With the arrival of colder temperatures, shorter days, and longer nights, we face challenges to both our physical and mental health that we don’t typically experience during the spring and summer. Many people wait until January to make lifestyle changes, hoping for a fresh start with the new year. However, many of these resolutions often fizzle out quicker than the celebratory fireworks and sparklers. Instead of cruising lazily through to the end of the year, hoping willfully to avoid SAD, winter illnesses, and holiday weight gain, why not start making small changes now?
Taking proactive steps to care for your body and mind during the winter can help you avoid the common seasonal pitfalls while setting you up to finish 2024 strong and giving you a head start on the new year without having to undo the damage of the past few months.
Below are four key strategies to help you stay healthy, maintain energy, and thrive through the winter months.
Boost Your Immune System
Winter brings with it an increased risk of colds, flu, and other illnesses, so it’s important to support your immune system. Regular exercise plays a big role, which we’ll cover below, but there are other key areas you can focus on, including sleep hygiene, nutrition, and supplements.
First, ensure you’re eating plenty of vegetables. Aim for at least five servings a day, as the vitamins and minerals found in vegetables are essential for maintaining good health. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins provide energy, but it’s the nutrients from vegetables that help keep your immune system strong.
During the winter months, these nutrients are particularly important to help you fight off bugs and illnesses. In addition to a healthy diet, consider taking a high-quality multivitamin and supplementing with vitamin D. During winter, our exposure to sunlight decreases, and with it, our natural production of vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin D are linked to S.A.D., low energy, weakened immunity, and a general feeling of winter blues. Supplementing can help maintain your mood, energy, and immune system during the darker months.
Stay Active
The cold weather can make it tempting to skip your usual workout routine and stay in bed. However, staying active is crucial if you want to keep your immune system functioning well and your mood stable throughout winter as well as helping combat the lethargy and low energy that often come with the colder months.
The biggest mistake people make with exercise is not doing it when they don’t fancy it, the people who succeed with exercise are those who still make it a priority even when their energy is low, and that includes throughout the colder months. Finding strategies to help you stay consistent with exercise will pay off in boosting your resilience, both physically and mentally.
Consider signing up for group fitness classes, joining an online workout program, or even hiring a personal trainer to keep you accountable. At the very least maybe look to arrange a weekly meet with friends to exercise together. Staying active in the winter needs to be just as high a priority as it is when you’re preparing for your summer holidays.
Get Outside
The combination of artificial light, low vitamin D, and being stuck inside all winter plays havoc with our health, immune system, and energy levels, so despite the miserable conditions it is essential we find time each day to get outside. Obviously this can be paired with exercise to get double the benefit, but even if it is not, we need to avoid the temptation to stay indoors when the weather turns. Getting outside and exposing ourselves to natural light as well as a fresh dose of air for the lungs will help keep us hardy and more resistant to bugs, as well as benefiting our sleep cycles and mood.
Preparation is key. Make sure you have warm clothing, waterproof gear, and sturdy footwear so that you’re ready to face the elements. Lunchtime is often the best opportunity to get outdoors, as it’s when daylight is most available. Taking even a short walk during your lunch break will not only boost your afternoon productivity but will also improve your mood and energy for the rest of the day.
Over time, you’ll notice improvements in your sleep, mental clarity, and overall winter well-being.
Sleep
No health routine is complete without addressing the importance of sleep, especially in winter. Adequate rest is critical for maintaining energy levels, boosting immunity, and supporting mental health. In fact, getting enough sleep may have a greater impact on your health than any other of the other factors combined.
Our sleep cycles are still tuned to a time before artificial light, so are primed when the sun goes down, not when the lights go out and whilst we can get away with a mild level of abuse to our sleep in the summer, it just doesn’t work in the winter. We need to ensure that we are in bed lights out at least 8 hours before we intend to wake up if you want to achieve the minimum of 7 hours
To achieve the best sleep possible we also need to ensure the basics in sleep hygiene are covered from a darkened room, to a wind down routines, no screens before bed, and no caffeine in the afternoon through to adequate activity levels in order to achieve the levels of tiredness we need for a good night sleep.
By focusing on these four areas, boosting your immune system, staying active, getting outside, and prioritizing sleep, you can set yourself up to thrive through the winter months. These strategies will not only help you stay healthy and energized but also give you a strong finish to 2024. Rather than waiting until January to make changes, start now and head into 2025 already feeling primed and ready for the challenges ahead.