Getting more Light

jesslabrecque4122

Lately I cannot blame the lack of light I am getting and the cold weather for my mocha and mocha coffee chip urges I give in to, but I can try. Feedback?
What is good exercise in the Winter?

AnnPT77

jesslabrecque4122 wrote: »

Lately I cannot blame the lack of light I am getting and the cold weather for my mocha and mocha coffee chip urges I give in to, but I can try. Feedback?
What is good exercise in the Winter?

Any exercise is good exercise. Baseline goodness (government recommendations) for adults is at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination; and 2 non-consecutive days a week of strength training.

Exercise we individually find fun (or at least tolerable) so will do routinely is 100% more beneficial than theoretically "better" exercise we dislike, procrastinate, avoid, and generally don't do.

I'm an on-water rower in the good weather, and do some paved-trail cycling. It's not as fun, but I can get myself to do rowing machine workouts, some stationary biking, and maybe a little strength training in Winter. (To my detriment, I don't enjoy strength training, so that's always an uphill battle for me, sadly.) Pre-pandemic, I took spin classes at my YMCA twice a week: Honestly, those were more fun than stationary biking at home. Admission: I play games on my phone while biking at home (but not while rowing!).

To get ideas for exercise, you might take a look at these threads:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10705619/what-was-your-work-out-today#latest

That one is just regular people talking about their workouts, which are quite various.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10796095/what-youtube-workout-did-you-do-today#latest

That one's people sharing YouTube workouts they do and like, most of which would be doable indoors. They're also quite varied (within limitations of the video medium).

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

That one is strength training workouts other MFP-ers have found helpful. Despite the title suggesting otherwise, it does include some bodyweight routines that can be done at home, with minimal/no equipment.

So, look around a little, try some things (even experimenting can be fun), give each enough trial to let yourself get past the "newbie blues" where the thing feels almost impossible (things that are easy at first may get boring fast, y'know? and everyone feels awkward when new).

I'm experimenting with one of those daylight lamps ("Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)" lamps). I don't get deeply depressive in Winter, but noticed I feel perkier as days lengthen, or when it's sunnier (rare here in Winter), so seems worth a try. Too soon to tell - I've only been using it a couple of weeks so far.

Best wishes!

californiagirl1969

My favorite is outdoors walking, but that's not always possible depending on the outdoors conditions where you live, I also do indoor cycling at home and exercise videos at home some dvd's I own Jillian Michaels she's advanced for me , but I improvise some of the moves and some good people I follow on youtube such as grow with Jo and Mr. London I follow and take some of his advice but he's to advanced for me and fitnessblender you can search exercises for your level and also popsugar fitness, there are a ton of experienced and professional videos just make sure you're careful and workout at your level and don't push to hard.

And as far as your food and drink consumption as long as you fit them into your daily calorie allotment I don't see the problem, keep pushing forward you can do this.

And the (SAD) lamp AnnPt77 mentioned sounds like a great ideal.

cwolfman13

jesslabrecque4122 wrote: »

Lately I cannot blame the lack of light I am getting and the cold weather for my mocha and mocha coffee chip urges I give in to, but I can try. Feedback?
What is good exercise in the Winter?

Anything. When I go outdoors in the winter (or summer for that matter) I dress appropriate to the conditions. My primary form of cardiovascular exercise is cycling and mountain biking, along with walking my dog and hiking some weekends.

For cycling, I do more indoor work on my bike trainer with the Zwift app in the winter...also more spin classes at the gym. My outdoor riding is generally reserved for weekends when I can go out in the early afternoon when things have warmed a bit. I walk my dog most days and just dress according to the weather...same for weekend hikes.