Winter is coming! And it won’t be long before the temperature becomes a lot cooler and a companion to the shorter days. You’re probably feeling it already. The morning air starts to feel chilly, and before you know it, we’ll be trading our sandals, shorts, and t-shirts for wearing our winter coats, gloves, and beanies – which is why the sudden transition from autumn to cooler winter months can feel like a challenge – especially for us San Diegans.
And with that also comes the time for the annual onslaught of winter bugs and the odd spell of feeling under the weather as our bodies adapt.
And if you have young children in grade school or in daycare, you know what I’m talking about. Plenty of “boogie wipes” in our households, right?
But it doesn’t have to be that way – well, not entirely at least. While you can’t completely avoid catching bugs and colds, you can give yourself and your immune system a helping hand to make sure you feel healthy, and great, this season.
And no, that doesn’t mean drinking all of those ‘vitamin-boost’ drinks, and fizzy tablets to make sure you’re set-up
With that said, here are 4 tips to help you keep healthy during winter and feeling well:
1) Boost Your Immune System
This one can tie in with both autumn and winter, but that’s because it’s an important one.
You need to boost your immune system to help prevent those annoying colds and sniffles that always happen as the weather changes.
Drink plenty of water, wash your hands often to prevent sickness and eat nutritious foods that are proven to help your immune system such as; broccoli, garlic, almonds, kiwi, and poultry.
You can also drink green tea as a way to warm up on those bitter mornings and fill your shopping cart with in-season fruits and vegetables.
Here are some more ways to help strengthen your immune system and fight off disease.
2) Buy In-Season Foods
There’re so many great choices, but here are just a few; apples, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, leek, onion, parsnips, pumpkin…
I could go on but these are just some of the choices you have for in-season foods.
Here is a list of 16 great food choices to help boost your immune system.
Think delicious slow-cooked dinners, hearty soups and roasted vegetables. Probably one of my favorite times of the year when it comes to food.
Our “go-to” favorites for soups are moms homemade recipe of “albondigas” and visiting our local Vietnamese Pho restaurant.
3) Stay Active!
This is my favorite one.
It can be really easy to sit around during the day when it starts to get colder, but it’s important to get in some daily movement.
Getting outside and going for a walk is a great one – it can help get rid of your stress, lowers your risk of Alzheimer’s, tones you up, keeps you moving no matter what your age and burns calories!
What’s not to love about going walking during the winter months with all of the amazing scenery that your local area has to offer?
And with a hot coffee in hand – it’s perfect.
If you would like to learn 5 ways on how walking can help you feel happier and healthier – read a previous blog I wrote on the:
BLOG: – < 5 Health Benefits of Walking >
4) Make Plans For The Cold Months
A lot of us will just ‘hibernate’ if we don’t have things to do during the day as it starts to get colder…
The best way to help with this is to make plans.
It’s that’s simple!
You can even use the time to kill two birds with one stone and make plans to go for a walk with friends whether at the beach or a local park– that way you’re keeping active and you’ve made sure that you don’t spend the day watching a marathon of your favorite T.V. show on the couch.
Don’t get me wrong, it can be good to do occasionally when you need to relax – but it’s important to make sure you do things so all of those good habits you created during the warmer months don’t get left behind.
How will you be keeping active, healthy and feeling fit this Winter?
Dr. Oscar 🙂
P.S. I know it’s easy to say to “go for a walk to keep active when the seasons change”, but what if you’ve got knee pain that feels worse when it gets cold, making you worried to walk and keep active in case it gets worse? If that sounds like you, here’s a free guide you can download that gives you easy tips you can do to help ease knee pain. Click here to get your copy: https://www.level4pt.com/knee-pain/
For more than 16 years, thousands of athletes, fitness enthusiasts and active people of all ages, levels and sports including Olympic medalists, professional, collegiate and recreational athletes have consulted Oscar; looking for answers to concerning questions about a fast end to their pain and best ways to improving performance.
Prior to living in Carlsbad, CA, he worked as Clinic Director for a 20,000 sq.ft. sports physical therapy and performance center. He became known as the “athlete whisperer” in the Pacific Northwest by becoming the leading sports performance enhancement physical therapist and CrossFit injury rehab and performance specialist. He also was known as a consultant to the Nike WHQ in Portland, OR.
Oscar’s passion for excelling in sports earned him the opportunity to compete in soccer both at the Division 1 collegiate level at the University of San Francisco and at the professional level playing for the California Jaguars; giving him the understanding and experience of knowing what it takes to perform and excel at the highest level of competition. Oscar is an orthopedic and sports performance specialist with a true passion for helping athletes and fitness fanatics of all ages and divisions, serving as an educator to bridge the gap between rehab and strength and conditioning.
- Can Physical Therapy Help My Muscles After Having Covid? - January 26, 2022
- The Real Story Behind What’s Causing Your Sciatica - August 30, 2021
- Should I Have Surgery to Repair a Tear in My Rotator Cuff? - February 9, 2021
You Might Also Like...
-
December 14, 2017 -
December 21, 2017 -
November 30, 2017
