Whatever time of the year it is, exercising has to be a serious commitment in order to maintain your health or improve your physique. However, wintertime makes us want to cozy up and enjoy the warmth of the indoors. There’s no one to blame — for thousands of years we had to! If you really want to stay fit in the winter, then you just have to overcome the hurdle of your human nature. With the right strategies and tactics, such as meal planning, we promise it’s easier than it sounds.
At Spunk Fitness in Golden Ring, Silver Spring, and Newark, we want to help you be all you can be, but it starts at home! In this blog post, we’ll discuss tools and tactics to help keep you motivated through the winter, fight your instincts, and work around some of the bad habits that we can fall into during cold weather. Our nutritionists can get you started with proper meal planning, and from there, you can use our other tips to help keep you active and in the gym. Follow these tips and you can to give yourself the gift of a summertime body by the time bathing suit season rolls around!
Tips to Stay Active and Healthy This Winter
- Meal Planning and Prep — With the busy lifestyles that most of us live, it can be hard to get the proper nutrition in at any time — especially during winter. You drive to work before the sun comes up and you get home just before it goes down. That kind of lifestyle can increase mental fatigue, making it harder to find the motivation to do a big batch of cooking at any point in the week. However, that lack of daylight makes it even more important that you get some healthy, nutritious meals made! It will help break the cycle of coming home and tucking into bed after a warm, hearty meal, and give you the energy you need to get some reps in at the gym! Plus, with Spunk Fitness nutritionists, you can get a meal plan set up to fit your specific needs.
- Keep The Home Cozy, Not Your Bed — The cost of heating makes many of us determined to keep our homes at a relatively low temperature in the winter. That cold is one of the easiest reasons to stay in bed. If you’re dedicated to staying in shape over the winter, it may be worth asking yourself whether or not the money your saving is worth the effects of low temperatures. Keeping your home warm will make it easier to get out of bed in the morning and knock out an early workout.
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Prepare For The Next Day — Staying prepared for your workout is key in the winter even more so than it is during the other times of the year. So often, we let unexpected weather or circumstances knock us off track with our fitness, but if you’re prepared for the next day, that won’t happen as much. Check the weather before you go to bed, get ready for any car cleaning that might have to be done the next day, set aside your meal planned meals so they’re ready to go, and make sure you have all the comforts you’ll need to keep yourself from pushing off your fitness goals. If you’re one of the many people who start getting ready before sunrise and come home close to or after dark, then plan your workout for a time when you know you have to be active. During your lunch break or in between breakfast and getting dressed for work are the most realistic options for most.
- Get Your Vitamin D — One of the biggest reasons that people feel a lack of energy in the winter is because they aren’t getting enough vitamin D. The sun is our greatest source of vitamin D, so as adults it can be hard to get enough of it. However, a lack of vitamin D has been associated with muscle weakness and pain, fatigue, and depression. So, even if you are getting to the gym, it could be harder to recover without the right amount of vitamin D. There are a few ways to make sure that you get enough vitamin D. One way is through food. The nutritionists at Spunk Fitness can help set you up with a meal plan that includes foods high in vitamin D. Another way to keep your vitamin D in line, and relax while doing so, is to indulge in our tanning bed services. Tanning regularly, but not too much, can help you keep a healthy glow throughout the winter.
- Get A Workout Partner — Maybe warm, sunny weather is all you need to keep yourself active. Unfortunately, that’s in short supply for much of the year. What’s never in short supply are other people who also need to take care of their health. Having a workout buddy is a good way to keep yourself in check because on the days that you’re not feeling it, and vice-versa, your workout partner might be.
Keep Your Summertime Body This Winter
Following these tips is just the start of staying in shape this summer — maybe the next step in the process is joining Spunk Fitness! We offer the most amenities for the best rates in the Newark, Golden Ring, and Silver Spring areas, including access to nutritionists, tanning beds, 3-D body scanning, group classes, multiple weight and cardio rooms, and much more!