How to beat the Winter blues

Winter is fast approaching. It seems like this week the weather here in Sydney has definitely taken a turn for the colder and it is making those mornings even harder to get up and out of bed exercising. It can be all too easy to skip one workout and then before you know it, two weeks have gone by! It's also in the cold weather that you tend to opt for those comfort foods that may not be so good for the waist line. Both of these things, it's easy to see how the winter kilos can easily stack on. Then come the end of winter it's a race against time to get your body ready for summer.

Here are my top tips to keep your exercise and nutrition on track over winter

1. Be creative with your exercise - you don't need a big space to be able to exercise, in fact you don't even need to leave your lounge room. There are so many exercises that you can do using your body weight and with the furniture around your house. You can use one of your dining room chairs to do dips off, push ups either off your hands and knees or off a wall in your house. (hot tip - my 8 week program e-book which is being released shortly has a whole range of exercises designed to be done at home)

2. This is the time when you want something warm for lunch - make extra of your dinner the night before (i.e vegetable soup, stir fry - something that can easily be transported) and take that to work for lunch with you.

3. Set a goal for the end of winter - I.e. a fun run in October or November that will force you to train during the winter months. And this may be the time to head back to the gym or exercising inside. It' so great being outside going for a run in the summer but on those early Winter mornings, going out for a run is not as appealing as staying in bed or going to a gym so make winter your gym time.

4. Make a date with a friend to exercise - you're less likely to skip it if you know you have to meet someone. Or if you can't meet a friend one day schedule it in your diary. If you have something scheduled you are less likely to cancel it (even if it is cancelling on yourself).

5. Do something different - try pilates or bikram yoga or a spin class, something that you normally wouldn't to keep you interested.

6. Go swimwear shopping at the beginning of winter - Yes weird I know, but not only will it be cheaper because you're not getting it in the middle of summer, but it'll keep you honest because you know you have to fit into it again in a few months.

And my number one tip ...

7. Winter is the best time to prove to yourself that it isn't about how much exercise that you do but how well you eat that dictates your weight the most - Nutrition is 70% of maintining your weight and exercise is only 30%. (Yes I was shocked too when i found out) Winter is the best time to prove this to yourself. It's inevitable that you aren't going to be exercising as much in winter no matter how much you try. So this is when nutrition becomes an even bigger part of it.