1. Make one major change to your eating habits. This winter my decision is easy. I am doing a trial for the next two weeks, and hoping that it actually sticks. I'm going to 100% eliminate dairy from my diet. As hard as this is going to be considering my diet is an all-star line up of bagels and cream cheese, pizza, milk and cereal...I could keep going, I've never felt good after eating dairy and want to see what eliminating it from my diet will do. Click {here} to read some of the benefits of cutting dairy out of your diet.
Other changes you can make include eliminating gluten, cutting back on sweets, eating organic foods, doing a juice cleanse, cutting out red meats, etc.
2. Avoid making your hair darker. For some reason everyone runs to darken their hair the second the leaves start to fall. Winter is the one time where your hair should be full of highlights and lighter hues. Unless you're Snow White it's not easy to pull off super dark hair with ghostly pail skin.
3. As tempting as long, hot showers are...they cause more harm than good. They will severely dry out your skin and can even cause broken capillaries to the face. If you love warm temperatures (like me), try taking a hot bath instead so that your face isn't under the steaming hot water the whole time. The body retains moisture better than the face.
4. Make your skin oily (on purpose?!) As crazy at this sounds, now that we are getting older (half way to fifty over here) it is crucial to eliminate dry skin at all costs. Dry skill will inevitably lead to wrinkles. The more moisture in your skin, the better. My favorite product to use is bio oil (you can find at Target, CVS, or Walgreens).
5. Drink an insane amount of water. Water is constantly hydrating you and cleansing out your system. You will not only look good, but it will make you feel good too! (Make sure you drink a minimum of 8-10 glasses of water per day)
6. An organic spray tan here and there never hurt anyone... Since we know better than to spend our time frying our skin in the sun, if you are going on a tropical vacation this winter, get a spray tan before so you don't feel like you need to lay in your chair for 7 days straight. The sun will still give you color through the spray tan and SPF, and it will actually be the perfect combo to give you a healthy, beaming glow.
7. As Maria Menounos tells Health Magazine, when it comes to dieting and health "think 75/25. Seventy-five percent of the time, choose healthy. Then you can play with the 25 percent." It is so critical to have a realistic approach you can maintain, rather than a crash diet that will work for a few months.
8. Be sure to eat foods that are good for your skin all winter long. Yogurt and oatmeal can prevent wrinkles, edamame evens out skin tone, green tea eliminates redness, and cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, and tomatoes are famous for hydrating your skin.
9. Don't get cabin fever. The holidays are my favorite time of the year! Go walk around a shopping mall, see festive lights, go ice skating, dress super warm and go on walks, etc. Whatever you do, do not go in to hibernation this year.
10. Get facials! My absolute favorite is the power facial at Exhale Spa in Chicago. I walk out with the smoothest skin and glowing face. They are not only relaxing, but give you everything your skin is deprived of in our cold weather climate.
{pic c/o here}
