How to Keep Yourself Motivated During the Winter Months
Whether your New Year’s resolutions were to lose some weight or to adopt a healthier lifestyle, nothing threatens our hard work quite like the cold winter weather does. Don’t allow the weather to get the better of you or derail your goals! Here are a few tips to keep yourself motivated during winter, or if you don’t particularly like the winter – just how to get through it!
- Embrace the winter
The winter is here and there is pretty much nothing we can do to change it, so instead of fighting it, embrace it! The winter months may hold some great opportunities for your exercise and diet programme. Healthy soups and herbal teas are great ways to keep your dietary plans on par. Do some effort to research indoor exercise facilities in your area or better yet, Google some fun home exercise regiments. Take a walk; the winter months make afternoon walks with pets more enjoyable, because the weather is not as hot as it would have been in the summer months.
- Get cozy and stay warm
Invest in a warm winter coat, some insulated winter shoes and a stylish beanie or hat. In doing so, you need not fear the treacherous weather, and regular socializing can still feature in your schedule.
- Go together
There is an African saying that goes: “If you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together”. You can apply this in your quest for winter motivation, too. Get an accountability partner – someone that you can share your goals with and the steps you plan to take to get there. They can form part of it or just be a system that checks up on you to make sure that you are still on track with your goals. It’s easy to say no to gym when it is just you, but when there is someone waiting for you at the gym, saying no becomes much more difficult!
- Getting the good stuff
Make sure you are still getting enough of the good stuff. The ‘good stuff’ I am referring to is all the things your body needs to stay happy, healthy and motivated. These things include drinking enough water, getting enough vitamins and minerals, getting enough sleep and keeping active – both physically and cognitively. Drinking enough water in the winter time may be very difficult because, well, water is cold! So here is a great tip: if you drink rooibos tea or herbal teas without milk and sugar, it is the same as drinking water! Include some of the other good stuff, too – make sure you get all your vitamins and minerals by eating a healthy diet, and keep your brain active by reading some new, interesting books or doing a brainteaser.
Don’t allow the winter months to get you down! Hope you have a great wintery day.
