5 Winter Fitness Tips

Winter may be far from over, but it’s not too soon to start getting back your beach body after a season of sweets. Yes, the hibernation impulse is tough to fight. While a little down time is therapeutic, make it your goal right now to take action, alter stagnating behaviors, and implement new tools to step it up and get in shape this year. Figure out what steps need to be taken, and get ready to say, “Today is the day I’m going to make it happen.” These five simple, practical health tips will help you uncover your best body yet, get healthier, and increase energy. What better way to start the new decade?

Step 1: Eat fruit for breakfast. Fruit contains all the components it needs to digest and requires little assistance from the body. Fruit in the AM will awaken the body and stimulate elimination channels, which is an important factor for improved health and weight loss. Breakfast is easy—just grab a piece and go!

Step 2: Eat at least one green salad every day. Greens are so important because they contain an array of nutrients in perfect proportion to nourish the body’s tissues and cells, and plenty of amino acids to help you build muscle. If you find it difficult to eat a salad everyday, try a green smoothie. Knock out the first two steps simultaneously by adding leafy greens to your morning smoothie. Fruit helps mask the “green” taste, making for a healthy and delicious meal.

Step 3: Find an enjoyable form of physical activity and schedule it into your day. Exercise doesn’t have to take a long time. Wake up 15 minutes earlier and perform a quick, high-intensity workout to get blood and lymph moving. If you’re pressed for time, check out CrossFit, a strength and conditioning program adaptable to all levels of fitness. By 9am, you’re more than halfway through the list.

Step 4: Cut out sodas and bottled beverages. Full of either refined sugar or sugar substitutes, these sugary drinks do nothing but detract from your overall health. If it’s the fizz factor you love, try drinking sparkling water with fresh lime. If you’re hooked on sugar, replace your daily soda with kombucha, a fermented beverage containing probiotics, which aid digestion. Feel a caffeine headache coming on? Sip yerba maté tea, an infusion similar to green tea. While maté contains caffeine, most people don’t experience the negative side effects tied to coffee and soda, such as jitteriness, headaches, and nausea.

Step 5: Eliminate fried foods, which are detrimental for two reasons. First, they contain harmful, artery-clogging trans fats. To steer clear, read the labels on any packaged food and look for “hydrogenated,” “partially hydrogenated,” and “shortening” listed as ingredients—all are indicators of trans fats. Secondly, they are typically fried in polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as soybean, which is highly susceptible to heat damage. Exposure to heat, like that of a deep fryer, creates free radicals, which have been linked to cancer. For a satisfying snack with healthy fat, try a slice of toasted sprouted-grain bread topped with nut butter.

Learn more about Robert Cheeke at veganbodybuilding.com and Julia Abbott at The Lemon Letter.