When fall rolls around, it’s easy to let the healthy living patterns we developed during the summer slide away. It’s less appealing to go outside to exercise and take walks, it’s tempting to eat warming, stodgy food instead of summer salads, and somehow you seem to pick up every cold going. Here are a few tips on how you can stay healthy as the days get colder…
Start Moving More
When it’s warm out, it feels so easy to exercise – it’s pleasant to go out and run in the sunlit early mornings, and going to the gym doesn’t seem nearly as oppressive when it isn’t dark and raining outside. But staying fit over the fall and winter is a great way to make sure that you feel good and stay healthy.
No one’s saying that you have to train for a marathon while slipping around on wet leaves – in fact, going running in the dark isn’t a great idea – but you should try to continue to stay active. Go swimming at your local indoor pool, follow yoga tutorials on YouTube from the comfort of your very own living room, and meet up with a friend at a dance class – there are ways to stay in shape that don’t mean submitting yourself to fall weather.
Go To The Doctor
When we feel sick, a lot of us tend to soldier on through coughs, colds, stomach viruses, and even injuries. This time of year it’s even more important than during the summer to make sure you stay healthy, so if you pick up a cold or cough that doesn’t seem to be going away, go to see your doctor – it can easily develop into flu or pneumonia that will knock you out for a long time. Going to urgent care may seem like overkill, but a huge part of staying healthy is through preventing illnesses as well as curing them.
Heal Your Immune System
Sometimes it feels as though absolutely everyone spends the entirety of fall and winter coughing and spluttering and sneezing at each other. Every time you take public transport and have to decide who to sit next to – the woman with a handful of balled up tissues or the guy who keeps coughing into his sleeve? – it feels as though you’re playing Russian roulette with your health.
Unfortunately, you will probably catch a cold at some point, but if you build your immune system you might just get less sick than usual. It’s important to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night to allow your body to repair itself and rest, and you could also consider taking vitamins and supplements like zinc and Vitamin C. You should also make sure that you wash your hands regularly – colds are spread through touching tainted surfaces, so it’s very easy to catch one after, for instance, using a computer that someone with a cold just typed on.
The best way to stay healthy through fall is by maintaining your summer health: drink lots of water, add fruits and vegetables to your diet and stay active, and you’ll feel good until spring rolls round again.
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