Latest / Fit for Hiking / Ep. 79 10 Tips for Staying Active + Motivated this Winter
Transcript
- Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a longtime fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. And combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for Hiking podcast. This is your host, Brady, and today we're going to be getting into ten tips for staying motivated and active in the winter. So if you are like me and you live somewhere where winter takes up a good portion of the year, I'm talking like half of the calendar. You know what it's like to kind of be in a winter slump. I'm sure it's very, very common to kind of fall victim to the lack of motivation that can come with the with the early, um, sunsets and the colder weather and the crazy snowstorms that will derail your Plans. Um, and it's just harder to stay motivated and stay active in the winter, typically. Um, even if you live somewhere where you only have maybe 3 or 4 months of that, it's still very real. And there's a reason why there's a thing called seasonal affective disorder, where you tend to struggle with depression in the winter. It's just a little bit less motivating than when we have tons and tons of hours of daylight and the sun is out. It feels so nice. You can go for walks, you can go hang out at patios and things like that, right? Winter's just a little bit harder. So as we are getting into the winter months and we have quite a bit of this ahead of us, I thought, let's talk about ways that we can stay motivated and active to avoid that winter slump, to avoid getting into a negative headspace, which is it's just so easy to slip into it if we're not being proactive about supporting our mindset and supporting our physical and mental health throughout the winter. Okay, so let's talk about ten ways that we can achieve this. Number one is ultimately not to rely on motivation. I know it's kind of backwards because we're talking about how to stay motivated, but ultimately. Being motivated is not the best way to go about this, because no one feels motivated. Every day, every week, every month. There's going to be a lot of days this winter that you're just not going to be motivated. No matter how prepared you go into this season, no matter how hard you try, you're not going to feel motivated all the time. Even people who have been exercising their entire lives don't feel motivated to to do that every single day, or have been playing an instrument or a sport their entire lives. Don't feel motivated to practice every day. Okay? So rather, we really need to focus on putting disciplines and practices in place that we can lean on in order to stay consistent. When we don't feel motivated, when we don't feel like it. Because naturally, winter is just a less motivating time due to everything we chatted about before with the lack of sunlight, the temperatures, the crazy unpredictable weather, and oftentimes there's just less available for us to do outdoors. And when we're getting less sunlight, it affects our mental health. We just don't feel as motivated. So if in the past you've become kind of a bit of a hermit because you're not super motivated in the winter, I really encourage you to use this winter to start implementing new disciplines that keep you active even on the shortest, coldest days. So instead of just relying on feeling motivated and kind of letting that feeling come and go and going with the flow on that really go against the motivational flow and put practices into your life that you can keep up with no matter how you feel. Yes, it's going to be harder on the days that it's two degrees out and windy and you don't feel like going to the gym, or you don't feel like doing that thing you told yourself you were going to do, or it's pitch black out and you don't want to wake up early and go about your morning routine. However, that's why we're not relying on how we feel. We're relying on what we know ultimately make us feel better afterward. Okay, so think about when you're coming up with these practices for yourself. What are the things that ultimately will help me feel like a better version of myself by the end of the day? The end of the week, end of the month, end of the winter, right? Because we're always going to be a product of our choices. So whether that's positive choices, negative choices, or just kind of be neutral and letting things happen to us and. Just making unconscious decisions, right? We're just not even thinking about it. We're just kind of letting it happen. All of those three decisions are are going to direct how we feel at the end of our winter season. Okay. So think about how do you want to feel and how do you want to be. Who do you want to be at the end of winter when April may come around? Do you want to feel like a person who has grown, who has stayed in shape, who has put work in to stay mentally healthy? Someone who's put work into their relationships to stay social and integrated into what you enjoy in life? Or do you want to feel like you kind of just sat on the couch and watch Netflix all winter, and it was completely non eventful, and you feel like you're starting from scratch with your health and you just like kind of went with how you felt all winter long, right? So think about the fact that every decision you make, every habit, every choice is going to be leading you down a certain path whether you want it to or not. And we really have to decide what's the outcome I want, and what are the practices that are going to get me to that outcome, and then start doing them and being consistent. Okay, so that is number one. Maybe the most important if we are really looking at like the mindset component which shapes the rest of this. Number two is to make indoor workouts a practice in your life. Um, you know, if you're someone who doesn't really like to exercise indoors, but you live somewhere where winter is a thing and you can't really be outdoors, I'm going to need to challenge you to put the effort in here because. It's. It's just that important for your overall health. So here are some things that exercise has been proven to do. Based on all of these different studies of the benefits of exercise, it's been proven to alleviate depression symptoms, improve overall mood and mental health, reduce stress, improve sleep, improve coping skills, lessen anger, and just give us an overall health healthier body and mind. Okay, so there's some pretty dang good reasons to not just say, well, I'm just a seasonal person. I'll get back at my active lifestyle once the snow thaws. Really make it a priority. And this might mean that you need to invest in a gym membership or a set of adjustable dumbbells. But really, there's no excuse. If you want it, you have to work for it. This could even just be body weight workouts that you're finding on YouTube, right? Something to get you moving and make it a priority to do that a few times a week. Um, it's just worth putting effort in in this category for all of the mental and physical benefits. Even if you're someone who typically gravitates towards just like the outdoor activities or hiking or walking outside. Number three is to find ways to get steps in. Whether it's a chilly outdoor walk, you just have to kind of bundle up for it. Snowshoeing, a walking pad, a treadmill, or even YouTube walking workouts. Okay, so if you're someone who like really, really benefits from getting outside and you know that you're not going to have the same benefits if you're on a treadmill or a walking pad, then you're going to have to get in the practice of bundling up and finding ways to motivate yourself to do that, finding the times of days that work for you, and the gear that works for you so you can still make that happen. Um, there's also, depending on where you live, you can find some beautiful snowshoeing type of paths. Um, or just put some spikes on your shoes so you can really also kind of feel like you're getting this nice outdoor experience to lower stress and to get all of the mental health benefits of that as well. Um, if you are someone who doesn't mind doing these things indoors, walking paths and treadmills are great options. So if you want something for at home, a walking pad is great because you can do it from a standing desk. You can read a book, you can listen to a podcast or an audiobook. You can watch TV depending on where you set it up. Um, so that is a really great option if you want to just get more steps in into your day today without it feeling like this ordeal where you have to go for a walk or go to the gym. Um, if you have treadmills at the gym that you go to, that's a great way to get your steps into. You're going to end up spending more time at the gym. But again, it's just kind of a necessary sacrifice in the winter if you don't want to be completely sedentary, being sedentary is going to kind of create a whole ripple effect of negative effects in our life where we're not going to feel our best mentally and physically. So you have to look at the trade off there and find ways to make it fun for yourself. You know, for me, I really do well with like audiobooks or even bringing my Kindle to the cardio machines and whether I'm walking, incline walking, doing elliptical, whatever it is. I like having something that is not just music that takes my mind to another place, and I just get in the zone and get it done. So find what that is for you, and it's going to make this winter a whole lot more manageable. The last one I had mentioned was YouTube walking workouts. If you're like, what the heck is that? You can look up walking quote unquote workouts on YouTube. So essentially type in. 5000 step workout or 10,000 step workout, or whatever it is that you have the time for. And there are routines that don't really feel much like a workout. You're not going to be doing formal cardio, you're not going to be jumping around a ton, but they will get you moving in a pattern that is a little bit more exciting than just marching in place. So that's something that you can do really from anywhere and does not require any equipment. Right? All you have to do is have a laptop or a phone that you can look this up on. So this is something that I've relied on during really crazy winter months, when I don't feel like doing my walking pad or I'm like, I just don't want to walk. That sounds so boring, or I don't feel like going to the gym because it's blizzard ING outside. So it just gives you another alternative for getting your movement in in a way that's not going to feel like a workout, but you're still getting up off of the couch and kind of breaking that pattern of being sedentary in the winter. All right. Number four is to keep up healthy morning and evening routines. This is going to really help promote clear and positive mental state, healthy routines, quality sleep and productivity during your waking hours. If we just kind of let all of this fall by the wayside because it's darker, Longer or darker earlier, or we just kind of feel like saying screw it and letting go of all of those. That's going to affect so many other areas of your everyday life. And if this isn't something that you've ever spent the time to do, I really, really would encourage you to start keeping track of what your mornings look like. And are you happy with that? Or maybe it's evening, maybe you get really crappy sleep and you're up really late, or you're just not getting good sleep quality. Look at your evening routine. What is it entail? What could you do differently? Um, and then you can check out my episode all about circadian rhythms and having those, um, routines in place for your morning and evening, and the benefits of those for regulating your circadian rhythm. Um, that might be helpful if you just want some ideas of where to start with that. Um, but keep those morning routines, evening routines alive during the winter, even though things are becoming a little less motivating, a little more dark, a little more cold, you're going to feel better throughout the duration of your day. You're going to feel more productive. You're going to have better clarity mentally and physically. You're going to feel better, too, if you don't just let those drop by the wayside. All right. Our next one is don't let the holidays become a giant binge fest for a month plus. This might sound silly, but this is honestly how a lot of people approach the holidays is. We just let basically the week before Thanksgiving through the first week of January, become this time to just say, screw it, and there's no rules, and I'm going to drink tons of alcohol and say yes to every treat that's offered to me. And I have so many social events, so it's not even worth trying. Um, so I'll just wait till January 1st or this arbitrary time in the future. Spoiler alert things don't magically become easier because the calendar says January 1st. So if you're waiting until January 1st to put things in motion, you're going to find that it's just as hard then as it is now, but you're going to feel a lot worse for putting it off. Um, so I really encourage you not to treat the holidays like a free for all. Instead, go to my episode 78 for tips on not derailing progress to the holidays. There are some really good, tangible tips on how you can approach the holidays mentally, and just basic action steps that will ensure that by the end of the holidays you don't feel like crap. I'm literally starting from square one because I just ate and drank everything I wanted for the past two months, and now I feel like absolute garbage. Um, that is going to be a very valuable episode for you. If you are approaching the holidays and want to avoid just derailing things and taking on that all or nothing, just kind of saying screw it mindset, don't wait till January 1st. Please don't wait till next Monday. Don't wait till the first of the month. There's nothing special about waiting until a specific time. It sounds better in your brain. It sounds better in your mind to say, I'll just make a clean start then. But what happens is then we often get to that date and life is still happening. Things are not perfect. You still make mistakes. You're still a human. You still have all of the issues that you have now. And it doesn't happen right? When we're waiting for perfection, when we're waiting for this arbitrary, perfect time in the future to do something, to make a change, to implement a habit, we always are going to end up letting ourselves down. Okay? So just start now. Like listen to that episode 78 and start now. Okay. Number six, be more intentional with things that keep you from harmony. We're turning hermit being a hermit into a verb. Hermitian. Okay, so if you are someone who tends to hermit in the winter, you got to be intentional with this. Only you know that, like some people thrive in the winter, they love it. They go out and do all the outdoorsy things. But if you're someone who just really struggles with the cold and the like, seasonal depression and you tend to hermit, I want you to think about what you can start planning that will get you out of the house and keep you from harmony and hardcore. So plan at least one fun social event weekly. Get out for some sort of movement with friends, whether that's an outdoor activity, an indoor activity, a workout class, a coffee date, whatever it is, try to implement socializing with some movement. That's going to be the sweet spot for your mental health if you work from home. I feel like this also becomes even more important because you're not getting that social interaction and you're not leaving your home. And days can go by and you're like, haven't even left the house. So if you can look for some days in the week where you can work from public places, even just being around other people sometimes can be really beneficial for our mental health when we work from home in the winter. And another little tip here I love is to plan many adventures for your weekends. Yes, your weekdays might be kind of monotonous. By 430 it's pitch black out and the last thing you feel like doing is socializing, so you kind of just go through your routine during the week. But the way that you can really break this up and still create positivity for your mental health in the winter, and not just hermit, is to look for so many adventures that you can do on the weekend, meaning little things that are kind of outside the norm that get you out of the house, that get you out into nature, or doing things that you wouldn't normally do. And we'll talk a little bit more about what this can look like later. All right. Number seven is to try to find one outdoor activity that you can enjoy in the winter. Okay, so I totally get it. I am not a big winter girlie like a big outdoor winter girly. I love all the summer things. Fall things. Winter and spring in Colorado are harder for me. I really have to push myself to enjoy the outdoors in the winter because I'm not a big skier. Um, I do it, but I don't. I wouldn't say that it is my passion like it is for so many people. So for you, this could be like skiing or snowboarding, if that's. If you just love the traditional winter sports, you live somewhere where you can do that. Cross-country skiing is another great alternative if you don't love downhill skiing. I experimented with this last winter and really enjoyed it as an alternative, and it was something that we could even do with our daughter because we could pull her behind us. Um, so that is another great option if you have little kids or you don't love downhill skiing, but you want to get out into nature and get active, it's a really great workout to snowshoeing, I love it. This is kind of a step down from cross-country skiing. A little bit easier, a little more accessible. Um, pretty much most places where you could hike, you can go snowshoeing. Um, so this is a great option. And you just click that snowshoes on to your snow boots so it's not too big an investment. You can even just rent the stuff like you can with with skiing or snowboarding. Um, if you want to kind of see how you like it. Um, ice skating is another one. So depending on where you live and what's available to you, look for some sort of outdoor active thing that you can be doing even if it's once a month. Um, if that's just totally not an option for you, look for some indoor activities, things like pickleball, racquetball, workout classes, indoor cycling, rock climbing, things that are still going to get you some endorphins going aren't really feeling like formal exercise, but you're still going to be social and you're still getting your body moving. Okay, so those are just some ideas to get you going. And so you can start to think through, what can I actually do this winter that I will enjoy. All right. Our next one number eight is to consider reading some personal development books or listening to personal development podcasts, even just a few days a week, to really keep your headspace positive and growth oriented. Right. What we're putting in our heads is going to really, really affect our mindset, our attitude, how we speak, how we act, our daily habits. Um, so it's really important that especially during these times when maybe our mental health tends to be a little bit down, that we're supporting our mental health in a positive way. So this could be personal development, this could be more on the spiritual side. Um, this could be meditating, praying, spending time in the Bible, um, spending time in a church community, whatever it is that's going to really promote a positive headspace for you where you're still focusing on your growth and you're still focusing on having a good attitude and, and headspace through the winter. Right. Um, right now, our Mountain Metabolic clients are reading the book called The Compound Effect. And we're a couple chapters in and we do kind of like a book club call. Every few weeks to talk about this. And for me, this has been really inspiring to kind of prompt me to examine my daily behaviors and habits, even kind of the more unconscious things and things that I don't even think are that significant. But when you add them up over time, they make a massive difference in the trajectory of your life. So finding something like that, I feel like this is going to be really helpful for me in the winter, because I do tend to feel less motivated, less of like being a go getter in the winter. So I'm excited to be reading this book during the season. Finding something like that where you just even read a chapter a week, slowly, maybe a little bit every morning you're discussing it with people, join a book club, you maybe have an accountability group in a certain area, but still focusing on an aspect of your personal development is going to kind of give you that sense of purpose and help you feel excited to wake up in the morning with a positive attitude. Right attitude matters so much, especially in the winter. Um, number nine research fun seasonal activities near you. And this kind of goes along with the not Hermitian thing. Um, but it's so important. So look for ways to break up the monotony of winter, especially if you do live somewhere where you experience really long winters. You're going to have to take a proactive approach with this and really start planning and looking into what are some unique experiences and activities near me that I can look forward to, that I can plan with my family. Um, there's so much stuff out there now, like around the holidays, even after the holidays. Just unique, fun things that kind of go along with each season, each upcoming holiday. Um, especially if you live near kind of like a trendy city or a fun mountain town, there's going to be events and things that you can look into, um, local plays, things that restaurants are putting on. A lot of restaurants do really cool pop ups. Um, like in Colorado, we have sleigh rides in mountain towns around the holidays that are so cool, or train rides that are themed, things like that, even if it's just going to a play or a movie or a musical or something different that's seasonal and that you can kind of make a tradition going ice skating, going to Disney on ice, whatever it looks like for you and your family. Look for some fun things that you guys can look forward to, because it's not realistic that we're going to be able to plan a really cool vacation every single winter to break up the monotony of winter. So you kind of have to look for little things to look forward to. Um, and that requires just being a little bit more proactive. All right. Our last one, number ten, is to have a goal for the spring or summer that keeps you motivated and moving. So I have found that this really, really helps me. And obviously I am a hiker. That's a big part of what we talk about on this podcast and what I share on my, um, personal page. Ponytail on a trail. So hiking is a big one for me because I don't want to feel like I'm starting from scratch once hiking season arrives, because it's kind of fleeting and I want to make the most of it. So I don't want to feel like I'm I'm having to get back in shape really quick right before I start hiking. Instead, I like to stay as active as I can and kind of train for hiking during the off season. So whether you have like one big bucket list hike that you're training for, or you just want to be able to say yes to every random adventure that comes your way, starting in, you know, the month of May, this is something that you want to think about because this is the time to do it right. It's going to sneak up on you. So maybe you're just like, okay, I'm going to commit to three days a week of doing training that really supports this activity that I want to do in the spring. Or I have this specific date that I'm going on this track or I have this trip. So I want to feel prepared for that backpacking trip. And you really put a plan in place or work with someone who can help you put a plan in place, like we do with Mountain Metabolic coaching, so that you feel really ready and prepared for that. And it doesn't just sneak up on you. Um, or maybe it's even just a trip that you want to feel your best for physically. Like body composition wise. You want to feel lean. You want to feel good having some sort of goal that comes in the spring or summer. It could be a half marathon or a fun race. I've done that to to kind of help me stay motivated to start running and getting outside in the spring, when normally I would not want to at all. Um, but if you have a race in June, right, you got to start getting out there. So give yourself something, plan it with friends, put it on the calendar, and let that kind of drive you to stay motivated, to keep moving throughout the winter. I really do think that that can help make a big difference mentally. Okay, so we have made it through our list of ten top tips for staying motivated and act and active all winter long. I hope that you find this helpful. I really, truly understand the struggle. You know, winters are really long. Here. We are in Colorado, at least in evergreen where I where I call home. We start getting snow in October and it will snow through May, sometimes beginning of June. So while we have some really nice sunny days between, it is definitely a long winter season and winter is historically not my favorite. I've had to really push myself to enjoy that. Some of those activities have a positive mindset in the winter. Stay motivated, look for the good, and and find ways to really enjoy myself. So I totally understand not being a winter person, but I hope that these tips that I have learned just through my own personal experience will be helpful for you. Um, also quick reminder these are the last few days of our Mountain Metabolic Coaching Black Friday deal. So if you're listening to this, take action super quick. You're going to want to click the link in our show notes. That will take you to the application. And we will quickly get on a call with you to kind of explain what our coaching looks like, see if you're a good, good fit for ask you some questions. And with this deal you get a month for free, which is awesome. Um, so if you're interested in that or just want to learn about the program in general, check that link in the show notes. You can also send us a message at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. If you have any questions about our coaching program, about working with a particular coach, um, about seeing if you're even a good fit for the program, we would love to chat with you there. Thank you so much for listening, and if you enjoy the show, it is really, really helpful for you to spread the word through sharing on your social media, telling friends, leaving a rating and review. Those are some of the top ways that you can help support the show. Um, this is totally just a labor of love. We don't receive any, you know, ads or funding for this right now, so any way that you can help keep the show going is really, really helpful. And we definitely appreciate it. So thank you so much for tuning in and I will chat with you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at Pony Tail on a trail.com. Happy and healthy trails.