Winter Resolutions!

It's January and we're all making promises we probably won't keep for the year ahead, so this year I figured I'd save myself the let down and make some attainable goals for the near future. Winter resolutions instead of yearlong ones, and particularly winter because it's the hardest time to do just about anything for me. The whole season is foreboding and I typically enter winter with trepidation and low spirits. After Christmas, it's all kind of down hill for three months of dark and cold, which makes this season the most necessary for any kind of self improvement. If I can make it out of winter having done these things, I'll be pretty proud of myself!

I'd love to hear your resolutions too, especially specific ones. I saw a lot of "simplifying"/"being present" resolutions on Instagram this week, and I have to ask, what does that even mean?! My list is specific enough that I'll actually be able to look back come Spring and see if I achieved it or not, which for me is key. Here they are!

1. Dress for the weather and face the cold.
   
   This is big for me because Montreal has been -25 all week long and winter is only getting started! When I pick up my kids from school they always want to play for a bit on the way home and I routinely say no because I'm too cold, even though it would be much better for all of us if the kids had some time to run free before coming home for the evening. Same goes for these long days indoors when the kids are itching to go out and play but I'm just too cold to be that mom. Well this year, I'm dressing for the weather in hopes of enjoying it a bit more, giving my kids more much needed fresh air, and for a healthier lifestyle in general.
   
   Altitude Sports send me these Holden snow pants a couple of weeks ago and it's been a huge game changer. Even with a huge parka and warm boots, my legs were freezing every time I left the house. No more! This winter, I'm going to really bundle up - even for quick trips to the store. So far, it's made all the difference in the world. I put on snow pants almost every time I leave the house now, and winter has already been more bearable.
   
   
2. Develop a Weekday/Weekend mentality and cut out sweets
   
   I've always known that sweets are my weakness, but after December, when eating baked goods became a dangerous hobby, I knew I needed to get back to a balanced diet. I don't tend to gain weight when my eating goes off the rails, and I have no food sensitivities, but back in December when I was eating treats every.single.day I started getting pimples (the brutal cystic kind) again like I was 16. Ain't no thirty-something got time for that! I tested my theory with a mini experiment - I stopped sweets for just 48 hours and almost every pimple was gone. Ok, I get it. Too much sugar = revisiting the high school days. No thanks.
   
   Eating well is just so hard during the holidays, but I find even in the winter months it's challenging. All I want to do is cozy up with hot chocolate or have ten cookies with my Earl Grey. And when oversized sweaters are the name of the game, what's stopping me? Well, my skin, I've learned. This winter I'm aiming for a weekday/weekend mentality where I save alcohol and sweets for a couple of times per week (not necessarily Saturday and Sunday because I find that too rigid) and eat healthy the rest of the time.
   
   
3.  Read two books per month, minimum.
   
   I'll devote another post to all things reading because I've received scores of questions about it over on Instagram, but for now I'll say that my winter resolution is to read my heart out. In the summer months our evenings are often filled with picnics in the park and late nights with neighbours, but in the winter there's no excuse not to read - unless you're watching way too much TV. I'm all for TV too (Victoria season 2 is out soon and This Is Us is coming back next week, and I can't wait for both!) but I want books to be my primary source of entertainment, and TV a distant second, not the other way around. Like any habit it takes discipline, but finding a good book is the best place to start. The best book I read last year was Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance. Read the New York Times review here.

For this winter, those are my top goals. Reading like a fiend, eating in a balanced way, and facing the cold well prepared. What are your goals for the winter? Or if you're brave enough, for 2018?

Thanks to Altitude Sports and Holden for sponsoring this post!

All opinions are 100% my own. 

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