If the cooler temperatures and dwindling hours of natural daylight put your health habits (and your mood) into a funk every year, it’s time to put the brakes on that cycle. Every season has its purpose and there are ways to get the most out of all of them — including winter! Read on for my top 5 cold weather health habits that will leave you feeling centered, refreshed, and in control of your best health, all year long.
Eat Healing Foods
Even though your taste buds might be craving heavy comfort foods, your body still wants the good stuff you likely fed it during the summer. And while some foods will be hard to find depending on where you are in the world, you can probably still get your hands on frozen varieties of the fresh fruits and veggies you love.
Go for organic whenever you can, and fill your diet with plenty of greens. Mix Mother Earth’s bounty into salads, smoothies, quinoa, and even dessert batter. You can even feed your cells with a healthy and clean protein source like Collagen Peptides. Just add a scoop to most any food or drink — the flavorless addition dissolves easily and is great for your hair, skin, and nails. It even supports a healthy gut environment, which can then support a healthy immune response.
Move Your Body
It’s easy to lose motivation when it’s dark and gloomy, but it’s important to move your body all year long — and especially in winter!
Movement encourages your cells to zoom to life and clears the cobwebs from your soul… and that’s exactly what you need when all you feel like doing is cocooning on your couch. Your body was made to move, after all.
My advice? Layer up and, as long as it’s not icy out, head outside for a brisk walk and some fresh air. Getting out into nature can help you feel grounded and reset your mood. If the weather is too inclement, have an indoor dance party, jog in place, do a stretching series, or participate in a mini-challenge to fire up your cells and get your blood flowing. You can find lots of free workouts and mini-challenges on my YouTube channel, or you can get risk-free access to full-length workouts for all fitness levels by joining my exclusive online membership, Fit Rise 365.
Rest and Restore
As much as I encouraged you to move in the section above, I’m also encouraging you to honor your body with rest. I believe rest can be productive and potent, but I’m not talking about vegging out in front of the TV for hours on end. The rest I’m talking about is good, deep restorative sleep and taking time to quiet your mind.
Winter is a great time to establish an evening routine or a bedtime ritual. You can wind down with a warm drink like Superfood Hot Chocolate or Lavender Cacao Golden Drink while you make a gratitude list or journal about your day. You can add your favorite calming essential oil to a warm bath and take some time to breathe in calmness before hitting the hay.
You can also quiet your mind and restore yourself through meditation, which doesn’t have to be done in complete silence while sitting on a pillow. Here are 7 ways to incorporate meditation into your day.
Find A Supportive Sisterhood
Since cold-weather season can have you hiding out in your home, you may feel lonely and disconnected from people with your same health goals. But finding supportive friends who value healthy living and who are going through the same challenges and triumphs you are can be exactly what you need to stay on track and step into the best health of your life.
Do you have a friend you can walk or do yoga with? Does your neighbor have a dog that loves extra walks? Can you create a weekly Zoom dance party for your friends and relatives? These are just a few ideas, but turning to the internet is the perfect option for many, since you have the time freedom to hop in and out whenever you’d like and whenever you may need support.
My Fit Rise 365 membership offers a fun, supportive, safe space for people all over the world to come together and lift each other up as you step into vibrant health. The membership portal includes hundreds of recipes, workouts, and meditations so you’re touching all 3 pillars of great health — healing foods, healing movement, and a healing mindset — and the private Facebook group is a bustling community of unending love and support. This sisterhood may be exactly what you’re looking for. Learn more about Fit Rise 365 here and see if it’s right for you.
Just Say Yes… To Yourself
During the winter we may find ourselves in a rut of believing we’re not worthy of vitality, incredible health, or even general success. We think it’s a season of being sedentary and just accepting what is, so we sabotage our joy by telling ourselves that we can’t have the things our minds and bodies know we need.
I invite you to break those binding thoughts by saying YES! Say yes to great health. Say yes to foods that make you feel alive. Say yes to moving your body. Say yes to a supportive sisterhood that lifts you up when you need it most. Say YES to stepping into your greatest life because you feel AMAZING and like you can achieve anything at all.
Just say yes to YOU! That’s a decision you’ll never regret.
You may also be interested in:
5 Reasons We Gain Winter Weight
Don't Fear the Cold Weather- Shivering is Good for You!
4 Tips To Stay Slim During The Colder Months
