Sure everyone wants to relax and stay indoors during the rainy wintery weather (I’d say snowy weather, but this IS Vancouver). Embrace the season and take advantage of all it has to offer! Trade-in feeling gross and sluggish on the couch, for fresh air, feeling energized and fit!
Top 5 tips for staying energized + active over the holidays
by Jeevan and Nicole
1. Get outside – try something new in Vancouver
Know those crazy people that get excited when it rains when November rolls around? What’s wrong with them? Nothing, if you see them looking longingly at the mountains and disappear every weekend to return on Monday with giant smiles, or oddly tanned in the spring. Skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing – these great activities are only available for limited times of the year so why not take advantage of them?
If you’re new to these activities, don’t worry, you can always sign up for lessons or just try it one time to see if there’s a spark of enjoyment. We’ve taken clients snowshoeing, and while most were complete beginners, everyone loved it!
Robson Square has ice skating which is a great family friendly activity, and, at the risk of sounding corny, is quite magical, too.
2. Try a 30 day activity challenge
Give yourself a new, active and easily attainable goal to do every single day during the month of December. Sorry, “brushing your teeth” doesn’t count…that is, we are assuming you already do this on a daily basis and aren’t skipping weekends!
Introduce a new habit, it can be as simple as be running or walking for 1 km every day. For others it may be do 10 minutes of stretches every day. The key is to make it quantifiable so you know that you’ve completed it…or you haven’t. There’s no half-way, I kinda-sorta did it, well mostly but not really. Time can be of the essence during the holiday season so by simply setting a challenge that takes very little time makes it more realistic to be done every-day.
Remember, even the smallest amounts of activity every single day is a millions time better than simply doing nothing.
3. Set a goal for January or February
Setting an attainable goal or challenge can be a good way to stay motivated during the holiday season. For example, committing to a 5km run in the middle of January means you would have to continue training bit by bit during the month of December. Finding yourself a partner who commits to the same goal allows you to keep each other on track.
4. Make your holiday adventures active
Instead of calling a cab to get to your sightseeing location, Google how long it would take to walk to your destination. If you can do 30 minutes on cardio equipment, then a nice easy 25-35 minute walk will be a snap!
Renting bikes is also an excellent idea, especially now that the bicycle-share concept has finally arrived in Vancouver. Not only does this allow you to stay active, it truly immerses you into the local culture. You never know what you might discover walking a new path, that you might have missed by car.
5. Get those house chores done!
Shovelling rain, er, I mean snow, raking leaves, organizing the garage, redecorating, finally vacuuming under the couch…I’m sure there are a million things around the house that require physical effort just begging to be finished. Now is the time! Although all these tasks seem tedious know you’re doing your body (and mind) good – they all are active exercises that work major muscle groups and you’ll finally feel great about crossing them off your to do list.
What are your favourite things to do to stay active during the winter? I’d love for you to share them with us!
