Winter Survival Tips for Your Fitness Journey Blues
The New Year’s Day hype is over.
Our New Year’s resolutions, affirmations, and lofty goals have been dashed to the side like the candy wrapper you just crumbled and threw into the garbage. Cue the guilt, self-loathing, and feelings of discouragement. Like clockwork, your belief in your ability to be a bad bit*h, just in time for Valentine’s Day, has gone missing.
Another Year. Another set of failed resolutions. Ughhhhhhh.
Well you aren’t alone. I am here to tell you that the ups and downs you are experiencing, are a part of the process. Maintaining the same crazy level of intensity and motivation for weeks on end is not plausible. Accepting this is the first step to creating a sustainable solution that actually works for you…not the “no pain, no gain” mantras people love to shove down our throats. The following are some tips that I use when trying to stay consistent during the February winter blues.
Remember who the hell you are and how far you’ve come!
“All or something.”
Working out 7 days a week, meal prepping all of your food, and drinking gallons of water everyday would be a dream, but the reality is that for most of us, we don’t have the time for all that. Then we get mad at ourselves for not being able to do all the things.
Give yourself a break!
Remember that it is not about doing the most, although I am the president of team “Do Too Much”. It’s about doing what you can, everyday. Leave the all or nothing mentality back in the 80s and 90s. It is 2025 and it’s about shifting our perspectives towards the benefits of doing something…anything…even if it’s just one thing. Everything little bit counts and the changes that happen with your body, habits, and mindset are cumulative. Think of it like compound interest. The longer you invest, the more interest you accrue over time. I remind myself of this, just as the disappointment, guilt, and overwhelm sets in. It’s about progress, not perfection. Progress gets you success, perfection gets you stressed.
“I am proud of myself for…”.
Remind yourself of who you are. We don’t realize just how much we do everyday.
Did you eat and feed your kids/pets?
Did you go to work and kick ass?
Did you clean/organize your house?
Did you wash your face?
Did you withhold telling that one annoying co-worker to SHUT UP?
I know you think that you don’t have a choice in these things but, you need to know that you are out here doing more than most. Acknowledging just how much you do and what you are proud of yourself for accomplishing helps to switch your mentality from “woe is me” to “I am THAT girl”. Our minds and our bodies are one. They impact each other physiologically, so…if you feel like crap then you aren’t going to want to move your body, and your body is not going to cooperate with you.
If you are working hard at your job and you are never praised for your contribution, or given a raise, what are you going to feel? Discouraged and disillusioned. Think of your body in the same way. If you never celebrate yourself and acknowledge your wins then, why are you surprised when your body gives you the side eye and refuses to do what you want?
Focus on strength training and building muscle.
It’s cold outside, the sun makes an appearance for like 2 hours a day, and the next long weekend feels so far away, Now is not the time for long High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions. It is a time for nervous system regulation and working smarter, not harder.
What does this mean?
Lifting heavier in the gym and taking longer breaks in between sets. Okay, but how heavy is heavy? Well if you are doing 10 reps and you feel like you could have done 3 or more…throw some Ds on that! (If you don’t know that song, then keep that to yourself lol).
Okay fine, I can add some extra weight, but how long should I rest between sets and what’s the point? When lifting heavy, you want to rest anywhere from 90 seconds to 3 minutes between each set. Why? Well the whole point of building muscle is to be able to lift heavy weight repeatedly. If you shorten your recovery, you will not be able to lift that same weight by the third or fourth set. You want to give your muscles the space and time to recovery so that they can do more work. This is especially important for women’s fitness due to menopause, perimenopause, and our high stress levels…”cue cortisol maniacally laughing in the background”.
Stay Away From the Scale.
Are you weighing yourself daily? Weekly? Monthly? Why? What are you looking for?
Our body weight fluctuates up or down by about 5 lbs everyday just because of our metabolic functions. We weigh ourselves daily and interpret that as failure, instead of minding our business. Again cue guilt, self-loathing and overwhelm. Are you noticing a theme here? The purpose of the scale is to measure progress over long intervals of time. This is because when losing body fat and building muscle, you will see an increase in your body weight at first. That is 100 percent normal. There are millions of processes happening on the cellular level as things shift in your body. If you weigh yourself too frequently, you aren’t measuring your progress, you are measuring your body’s physiology. Then we take that information and run straight to the nearest tub of ice cream. If you are not on a program that requires weekly or monthly weigh-ins, I recommend stepping on the scale every 6 to 8 weeks, if you really feel the itch because it is enough time to see significant shifts in body fat. If stepping on the scale frequently demotivates you, then it’s no longer a tool to help you achieve your goals…it is a weapon.
Give your body the tools it needs to succeed by making rest and strength training a priority.
We all want body-ody-ody in the words of Megan the Stallion, but if you aren’t filling your cup mentally, this journey can very quickly turn into a maze of mirrors. Believing that you can in spite of the stories you tell yourself and the stories that other people told you about who you are, is half the battle. The other half is knowing what to do when motivation wanes, the weather is frightful, and your goals seem so far away.
I love when y’all comment so please share of any of these tips help you, or if you have any you like that weren't mentioned. In addition, if you are interested in working with me for accountability and support on your fitness journey, click here.
References:
Roberts, M. D., McCarthy, J. J., Hornberger, T. A., Phillips, S. M., Mackey, A. L., Nader, G. A., Boppart, M. D., Kavazis, A. N., Reidy, P. T., Ogasawara, R., Libardi, C. A., Ugrinowitsch, C., Booth, F. W., & Esser, K. A. (2023). Mechanisms of mechanical overload-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy: current understanding and future directions. Physiological reviews, 103(4), 2679–2757. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00039.2022
Duarte, C., Stubbs, J., Pinto-Gouveia, J., Matos, M., Gale, C., Morris, L., & Gilbert, P. (2017). The Impact of Self-Criticism and Self-Reassurance on Weight-Related Affect and Well-Being in Participants of a Commercial Weight Management Programme. Obesity facts, 10(2), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1159/000454834
Ali, C. (2020). How to Work Exercise Snacks into your Day. https://beyond.ubc.ca/exercise-snacks/
