Staying Healthy through the Winter Months

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When it comes to the winter months and the holidays, staying healthy gets harder for me.

As much as we all want to curl up under a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa, we need to remember that staying active will keep us healthy. This article explains the benefits physical activity.

Here are some tips that I try to follow to stay active and healthy through the winter months:

1. Have a plan: since my normal routine disappears over the holiday breaks from work, I try to plan my workouts in advance. I've posted about this before here and here. I will literally schedule my workouts on the calendar around all of our other obligations so that the family knows. Often times, I can get someone to join me and teach them the importance of staying active by showing them.

2. Check out your local gym/studio: many gyms/fitness studios offer holiday discounts on classes or packages. The fitness studio I use also offers classes at times that I usually can't attend, so I like to check out their monthly schedule and see when I can squeeze in a class. 

3. Set goals: pick goals that you know will benefit you based on your fitness level and the type of fitness you are focused on. If you are training for a race, make it a running goal (distance total or total number of runs to do). If you are just looking to burn calories make a goal for the number of workouts that you do or the amount of time you spend working out that can be squeezed in at any time. If you are trying to get to the gym more often, set a number as your goal.

4. Add a workout buddy: this does not have to mean that you workout together. It just means, pick someone that can hold you accountable and encourage you. Share your activities with each other through email or text messages. If you are on social media, share Instagram pictures or Facebook posts. I like to join challenges that offer a support group, like the Holiday Sweat Challenge. 

5. Pick a reward: this keeps me motivated, especially because I reward myself with new fitness gear. Think of something that you really want and use it to hold yourself accountable. Get other people involved in the reward so that it becomes a group effort (combine with "Add a workout buddy").

Hopefully if we all follow these tips (or at least some of them), we will find staying healthy throughout the winter months and all of the holidays to be much easier.

Feel free to leave a tip of your own in the comments!