I recently had this published in the Marlborough Magazine. I hope my tips help keep you on track this winter!

Winter brings the cold, illness, the blues, and isolation. We tend to eat more and exercise less. We use winter as a reason to overindulge in winter comforts, too much chocolate, too many roast potatoes etc. There is the ability to cover up more of your body with a baggy top, the avoidance of the mirror and then before you know it, it is spring and you decide that it’s time to sort your summer body! If this seems like a familiar scenario to you, then why not challenge yourself this year to break the cycle. As the saying goes summer bodies are made in winter! There’s no better time to get started than now.

My top fitness and health tips for winter:

  • Avoid Baggy Clothing. There’s a subconscious association between baggy clothes and lounging. Stop using your baggy clothes as a way to hide.
  • Set The Scene For Your Day. What is your morning routine? For some it may be making your bed, having a cup of coffee, a healthy breakfast, exercise, meditation, taking a moment to be grateful.  Find the ‘thing’ that helps you set the scene for a great day, that thing that when it’s done everything else just falls into place.
  • Move Your Body. Motivation gets you started and habit is what keeps you going. Aim to do something daily. Choose a small goal, it might be just 5 minutes a day, then a few weeks down the track you extend it to 10 minutes etc… Even if you feel like you can’t you can. No one ever regretted a workout afterward.
  • Plan And Prepare Your Exercise And Make It Happen! No excuses…rain or shine. If you’re exercising before work, layout exercise clothes and shoes the night before, pack your work bag, and plan both your outfit for the day, and your post-work-out breakfast. If you’re exercising after work don’t dare even sit on your sofa until after you’ve completed your workout. Change from your work clothes directly into workout wear — skip the pj’s! — do whatever it takes, use the power of your will, tell your mind and all of its excuses to “SHUT UP!” and get moving.
  • Sign Up To A Fitness Class. Winter is the perfect time to draw motivation from a group and an extra push from a trainer. If fear holds you back from joining a class remember ‘Great Things Never Came From Comfort Zones”. Read ‘Feel the Fear & Do It Anyway’ by Susan Jeffers and then sign up to a fitness class or make an appointment with a personal trainer.
  • Stop using time as an excuse!, All my classes are 30 minutes long. Who doesn’t have 30 minutes for their health and well being? As the saying goes “those who don’t find time for exercise will have to find time for illness”. So make the time and get moving, your mind and body will thank you!