How To Stay Healthy In Fall (8 Simple Habits)

Dr. Ruth Machin shares her recipe for seasonal wellness:

8 ways to do it

How many of these do you do? How many could you do?

• Embrace hygge: make the colder seasons feel cozy rather than viewing them as the miserable half of the year, create a warm and inviting living space, and schedule guilt-free downtime without emails, to-do lists, or doom scrolling.
• Keep a ta-da list: it’s like a to-do list, but more celebratory—write down daily or weekly accomplishments, rather than focusing only on unfinished tasks, helping counter the brain’s tendency to dwell on what remains to be done and build a sense of progress and satisfaction.
• Create a minimally viable routine: choose two or three small daily habits you can maintain even when sick, busy, or tired, such as drinking enough water, enjoying 30g of protein at breakfast, or doing gentle yoga, then gradually resume your usual routine when your energy returns.
• Stay hydrated: drink water regularly, try herbal teas or water infused with apple or citrus if cold water is not something you enjoy by itself, and keep a large cup or bottle within sight, while using hand cream, body lotion, and lip balm to help manage seasonal dryness.
• Eat seasonally: make comforting soups and stews with seasonal produce such as pumpkins, squash, leeks, carrots, celeriac, beetroot, kale, and cabbage, alongside apples, pears, plums, and blackberries.
• Choose intentional snacks: ask whether you’re physically hungry or seeking comfort, habit, or relief from boredom, try a warm drink if you’re not hungry, and serve snacks in a bowl or on a plate to help recognize fullness, choosing options such as dark chocolate with fruit or nuts, roasted chickpeas, or crispy kale.
• Walk indoors: maintain your activity during cold, wet, or dark weather with a walking pad, a rebounder walking routine, or an indoor walking workout, using a standing desk alongside a walking pad if you’re feeling ambitious.
• Get morning light: take a morning walk when possible because light reaching your eyes helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle by reducing melatonin production, and consider light therapy with a SAD lamp if darker months negatively affect your mood.

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!