{"id":117,"date":"2011-01-14T15:58:33","date_gmt":"2011-01-14T15:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/?p=117"},"modified":"2011-01-14T15:58:33","modified_gmt":"2011-01-14T15:58:33","slug":"say-good-bye-to-the-winter-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/say-good-bye-to-the-winter-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Say good bye to the winter blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/drjohnson_highmark.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"315\" height=\"235\" \/>A few tips from <\/em><em>Rhonda Moore Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., Highmark Inc.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s face it\u2014winters in Pittsburgh are long, cold and the sun may not shine for days on end!\u00a0 Does the thought of a long winter give you \u201ccabin fever,\u201d a \u201cblah\u201d feeling or even make you a little sad?\u00a0 You <em>can<\/em> take some simple steps to welcome winter and its unpredictable environment.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Stay busy\u00a0<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Plan ahead!\u00a0 Think of activities that you need to do but couldn\u2019t get to over the spring or summer.\u00a0 For example, do you have any household projects to do? Think about those things that need a little sprucing up. What about those photos you wanted to upload or put into a photo album? How about re-arranging those closets?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0Re-establish relationships and make time to reconnect with friends and family\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pick up that phone and call someone. Write a letter or send a fun card to an out-of-town friend or relative. You will enjoy catching up and you may have a new place to visit in the summer.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><\/em><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em>Avoid the winter weight gain\u00a0<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We all want that comfort food, especially when it\u2019s cold outside, but try to cut back on your fat intake. Avoid fatty cuts of meat and limit deep fried foods.<\/li>\n<li>Try smaller portion sizes and practice leaving a few bites on your plate.<\/li>\n<li>Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.<\/li>\n<li>Drink plenty of water.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u00a0Keep moving\u2014even if it\u2019s cold!\u00a0<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Regular exercise, at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity every day or most days, will increase your energy level and help keep the pounds off.<\/li>\n<li>Staying active keeps your mind alert and helps to ease that winter blues feeling.<\/li>\n<li>You can build balance and flexibility by practicing regular stretching indoors.<\/li>\n<li>Remember to consult your health care provider prior to starting a physical activity program.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Improvise lighting to boost your mood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Try to spend at least 30 minutes outside every day, if possible.<\/li>\n<li>Increase indoor lighting with regular lamps and fixtures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The long winter season is just ahead. With a little bit of planning, you can find many ways to truly enjoy it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For more information about keeping you and your family healthy this winter season, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.highmark.com\/\">www.highmark.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Dr. Rhonda Johnson is the medical director of health equity and quality services at Highmark Inc. She leads Highmark\u2019s efforts to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities among Highmark members through clinical interventions and improvements in health literacy, language access and health-plan cultural competency. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few tips from Rhonda Moore Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., Highmark Inc.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it\u2014winters in Pittsburgh are long, cold and the sun may not shine for days on end!\u00a0 Does the thought of a long winter give you \u201ccabin fever,\u201d a \u201cblah\u201d feeling or even make you a little sad?\u00a0 You can take some simple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highmark-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}