10 health tips to perk you up this winter

Keep exercising

Often the first New Year resolution to fall by the wayside, exercise can seem like too much of a chore, especially in cold or bad weather. But it’s well known that we all need to exercise daily in order to keep fit: it’s good for the heart, the immune system and for general wellbeing.

Buddy up with a friend to increase your motivation to exercise, or buy a skipping rope and do short bursts often throughout the day.

Dress up warmly and go for a 20-minute brisk walk and take the stairs instead of using lifts and escalators.

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Choose healthy snacks

If you have a snacking habit, swap any fatty, salty or sugary foods for the odd small handful of dried fruits, unsalted nuts and mixed seeds.

Flax, sunflower, pumpkin and hemp seeds contain vitamins, minerals and omega oils amongst many other nutrients, and they’re low in fat and calories, too.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Stay off the tobacco

If you’ve recently managed to kick your smoking habit or are trying to give up now, give yourself a fighting chance of keeping off the tobacco: if you feel the urge to smoke, distract yourself by going out for a walk; drink a glass of water; chew gum; use a mouthwash; clean your teeth; eat some fruit or chat on the phone to a friend, who will help put things in perspective.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Cut down caffeine

Although caffeine doesn’t have a proven negative impact on the health long term, it temporarily raises blood pressure and can keep you awake if drunk too late into the evening. Pregnant women should have no more than 200mg of caffeine a day (an one mug of regular instant coffee contains around 100mg).

This is because high levels of caffeine can result in babies having a low birth weight, which can increase the risk of health problems in later life.

High levels of caffeine might also cause miscarriage. Try some fruit teas or decaff coffees – you might have to try a few to find ones you like.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Pump up the adrenaline

If you feel you’re flagging during the daytime and can’t include a 20-minute power nap, try a brief spurt of exercise to get the adrenaline going.

Keep a set of hand weights with you, for instance, and use them for five minutes, or do a bit of running on the spot. It’s amazing how it can re-energise you.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Tone up at your desk

You can perform stretches and tone up leg and tummy muscles whilst sitting down: consciously sit up straight with your shoulders square and your arms stretched above your head and contract your abs; breathe out and squeeze and hold for 10 seconds, then gradually release the muscles as you breathe in.

Repeat 10 times. Stand in front of your desk with your fingertips on the desktop and practise 10 slow squats. Do this as often as you can throughout the day.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Read the food label

Be discerning when you shop. Many foods are labelled using the ‘traffic light’ system for fat, sugar and salt, with red indicating a high content, orange showing medium and green meaning low.

Try to opt for green-labelled foods wherever you can. You’ll improve your overall health and may lose weight as a result.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Take power naps

If you suffer from daytime tiredness and you can find a quiet spot for 20 minutes, try having a power nap to re-charge your batteries.

Set your mobile alarm timer so that you don’t exceed this optimum time limit, as any more and you are at risk of falling into a deep sleep, which will leave you feeling more tired than before.

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• Your personal health check A-Z

Take advantage of sunshine

We all need exposure to sunlight to help us to manufacture vitamin D and to encourage the production of melatonin, which is an important factor in getting to sleep at night.

Because sunshine tends to be in short supply during the winter months and daylight hours are shorter, see if you can get out for a walk when the sun does come out.

Even when the weather’s overcast, you can still benefit from daylight, so make a point of going outside every day before it gets dark.

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• Your personal health check A-Z