How to Prevent Dry Skin & Stay Hydrated This Winter

As winter approaches us, we humans tend to neglect hydration. Some believe hydration is not as essential as during the summer since we are not sweating as much, while others opt for warm diuretic-containing beverages such as coffee and tea (guilty). However, these cold-weather months can be extremely dry, wicking the moisture from our skin. The skin on my face and hands has already started to feel the effects of it. This is all the more reason to keep the momentum going and continue our healthy hydration practices from the hot summer months!

There are several ways we can help our bodies maintain hydration besides simply drinking water. I will outline some of my favorite, winter-friendly strategies below:

4 Healthy Habits to Adopt this New Year

A few years ago I stopped making New Year’s resolutions. Not only were the majority of my goals unrealistic, but I never actually devised an action plan on how exactly I was going to achieve them. This led to a downward spiral of me slipping up (usually within the first month or two), devising an excuse for why my slip up was acceptable, making more slip-ups, getting mad for not accomplishing the goal as I hoped, and finally giving up on my resolution altogether. I decided I needed to change up my methods.

For the past few years, I have reflected on the year prior to determine what areas of my health tended to slack the most. Did I drink enough water? Was I more stressed then usual? How was my sleep?

After identifying several areas of improvement I set a specific goal for each, followed by 3-4 actions steps on how I specifically plan to achieve each goal. I then choose the goal most important to me to start, and when I feel I have adequately improve my habit, I will reward myself by starting on the next goal!