To hibernate or get some winter exercise?

It’s officially the start of the “meteorological winter” in the UK.  Watching the weather news while sipping my morning coffee, I’m mentally preparing myself for the onset of the inevitable ‘cold snap’ we are to expect and its made me realise:

1. We are actually in December so it should be cold right?  We have been lucky to enjoy the luxury of the mild weather leading up to now 
2. How the hell is it December already and what happened to the rest of this year 
3. Errrr – did we have summer?  I don’t remember it? 
4. Eeeek! – its nearly Christmas!

Of course as the cold is approaching and the dark mornings/eves are already here, I’ve started to remember that feeling when you wake up and can’t even stick one foot out from under the duvet because it’s too cold and dark for getting up early, for doing all those things you needed today, and under the duvet, not out of it, is of course a much better place to stay – probably until about April when the sun comes out again and spring is in the air! 

BUT NO.  Instead of hibernation mode I’m pledging to get over it and get up and embrace the cold winter months.  There are cool (excuse the pun) things to look forward to in the winter –

1. Christmas of course and 
2. New Year 
3. Nights in with Netflix (without feeling guilty)! 
4. Hot chocolate, mulled wine 
5. “comfort food” 
6. Warm cosy winter clothes 
7. (and … please insert here all the things you love about the dark cosy winter nights) 

Plus, I found this article - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/avelist/5-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-exercise-during-the-colder-months_b_8462780.html  that got me thinking…

Ways to motivate yourself to exercise during the colder months.  The exercise part – getting out there in the cold dark mornings – didn’t cross my mind when contemplating hibernation, which goes to show how much activity is on my mind!  Then I thought about it again, that feeling when sticking your foot out from under the duvet…..imagine taking your entire body out and into the park in the dark for a run in the cold!  God forbid.  My nose will run, my chin will freeze, my ears, my lips and my fingers will hurt!  My toes in my lightweight runners won’t make it through the damp cold grass or frozen ground and I will see my own breath as I’m panting after the first 3 minutes!  No, no no. There are too many excuses not to get out and exercise during the cold months, BUT there are lots of things you can do to flip the excuses and enjoy exercise during the winter too.  Reading this article DID motivate me and that’s why I’m sharing.  In the hope it will do the same for you.  5 motivating factors that start with buy new clothes – gotta be a winner!

So the article lists the following 5 factors to motivate you to get out and exercise and I agree with them all – I also wanted to add my own.  They say:

BUY NEW CLOTHES Perfect – did we really need an excuse?  But this one solves the problem of the cold wet toes, freezing finger tips and ears etc.  Treat yourself to a new winter work out wardrobe.  Perhaps a nice long sleeved and insulated outdoor running top.  How about a hat, gloves?  Remember its dark in the winter mornings and evenings  so wear something reflective, something so you can be seen – even if running in the park – you may still need to cross roads, encounter cyclists etc so be seen and be safe.  In case you need more inspiration – check out this list of the best running shoes 2015 http://www.runnersworld.com/running-shoes/the-best-running-shoes-of-2015

PLAN FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS Basically what they are saying here is get a goal.  Goals are the best motivator in all things you are doing, whether that’s in your training and exercise, your job, your financial planning etc.  In this case a goal of perhaps a spring race, a fundraiser in the new year – 5K, 10K or even the cold runs through the winter if you fancy it (check out winter runs in support of cancer research here for example http://winterrunseries.co.uk/)

If you don’t want to or are not ready to sign up for a race / run / event yet, set your own smaller goals.  For me – I’m still aiming for my first elusive 5km and know even if I only run an extra 30 seconds faster, or longer than last week I feel good and have achieved. So over the colder months keep your goals in mind, set new ones,  push yourself as much as you can and stick with it.  Don’t stop or lose sight just cos it’s dark and damp ok!

USE THE COLD WINTER MONTHS TO OUR ADVANTAGE.  Totally get this one as in my youth I loved ice skating!  In London over the winter, up pop the festive ice rinks. 

Yes you can buy mulled wine, hot cider, hot chocolate, take a loved one on a date and fool around BUT remember skating is a great form of exercise too, so go on a date and include some activity.  Seriously – if like me you haven’t been ice skating since you were in your early teens you will feel it in your hips and your bum the day after you do it “just for fun” at almost 40 years old! (London pop up winter ice rinks are listed here http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/ice-skating-in-london there are LOADS) Other than skating think about winter sports you might want to try – skiing holiday anyone?  Snowboarding with those amazingly cool (hot) guys / instructors…..?

GET NEW TUNES  Update the playlist.  You’ve got the outfit, you’ve found the sport and you are on your way to your winter goals.  What else will help motivate? A new music playlist of course. As we head to Xmas everyone is bringing out new tunes aiming for the Christmas no1.  Granted, festive melodies may not scream run tracks, but I’m sure you can find some new stuff you love and sing along to on the early morning work outs.  If you don’t find something new, then look back to the summer(?) and the summer tracks from this years holiday perhaps?  Make yourself a new playlist with your summer faves and blast it on a cold winter morning as the sun comes up.  Yep – motivating for sure.

TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME.  Basically (and I love this one) If you don’t feel great, and don’t feel like exercising one morning, then don’t.  Duvet days are fine – especially in the colder months.  Everyone has days when they just don’t want to – and you know what – if you don’t want to then don’t.  You are the one imposing your own goals, you are the one motivating, you are the one who decides.  It’s totally up to you if you exercise or not.  Don’t punish yourself if you don’t feel like it.  Just don’t do it and try again tomorrow…or the next day…or start again Monday…or do it on the weekend…whenever.  As long as you do it soon/again, its ok.

ADDITIONAL NO NONSENSE MOTIVATORS:

For me, as well as agreeing with all the above, I’d add the following:

My first tip to stay motivated is doing things as a GROUP – accountability, not letting others down, moral support etc – all fabulous motivating factors.  Also if you don’t fancy running or strenuous exercise, WALKING is a great starting point and walking with others as a group really builds confidence and community.  As a fully qualified walk leader, I lead group walks with Walking for Health/Ramblers/Macmillan - you can find details of the walks starting in January on our website here http://www.nitakothari.com/no-nonsense-nutrition-news/

REWARDS.  A lot of us are reward driven.  We like to think we aren’t, but we are.  And a high percent of rewards for humans (as for dogs!) are food based.  Of course we are talking about motivators for exercise here, so let’s not fall into the trap of “been to the gym, deserve a bacon sarnie” approach.  But after a run on a cold winters morning, look forward to the hot cup of coffee on your return, or the cup of tea / hot chocolate. 

Or perhaps (like me) you will be stupidly hungry on your return – well how about rewarding yourself with a hot steaming bowl of porridge?  Or totally un food related, a hot bath if you exercise in the evening, or a foot rub / massage from your other half to ease those tired aching hard worked muscles.

As well as looking at winter sports, how about CHANGING IT UP?  Hot yoga in the summer is even hotter and often not too enjoyable.  Hot yoga in the winter is warming and something to look forward to.  Swimming is great in the summer, but the heat of the pool I actually find enticing during the winter months too (just remember your hair dryer as there is nothing worse than the headache from cold wet hair after winter swims).  Outdoor swimming can also be amazingly invigorating during the winter months.  **PLEASE NOTE** I can seriously tell you open, outdoor swimming is for fully competent swimmers only.  You need to be a good, strong, capable swimmer but nothing will wake you up and invigorate you more before a long hard winters day, than an outdoor cold swim.  

Outdoor ponds/lidos in London that are open during the months can be found herehttp://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/lidos-and-outdoor-swimming-pools-in-london Or try www.wildswim.com for more outdoor swimming venues around the south east (or anywhere in the UK – just use your location on opening the site).  Or how about outdoor heated pools (In London I found this  http://www.better.org.uk/leisure/london-fields-lido)

Not appealing – then no worries, you can always EXERCISE INDOORS.  As well as cold in the winter, there is also wet weather.  For me that’s so much worse.  So sometimes, when you want to hibernate and just haven’t got the motivation to get dressed and outdoors, exercise inside.  You can hit the gym and run on the treadmill, use the cross trainer or bike too for some cardio activity, or build in some strength training.  If you can’t even get out the house – that’s ok.  There are a million fitness DVD’s (and there will be more in the new year) so grab one and get into the living room and work it!  If you’re even lazier than that – YouTube.  Find a fitness channel and whack it on in the bedroom, then just creep out of bed, stretch to warm up and work out right there!

Still staying indoors - there is always SEX! Yep, it’s a great workout and an undeniable calorie burner.  And you don’t have to leave the house or even your bed or come out from under the duvet if you don’t want to.  Just so long as you have a willing partner they get to exercise with you too!  Sharing is caring. You can even work out your calorie burn here http://www.sexcalculator.co.uk/

MAGICAL MORNINGS Think about outdoor exercise again – assuming you’ve made it out from under the duvet, it’s still dark and you head out.  The streets are really quiet, but it’s almost magical.  I love this time of day.  It’s not scary or intimidating darkness as late in the evening is, but early morning darkness is hopeful.  You start running under the cover of darkness and it feels good, like no one is watching and you have a certain sense of freedom.  Then the sun slowly rises around you and all of a sudden you are running on a bright, beautiful day. 

For me, watching the sun rise is the best motivator for early morning, outdoor exercise.  On the other hand, if you prefer to exercise later in the day, time it for the sunset if possible.  It can be just as beautiful and as the sun goes down the temperature drops and you heat up, so perfect climate conditions for outdoor exercise. Then of course you can head home for the hot dinner and hot choc and hot bath and massage!

Finally, I would say look forward to the spring months and the BIG REVEAL.  Working on yourself and your body over the winter months when your body is hidden under clothing layers, leads to the spring when you finally start peeling those layers off to show off your toned arms, legs, abs etc.  Don’t let them be covered and forgotten during the winter.  Work on your winter bod, to reveal a healthy summer body, without having to crash diet or overdo it, or do any of those stupid fad diets 2 weeks before your springtime holidays.  Preparation, goals and thinking long term – believe me there are no short cuts so all this works!

So good luck in staying motivated through the colder months, by exercising at home, indoors at the gym, taking up a new sport, embracing the winter sports, rewarding yourself with hot healthy treats, getting some new tunes and of course new clothes!  Enjoy nature during the winter months and take it one day at a time.  Seeing through the winter to your spring time goals is the best motivator.  Keep going, don’t hibernate and remember a duvet day once in a while is totally OK.

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**Please remember this is advice ONLY (as is all other information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it) None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your GP or health professional**

Remember, remember...this chilli recipe

Remember, Remember the 5^th of November…..

Happy fireworks night / bonfire night / Guy Fawkes night…..? to you all.  What do we call it these days?  And what are we really celebrating?  Do you know the full story of the gunpowder plot to blow up the House of Lords back in 1605…..?  Here are a couple of wiki links with more info if you want to learn a little bit more about where/why this Nov 5^th tradition exists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_Night

And when you’ve read these and made our chilli recipe (as below), and once the bonfire is out – you can take a quiz and see how much you remember about the origins of bonfire night here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/how-well-do-you-know-what-happened-during-the-gunpowder-plot-a6721096.html

 

In the UK I know we celebrate by wearing all the winter clothes we actually own, going to the local park/recreation ground in the freezing cold, at night time, in the dark.  We get as close as possible to a mega huge bonfire built and lit especially for this night, and we hold our heads back and watch numerous fireworks bang, crack, pop and fizzle overhead until our toes and fingers are frozen, our nose is numb and our necks ache from the tilt.  We still make the noises though, the “oooooohs” and “ahhhhhhs” each time a big and beautiful twinkly firework goes off, because they really are so pretty!  If we are not lucky enough to get to a local organised display we congregate with other family members and friends into whoever’s garden is the largest, all bringing a homemade effigy of Guy Fawkes (or more recently we bring a balloon faced, charity shop suit, stuffed with paper and dressed as a rubbish celeb, or tv character – or is that just us?) to throw onto the lit bonfire that the men build.  The men also set off the fireworks bought from the supermarket, or fallen off the back of a lorry including Catherine wheels that never light properly and scare the life out of me)!  The kids get sparklers and we of course all write our names with them and try to take photos. 

We all drink a few warming brandies, or mulled ciders to keep warm, then feast on hotdogs and of course jacket potatoes and CHILLI.

 

No surprise then, that today as it’s the 5^th November and Thursday blog day, we are sharing (no not fireworks but…) a fantastic healthy chilli recipe.  This one we made with Quorn mince so it’s vegetarian too.  And with this one, there is the extra addition of tortilla chips backed in – yep, we are spoiling you, but think this will go down a treat in plastic bowls in the garden for the kids, or for a few of you huddled round the dining table when you get in from watching the local firework display.

 

VEGGIE CHILLI BAKE:

(serves 6 – or in reality 4-5 depending on portion size and what you eat it with!)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic

½ a medium onion

A good large handful of mushrooms (approx. 6?)

1 large red pepper

1 medium red chilli

Handful of pitted black olives

350g Quorn mince (or if you’re not doing the veggie version use beef mince for the best flavour)

1 can chilli beans in chilli sauce

500g passata (we used a carton but you can make your own if you wish)

2 teaspoons of marmite (or more if you love it!)

4 teaspoons of gravy granules (beef or veg flavour)

1 LARGE packet of salted tortilla chips

Grated cheddar cheese (to top)

Soured cream (to serve)

Hot chilli powder and chilli flakes (as much as you like – add to your own taste/temperature)

METHOD:

• Use a large pan - heat some oil in the bottom 
• Add the garlic / onion / fresh chilli and fry  off slightly 
• Then add the mushrooms / red pepper and fry off all until soft 
• Add the mince, followed by chilli beans, passata  and olives
  
• After a few minutes (once the mince is nicely cooking through) stir in the marmite, gravy granules and extra chilli powder and flakes (to taste) 
  
• Simmer the flavours together for about 15-20mins, adding water as required so it doesn’t fry out (you will need to add more to the quorn mince as this really soaks up liquids like a sponge – you could also have some tinned tomatoes to hand should you need to top up the mixture without it getting too watery 
• Layer the chilli and tortilla chips in an oven proof bowl, with the final top layer being the chips
  
• Cover this with grated cheese and bake until the top is golden brown and bubbling! 
• Serve with soured cream, and maybe some guacamole and extra uncooked tortilla chips. Careful – it’s HOT !
  

Give it a go and let me know how you enjoy it, or please do let me know your homemade chilli recipes as I’d love to try some other ideas too.

Have a great and a SAFE bonfire night – remember to follow the fireworks code!   

Here are the safety rules from the London Fire Brigade:

Firework safety code

• Only buy fireworks marked with the British Standard Kitemark BS7114 
• Don't drink alcohol if setting off fireworks 
• Keep fireworks in a closed box and always follow the instructions carefully when using them 
• Light them at arms length using a taper and stand well back 
• Never go back to them once they are lit. Even if a firework hasn't gone off, it could still explode 
• Never throw fireworks and never put them in your pocket 
• Respect your neighbours – don’t let off fireworks late at night and remember there are laws to follow 
• Take care with sparklers – never give them to children under five. Even when they have gone out they are still hot so put sparklers in a bucket of water after use 
• Keep your pets indoors throughout the evening

Bonfire safety

• Build your bonfire well clear of buildings, garden sheds, fences and hedges 
• Never use flammable liquids to start a bonfire and never burn dangerous items such as aerosol cans, paint tins, foam furniture or batteries 
• Don’t leave bonfires unattended. An adult should supervise it until it has burnt out. If it has to be left, damp it down with plenty of water 
• Always keep a bucket of water or a hosepipe nearby in case of fire

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/BonfiresAndFireworks.asp

For more info please see www.nitakothari.com or email me info@nitakothari.com

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**Please remember this is nutritional advice ONLY (as is all other information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it) None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your GP or health professional**