Sonya Bateson at Mount Main Beach after a winter sunrise walk around Mauao.
Sonya Bateson at Mount Main Beach after a winter sunrise walk around Mauao.
Ah, winter.
'Tis the season of being a hermit, where the mind naturally strays towards everything warmth and comfort, and motivation goes out the window.
It's the time of year that when offered the choice between going for a walk outside on a sunny day or staying inside a gloomybut warm house, the comfort often wins out.
No wonder seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression, affects so many people. Symptoms start in autumn and continue into winter, sapping your energy and making you feel moody.
Winter binge eating is a real issue for many people, especially when exercise also becomes a struggle.
It's not unusual to come out of winter with a few extra kilograms of "insulation" from all the comfort eating.
Darker mornings and earlier evenings play a huge part in this - none but the most dedicated of exercise junkies will be beating the streets before dawn or after dusk, so the rest of us have to either fit a workout around our workday or join a gym to visit after hours.
I freely admit that I'm one of those who struggle to keep fit in winter and have found the only thing that works is to create a routine and stick to it, no matter what.
I'm up at 5am every workday to do a session of yoga and, every Wednesday, join a walking group for a sunrise mission around Mauao. Whenever it's dry, I walk to work.
My colleagues also have good methods for staying active in the colder months.
One says she sleeps in her gym gear and always exercises with a friend.
Another says she can't find motivation unless there's a team commitment, people she may let down by not turning up.
A fitness tracker watch has been a magical motivational gadget for one colleague.
Financial motivation works for another colleague - she pays for an expensive gym membership and knows she's wasting a big chunk of money if she doesn't go.
Staying active through the winter months can be hard, but skipping it altogether is harder in the long run.
