Thawing freezing fingers and toes in a cozy bar with a big glass of red, or racing home to snuggle up on the couch with a big bowl of pasta and a cozy blanket has a powerful pull during cold winter days. Days off exercise can quickly lead to weeks off and suddenly the fitness discipline and diet regime you worked so hard to cultivate earlier in the year has evaporated. Finding balance in New York winter can be difficult and requires a little extra dedication and planning to compensate for the cold.
Get Moving
Weather permitting, walk wherever you can. Pick places to eat that are further away for lunch, walk to a further subway stop, take the stairs. Go out shopping rather than buying online. Incidental exercise counts. Purchasing a personal exercise tracker such as a Fitbit is one way to keep an eye on your daily baseline activity.
Make Time to Workout
A few days away from your routine can easily slip into a few weeks off. Set yourself realistic goals and schedule your weekly workouts ahead of time. Pack light exercise equipment such as skipping ropes when traveling. Plan your gym days and honor that time as you would a business meeting. If you are feeling unmotivated or find your workout is getting stale, schedule time to attend some of the classes offered at your gym or book sessions with a personal trainer to give new energy to your workouts and to help keep you accountable.
Lift to Stay Lean
Pick up those weights to maintain muscle tone, not just for definition but to keep your metabolism stoked. When you can get to the gym, utilize that time to work those big muscles which will help you burn more calories, build tone and reduce body fat. Think deadlifts, squats, lunges, pull-ups and rowing.
Mix in Cardio
Enjoying more decadence than usual? This is a great opportunity to amp up your cardio workout routine to effectively use all that extra energy. Your muscles use sugar as fuel so when a little too much indulgence takes place use it wisely by applying yourself to some challenging workouts, such as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) which torches calories to help stave off that unwanted fat. The great thing about HIIT workouts is they can be done in a limited amount of space with little to no equipment. So even if the weather outside sucks you can still get something done!
Get a Handle on Your Eating and Drinking Habits
Don’t let one bad food choice or decadent meal be the catalyst for an entire day or week of overindulgent eating. Balance your big meals out with healthier choices and make it a priority to drink purified water. Not just a glass here and there, at minimum half your body weight in ounces per body weight per day. If you are hitting the caffeine and cocktails then you are going to need even more to help hydrate and flush out the system.
Build in Detox Days
Include some short detox days in between indulgent days. After an indulgent weekend carve out time during the week to cleanse the body. Eat lots of leafy greens, rehydrate with purified water and herbal teas. Add anti-inflammatory herbs and spices to soups, salads and juices such as ginger, mint, cilantro, parsley and turmeric.