Welcome back to Week 2 of the Healthier Holidays Challenge! There are so many things to love about fall—the leaves changing color, roasting marshmallows over the backyard firepit, the comfortable temperatures—yet the one thing about fall that leaves many struggling to stay consistent with a regular workout routine is fewer hours of daylight. When the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and you can still see the moon in the dark sky of your bedroom window, it's hard to jump out of bed full of energy and ready to sweat.
Motivational Tip: Darkness is the ultimate judgement-free zone. If you’ve been worried about trying to walk in the neighborhood for fear that people will see you, do it in the early morning or late evening. Assuming you take the necessary precautions to stay safe, it might be a good time to do something new you’d be otherwise uncomfortable trying in front of an audience.
There are simple ways to make an in-the-dark workout less dreadful and more desirable. Not only is consistency key in maintaining an overall healthy life, but keeping up with your exercise routine through the colder months can also help you cope with the energy decreases and changes in appetite that are commonly associated with seasonal changes and colder temperatures.
Before you hit the snooze button or hide under a blanket to skip yet another fall or winter workout, use these six tips to get your head in the right space and your heart pumping.
- Try something new every week. Mixing up your routine can help keep dark workouts from feeling so dreary and mundane. Check out YouTube to try at-home kickboxing one week, yoga the next, Tai Chi, hip-hop dancing, Barre, and on and on.
- Pinpoint from where the lack of motivation is coming. Try writing down your reasons for being unmotivated, which can help you confront them and brainstorm solutions to the problem. For example, if you write down that it’s cold outside, you can prepare yourself by wearing warmer clothes. Once you can identify your trigger, brainstorm solutions that will help you overcome your current mood and get excited about your workout!
- Buy a new piece of workout gear or clothing. There’s something about new clothes and gear that makes you get into exercising more easily. Treat yourself to new workout sneakers or buy yourself a new piece of equipment, and you’ll immediately feel excited!
- Embrace the dark. The feeling of knowing that you’re up early before others and have already gotten a great workout in before the sun comes up can provide a euphoric feeling. The same feeling can apply to a post-sunset evening workout.
- Be prepared. There are other ways to get ready the night before besides sleeping in your workout clothes or packing your gym bag. If you’re doing a home workout, put out your equipment in advance. That might mean setting up circuit stations in the family room, moving furniture in the basement for your strength routine or putting the stationary bike in front of the T.V.--anything you can do to avoid excuses when that early alarm goes off or you get off work. After all, who wants to put all of that equipment away without using it?
- Don’t make it a choice. Commit the night before that whether it’s an early morning or evening workout, you won’t let anything get in the way. Think about how you’ll feel if you skip your workout--wouldn’t you rather have that feeling of accomplishment than the guilt of knowing you took the easy way out?