It’s cold, it rains, the mornings are dark, the days are short, and the nights are long. Maintaining your health and wellness in the summer months is just that little bit easier, isn’t it?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is real, the lack of sunlight can affect our mental health as well as our physical wellbeing. We tend to eat more comforting food, and let’s not talk about the festive weight gain!
So, with all this in mind, let’s try to flip the script to overcome these winter challenges and turn those negatives into positive winter health and wellness attitudes and actions.
Winter Physical Fitness
When you leave and return in the dark, as is the usual case in the winter months, it can be a little harder to motivate yourself for outdoor exercise such as running or cycling. On top of that, you might not feel as safe as you would exercising in sunlight. The alternative is to try and fit your exercise into daylight hours, perhaps with a lunchtime walk or run, or to invest in a gym membership where you can make use of equipment at your own pace and intensity whilst all in a comfortable indoor environment. Long opening hours mean you can arrange your excise regime to fit with your schedule.
Whether you choose to workout indoors or outdoors, try to pick a time of day when you still have the energy and motivation to do a bit of cardio over sitting in front of the TV under a blanket. For me, this is always first thing in the morning, or it is not going to happen. If you have iron clad willpower and can find it in yourself to exercise in the evening – congratulations – what’s your secret?!
Hydration and Nutrition
We are all a bit more dehydrated in the winter due to the colder weather. Staying well hydrated is one of the key components of health. Our bodies are made up of 60% water and not taking on enough liquid will cause your energy levels and brain function to suffer – and we don’t want that! Sip continuously if you can, at least 2L a day, more if you are more active.
Our winter diets tend to be a little more ‘comforting’, shall we say – and who can blame us – whatever it takes to get through the cold and dark season. Well, although we might get a temporary good feeling from tasty calorie-dense foods, overall, it will make us feel tired, sluggish and low on energy.
There is no problem with the occasional treat, but make sure you keep your diet balanced and high in protein – and don’t forget the super healthy green stuff! It really does make you feel better. If you think I’m wrong, give it a try and tell me, how do you feel mentally and physically after eating different types of foods?
Be Treat-Wise
If eating a healthy diet is a challenge for you, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. As soon as you even hear the word ‘diet’, you will immediately want to eat all of the forbidden food. Instead, allow yourself to eat what you want, just try being more conscious about how what you consume affects you mentally and physically and take note – no pressure, you might be surprised! If you want to look into this further, have a look at the intuitive eating and Health at Every Size (HAES) movements.
Watch that alcohol, hot chocolate, and festive latte’s intake. I know they’re so tasty and they make us feel good but let me just tell you one thing – not everything is about calories but, there a lot of calories for basically ‘0’ nutritional value! Moderation, that’s all I’m saying (note to self – take own advice).
Don’t be Lonely this Winter
I know Covid has all our social lives in disorder and, thank goodness, at least (touch wood) the worst of the isolation is largely over for most of us. We are social beings, us humans, and social interaction and contact is an important part of maintaining our mental health. So, keep meeting with your family and friends (in line with the rules, of course). If you can’t physically see people, stay in touch on the phone and every other virtual face-to-face platform you can.
Loneliness kills – it’s a fact, so if you have the capacity to think of others or, even better, give your time to those at risk of loneliness and isolation that don’t have family, friends and social networks then give it. Millions say that they suffer from loneliness and isolation, particularly at this time of year; combine that with Covid and this becomes an even bigger social problem. Giving of yourself to help others has duel benefit, you will get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you helped and someone else will feel uplifted and less isolated. Spread the love!
If you want to help but are not sure how, there are many ways in which you can give back to help others and feel good about yourself. Check out: https://doit.life/ours to see where you might be able to help.
To summarise – keep moving your body, eat something nutritious, stay hydrated, be mindful of your indulgences and what motivates them, stay social and connected and give back if you can.
