By Dr. Julie Davelman

When many people think of the winter, the only word that comes to mind is “dread.” This sense of dread is reflected in their mood, in their inactivity, and in the start of unhealthy lifestyle choices. For those people, each winter day is spent counting down days until winter’s end and the glorious beginning of spring, or even better summer.

These people plunge into the warm weather with the fervor that makes it seem like they believe that if they show summer just how much they enjoy it, it won’t leave. They believe that all the negativity they have been experiencing will now go away and they will no longer have to deal with it. Alas, inevitably winter comes back and the cycle repeats.

But what if there was a way to use the summer months to not only enjoy the warmth but also to plan for the winter, thereby lessening the impact the cold season has on them?

For many people for whom the workday involves sitting in front of a computer, the season actually has little impact on most days. But this assumes that the daily routine cannot be altered, which in many instances isn’t true. The element that impacts people’s mood in the winter is the lack of exposure to sunlight, so why not try to bank as much of it as possible during the summer months? For example, instead of drinking your morning coffee at the kitchen table as you always do, take your coffee outside. Or, if your favorite break activity during the day is scrolling through social media, that can be done outside too.

Although all these small things may not seem like much, they likely add up to many more hours in the sun over the course of the summer, and only at the price of small tweaks to the daily routine. So, figure out what you love about summer most and do as much of it as possible even if you have to do it in tiny amounts.

Since maximizing the enjoyment of summer takes time, additional time can be created by moving pleasurable activities that can be done during any season to the winter. For example, let’s say you really enjoy going to the theater—unless it’s a limited time performance, you can save this outing for the winter, so that you have things to look forward to. Similarly, if there is a new restaurant you have been dying to try, hold off on going until the sun is not out anymore and you need something to brighten up your day. Instead, using the advice from above, pack a picnic basket and go have lunch in the park, something you will not be able to do when winter comes back.

Because the last thing many people want to do when it is cold out is move, often unhealthy habits can creep in. For instance, it is not hard to imagine thinking “Today is too cold for me to get out and go to the gym. I’ll just stay right here on the couch where it’s warm.”

Similar feelings often affect our eating patterns. In the winter, when there is less to do, some people begin to overeat out of boredom. Others develop this same problem due to emotional eating because they are feeling sad. Thus, the summer can become the time to get back on track with healthy lifestyle choices. However, to avoid repeating the cycle, it is important to consider what you will be willing to do in the winter, so that it can be implemented all year around.

For example, if you quit going to the gym every November for the last three years and then jointed again in June, it is probably not worthwhile to join the gym again. Instead, it may be a good idea to explore exercises you can do at home or start doing something like yoga, which can be done in a class when you feel like going out and at home when you don’t. The main idea is to think about what will be plausible in the winter and then start it in the summer.

Winter can be hard for some people, but it can be made easier by some forward-thinking and active planning that can be done in the summer. By keeping an eye on what comes next, you may be able to make the dreaded cold more tolerable.