Be a Winter Champion With These Winter Health Tips

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Winter Health Tips – Let’s Go

There it is… a glorious tray of glittering sugar cookies. The snow is falling, the chill is settling in and all that’s left to do is bundle up with a warm blanket, a hot cup of cocoa, and a cookie too good to share. Mmmm. Winter hibernation… Wait, stop! It’s time to be a winter champion with these winter health tips!

Battle winter with these winter health tips

Cuddled up for winter?

There are those of us out there who live for this moment, an excuse for a sedentary life. It’s cold. It’s winter.

Why move from the comfort of your beautiful couch beneath a cozy blanket, from the luxurious softness emanating from that favorite pair of leggings?

Be a Winter Champion With These Winter Health TipsThough there is a comfort that comes from a still life while the world surrounding moves in a cooled fury, staying still for too long has its own dangers. Just as certain foods should be enjoyed in moderation, winter needs its own set of loose guidelines in order to maintain your active and vivacious luster that moves through the other seasons.

To become a champion of winter and maintain a healthy lifestyle so easily put aside with the sweeping cold, try a few of these essential winter health tips.

Learn How to Layer

When we’re cold, we tend to close in our bodies, disappearing beneath a chilled structure in need of reaffirming warmth.

Though this closeness feels as though it’s helping the chill disappear, it’s actually stiffening limbs, leaving the body fatigued and more prone to accidents. Instead of combating your winter posture, layer up to keep your body warmed and ready to move.

Consider purchasing long underwear to act as a blank canvas for your daily outfit. Look for a coat that is built to withstand the coldest temperatures in your area.

Wear wool socks to keep your feet warm, and build up your collection of hats. Gloves will protect your hands from cracked skin.

Get Moving

With an abundance of winter activities available, there’s no reason to plop down with a plate of cookies and never move again. Get bundled up and head outdoors to try a few of these fun exercises:

  • Build a snowman
  • Have a snowball fight
  • Go ice skating
  • Hit the ski slopes
  • Shovel the driveway
  • Go winter camping

There are plenty of ways to get moving in winter — without the cost of a gym. Whether on the slopes, on the road, or in your own home, staying active will boost your energy, your endorphins (the “happy” hormone) and give you a chance to share a cool experience with those closest to you.

Battle Seasonal Blues

Winter and the lack of sunlight can bring on some serious blues. All this can come to a head when the holidays slow and the grey skies seem permanently affixed to the ceiling. Seasonal anxiety is common amongst a whopping nine million people, so if you’re starting to feel a little down in the dumps, know you aren’t alone.

Stress can lead to a number of problems, including bruxism – or teeth grinding, headaches, sore muscles, and a depressive mood.

Rather than bury your mood under the heaviness of snow, shovel it away with a few stress-reducing tactics:

  • Exercise. Remember that “happy hormone?” Exercise helps your body produce endorphins, giving you an instant lift.
  • Get Creative. Whether through journaling, painting, or a pottery class, hands-on activities and expressing yourself creatively can help you deal with stress in a healthy way.
  • Rest. Just as you should move, you should also relax. Your body tires easily in the cold. Let it rest and rejuvenate through sleep, a good book, or a deep-tissue massage.

Find Healthy Comforts

Winter brings with it a growing list of comforts, many of them full of flour, sugar, and heavy cream. And while delicious in their own right, sticking to a healthy lifestyle becomes a little more difficult with the availability of winter comfort foods.

But your desire for comfort doesn’t need to be at odds with your healthy lifestyle. Seek out lighter versions of your favorite recipes, so you can have your cake and eat it too.

If you find that your hand is quicker to hit the sweets, consider stocking your purse or drawers at work with healthy, ready-to-go snacks. Nuts and dried fruit can satisfy your afternoon sweet-and-salty craving.

Hot tea and water with lemon can warm you without the calories or bloat of a heavy latte.

Don’t Hold the Phone

Or the TV remote… Or the Kindle… Or the iPad… Take advantage of the snow days by living in the moment. Grab a book, play a game, make an indoor fort and ban technology for a while. There will be days where the streets are covered with snow, and no one will be going to work or school.

Those days are a gift: one to help you disconnect from the outside and reconnect to those insides. Take advantage of that precious time… that’s one of the ultimate winter health tips!

Wrap-Up

Becoming a champion of winter means that you simply adapt your healthy lifestyle for the cooler months.

All of the normal rules apply: stay active, wear clothing appropriate to your situation to prevent injury and help with ease of movement, feed your mind and fuel your body.

Winter only lasts for a short time, so make the most of it.

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