One Month at a Time: You can 'winterize' your body, too

This had been the first time I’d felt my lawn was healthy enough to survive a cut in almost three months. Unless we get more rain soon and the temperatures stayed warm, it occurred to me that I might not be mowing again until spring.

Winter is coming.

So, I called Pile Hardware on ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s West Side. Over the last 15 years (off and on), I’ve taken my various mowers to them for repairs and servicing.

“So, I just cut my grass for the first time since July,� I told the man who answered the phone. “We’re still in a drought and I thought there’s a good chance that I might not need to cut my grass again until spring, when I usually bring in my mower.�

Well, sometimes I bring in my mower. Sometimes, I let it ride, hope that I haven’t banged the thing up too much, which is why I go through them like a sleeve of Girl Scout Cookies.

But even when I take the mower in, I tend to wait too long. I show up when the grass is starting to get a little high, usually after I’ve seen my first black snake and run shrieking toward the road.

“I was wondering if bringing in my mower in a couple of weeks made sense,� I said. “Is that too soon?�

I wondered if the tune up would somehow expire during the winter.

The old guy on the line took a second and then said, “Well, no. You could bring it in next month and that would be no problem.�

In fact, he didn’t think the guys in the shop would mind the business.

“They don’t have a lot of that kind of work in November,� he said.

And I’d have a mower ready for spring.

I made a note on my calendar to take the mower into the shop before Thanksgiving. If I get it back by Valentine’s Day, that will be fine.

Because my mind bounces from subject to subject like a rubber ball stuck in a popcorn maker, I made some calls and sent some texts asking people about skincare.

Every winter, my skin dries out. My lips and hands become chapped and then crack. I slather my flesh with lotions, ointments and oils. Nothing seems to work much, and I end up ruining T-shirts washing them with jeans that still have tubes of lip balm stuck in a pocket.

Because I only know as much about skincare as I’ve read on the internet, I reached out to a spa and an esthetician I worked with several years ago.

I never heard back from the spa, and the esthetician doesn’t do skincare anymore, but I was told I could check back if I was interested in waxing.

That seemed like a bridge too far for me, but it led me to thinking about gaining weight through the holidays and beyond.

Lots of people worry about that. I maybe think about it more.

Six years ago, I forced a hard-right turn with my life. I began seriously watching what I ate. I made regular exercise part of my routine, and I fell into the habit of following a schedule.

Winter pushes against all of that.

First come the holidays, which might as well be already here. Halloween kicks off our season of gluttony and overindulgence. Following the endless bags of fun-size candy bars, there’s the traditional Thanksgiving feast, Christmas cookies, candies and cakes — plus whatever liquid calories get consumed for New Year’s.

And let’s not forget the impact of professional sports.

We gather, we eat and we gain. Rinse and repeat. That’s what I’ve always been told. That’s what I’ve always believed, but WEB MD says, “yeah, but not really.�

According to the site, most people gain between 0.8 and 2 pounds over the holidays. That’s actual weight. Loading up on carbs will lead to additional, temporary water weight and bloating, but it’s really not as bad as I thought.

I could, maybe, give myself a break and not worry about the gingerbread or the extra slice of pumpkin pie.

Still, winter wreaks havoc with keeping schedules like getting to the gym every morning. Never mind the occasionally icy road, cold temperatures make it really easy to hit the snooze button. Warm blankets can make it very tempting to skip leg day, back day or even neck day.

And chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, a soft couch and about a million episodes of “90 Day Fiancé� can sound a lot more exciting than trying to get in a good walk or run a few miles after work, while the sun is setting.

I talked to Brandon Walters about that.

Brandon owns BStrong24, a gym at Ashton Place that’s outlasted a couple of restaurants and a donut shop. He teaches group fitness classes, runs boot camps and does some semi-private training.

Before he started his own gym, Brandon was a trainer at the YMCA, which was where I met him. He ran a boot camp in the mornings, while I pretended to lift weights.

“So, what I’m looking for here is how to pregame the holidays and also what do you do when it’s winter?� I asked him.

“I like that you’re bringing this up now,� he said. “It’s always better to have a kind of preemptive strike. So, you have plans.�

Brandon said he’s had over 25 years in the fitness industry, and his approach to training has evolved over the years.

“Fifteen years ago, I was more of a drill sergeant,� he said. “I still want to push people and encourage them, but people have a lot of stressors. Life happens. You have family issues, work, illness.�

Illness is something he’d seen first-hand. His wife, Jennifer, had cancer. It had changed how he saw some things.

Brandon said he encourages people to get outside as often as they can and to make regular trips outside a habit. He also said I was doing a lot of the right things with my CrossFit. It wasn’t just lifting weights or the running and jumping (though, these were good things), but I’d found a gym family.

“That is absolutely critical,� he said.

One of the best ways to stay fit is to find people to try and stay fit with.

“Nothing beats getting together with other people and having that accountability — finding that community,� he said.

And now is a great time to do that, Brandon said. Go join a gym. Sign up for some classes. Get started now.

“When winter gets here and it’s dark, you want to have that appointment,� he said. “You want to have those people and that place where you want to be.�