and struggle to incorporate exercise into your everyday routine, it can be even more daunting to think about a year membership at a gym or how to chip at your annual goal of getting fit. However, it can be a lot more manageable and enjoyable if you break it up into seasons. Tailoring your fitness lifestyle to each season takes a general goal like “losing weight” and makes it specific and more immediate. For example, you could join a running club in the spring, hike or swim in the summer, weight train in the fall and do hot yoga in the winter. Now that the days are shorter and darker, it can be harder to pull yourself out of bed in the morning. A spin class is a good option since many classes keep the lights off, so your tired eyes can comfortably ease into the day while your body is getting a good sweat. Each season’s weather, temperature, pace and schedule changes – so can your exercise.

2. Protect Your Immune System

To follow the train of thought of the first point, winter has its own health risks to watch out for. While you likely don’t need to worry about seasonal allergies like pollen or summer’s mosquitoes and heat stroke, you can take steps to protect yourself from common winter ailments such as cold, cough and flu. Wash your hands often, don’t share food and drinks, sleep, and drink lots of water and herbal tea. Increasing your intake of garlic, zinc, and vegetables will help keep your immune system strong. Keep your sugar to a minimum since it can lower immune function. Additionally, the foods and drinks that have high sugar content, such as wine, sauces, or dessert are probably not helpful for your weight, health conditions, medication or energy.

3. Daily Self-Care and Stress Management

If you live in a place that is colder and has less sunlight in the winter months, this will impact your mood, motivation and energy to a degree even if you do not have seasonal affective disorder (SAD). On top of that, there may be a mix of travel, family visits, holiday plans as well as weeks of low activity levels and staying indoors. Whatever elements may drain you or cause stress, it is very important to actively set aside regular time to rest or do things that are rejuvenating and make you happy. Ideas that you can try include meditation every morning, trading foot massages with your spouse in the evening while chatting and unwinding on the couch, or writing in a daily gratitude journal while listening to calming music. Meditation is a top recommendation for your stress management since it can help lower blood pressure as well.

We hope you are encouraged from these three tips to have a happier and healthier winter season!