I woke up this morning to wonderful brisk weather, a harbinger of the autumn that arrives next week.
As much as I love autumn, it is very important to take some precautions and make some plans to stay healthy.
Keep using the moisturizer with sunscreen. Cold weather does not prevent sunburn.
Time to buy new lip balm. Cold, damp autumn winds can leave you with very chapped lips.
Take a good look at your exercise plan. As it gets colder, outdoor activities like running and biking will decrease. Most of us won't make up for that loss with skating and skiing, so we need to modify of our exercise program, using machines or focusing on exercises that can be done in limited space indoors (pushups, squats, crunches, etc.). As it grows colder and starts getting darker earlier, you may have to push yourself to get your workout in.
Working against you from the other side is the fact that fall starts the unhealthy eating season. Instead of salads and grilled meats and veggies, there are rich stews and cobblers and caramel-dipped apples. And, of course, then there's leftover Halloween candy, the annual Thanksgiving excess, and the multitude of holiday parties.
It's all about balance — eating one piece of Halloween candy a day, not the bag. Accompanying a reasonable portion of stew with a nice bog salad. Maintaining some exercise program through the winter.
While we want to enjoy fall's bounty, it's not like we need to put on fat the winter starvation (which used to be the case). Your local grocery store will have food for sale all winter. Exercising some balance and moderation should be the goal.