Winter Exercise Motivation Tips

By WLR’s Personal Trainer, Carla van Traa

Get Moving

It can be hard to motivate yourself in the middle of winter; the days are so short with a glimmer of evening light returning on the horizon, getting outside to exercise is not very inviting.  BUT you need to focus on your end goal, whether it is to lose weight, improve your body shape and/or be fitter and healthier. 

Getting those trainers on and going for a walk around the block is a great start to breaking old habits and creating new ones. 

When it gets to the weekend, try and be outside as much as you can, potter in the garden, go for a walk or run in a local park.  Buy an OS map of your area and discover new footpaths and byways. Get your bike out and ride it! 

Exercise will help you sleep better, keep those snack attacks away and help you deal with stress more evenly.

Get Enough Sleep

Get enough sleep but not too much!  7 -8 hours is what we generally need.

 Lack of sleep makes us tired and more irritable, creeping up on us especially in the afternoons… this is when we are likely to reach for sugary snacks to pep ourselves up, or a caffeine hit to keep us alert. 

When it comes to the weekend try not to change your getting up time by too much, it is far better to have an early night than a lie in.  A recent study linked sleeping with problems with weight gain and metabolism changes.  Don’t make it harder for yourself!

And Enough Light

  • Get as much daylight as you can; natural light is an important element in mood control and reduced daylight can have a negative impact. 
  • Sit near a window if you can during the day and try and make the time to go for a stroll at some point.  Try it for a week and you will notice the difference.

Eat Well

Eat healthily, by eating sensibly a broad range of natural foods your intake of essential vitamins and minerals with increase and so will your healthy wellbeing.

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Keeping a diary can help your exercise motivation even further - use the WLR Exercise Diary to log any exercise that you do and see what a difference even gentle exercise can make to your weight loss!

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