Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK
Healthy Heart Tip: Beat the Winter Blues
Blue Monday takes place on the third Monday of January, which falls on Monday 16th this year. It is coined the most miserable day of the year due to various factors such as bad weather, debt following the expense of Christmas and failing to stick to those new years resolutions you may have made early January.
Winter, in general, can feel more doom and gloom than the brighter, warmer seasons. Here we share some top tips for beating the winter blues while prioritising your heart health:
Outdoor movement
It can be tempting to stay indoors during the colder months, when the weather isn’t as nice and the days are dull and uninviting, resulting in us being less active.
Getting outside even for a short time, moving, and exposing our eyes to some natural daylight (even if it isn’t very bright) can instantly lift our mood. Try going for a daily walk or run, wrap up in appropriate clothing and get your heart pumping.
Prioritise a healthy diet
A healthy diet can boost your mood, help you maintain a healthy weight and give you more energy. Concentrate on including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, wholegrain carbohydrates such as wholewheat pasta, bread and brown rice and lean meats such as chicken and turkey.
Aim to eat two portions of fish each week, including one oily fish such as salmon, sardines, trout or mackerel. It can be helpful to opt for meals you can cook in a slow cooker, so you can prep them in the morning when your motivation is high, and they are ready when you’re tired at the end of the day.
Revisit your new year’s goals
If you have fallen off the ‘bandwagon’ with your new year’s resolutions, don’t beat yourself up about it. Creating new healthy habits and changing old, less-healthy ones takes time.
You are in a better position now than you were before you initially set your goals, as you now have some meaningful insight into what went wrong. Set your goals again and put things in place to support you where you fell off track last time.
We have a healthy tip on Setting Effective Goals here which may help.
For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.
To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.
Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers: