Saturday, February 16, 2013

February Slump

It's February and for many people this is the time of the year they lose motivation.  The second week of the month is traditionally the one where the highest percentage of people give up on their New Years resolutions.  It's cold, there is nothing exciting happening and beer and pizza pretty much sound like the best thing in the whole world.  So how do we stop the winter blahs from killing our motivation?  One thing you can do is switch up your workout.  Take that new class that you have been eyeing up or hire a Personal Trainer (my personal favorite ;)) to mix up your workouts and add new challenges.  Even if you know what you're doing and have been working out forever, a Personal Trainer might have some exercises you haven't found in Fitness Magazine or Men's Health.
Another option is to start making goals for the summer.  Decide to do a 5K, half marathon or a century bike ride.  This will give you something to work toward.  If you sign up for a race in May or early June, you should be starting to train for it now.  You can hire a coach or there are many references online to help you train.  If you have never done a race and want to start with a 5K, the Couch Potato to 5K training program might be perfect for you.  Hal Higdon has some wonderful novice to advance running programs and bicycling.com can help you with a cycling training schedule.
Don't forget to keep a close watch on your nutrition too.  It is easy, especially in the winter, to make heavier and more fattening choices when it's dark and freezing out.  These fattier foods tend to increase our serotonin levels which give us a sense of well-being and happiness.  A way to avoid this is to increase your vitamin D levels since we can't get if from the sun in the winter.  The sun is to far away from us and its rays are too weak to penetrate our skin and produce vitamin D.  Light therapy can also help with this.  Another thing you can do is to bundle up and get outside for a walk.  The fresh air and nature with do you good.  
Remember beach bodies are made in the winter!  Avoid the May panic of putting on a swim suit and stick to your goals.

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