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A Winter Workout The Healthy Way
6 Top Tips for Staying Healthy during The Cold Season
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Winter brings changes to nature, and also to your daily routines. Even though you’d rather snuggle up on the sofa drinking hot cocoa, that shouldn’t become a habit. Holidays are a great excuse to enjoy the treats and festive cuisine. .
Shorter daytime and cold can dissuade you from working out, but that only means you have to change the tactics. Instead of surrendering to the winter blues, keep your spirits high with new workout routines and healthy habits.
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Below are 6 tips to do just that!
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1. Pay attention to your food and beverage
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During winter, food becomes more attractive than before. One of the reasons for this is that the cold will make you spend more time indoors, with fewer activities.
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Being bored and inactive are a known causes why people put on extra weight. Even though this is all understandable, it’s not healthy.
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Practise eating only when you’re hungry. Also, eating healthy foods in winter is actually not that difficult.
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Although fresh veggies may cost more than during the summer months, you can still use frozen ones. Use healthy sweeteners instead of sugar and drink green tea which will help you with belly fat.
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Don’t forget to start with vitamins too or update your intake regime. The less time you spend being sick, the more you’ll spend exercising.
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2. Try to do some sort of sport
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Winter sports may not keep you active all the time but will bring some fun to your workout. Skiing is mostly reserved for those travelling to the mountain retreats on vacation. On the other hand, skating is not. An hour of skating burns 460 calories, and it’s also something you can do in company.
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Swimming is one of those sports you can do all year. If you swim faster, you can burn around 590 calories in one hour, while slower strokes will use up only 413. Another benefit of swimming is that it will keep your muscles in shape and enhance your stamina for other workouts.
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3. Join something new
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To keep your motivation and enthusiasm in check, join some team sports or group classes. This will keep you moving and help you meet new people with same goals as you.
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It can be whatever you want, from volleyball to an aerobics class. Even dodgeball or tennis are options, too. Participating in paid and regular activity is a great motivator to stay active during the winter.
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4. Set a goal
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Every good plan has goals. Besides being healthy, make it interesting and set a new goal. It can be to lose weight, get that six-pack you always wanted, or even challenge yourself to run 5k outside.
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These types of goals will keep you occupied during cold months and motivate you to achieve more.
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It’s important that you start realizing your goals bit by bit: set milestones necessary for their fulfillment. Doing so will make you more focused and you won’t tire quickly and give up.
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5. Exercise At Home
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The easiest way to exercise during winter is to do it at home. To keep motivated, pretend that you’re going to the gym. This means that you should put on the workout clothes and shoes, fill your water bottle and play some music.
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There are many options when it comes to exercising at home. You can download an app for the desired workout and keep track that way. Alternatively, you can try some home trainer videos, depending on what suits you best.
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Yoga is also a great way to be in shape during winter. Nowadays, there are more and more popular walk-at-home workouts which can save you money.
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6. Wear Several Layers Of Clothes
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If you decide to run outside, there are a few things you must do before you step out in the cold. First, dress appropriately. This means that you should wear layers which you can take off as your body temperature increases.
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However, it’s important not to over-bundle. You will sweat and the clothes will become damp. The more layers you have, the more wet clothing you’ll be wear. This can cause hypothermia or you can catch a cold.
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The best way to approach this to dress for a slightly higher temperature, for example for around 10 degrees warmer. When you start moving, your body temperature will rise and you’ll be able to bear the cold much better.
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Lastly
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Winter is just a season with a different landscape and not a good enough reason to quit on your exercise routine. If anything, staying healthy and in shape is more important during the winter since that’s the period when we tend to function more slowly.
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So don’t let that good workout over the year be for nothing. Continue walking the healthy path. Very soon, you won’t even see it as something you must do, but rather as a normal part of your life.
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Post by Nina Simons
simons.n.nina@gmail.com
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