Winter Motivation

Slackpacker

With the cold months slowly creeping in, I want to stay ahead of my pitfalls. When it's cold and dark and cold, I would much rather eat, Netflix, and hibernate. I have a good fitness routine that mixes variety with discipline. Staying on that routine will be the biggest challenge. In addition to the winter gloom, it's also my peak work season - I'm in propane. I could use suggestions for this winter when I'm tired, cranky, and don't care if I resemble a bear. Thank you in advance!

cwolfman13

Winter is odd for me. On one hand, I lost about 40 Lbs in 2012/2013 with most of that loss being from November 2012 - April 2013. On the other hand, I maintained pretty well for about 8 years but typically put on some weight in the winter as my overall activity tends to decline.

In some ways, winter can be easier for me so long as I don't let myself get too lazy. I typically have fewer social engagements in the winter months vs summer and work wise winter is my slow season so I typically have more time to do other things outside of work and work less hours. Food wise we do a lot more hearty, but relatively lower calorie stews and soups and whatnot vs the summer when I have meats on the smoker and baked beans and potato salad are flowing like water.

The hardest part about winter for me is that my activity tends to decline...both general activity and exercise. In the warmer months I'm just out and about more in general doing stuff...and most of my cardiovascular exercise involves outdoor recreation like walking my dog, road cycling, mountain biking, hiking, etc. Those things aren't quite as enjoyable in the winter months. I am actually much better about consistently getting into the weight room a few days per week in the winter than I am during the warmer months...I guess because I'm less inclined to want to be outside and during the summer I'd much rather be biking or hiking than in the gym.

I'm needing to drop about 20 Lbs I've put on over the last couple of years and I'm determined to do it this winter. For one thing, my Dr. is back to commenting on my weight and overall health markers and I want to get my health back in order, but I was also going through some pictures from a few years ago putting together a photo album for my wife for Christmas and I was like, "damn...I looked really good, healthy, and strong"...so I want to get back to that as well.

This weekend with the time change I'll be putting my road bike on my indoor trainer in my bedroom and I have the Zwift apt and I'm making a contract with myself to ride at least 30 minutes 3-4x per week as well as hitting the weight room. Indoor cycling isn't my favorite thing in the world but I've told myself I can do anything for 30 minutes no matter how much I dislike it or don't want to do it...so basically, it's going to be a "just do it" cliche for me. I also taped a picture of myself circa 2018 on my bathroom mirror as a reminder of where I would like to be by the time summer rolls around.

I'm also hoping for a better winter this year than we've had the last couple of years for skiing and snowshoeing. I enjoy both and they're good exercise, but we've just been lacking in good snow fall the last couple of years.