How I slog/persevere through winter

This sponsored post is brought to you by Pizza Hut. All opinions are my own.

From January to March-ish, my instinct is to go into full hibernation mode. I don’t want to leave the house, or do anything important or useful or productive. I avoid phone calls because I don’t want to get together with people, and I carefully plan my outings for the week to minimize the number of times I have to leave the house.

I just want to sleep and read and eat and be left alone. Is that so much to ask?

Weirdly, my family does not share my inclination for hibernation, and I think it’s probably for the best. I’m starting to hit that point that rolls around every winter: you know, the moment when the thrill of fresh snow and twinkle lights has passed and you start to feel a little bleak and seasonally affected.

I thought I’d share a few little things that keep me (relatively) sane in the winter, and I’d love to hear what keeps you from getting all bogged down by wintry gloom, too.

Pick up wintry books.

Winter seems to me like a great time for more purposeful reading. If summer is for light, breezy, silly books, then winter is all about deeper, more thoughtful, more literary reading. Classic novels, heartbreaking reads, spiritual memoirs. In the winter, I find myself gravitating to books that are heavier and longer and weightier than the typical ‘beach read,’ and it gives me a sense of accomplishment to scratch a ‘heavy’ book off my reading list.

Force outings, if I must.

Come January, the thought of leaving my warm cozy house to trudge through the snow to run errands or take Forrest on a playdate is just depressing. I’d always, always rather stay home.

So I force myself to take outings. Our weekly library visits continue through the winter, even though I’d usually rather stay home (and lately, we’ve been taking 2 or more library visits per week). Forrest is signed up for a sports class at our rec center next month, which will force me to leave the house at least 3 days a week. When he asks if we can go get fast food for lunch, we text a friend to meet us there. It goes against everything I want to do in the winter, but even a grumpy hermit like me has to admit that it does a body good to get out of the house now and then to visit with friends and be reminded that life continues outside our four walls.

Eat Out.

Well, you saw the disclaimer at the top, so you knew this one was coming.

We find ourselves eating out nearly every weekend when it’s cold and gloomy (not great for the budget or waistline), and as silly of a point as this may be, I think we all really look forward to choosing a place to eat, getting out of the house, and trying something new.

This past weekend, we visited Pizza Hut to try their new Flavor of Now menu, which includes new ingredients (like meatballs, Peruvian cherry peppers, and banana peppers) as well as new crust flavors, drizzles, and sauces. Our pizza had creamy garlic parmesan sauce topped with grilled chicken and bacon on a salted pretzel crust. And it was incredibly good. Highlight of the weekend good. No leftovers good.

Something as simple as enjoying a meal someone else cooked really perks up a bleak winter week. Feel free to perk up your bleak winter week by ordering HERE.

Exercise.

Left to my own devices, I’d probably exercise about 3 times per year. But for better or worse, I married an endorphin junkie who, if he hadn’t married me, would probably have proposed to Gold’s Gym (if she’d have him). So he pressures and guilts me into exercising with him. I don’t know whether to be appreciative or annoyed by this.

I’ll admit, though, I feel vastly happier when I’m exercising regularly. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been running lately and it’s working for me. I’m more pleasant and less stressed when I run 3 or 4 times a week.

And I suppose it’s a bonus that Forrest begs to be taken on runs, too. Maybe he’ll grow up to be a little more excited about exercising than his mother.

What keeps you going through the winter months?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pizza Hut. The opinions and text are all mine.