How you feel about snow makes a difference in your mental attitude toward winter. These can be great months or ones you’ll barely get through, eating every comfort food available and often gaining weight in the process. It’s time to take a positive look on the health benefits of all that snow. Half the battle is the mental hurdle of learning to appreciate the wintery snow. The other half is keeping alert on the roads for novice winter drivers! For those who often burn the candle at both ends, winter can be the perfect time to catch up on your sleep since it stays darker longer, particularly if there’s a snowstorm and you’re stuck at home.

Use the snow as your outdoor gym.

Frolicking in the snow with the kids or going for a day of cross country skiing can get you into shape fast, without leaving you freezing cold. Of course, you have to dress right and have loads of layers, since once you start working out, you’ll heat up fast and have to take off a layer or two. Just walking in deep snow can be quite a workout and far more difficult that walking in the warm summer sun.

Cold weather is an energy booster.

You’ll burn more calories when you’re cold, but also get more energy. Think about how tired you’ve been before going outside, only to feel invigorated after walking for a short time outside. Sometimes just going to the car can give you an energy boost to keep you going the entire day. Driver’s who have been on the road too long often roll down the windows when it’s cold, just to wake up a bit. While you should pull over and get rest, it’s an example of how the cold weather can boost your energy and keep you going.

You can have the time to cook a healthy meal, particularly if the snow closes the roads.

There’s nothing better than a big pot of soup on a cold day and you can make it a super healthy one with little effort. If you have the full day, making homemade bone broth and filling the broth will loads of fresh veggies, herbs and spices can fill almost all your nutritional needs, plus keep the house more humid and warmer. A snowy winter day is a good time to stay indoors and try new recipes. Get the kids or spouse involved for a fun family time.

• Have a workout you can do at home that doesn’t require a lot of equipment, just in case you can’t make it to the gym. The two most versatile items and easy to store are a yoga mat to exercise on and resistance bands.
• Cut down on aches and pains by walking in the snow. It improves the levels of the natural pain killer norepinephrine.
• If it’s super snowy, you may have to take a vacation day. You can use it to catch up at home or just enjoy the relaxing mode and the stress-free time.
• If you find you can’t tolerate winter and get depressed as soon as it starts until it ends, you may have SAD—seasonal affective disorder. Talk to your doctor. Sometimes, light therapy makes a huge difference.