4 Ways to Avoid the Winter Blues


The calendar only recently changed from fall to winter, but watch out -- cold weather blues and blahs are sneaky little devils. The grumble-y feelings in your brain tend to spread throughout your body and infiltrate your psyche with ease this time of year. Stop those silly, out-of-character feelings by taking up one (or all) of these winter blah busters, and change your lifestyle in a snap.

Eat Breakfast, Dammit!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast helps:

  • Reduce hunger
  • Get you on a daily, healthy eating track, and promotes a healthy lifestyle
  • Increase energy

source: Mayoclinic.com

From the Organic Authority Files

Foods, such as walnuts, apricots and cranberries make great, healthy toppers to toasted whole-grain bread or whole-grain oatmeal. Other healthy breakfast noshes include: yogurt, blueberries, and flax seeds.

Stop Sitting and Move

Those lovely, long evening walks you used to take are a bit more difficult to embark on when three inches of snow has accumulated on your favorite trail route. For the winter, take up an indoor workout routine or join a gym. Whether you teach yourself a handful of body strengthening yoga moves or work your core for 10 measly minutes a day, you'll thank yourself after you've learned these new ways to exercise.

Write for Well-being

It sounds so cliche that writing positive thoughts and personal mantras boosts your well-being, but it's true. At the start of every day, write down your personal goals and daily intentions. Throughout the day, remind yourself of your goals by chanting mantras and writing down reflections and irritations. At the end of the week, reflect on your weekly journey and write a funny short story to purge out all your accumulated frustrations. Sure, you don't have to do this all the time, but the exercise can be fun and therapeutic.

Pick a Volunteer Program

Stuck in your own head? Consumed by wants, needs and perceived personal failures? Take all those negative "me" thoughts and turn them into positive actions for others. Pick a local charity and volunteer a few hours a week. You'll meet other volunteers, help a cause in need and feel more well-rounded in general.

image: D Sharon Pruitt

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