Winter can be hard on your health. Many of us will spend more time indoors to protect ourselves from the cold temperatures. That can mean we’re less active overall. Unfortunately, it also means we can get exposed to poor air, which can contain dust or disease.

Thankfully, there are a few steps to take to protect your health this winter. Check out what actions you can take to start next year in great shape!

Mask Up!

Wearing a mask in public can protect you from a wide range of respiratory diseases. Colds, influenza viruses, and coronaviruses can circulate easily in the winter as more people cram indoors. The cold air can also be hard on your throat, making you feel sick.

Wearing a mask can help to protect you from infection and help you feel warmer. Even if you get sick, a mask can ensure you’re exposed to a lower dose of a virus. That can help you get less sick overall and make it easier for you to recover. Be sure to wash your mask regularly to kill or make inactive any bacteria or viruses that may be stuck on it.

Change Your Air Filter

If you’re spending more time indoors, paying attention to your air quality is essential. If you’re cooking more often or using an indoor fire, you could have worse air quality indoors than at other times of the year. This could spell trouble for anyone in your home or business with respiratory issues. Even for healthier people, poor indoor air quality could weaken their immune systems and make a serious illness more likely.

Change the air filters regularly for your HVAC system during the winter. Your home or business’s HVAC filter can remove dust, mold, and other particulates. This can help to protect you or your loved ones from having respiratory problems during the winter.

Get Some Exercise!

It’s tempting to withdraw when the temperatures start dropping. However, you’ll want to stay active as much as possible. Staying committed to an exercise regimen during the winter can pay dividends year-round. Your healthy habits can also benefit you across your life – but only if you stick with them.

Try to exercise for at least twenty minutes a day. A brisk morning walk can help you get blood flowing and keep your heart healthy. Strength training exercises can also help you keep or build muscle and fight off those holiday pounds. Whatever type of activity you do, it’s better to do something rather than nothing.

Watch Those Calories

It’s tragically easy to overeat during the holidays. Watch what you eat across the season to prevent those holiday pounds from piling up. As the skies get darker earlier, you might be tempted to fill the night with food. Even if you don’t mean to, if you’re not careful, you could start to at more than you would if the sun were up.

You could go through the holiday season with the right dedication and attentiveness and still meet your weight goals. However, even if you miss them, don’t beat yourself up. Everyone makes mistakes. All that matters is that you don’t give up and keep working toward your goals!

Get Some Sunlight

With less sunlight in the winter, you could face some physical or mental health challenges. It’s easy to feel a little down when the sun goes down earlier. Some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder because of the shorter days. Shorter days also mean less Vitamin D, leading to many health problems, such as increased fractures. Vitamin D also plays an absolutely critical role in regulating metabolism and may impact blood pressure.

Squeeze in some time each day to get the sunlight that you need. Doing so could help to perk up your mood and can give you the dose of Vitamin D your body needs. Staying in tune with the sun may also help you keep a better schedule throughout the day, which can prevent you from inadvertently overeating and gaining weight over the winter.

Stay in Touch With Friends and Family

While the holidays are the perfect time to visit family and friends, sometimes we can’t see them. This can take a toll on individuals who haven’t seen their loved ones in a long time. For those with mental health issues, the season can be especially tough, especially if they lost a loved one previously during the holidays.

Take some time to check in with your loved ones to share your appreciation of them. You’ll also get to see how they are doing and if there is anything you should be worried about. You’ll also get an outside perspective on your own life, which can be hard to examine from the inside.