What's your action plan for the Winter months?

Anything colder than 45 degrees and I can't do my workout outside (asthma), so I'm struggling to think of solutions this year as well. The place where I work has a tiny gym, but it's dirty and has those energy-sucking, sterile lights. It's also packed for the few weeks after New Years when all the resolution-ers get their motivation back.

I might just have to put up with it and/or try to keep my diet more in check than I did during the winter last year.

On the plus side, El Nino is supposed to bring warmer temps to my region, so there's a little hope for some 50-degree or higher winter days.

I already bought warmer clothes and i plan to do the shoveling as extra exercise. If I can't get out to walk I'll do the DVD's. I have a winter timeline set up to keep my weight in check.

I want to learn cross-country skiing. I live in Michigan, and it can be snowy/cold from Thanksgiving to Easter. Food-wise, keep doing what I am doing- plan ahead and log. For Thanksgiving I might eat up to my maintenance calories.

kshama2001 wrote: »

Summer is the best for me because I can swim in the pond. (I hate chlorine, saline-cleaned pools are barely ok, and I don't know of any around here anyway.)

Spring is great because I am a gardening fool.

Fall is good because I get back to walking in the woods.

All the gyms around here have their drawbacks but I will pick one and get a membership for the winter.

IMO, unless you need a particular piece of equipment or class, it doesn't matter, as long as it's close. This gym of mine, 5 min walk - I've gone through blizzards. Another gym, 15 min drive away from where I lived at the time, just - it was just hard to make myself go, I just worked out at home. Although, I wasn't taking Vit D then.

cushman5279 wrote: »

Shorter and colder days which means many activities are restricted to an inside space

This is my plan right here -- not having to stay inside if I can help it. It's one thing if it's snowing outside but we don't get too much snow so if it's just rainy and cold I'm going to do what I can to bundle up and enjoy the outdoors. Hiking especially.

Oh wow, great thread! but now i'm kinda panicky! I just don't know, but I have to stay away from the happy HalloThaksmas food barrage of candy and snacks!

I live in Ireland so we may get wetter and colder weather in winter but no extremes. Still run and days I can't I do the elliptical or hula hoop at home or hand weights. I'm maintaining for past 3 months.

kshama2001 wrote: »

DeguelloTex wrote: »

My plan is to bulk during over the winter because holidays and I don't like being out in cold weather.

What does "cold" mean to a Texan?

Well, we do get snow in my part of the state.

I live in Maine and I feel I am am a bit more active in winter. I live on a lake so I spend a lot of time on the boat or sitting on the dock when it is warm. I do swim a bit. In winter there are a lot of things to do: ice skating, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, sledding (walking back up the hill in winter gear is brutal!)

ald783 wrote: »

It seems like every season has a mix of upsides and downsides with respect to eating and exercise. Now that fall is coming up it makes for better outdoor running weather but it gets dark earlier, and then there's football which makes for eating and drinking, and it goes on and on. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving, etc.

In the end I don't really think any season is per se easier or harder than any other. But you will adapt as you get used to it and find that you can use certain things to your advantage. Like after the holidays, I don't tend to have as much stuff going on in January and February so fewer challenges and a good time to lose the usual 2-3 pounds I will happily gain at Christmas.

Agreed, endless smog, forest fires, risk of heatstroke can't be fun either. Spring's ok, except it's muddy and mucky + floods, in some places. Autumn, haven't really thought about it risk-wise. It's just proof winter's on its way.

hi135 wrote: »

cushman5279 wrote: »

I've heard from a lot of people in my circle talking about how they fell off the diet and exercise wagon over the summer due to vacations, BBQ's, parties, beach days and general summer-time laziness. From my perspective it's much easier to maintain and/or reach new goals in the summer... lean grilled meats, an abundance of fresh summer fruits and veggies, more outdoor activities, longer/warmer days. For me, heading into the Winter is a challenge. Shorter and colder days which means many activities are restricted to an inside space, it gets darker earlier which makes me feel like hibernating! lol! And of course the warm comfort foods and holidays.

Which season is easier/harder for you and why?

If you feel the Winter-time blues and struggle through the colder months, do you have a strategic plan for staying on the wagon? If so, what's your plan?

Summer is harder

tomatoey wrote: »

SuggaD wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

DeguelloTex wrote: »

My plan is to bulk during over the winter because holidays and I don't like being out in cold weather.

What does "cold" mean to a Texan?

Yeah I really can't take that seriously at all.

Texas winters aren't nearly as mild as they used to be. Last winter was really cold with plenty of freezing temperature days.

It was probably cold compared to what you're used to. But according to this,
"Texas and Oklahoma averaged between 2 to 4 degrees F (1.11 to 2.22 degrees C) below normal" in January 2014.

All I'm going to say is


Pretty, right




Those people are COLD





http://globalnews.ca/news/1039255/homeless-man-found-frozen/

That's exactly how my winters look like. Lol it's so ugly...But to be honest I'm getting sick of summer, I'm over it. I need that cold fresh air now.

Yeah, I remember that. In a few years, you are probably going to disagree with your past self and join the hate winter train, which I am crossing my fingers will one day take me to California. Or any of these places - http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/top-10-us-states-with-best-weather.php . (ahem, it seems Texas is third on this list)

Tbh, I'm actually not too bad with the cold itself, if it's at least sunny and dry. It's the darkness that makes you want to die. Some places in the middle of the country are tolerable imo, if you dress for the weather.

(Snow does make getting around a massive pain, though. Ice under snow under ice, it's dangerous for drivers, older people, everyone. And the smell of subways at rush hour in February is something else, when the ~100 people crammed into the same car have been walking around in the same coats all winter. Most of them don't dry clean or wash them, either, they just wear the crap out of the same wool and feathers and polyfill day after day, collecting months of wetness and street grime (and sweat, when the heat's turned on too high). Yeah actually it's just gross and horrible.)

Our treadmill is in the basement, so it gets really cold down there during winter. Plus, the basement is somewhat depressing, so that's discouraging. I just suck it up and go exercise anyway. The plus side to cold weather for me, though, is that while I don't like moving whole i'm cold, I don't want to eat whenever I'm cold either. It just makes me want to curl up in a blanket and sleep. At least I wouldn't be taking in more calories than I burned.

I'll be running outside all winter just like last year. We rarely have snow or ice on the ground here in Vancouver BC... just lots and lots of rain.

I'll probably hit my monthly mileage high during the winter.

Best thing I did last winter was buying a good quality raincoat and having a reliable compact umbrella.

That let me do my walks every day no matter the weather.

I took up running last Fall (c25k) and was like, "Imma get some Under Armor and push through and it's gonna be great!" Then November dawned with 15F temps, and I was like, "NEWP." So I went back to exercising inside, at my local gym. So my plans don't really change over the winter.