Creating an Exercise Habit in the Winter

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Full Episode Transcript:

Creating an Exercise Habit in the Winter

Hi there, welcome to the podcast. It is getting very close to winter solstice so I want to talk about creating an exercise habit in the winter. Being that habits are my expertise as well as weight loss, I wanted to help you with creating an exercise habit that will help you to feel physically better, and also mentally and emotionally better, as well as help you lose some weight.

I’m going to share the steps that are absolutely key in creating an exercise habit. They don’t involve relying on willpower either. They make it pretty easy to create your new habit.

I do just want to mention that most of weight loss comes from changing your eating habits, but, there are several other habits that greatly assist with weight loss. Those are creating an exercise habit, drinking plenty of water, having good sleep habits, and also various smaller habits that includes how you think and how you feel.

For example, managing stress helps with weight loss in several ways, one of which is decreasing cortisol levels.

But today I’ll focus on creating an exercise habit in the winter, because exercise can elevate your mood, quite significantly too, and this is especially crucial for those more dreary winter months.

I used to not really run that much in the winter, and then just start up again in the spring and get myself back into shape, which never felt great, but last winter was the first winter that I ran consistently through the winter. And last winter was the best winter I have ever had. My mood was so elevated. Also, I felt like I was able to get outside more and be in the sunshine, and be with friends who I run with.

I used to not want to run outside in the winter because it was cold. My belief was that it would be more uncomfortable than running in the summer. Interestingly, I have found that running in the winter can actually be much more comfortable than running in the summer.

You can only take off so many clothes in the summer, but in the winter, you can bundle up as much as you want. And you get warmer as you go, so you can always start off chilly, but know in a few minutes, you’ll be quite comfortable.

It’s important to mention that if there are other people involved, even if it’s just someone that that you live with being involved, there is that social connection component as well. And in the winter, when we tend to hole up in our cozy homes, sometimes the social component is less than that warmer weather.

So connecting with others is especially important in the winter. This will help to elevate your mood in general, which is great for your health and happiness.

Also, an elevated mood in general, helps you lose weight, because you just feel more energized and motivated in general. So you’re more likely to do the things that will help you to lose weight.

Next, you’re going to actually choose specifically when you will exercise. Get as specific as possible, because then you’re more likely to follow through. If it’s just sort of like a vague plan, you’re going to be much more likely to ignore it. If it’s something that you’ve determined that you’re going to do Monday Wednesday Friday at lunchtime, then because it’s a specific plan, your brain will actually be much more likely to follow through come Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at lunchtime.

Think about it like this, it’s kind of like a date that you’ve set with yourself, or an appointment that you’ve set with yourself. You can even put it into your calendar or your planner. Let me tell you, my husband Paul and I both love planners. We like the good old-fashioned hand-written ones. Do we get a little excited when we see the nice masculine, minimalist ones. That’s both of our styles.

How about you, do you love a good planner?

Alright, so next step is you’re going to set yourself up for success. You’re going to ask yourself what will make it easier to actually follow through on the thing you’re going to do exercise-wise.

That could be setting an alert on your phone for the time you wanted to do the exercise activity. It could be getting the outfit out that you’ll wear or putting your sneakers in a visible spot to serve as a reminder.

So you’ll want to think of at least one thing that will help remind you and help you follow-through on the action itself.

And then every single time you want to do that exercise activity, use the same thing to help you follow-though. So you’re not only getting into the habit of doing that same exercise, but also getting in the habit of using that same reminder or using that same thing that will make the exercise easier to follow-through on.

Let me give you an example. When I was going to the gym every day after work, I would keep my gym bag in a visible spot in my bedroom to remind me to pack my gym clothes and sneakers the night before. That way, I wasn’t forgetting to pack them the next morning.

Soon, it became a habit to pack my bag for the gym, so it became much easier for it to become a habit to go to the gym. I didn’t even need to think about it anymore, i just went through the motions every day of packing my gym bag and going to the gym after work. And when it became a habit to go to the gym after work, I went regardless of if I had the energy to go to the gym.

Because sometimes you just won’t feel like you have the energy to do the things that are important to you, and unless it’s become a habit, you’re going to have to use a lot of willpower to get yourself to the gym. Which is why it’s so much more fun if you can just turn that behavior into a habit, so you don’t even need to really think about it.

OK and the next step for creating an exercise habit for the winter, is to reward yourself afterward. This can either be with something internal, like a really positive thought that creates a positive feeling in your body, or it can be something external like I don’t know using that more luxurious body lotion after your shower. Whatever you’d consider to be a fun little reward to yourself. I recommend it not be food or alcohol related.

And if you would like some ideas for non food rewards, I have an entire podcast episode on this. It’s episode 79 and it’s called 9 non food rewards for challenging days, however you can use these rewards for anytime. For accomplishments or for getting through something challenging.

Now, I also really like choosing your reward ahead of time, so that you can anticipate the reward. Because that actually provides a little bit more of a dopamine hit. Dopamine, is a hormone that causes a feeling of pleasure and research shows that it is released not just with the reward itself, but also with the anticipation of the reward. So that can be very motivating to help you follow through on the exercise activity, whatever it may be.

So once you have gotten pretty comfortable with following through on your intentions of whatever exercise it was and for whatever frequency or duration, you can slowly increase from there. Or you can just keep it the same. In general though, the more frequent you do a behavior, the more likely it will become habit, or the more quickly it will become a habit. Especially, if it’s done at the same time, at the same place, or in the same situation or circumstance.

So that could even mean that you do a few little exercises in your home office after every meeting.

All right, so follow those simple steps for creating an exercise habit for the winter that will then carry over into the warmer months as well. You will reap the physical, mental, and emotional benefits from doing so. It’s such a small investment of time and energy that has substantial return on investment period but remember to start small with something that you are 90 to 100% confident you can do, even on a day you’re busy or tired.

And if you haven’t grabbed my new free course, crushing bad eating habits, simple solutions for career women, you can get that right in the episode description if you’re listening from a podcast listening app, right on my website if you’re listening from there, or if you are watching from YouTube, you’ll see several links and one will be for the free course.

Watching instead of listening can be so much more engaging and it’s easier for you to actually pay attention, so find me on YouTube and subscribe to my channel Kate Johnston Coaching. New episodes come out on YouTube a little bit earlier than they come out in the podcast apps. Fun.

Thanks so much for listening or watching, take care and I’ll talk with you next week.