what’s the skinny in february 2014

Sitting here having my breakfast bowl of steel cut oats, looking outside to a winter white out storm in progress and thinking, there’s still at least two more months of winter. The cold weather months tend to typically bring on more unhealthy ‘comfort’ eating to satiate the torture of low temps, icy streets, and idling in rush hour traffic. It also makes you less motivated to get to the gym.

Don’t let the season cramp your workout habits.

Summer bodies are made in the winter.

This phrase surely denotes that as you can’t arrive at a marathon and start your training, same goes for waiting until the summer to lose your winter ‘spread’. There’s nothing wrong with taking a reprieve, changing up your runs, or switching to an alternative activity.

It’s not a good thing to cease exercise altogether.

One way to keep you on a continuous cycle is to keep setting monthly fitness and nutrition goals.

There’s a difference between a vacation and a layoff.

For athletes, it’s no secret they grind during their training season, finish the event, and scale back, even to a slow halt. Newbies should not take off more time than they have invested in the work. Your body will rebound before you know it. Often, you don’t want get back to start.

This winter has been exceptionally ‘wintery’…lots of snow, ice, cold, and heavy layers. Instead of taking off the winter from exercise, maximize your gym visit. For me, that entails 120-180 minutes of workout time every other day.

I’ve enjoyed this schedule because it keeps me active, getting in regular exercise, and a day off in between to rest, do chores, run errands, and cook. That doesn’t mean any other schedule would prevent me from doing those things. But it is nice to have a ‘pay as you go’ day off instead of something that resembles ‘work’…grind 4-5 days straight, then a day or two off.

I’m fortunate to live walking distance from the gym of my choice. I tried driving to the gym and I don’t like it. The parking isn’t always convenient, and I’m more likely to drive a little ways up the road to shop. Walking keeps me pinching those pennies. I won’t buy more than I can carry on my back.