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In short: Winter is a season for slowing down, and your body asks for exactly that: earlier nights, warm and colourful food, enough water, a walk in the daylight and time with nothing planned. Taking care of yourself in winter means looking after your mood and your mind as much as your body. A few small habits, kept up through the dark months, help you reach spring rested and well.
It’s dark when the alarm rings and dark again when you finish work. Your skin feels tight, your hands are cold, and getting off the sofa in the evening takes real effort. You wonder where your energy has gone, and you tell yourself you ought to be doing more.
Perhaps you ought to be doing less. Winter is a time of rest and reflection. This season is perfect for slowing down a little and really looking at what your body, mind and soul need. Taking care of yourself isn’t only about your body. It’s also about nurturing your emotional and mental health.
Why do we need more care in winter?
Nature rests in winter. The trees are bare, the garden is quiet, and many animals sleep more. We’re part of that same nature, yet we expect ourselves to keep the pace of June, with full diaries and late evenings under bright lights.
Meanwhile, less daylight shifts your inner clock, the cold and the heating dry out your skin and your airways, and you spend more time indoors, sitting down. It’s no surprise that your energy and your mood dip. You haven’t become lazy. Your body is following the season, and you can work with it.
Here are seven ways to feel rested and fit during the winter months.
1. Go to bed early
Winter can certainly make you more tired. As the days get shorter, your body produces melatonin earlier in the evening, and you feel sleepy sooner. If you tend to go to bed late, try going an hour earlier than usual. It brings your sleep back in line with the season, and you’ll feel the difference in your mood and energy.
Dim the lights after dinner, put your phone away and let yourself be tired. I explain how light and darkness set your rhythm in how to look after your body clock in winter, and you’ll find more evening ideas in simple habits for better nights.
2. Try dry brushing
The winter cold can dry out your skin. Dry brushing removes dead skin cells and gets your circulation going. Use a soft natural-bristle brush on dry skin, with long gentle strokes from your feet and hands towards your heart. Do it every day before your shower and see how refreshed you feel. Follow with a body oil or cream while your skin is still slightly damp.
3. Take a walk every day
Walking has so many advantages for your wellbeing. It’s a gentle form of exercise that eases stress and lifts your mood, and it brings fresh air and oxygen to every cell in your body.
In winter, try to go out while it’s light, around lunchtime if you can, because daylight is precious for your energy and your sleep. Put on your most comfortable, warmest clothes and go. While you’re at it, think about what you’re most grateful for. It’s a simple way to change how you look at your day.
4. Change your routine
Sometimes a change of routine is exactly what you need on a dull winter morning. Add more colour to your outfit, or style your hair differently. Take another route to work, lay the table with a candle on an ordinary Tuesday, listen to music while you make breakfast. Find one small way to change things and see whether it changes how you see the day. If you’re short of ideas, I’ve listed eleven things to do when it’s cold outside.
5. Drink water
By now, you know that drinking enough water every day does a great deal for your energy, your skin, your digestion, your sleep and your concentration. In winter it’s easy to forget, because you feel less thirsty. Yet heated rooms make the air very dry, and your body and brain need water just as much as in summer. Remember that your body is mainly made up of water.
Drink a glass when you wake up, and then regularly through the day. If cold water doesn’t tempt you, have it warm: hot water has benefits of its own, and herbal teas count too.
6. Allow time for rest
It can be easy to fill your diary with too many events, especially around the holidays. Having lovely things planned is part of taking care of yourself, but time to do absolutely nothing is just as necessary. Rest and recovery restore your energy and give you room to relax and reflect.
Keep one evening a week, or one afternoon at the weekend, completely free. No guests, no errands, no catching up. A book, a bath, a nap, a blanket and a cup of tea. A Sunday self-care routine is a good way to make this a habit.
7. Nourish yourself
Cold weather can weigh on your energy and on your immune system. Choose warm foods with lots of colourful vegetables, eat the rainbow, and add some extra spices to warm you up: ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, a little chilli if you like it.
Winter vegetables are made for this: squash, carrots, beetroot, leeks, cabbage, kale. Turn them into soups, stews and trays of roasted vegetables. A big pot of soup cooked on Sunday gives you several easy lunches, and you’ll find a recipe in my guide to eating with the seasons. You are what you eat, so good food is one of the kindest things you can give yourself in winter.
What can you do today?
You don’t need to start all seven at once. Choose the one that feels easiest and begin there.
Tonight, go to bed half an hour earlier than usual.
Tomorrow, step outside for ten minutes at lunchtime, whatever the weather.
Put a glass of water next to the kettle, so you drink it while the kettle boils.
Block one free evening in your diary this week and protect it.
Buy the vegetables for a pot of soup.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I so tired in winter?
With shorter days and less daylight, your body starts making melatonin, the sleep hormone, earlier in the evening, so you feel sleepy sooner. Less time outdoors, heavier food and dry heated air add to it. Earlier nights, morning daylight and a daily walk usually help.
What should I eat in winter to feel well?
Warm, cooked meals with plenty of colourful vegetables: soups, stews, roasted roots, cabbage, squash, pulses, with warming spices such as ginger, cinnamon, turmeric and cumin. Add citrus fruit and keep drinking water and herbal teas.
How can I get myself to walk when it is cold and dark?
Go at the brightest time of day, around lunchtime if you can, and keep it short. Leave your coat and shoes ready by the door, ask someone to come with you, and tell yourself you only need to go for ten minutes. Once you are outside, you will usually want to stay longer.
Do I really need to drink as much water in winter?
Yes. You feel less thirsty when it is cold, but heated rooms dry you out. If cold water does not appeal, drink it warm, or have herbal teas and broths through the day.
When should I talk to my doctor?
Talk to your doctor if your tiredness does not improve with rest, if your mood stays low for more than a couple of weeks or winter makes you feel down every year, if you lose interest in things you usually enjoy, or if a cold or cough lingers or gets worse.
Would you like some help?
Eating and living with the seasons, winter included, runs through my group programmes in nutrition and health, such as Six Tuesdays in Montignac. If you’d like to hear when the next group opens, drop me a line at hello@catherinepolet.coach.
Would you rather work one to one? I also coach online. Book a free 20-minute call, and we’ll look at what would help you most to keep your energy and your good mood until the days grow longer.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet, a holistic nutrition health coach, yoga and autogenic training teacher for more than 30 years, author and speaker. I help people find a way of eating and living that suits their own body, online in English, French, Spanish and German, and in person in Southwest France.
