It gets cold here.
Really cold.
Colder than most of you can imagine (except those of you in the northern parts of Michigan! You know.)
And it's long. Our furnace came on yesterday. We could have snow by Halloween. It doesn't leave until April.
I'm scared.
I don't drink as much water in winter--it's too cold.
I think eating salad is ridiculous--that's summer food. (And besides the price of summer salad veggies skyrockets. It's impractical! Tomatoes are wooden.)
My favourite exercise right now is walking. But I really don't want to go outside in the dark and walk on icy sidewalks and in freezing temperatures. (We're North. Sunlight is limited. Those of you in the artic and Alaska will know what I'm talking about.)
I'm a baby when it comes to the cold and dark season.
What am I going to do?
Any suggestions? Encouragement?
Drink hot water? No, seriously, a cup of hot tea does count as part of your liquid intake. Or sometimes I just drink plain hot water with a little lemon, or for a different flavor, with a little lite creamer.
Any strategy you use has got to work no matter what season or climate you're in. I'm in Florida, and here, it's summer that is the difficult season. But it can be done!
soups, chili (I use black bean and make it vegetarian, lower cals, much better for you), plenty of healthy food that isn't salad. This would be a great time to buy a new cookbook and experiment on fall/winter foods.
You can do this. Dreading your winter is probably as bad a living through it. However, I have no idea living in Oregon the weather is fairly mild where I am. How about freezing some vegi soups for winter. Definitely a treadmill or eliptical machine for the exercise or a good dvd. Good luck!
I myself am a walker/ attempting to run-ner. I can't afford a gym membership and live on the third floor of an apartment so a treadmill is not practical. And the ICE is NO option! I've started using work out videos - and I don't adore them, but they're growing on me and they get the job done.
I also find that if I carry a water bottle with me in the winter, I'll drink from it just because it's there. I also found out that for me, personally - if the bottle is fun to drink out of, I'm more likely to want it. I love bottles with fun straws and tops. Once you get over that hurdle of drinking water in the winter - it's really hard to not want it. Being hydrated helps fight the cold!!
Alana... I'm in Prince George (pm me with you are if you don't feel comfy on the boards) so I KNOW what you are talking about!!!!! We last had snow on May 29th... !!!
In the winter I eat a lot of veggie soups, stews and chili's to get in my veggies. Lots of "winter salads" with chunky veggies etc. I go walking at the university track and around our multiplex. I do go snowshoeing and cross country skiing too. And just WALKING in the snow is a work out!
So you'll do it. Because there is no other option. And because I know you can
How about bean sprouts as a good fresh veggie. Bean sprouts can be sprouted in a jar from small beans like mung beans you get at an Asian market. They are cheap and full of nutrition.
Why not take up cross country skiing? It burns a lot of calories. Do you have indoor swimming pools? What about raquet ball or squash? There are indoor volley ball leagues.
People use more calories through the winter because your body wants to keep you warm. All that shivering and so on uses a lot of calories. Winter is a really good time to lose weight.
I'm with you on the salad. I can't do much in the way of salad during the winter. I agree with some other people one way to get the veggies in is to make veggie loaded soups and chilis (zucchini in chili is awesome). You can also try some roasted or steamed veggies. I drink warmed V8 too. When I lived in England I had issues with water during winter too (not as cold there as Canada, but a very bitter kind of cold and since I am from Florida it was a horrible change for me). I used to drink quite a bit of hot herbal teas (though watch out for the cafeine), I also drank chicken and vegetable broths (low sodium versions of course) and I would sometimes warm my crystal light. Some gyms have indoor walking tracks and they all of course have treadmills, so if you can afford it and there is one you can get to then a gym might be the answer to the exercise problem. Or maybe buy a treadmill or elliptical machine. You could use DVDs (I suggest renting before buying to find out what types you might like). You can also search YouTube for exercise videos - you'll be amazed what you find. When all else fails I shove all the furniture to the center of the living room and then walk circles around it.
Green tea and soups. I know cold too! I'm up in the Yukon. I love my elliptical in the winter and if i can get my butt in gear, I'll head back to the gym. It's already very yellow and starting to look bare up here. Plus the chilly wind has picked up. I feel your pain.
I totally understand! I'm from Michigan originally...so I know about the cold...but let me tell you that the Southern California heat can be just as debilitating. "Ugh, it's hot...I don't want to walk or workout." "ugh...it's hot...I don't want to make dinner...let's go out"
You can do it...we're all here for you! Invest in a treadmill, or at home aerobic videos. Stock up on tea and load up veggies in yummy soups and stews. Buy frozen fruit...it tastes almost as good and it's a lot less expensive.
Where theres a will there's a way. Look at how far you have come! you can do it...think about how great you will feel in April when the snow melts and you can wear some sexy new summer clothes! =)
Thank you so much--your combination of sympathy, practical suggestions and humour is just what I needed!
You're right--soup will be the new salad!
I'm glad to hear being hydrated helps with fighting the cold. Warm crystal light, though? ugh. (Though I hear you about the bitter cold. Humidity and minus 10 is worse than minus 40, sometimes.)
I won'r be joining a gym: we don't really have the money--and I hate driving in the dark and on the ice.
But thank you all so much. I don't feel quite so discouraged.
Hi Alana - I live in Wisconsin, and our winters are pretty intense too, though probably not as bad as yours. As for water, I still drink it in the winter...got to stay hydrated when the furnace kicks in. As for exercise, I am a member of a gym...but there are days the roads are too bad to do any unnecessary driving, so I have DVDs and weights at home. I also work in a huge office building, so I can walk up and down the stairs and all over the office at lunch time (A LOT of people do that at my work during inclement weather). Mall walking is very popular in the winter here too. I enjoy salads at lunch time, and I love soups. In fact, yesterday I made a fabulous veggie soup with vegetable broth, canned tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, onions and cabbage. You can also make yummy soups using frozen veggies (which are cheaper than fresh in the winter) and vegetable broth or a tomato based broth. Those are my plans for how I'm going to deal with winter...but here's hoping it doesn't hit until well after Thanksgiving!
So funny you're talking about this -- I just bought BAGS of frozen organic veggies from the store because I know the cold is coming and prices are going up!
I also got a recumbent bike this summer, just to let me do some cardio inside if I wanted to or if the weather was awful. I'm also a big outside exerciser. I'm also a fan of Jillian Michaels -- she'll get your heart rate up no problem and you never have to go into the cold.
Love the soup idea. So filling and super easy way to get in veggies.
I'm in Canada too but in Vancouver. We don't have to deal with the snow very often but we do deal with the rain. ALL WINTER LONG. It rains and rains and rains and I swear my feet start to web like a ducks! I guess it's why they call it the *wet* coast...lol
My solution last year was Leslie Sansone's walk away the pounds dvds. I love them! And you can get them at wal mart dirt cheap (Under $10).
As for water intake....I am all about the green tea. In the summer I make a large pot in the morning and drink it cold throughout the day. In the winter, I drink it warm or hot.
Hang in there, Don't get discouraged or I will start to quack like a duck!!
about Winter
