Confident Eaters

CE: Winter Wellness Survival: (The Art of Wintering)
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Georgie: [00:00:00] Hey, everybody. Welcome to today's super fabulous double length episode. Christina and I have put together a gigantic box of goodies with a big bow on it. And we are calling it the Winter Wellness Survival Guide, also known as the Art of Wintering. This episode is dropping right before we get to actual winter solstice, but in many parts of the world, it's already feeling like winter. And since you're listening to this podcast, I bet you're someone who values your health. What does that have to do with winter? Well, you probably try to get exercise, eat nutritiously, and pay some attention to your mental wellness through all the times of the year. But, winter can throw some extra challenges into the mix. Sometimes, our reality isn't exactly perfect execution of our healthy intentions. So, if winter is storming in like this big, huge Godzilla stomping on your Tokyo of healthy habits, Let's get into it. [00:01:00] Welcome to the Confident Eaters Podcast, where you get proven methods to end overeating, emotional eating, and stressing about food. We are heading for harmony between your body, food and feelings, hosted by me, Georgie Fear, and my team at Confident Eaters. When you think about it, a quarter of the year is a sizable chunk of the calendar that winter takes up. It's the season most people would say is the toughest for living a healthy lifestyle. If snowstorms and holiday parties have you feeling anxious, Or shorter days are already dragging you down. Fear not. We've loaded this episode with practical, real world advice to help get you to the other side of winter without backtracking on your health goals. Winter doesn't have to just happen to us. It comes every year and we believe we can find an approach that helps us experience the season differently. [00:02:00] First up, our goal is to steer well away from cliched advice that you've probably heard a thousand times and we want to give you stuff that actually works. When it comes to powerful tools you can use to transform your winter, your mindset is number one. Mindset can have a profound impact on your behavior, health, and happiness. Choosing the right mindset is way more powerful than selecting a lower fat turkey stuffing recipe. It's more impactful than any New Year's resolution, and it costs you absolutely nothing. So, let's capitalize on that. Because a negative mindset about a quarter of the year is probably costing you more to not change it.

Christina: Many people find the time between American Thanksgiving in late November and New Year's Day is the peak challenge time.

Can feel like the feasting traditions, parties and gift giving obligations, heap stress and calorie dense foods in front of us while our to do list simultaneously [00:03:00] lengthens crowding out our usual exercise times.

I often hear people assume that they will gain weight over the holidays because they do every year. Sometimes I get the feeling that a person has just accepted that late November and December they will lose the war of healthy living. They anticipate being stressed, worn out, annoyed with their relatives, and look forward to just getting to January.

I want you to know overeating or over drinking for the last six weeks of the year is not something you just need to accept. By all means. If you want to indulge nonstop until we turn over the calendar to 2025, go for it. But if the thought of facing daily temptations of pie, puff pastry hors d'oeuvres, Christmas cookies, and spiked eggnog makes you feel more dread than merriment?

Remember that what you consume is always up to you. Try out the mindset of, it's just like any other six weeks of the year. I'm the boss of what goes in my mouth. If you feel best with your regular two times a week [00:04:00] spin class, don't stop it during the holidays. If you don't enjoy going to a different house party every weekend, year round, why would you make yourself do it during November and December?

It's exhausting. Take it from an introvert.

Georgie: Because you aren't perfect, there will inevitably be some occasion on which you eat or drink more than you intended to. If your brain tends to lean into black and white thinking, it may seem like the reasonable thing to do is quit trying until January. It's just too hard this time of year, your mind might say. Everyone gains weight in December, in January I'll diet. I remind my clients, hey, lots of people are going to quit on their health goals at some time between now and December 31. You're going to see it. You may even hear evidence of it as people say, Oh, well, thank God January is coming and I can do the diet again. Don't be one of those people. Refuse to throw in the towel. even if you only feel 50 percent successful, the fact that you kept putting in [00:05:00] some effort all the way through to the finish line will save you so much regret in the new year.

Christina: Personally, I love warm weather months. I love being outside and I dislike being cold. So while I love the holidays, and I feel like those have helped me get through the winter, most of us go back to regularly scheduled programming in January, and depending on where in the world you live, you might still have two to three more months of winter after the holiday fun is over. I used to think that I had seasonal depression, but I actually think it was just a negative mindset combined with the holiday hangover more than anything else. Since moving from the Southeast of the U S to a much higher latitude, the shorter days and colder winters were a big concern for me.

I remember even talking to you about it, Georgie. I recently picked up a book to help me with my winter mindset, which is called how to winter harnessing your mindset to thrive in cold, dark, or [00:06:00] difficult times. The author who is a mindset and social psychologist, Kari Leibowitz spent 10 years researching winter months all over the world.

She's from Edmonton, I think, I'm pretty sure. And many of the places that she researched actually savor and enjoy winter, even places that have polar nights where the sun doesn't rise for weeks. You would think that seasonal depression would be something more common in places like northern Norway, but it's actually not nearly as extreme as you might expect because they've learned to harness a winter mindset, understand and practice yearly cycles of light and dark and learn how to shift their rhythms depending on the season. So if you're someone who struggles with colder months, I definitely recommend checking that book out because she shares a lot of practical advice. We're going to share a lot of it here on this episode.

[00:07:00] But you can become a winter ambassador and we're going to link the book in the description if you want to check it out yourself.

Georgie: I am happy to be your emotional support, Canadian, Christina, and talk to you about surviving the cold weather. So while we're on the topic of bringing a good mindset into winter, it's worth mentioning, setting your sights on the wrong things can kind of backfire. If you set your sights on having the happiest holiday season ever, you could be in trouble. For example, expectations to do all of the activities and make it magical for your kids may arise from a loving desire to create happy memories. But that expectation can leave you feeling more pressure than lighthearted joy. Not to mention, you might bring out the inner Grinch in your spouse or kids who are overwhelmed by your enthusiasm and dedication to making everything perfect and happy. If you have fond holiday or winter memories from your [00:08:00] own childhood, think back to what it was like from your younger perspective. What made it wonderful? Sometimes it's the simplest things. The number of social media likes you earned or how photogenic your family was probably played no role. Your youthful enjoyment may have been remarkably simple like a recipe your family made at home. Or a game you play together. Maybe putting up the tree and hanging stockings while listening to Christmas music gives you that warm, nostalgic feeling. You don't necessarily have to do something difficult, expensive, or over the top. And you don't have to plan an entire month packed with two dozen Christmas activities, including baking, Decorating, caroling, gift shopping, sledding, gift wrapping, creating a scavenger hunt, going ice skating, riding in a horse drawn sleigh, making handmade ornaments, writing and mailing cards, and of course, ensuring someone takes professional quality photos of it all. So you can show the internet how awesomely you did the holidays.Instead of trying for Instagram [00:09:00] worthy holidays, how about just enjoying some more downtime and togetherness? You can do one or two things that are your family's favorites and skip the others. This strikes me like our advice for navigating a buffet come to mention it. You can also enjoy other people's decorations while you're strolling or driving through your neighborhood. And then you don't have to do the work of putting them up or taking them down again. Again, if you like these things, feel free to do them. But if it's stopped being fun, don't be a slave to imaginary obligations. I've witnessed holiday light discussions in several families that were anything but jolly. It's more like nagging, complaining, and debating over who did it last year and therefore shouldn't have to do it this year. In addition to sparing your mental health from the holiday frenzy, Simplifying your activities may also appeal to you for sustainability or ethical reasons. Conscious consumption means stopping and thinking before we buy things. And it's a movement that's catching [00:10:00] on. Global awareness is increasing around how easily and often we buy items we don't really need, or give other people items they don't need and might not even want. Increased purchasing and consuming tends to mean more packaging, plastics, carbon emissions, and more waste going into landfills. I'm having a lot of conversations with my clients these days that touch on these topics. It feels positive to many people to intentionally make more use of things we already own, source used items if we need something, and generally accumulate and throw away less stuff. Not to mention, it's helpful for everybody economically to avoid unnecessary purchases and reduce gasoline and electricity use.

Christina: This has been a big topic of discussion between my husband Mark and I. We recently, I think we mentioned in an episode previous, we recently moved to Warsaw, Poland. And even though we've only been married one year, before moving, we put some things into storage and we [00:11:00] realized that combining household goods and creating new holiday traditions meant that we had quite a bit of stuff.

Moving does that, right? You realize how much stuff you have.

Georgie: Yep,

Christina: It really made us both want to live more simply. So, We were given the chance to ship some of our stuff, but we had to be strategic about what we wanted to bring with us. And we've started preparing for our own holiday season here. And now we're in an apartment.

So I wanted a taste of holiday spirit, but we decided like we're not going to accumulate all new holiday decor because we have less storage space, and we can still all like enjoy all the festive decorations. The city is just like covered in light and everything without the need to buy new stuff. So I think that's a common experience with people I talk to and just recently for us. And this brings up another mindset tactic that can be useful this time of year. We [00:12:00] can recognize that each year might look and feel different. This might be a unique year for you. It might be the first one in a new home or the first one without a loved one.

You might be ill or going through a mental health crisis or recovering from surgery. It might just be a quiet, uneventful season compared to prior years. So it's okay to allow this winter to be whatever it is and know that there isn't a right or wrong way to live your life any season of the year.

Dropping expectations about making this holiday season fit the same mold as last year and the one before allow a more present experience of what your life looks like right now. It logically follows that comparing our holidays to other people's is a recipe for discontent. If I created a test question that said true or false, comparing my holidays to other people's will make me happy.

I bet everyone would circle false. We know it's a bad [00:13:00] idea, but gosh, it's really hard to avoid doing. Isn't it?

Georgie: it?

is.

Christina: Of course, social media, you know, it's a big contributor to the comparison trap with endless photos of people in front of the tree and matching pajamas. But just remember that social media is a highlight reel of carefully curated posts.

It's basically self promotion and some people are just really good at it.

Georgie: Yeah, I'm not one of them. I

Christina: Except for your cookie game.

Georgie: My cookie game is on point. My cookie game is on point. I will say that, but you know, I, I definitely have some friends and nothing against them, but their, their Instagram and Facebook photos all look like they were done by professionals. And I, they're not professional photographers.

So I'm like, you're like really good with the camera, really good with the editing or the filters or whatever, like hats off. But yeah, it's, it's always a nice reminder to say that's, that's the way it is. It's not representative of somebody's actual life. It's, you know, one angle of their [00:14:00] life. A lot of holiday comparison isn't even to actual people.

it's created in the form of advertising, which shows us an ideal of what the holidays are supposedly supposed to be like. Television commercials, catalogs in your mailbox, and flyers nudge you to wow her this Christmas with a diamond bracelet, or make the holidays merry and memorable with our latest decorations. Looking at the perfectly styled, clutter free living rooms and impossibly coordinated table settings can make your normal home, or the scarf you knitted for your wife, feel like it's just not special enough. And that feeling of not enoughness might just nudge you to go buy some new things, which is precisely the effect that advertising is crafted to achieve. So while we're not trying to make our December look like it has in other years, we're not going to try and make it measure up to other people's or the advertising fantasies, we get to decide what do we want [00:15:00] the next couple of months to look like for us. Here are some examples of how Christmas looks for a couple people I know. For my client Julie, she has so many good memories of Christmas and her family that she starts to smile when she hauls out the big plastic tub of tree ornaments. She wants to also put it up as early in the year as possible. She loves putting up the tree and the lights and then having people over to sit and chat in the living room over tea with that ambiance of the holiday decorations. She's really not into the cold, so she likes indoor things, like Christmas movies. She takes her two dogs to see Santa and get their photo with him every year. Other than that,

she says, I stay out of the madness. You know, crowded shopping malls, not her thing any more than cold weather is, but she likes shopping online, so she picks up a few things to send her nieces and nephews who live far away. Because she eats a vegan diet currently, she doesn't relive her childhood through specific foods or [00:16:00] recipes, but the decorations, the music, and the movies are where it's at for Julie. I like this example because it's pretty simple. proof that you can really enjoy some aspects of the holiday, but not feel like it's a packaged deal. And you automatically have to get into snowshoeing and doing things with kids or shopping malls. Personally, I don't really think of the end of the year as being holiday time at all. I'm not religious, and I never got into Christmas or Hanukkah traditions. So, if I think of certain weeks of the year as being holidays. The more I realize it gives me this left out feeling. So, I like to lean into it being winter. To me, I think wintertime is a beautiful, silvery season. I think of crisp, quiet woods and sparkling snow. I think of December and January as the two months I get to go skiing a lot. I love the feel of gliding on the snow, I love my big [00:17:00] thermos of hot cocoa. I love my big puffy down parka that I put on after skiing. I love the excitement of racing and counting down the days until the next event. This actually makes winter go really fast for me because there's so many fun things that I look forward to doing in the winter with my friends, that it actually feels like a precious time before the snow melts and it's gone for another year.

Christina: That's a good point. The holiday season helping people get through the end of the year only helps if you first of all celebrate the holidays or have fond memories attached to them because I know there's a lot of people with painful memories tied to the holidays and they don't enjoy this time of year.

And. Secondly, it only helps you until January, which is when I think a lot of people struggle. That book I mentioned earlier kari talks about the fact that we think of winter as this 1 long season, but she actually encourages you to think about it in three [00:18:00] sections.

There's late autumn, early winter, then winter solstice time, and then late winter, early spring. They are all different parts of winter, they have their own unique characteristics and honestly talking with you, Georgie, my winter ambassador guru, Canadian friend is that I think you really embody that positive winter mindset really well.

Even just you describing. All of these beautiful things about winter that you love. I just appreciate your enthusiasm for winter. know that when we were talking about this episode, one thing that came up for us both is thinking about our enjoyment of some fun indoor activities as well. And reading, especially, I know I have a huge stack of TBR on my Kindle waiting for me to dive in.

Georgie: That's "To be read"? How about the old person in the room? Thanks. Okay.

Christina: To be read, TBR.[00:19:00]

Georgie: We

Christina: And a lot of times when it's nice outside, I don't always stop and sit down to read. So winter is the perfect time to read more. And I already shared the nonfiction book that I'm reading, I like to mix it up with fiction. One author I really enjoy is Frederick Bachman, and if you haven't read his books, I can especially recommend his Beartown series.

His genre is sort of described as fiction, realistic, satire, humor. So you've got a lot of feelings. It's very funny, but you also feel very realistic. He writes great characters, and this particular series, Beartown, is In a hockey town in Sweden, so it's a very wintry setting and lots of fun things like that if you're looking for some books to read. But what about you, Georgie? What are you reading these days? Mm.

Georgie: these days I've been reading a few biographies and [00:20:00] autobiographies Jesse Diggins, who is an American cross country skier and Olympic gold medalist. She has a great autobiography, which I read several years ago when it first came out, and I just wanted to enjoy it for a second time. So I listened to it again. Jesse has overcome a really long battle with eating disorders, and I really love how honest she is about it and about what it's like to be an athlete and what it's like to, you know, struggle to get better from these things in a very public view where you're essentially skiing around and spandex all the time. And she's just got a great personality and. This is just a really enjoyable one, especially for me as a skier.

I also finished a Taylor Swift biography, which is just very fun and lighthearted. It was not very deep, I'll say. I have a feeling if Taylor Swift wrote her own autobiography, it would be a much better,

you know, Read and have a lot more depth to it, but this is from an outsider.

So it involves a lot of reflection on her music and the different sounds and development of her as an artist. And I think [00:21:00] creatively, she's incredible as an entrepreneur, as an artist, someone who just keeps her head down and keeps working. I have a lot of admiration for her.

Christina: Mm hmm.

Georgie: And I also finished a sort of memoir called Dinner for Vampires, which is very confusing of a title, by Bethany Joy Lentz.

She's an actress that was on One Tree Hill. So if you're a fan of that show, you may know her from it. I actually have never seen the show, but the description on Audible hooked me. It's about how she was not only involved in a cult TV show, but in an actual cult at the same time.

And I just, from reading that subtitle, I was like, this is somebody with a sense of humor who's had a really interesting experience.

I want to read about this. And

Christina: Right.

Georgie: so her being, you know, faithful and wanting to grow in her Christian faith led her to get involved with a group that was doing a Bible study. And then it sort of like morphs from there ever so slowly into an all encompassing, [00:22:00] controlling her life group. And as many of us Would be like when you begin to realize what you've done, you're like, Oh, dookie.

How do I get out of this? And then

Christina: Yeah. It's

Georgie: like extracting herself from this group and then reconnecting with the people that she had been separated from as she was isolated. This group is just really well delivered. Really funny. I highly recommend that one. So these books are really great. None of them have to do with wintering.

On the wintering topic though, there's a really excellent one called The Year of Living Danishly, about a woman who moves to Denmark and, you know, wants to learn about why are these, why are people in this country statistically so happy and what is it that helps them be that way. And then I read another book that was on Audible that is about the Finnish way of living.

And I, I can't come up with the exact title right now, but we'll put it in the show notes and it's very similar cultural reflections on living in

Finland. Why are the Finns so [00:23:00] happy? Cause as you said, there's like chunks of the year where the sun doesn't come up.

Christina: yeah,

Georgie: They're not miserable.

Christina: She talks about it in the, the wintering book. She studied all of those like Northern European cultures, like what is it about their mindsets that are, they're just so happy and they embrace it. So

lots of good resources there,

Georgie: Yeah. I think we all need to find what works for us

in

Christina: Mm-Hmm.

Georgie: like in so many other realms. So if there's something that you really like about winter, You can focus on that and not focus on the things that you dislike and many of the things you dislike you can actually avoid like if you really hate, I don't know, Christmas music, like you can change the radio station or just play your Spotify instead of listening to the radio.

So you're not bombarded with music that you don't like.

Christina: Yeah,

Georgie: So think about what are five things or up to five. If you come up with one, it's a start. Things you're looking forward to about winter. Take time to think about what do you like? You might [00:24:00] think, you know, ice skating is really fun. I've only done that like once in 20 years.

Maybe I want to try ice skating again in an indoor arena. It's not that cold. It's not that windy. I can wear my cute furry accessories that I never wear the rest of the year. Or maybe you really like soup season. I am a big fan of soups. I have been cranking out lentil soups and a potato chowder and every type of

chicken soup under the sun.

And then, yes. It's a good way to get the legumes going in my diet. And I just love coming home and having the soup already made in the fridge and not having to figure out what is for lunch or dinner.

Christina: Yes.

Georgie: Maybe like watching football. Maybe like cozy naps and cuddles or evening fires. I'm a big fan of scented candles.

So I love lighting my wintry scented candles and enjoying those. Think of some other action steps that might help you prepare for winter. Like, lay out those bigger blankets and slippers. [00:25:00] Restock your pantry with tea, hot cocoa, and a coffee setup. I love sugar free. Syrups that you get, you know, at Starbucks, don't give me the sugar free hazelnut. Yeah, you can buy those. You don't have to go to a coffee shop.

I order them online in the fall. I have like my sugar free pumpkin spice. In winter a lot of times we will move into like the peppermint hot cocoa realm. And also raspberry is very good with hot cocoa. So

those are some of my extra nice hot beverage accessories. You could pull out those favorite soup recipes, have some friends over for a soup night. I saw this really cute, like picture. It was an idea for a soup tasting party. So everybody brings a muffin tin. So you come with your soup and a muffin tin, and they give you little paper cups of everybody's soup. And so you hold them all in your muffin tin.

And so You sit down with, like, nine or twelve, you know, soups and everybody, you know, sips and eats them with a spoon out of the little paper cups. And, of course, the paper reduction style might be just to spoon them into the muffin tin. [00:26:00] But,

Christina: Right. Exactly. If you're trying to be environmentally conscious.

Georgie: right?

Christina: So fun.

Georgie: we can all get together and have, like, a soup tasting night with some fresh bread.

Christina: Yeah.

Georgie: One thing about hot foods and drinks is, They can nudge you to slow down because otherwise you're going to burn the roof of your mouth or the inside of your lip and that requiring of slowness can make us appreciate them more, make us take a little more time and be a little more present in a life where a lot of us are hurrying a lot of the time.

Christina: Mm hmm.

Georgie: You might also explore slow hobbies. Baking, or cookie decorating, one that I love, might host an indoor game night. Puzzles, or crochet, or knitting projects are great ones. Other types of arts and crafts can make just really nice, slow hobbies that you have more time for during the colder months.

Christina: As you're talking about that, it also just makes me think of how cozy the atmosphere can be in the [00:27:00] winter. And you know what really contributes to cozy atmosphere? Have you ever heard of the concept of big light off before?, I

Georgie: I haven't, but I have a good guess at what Big light off means,

Christina: it is exactly what it sounds like, which is not using overhead lighting.

That's really harsh, especially after the sun goes down and instead using soft, warm lightings, like lamps and candles, like you mentioned, I'm using string lights this time of year, and this can really help create a cozy atmosphere to help your body prepare for the evening and eventually for sleeping.

Another client of mine says that she loves to light candles in general, but also like for dinners, she'll have like candle light. And I just think that's really nice.

Georgie: It is. It's super nice. And I've heard that like that angle of light that your eyes are exposed to can play a big role in circadian rhythms, you know, naturally, the light is overhead around the middle of the day. But at the beginning and end of the day, it's more angled as the sun is either rising or [00:28:00] dipping behind the horizon.

So, yeah, sometimes if I'm up early in the morning, I'll just put on the under counter lighting. And not the overhead lighting, because it feels like a little less abrupt start to the day. I also have electric candles,

which, you know, they don't have the aroma. So there's something missing there, but they have a remote control.

And there's nothing like walking around your house and being like,

Christina: Yeah.

Georgie: then like all these candles are lit.

Christina: That's

Georgie: it feel so powerful.

Christina: Not to mention like, if you have concerns of open flames in your home, like I could get that,

Georgie: Yeah, Roland has like respiratory issues. So like, yeah, for some people like breathing candle, even like the traces of smoke that candles produce can be problematic. So I had to embrace the electric candles, but I still, in my office desk here, I still have my pumpkin spice candle that I will sometimes close the door

and light.

Like I'm a child doing some things in secret, like clandestine pumpkin spice candle

Christina: [00:29:00] Now, another thing that I think clients bring up as challenging this time of year is how your activity levels might be impacted because of the colder weather. So we did want to take some time to talk briefly about some tips we have for you just to keep moving during the winter. One of the takeaways from the book I mentioned that I'm putting into practice after the couple of weeks I've been here in Poland is to go for winter wonder walks. I don't think she calls it that, but that's what I'm

Georgie: trademark

Christina: And just noticing nature. So You know, it is so different outside this time of year, depending on where you live in the world you know, there's no leaves on the trees.

You can sort of see the contrast of trees with the sky and it's just different. So finding wonder in nature, and sometimes it helps to go on a new path. If you're [00:30:00] like, Oh, it was the same old, same old, I don't see anything new and delightful. But I just have really enjoyed. Noticing nature, even in a city, there's nature all around us.

So make it a point to go outside and get some sun on your face. Like you said, the daylight and the sun angles can really make a difference for helping you feel energized. I have a friend who says claims that she can smell when it's about to rain or snow. So even just like engaging your senses in that way, like, what does it smell like in the winter versus in the summer outside inhale the cold air?

Like, what does that feel like in your body? If you get heavy snow, it's like kind of quiet all around. I'm sure there's something with physics that I don't understand to do going on there, but I know you thrive during winter months, Georgie, like you said earlier, because your sport, this is like prime time season for that.

So [00:31:00] how do you recommend people keep up with their movement in the winter?

Georgie: Oh, I have loads of tips here. And I want to say that I have gone from a winter hater to a winter lover. Like I was not I did not start out liking winter. I started out

hating, detesting and avoiding winter at all costs. And I hate being cold. Everybody hates being cold. People who love winter have learned how to not be cold.

Christina: that's a good point.

Georgie: Nobody likes freezing, shivering, the burning feeling in your fingers, like, nuh nobody, like, I'm not a sadist. I'm not into that. One of the things that really helped was learning, like, Oh, if you dress appropriately, if you have the right, Gear, clothing, outerwear. You're not uncomfortable! Everything is so much better when you're not uncomfortable! There's a saying that there's no bad weather, there's only bad clothing. And it's often attributed to being like a Norwegian saying, which would make sense, but who knows if that's actually true, you can't believe any attributions. on the internet, but it is a good [00:32:00] sentiment wherever it comes from.

No bad weather, only bad clothing. So one of the main pieces of advice I give to people is do a little research, talk with other people about what would be good gear to wear for this activity that I want to do. Do I want to wear synthetic stuff? Do I want down? Do I want puffy? Do I want breathable? In my sport, in particular, cross country skiing, it's really important to have stuff that's breathable because you actually sweat a whole lot. And so if you're standing around after you ski and your clothing is soaked with sweat, you're going to get cold super fast. So you want stuff that's very, very breathable and is not going to stay. wet. You also want to have windproof stuff on the front only of your jacket and pants. So like, a lot of stuff is like windproof in the front because you're moving that direction, but very breathable in the back so you don't end up soggy. And then there's all sorts of things with fabrics and technologies. So thermals that are made of cotton tend to not be as effective or [00:33:00] keep you as dry as ones that are made of synthetic or my favorite, many people's favorite, merino wool. So if you're like, okay, I take one thing away from surviving winter, merino wool, write it down. Merino wool pants under your jeans, even if you're going to the store, you could wear them under dress clothes, but those are super, super great at keeping you warm and comfortable. And if you are like, oh, maybe I could run or hike or walk outside if it wasn't so darn cold, look at getting some merino wool pants.

Thermal tops as well. And so just having that base layer on your skin that is warm and cozy makes a huge difference. So good thermals. Another one is a neck tube. So a neck tube is essentially a tube of fabric. They were popularized by a brand called Named Buff, B U F F, and Buff itself is still a brand, they still produce neck tubes, but, you know, like Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues, sometimes if you say, you know, I need to buy a Buff, it [00:34:00] might not be the brand name Buff, but it's a neck tube or a tubular scarf, and they're great because you put it around, you put it over your head and pull it down, and then you can pull it back up, so it covers your nose, your cheeks, and Your face and then you can just pull it down if you need to talk to somebody or shout to your dog or something and then back up.

So it's nice to have that option of sort of like a super sized turtleneck, but the neck part. So you can pull it up and keep some more of your face out of the cold. And many of my teammates and I say we feel naked if we go out on a cold day and we just don't have a neck. Tube on like that cold air. You can have a jacket and a hat on, but that space in between, it's like a real chink in the armor.

So neck tube is a really, really good purchase,

Christina: I've always heard Buff like survivor buffs.

Georgie: I don't know

Christina: And so I, I associated, you know, the show Survivor,

they always give them buffs. That's what they call them. And they wear them as shirts. They wear them around their neck. Anyway.

Georgie: yeah. They're [00:35:00] great for like sun protection. A lot of cyclists use them. Nordic skiers almost always ski with a buff on. Yeah,

yeah. Those are really, really nice. They're also not like high ticket items. Like you don't have to spend 300 on something. You can spend 20 bucks on a buff.

Also there's indoor options.

You don't necessarily have to go outside. A lot of people obviously are members of gyms, but if you're not A member of a gym, you might find getting a walking pad or something that's relatively low cost that you could do in your own home, gives you the option to move more without having to go outside.

And that's perfectly okay. You know, you do you, you do enter your way. If you do have a membership at a gym or a pool or a health club, maybe you haven't used it in a while. That's okay. Nobody's judging. Check if they have a sauna or a hot tub or a steam room. You know, those can be such nice things to look forward to. And especially as we frequently have discussions with people about like, what can we look forward to? That's comforting and pleasant. That's not necessarily [00:36:00] food. Like going to sit in the sauna is such a nice thing to look forward to after a long day. Okay. And no surprise that saunas are really big in Nordic countries. Like the Finnish sauna, like really, really popular, self care, socializing, comfort, all in one hot room. If you do go outside, my personal realization was don't stand still. If you're cross country skiing, like, keep walking, even if you have to stop and ask a question. If you're hiking, and you want to stop and fish a sandwich out of your backpack, like, stop, get your snack out, but then, like, keep walking while you're eating it. If you don't stand still, you tend to not get as cold. When we freeze is when we have to freeze. stand still. I very briefly was exposed to ice climbing and I hated it because you have to sit in one spot to belay the person who's

Christina: Mm-Hmm. .

Georgie: above you. And I froze and I was in a hell of a mood by the time it was my turn to climb.

I was like, I can't climb now because my arms are numb.[00:37:00]

Christina: yeah.

Georgie: This is terrible. It's like intermittent hypothermia. And exhausting activity. This is no bueno.

Christina: Mm-Hmm.

Georgie: Before leaving, to go outside, if you're trying to gear yourself up, to go for a walk in the cold, or to go take a hike, preheat! Just like you preheat the oven before you put a cake in it, you can preheat yourself, like put your warm coat on and sit down and drink a mug of tea at your kitchen table. And all of a sudden you might be like, wow, I'm really hot.

It's actually appealing to open that front door and start moving. So that can be a

really good one. Preheat with your coat on indoors. And then the last one make the investment to get a really good travel mug or two and fill it up with tea. It's nice, tasty stuff, whatever you enjoy. And if you have that with you, it's like my security blanket slash confidence booster that I can handle going out into the cold that day.

I sometimes have two 20 ounce travel mugs, one in each [00:38:00] hand with my ski bag over my shoulder as I'm going out to the car. It's like, okay, I can do this. I can do this. I have cocoa to get me by. I have chai tea for afterward and

it can really make a difference. You know, get one that doesn't leak, that doesn't dribble down your chin, that keeps your stuff nice and hot. And that you like the look of, and that can really improve your boldness to get out and keep living your life through the winter months. Anything in closing that you would add to our winter survival episode, or doing winter right?

Christina: Hmm. I think it's just, I hope that people learn to embrace the season and enjoy it a little bit more, even just a little bit more. Cause it does happen every year. I think that's the big takeaway is like, we can decide if we're going to be miserable and shrink up all winter, or we can embrace the things that we love about it.

So that's kind of my big takeaway.

Georgie: Yes. Awesome. Well, thank you everybody for joining us. We are going to share this episode, not only on the Confident [00:39:00] Eaters podcast, but also on the Breaking Up with Binge Eating podcast, two sister shows so everybody can enjoy a happier, cozier winter, and we will see you in the next episode.