Winter can take a toll on your overall well-being as cold weather, shorter days and longer nights mean less happy times in the sun. Outside of the general gloom that comes with the cold wet weather, your health and beauty suffer as you pile on the layers to keep warm.
The downside of winter includes:
- Dietary Changes: The cold weather also triggers changes in your eating habits and you may be tempted to indulge in more comfort foods as your body seeks more calories to burn while keeping warm.
- Decreased Exercise: Exercise regimes often fall by the wayside as we huddle from the cold. Coupled unhealthy diets, this results in gaining unwanted weight during winter.
- Dry Skin: Harsh winter conditions with low humidity and icy coldness causes dry, cracked skin.
- Getting SAD: Depression occurs due to short dark days that stretch on through the cold season and can develop into Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) with crippling symptoms such as social withdrawal, sleepiness, increased appetite, depression and a pervasive sense of bleakness.
- Dry Eyes: This often results from extended exposure to air-conditioned environments and the dry cold air outside.
Although keeping warm and healthy are essential in the cold months, springtime is a great time for doing a holistic makeover to welcome the sun back and unleash your vitality again.
Do a Juice Cleanse
Kick-off your spring program with a 3-day juice cleanse to detox your body of all the bad things that built up over the winter months. This quick and intense diet will kick all those lethargic winter feelings and benefits to expect include:
- Improved skin condition
- Weight loss
- Lowered cholesterol
- Improved performance when exercising
- Liver detox
- Good bacteria in the gut
- Lowered blood sugar levels
Starting your program with a great 3-day juice diet will also set the stage for the rest of your holistic spring make-over. You might even then decide to continue taking something like this liver detox supplement every now and then to help support your body’s overall health and ability to function.
Balance Your Diet
Once you have completed you juice fast, build on that momentum by overhauling your diet. Take stock of what you’ve been eating, and nip-tuck eating habits into shape by:
- Cutting back on red meat: You don’t have to give it up completely, but cutting back on your red meat consumption will be good for your heart and great for the environment!
- Drinking more water: Your body is made up of about 60% water and staying hydrated will keep you regular, promote healthy skin and boost your energy levels. Your hydration levels can affect everything from foot skin to emotional wellbeing, so whether you plan to sell feet pictures or go for more walks, it all adds up.
- Eating more fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Cutting back on starchy foods.
- Reducing sugar intake.
- Eliminating highly-processed foods from your diet.
Shake off Those bad Habits
Winter may have compounded some bad habits as you tried to stave-off feelings of sadness, boredom or loneliness with food, drink, substances or gambling. Spring is an opportunity to get your lifestyle back in shape and embrace healthy activities again. Use the last cold days of winter to tackle health issues such as excessive eating, drinking, compulsive behaviors and other addictions by signing up for a lifestyle overhaul at one of the nationwide Colorado drug rehab . The experts can help you to maintain a healthy way of living that will leave you looking at your very best.
Create a Healthy Sleep Routine
This is easy in the winter months, but as spring ushers in more daylight hours and summer approaches, you may start going to bed later and getting less sleep. Stick to a healthy sleep routine, allowing for 8 hours of sleep each day. Sleep is the most regenerative process in the body as this is when your body creates new cells and tissues, heals and detoxes. When you sleep, your body also processes the day’s information and it is an essential function supporting memory and learning. It also re-energizes cells and is essential for regulating your mood, appetite and sex drive.
If sleep isn’t something that comes easy to you, creating a soothing bedtime ritual is worth considering. It doesn’t have to be elaborate; any relaxing activities will work. You can follow a short meditation practice or a quick stretching routine. Or light a candle in your favorite scent and spend a few minutes writing in your journal. Doing a skincare routine before bed is great too. Indulge in a fancy moisturizer or organic hydrating face oil to feel extra pampered. You’ll get both a good night’s sleep and a healthy glow in the morning. Practicing these rituals regularly can signal your brain that it’s time to settle down for the night.
The cold winter months may have halted your exercise program but now it is time to get back in shape. Regular exercise will not only shake off those sluggish SAD feelings and boost your overall sense of well-being though. A moderate fitness program will also provide health benefits such as glowing skin, improved circulation and improved lungs and heart functions . Some great aerobic exercises to consider are:
- Kick-boxing
- Jogging
- Walking
- Cycling
- Aerobics
- Cycling
Start Practicing Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness practices are a great way to promote inner peace, boost skin radiance and create a sense of grounded well-being. Widely used as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAD), meditation enables psychological balance, assists with focus, promotes calmness and even helps when recovering from illness. If you are also trying to shake some bad habits, meditation will help to ease you through any withdrawal symptoms and anxiety you may experience. It promotes healthy sleep patterns, eases anxiety, can be practiced almost anywhere and can is totally free.
Say Yes to Yoga
Yoga is a great holistic way to tone and lengthen your muscles, relax and improve your overall sense of well-being.
- Hatha Yoga: Includes all kinds of physical yoga such as Iyengar and Ashtanga practices
- Iyengar yoga: Focus on alignment of the body and is great if you are recovering from injury
- Kundalini yoga: Focused on both physical and spiritual aspects of being, this practice includes chanting, meditation, mudras and breathing (pranayama) exercises.
- Ashtanga yoga: Also known as the Eight Limb Path or Power Yoga, this practice is best for advanced yogis as it is very physically demanding.
- Vinyasa yoga: Derived from Ashtanga yoga, this is a quick-paced and very athletic form of yoga which is also very physically demanding.
- Bikram yoga: Is done in a room that is heated up to 41 degrees and has a 40% humidity. It involves a 90-minute sequence of 26 postures and breathing exercises created to promote detox through excessive sweating.
Decrease Your Carbon Foot Print
One for mother nature! With your mind and body now in tip-top condition, become a green warrior and turn your attention to the earth. Be a better human by:
- Recycling
- Using clean energy
- Cycling instead of using your car
- Saying no to single-use plastics
