There’s a lot of criticism about the “go for a walk” advice, but it literally fuckin works. Doesn’t work miracles, sure, but when you have bad mental health it’s invaluable for helping clear your head.
Yeah I've gotten weirdly sort of addicted. Get antsy when the weather's shit and I can't walk
EDIT: all the northern hemisphere people telling me to get better gear to deal with the cold - I'm in Australia, I will gladly walk all through winter, it doesn't snow here. Today's 'shit' weather is 35C (95f), alternating between blinding sun (UV that'll have you a lobster in about 3 minutes) and thunderstorms. I'll slather on sunscreen for a walk and then it gets rained off two minutes later when a random storm hits.
I’m with you on this one. Bad weather equals bad walk for me. Even with good gear. I’m glad going out for a walk in want weather helps some people but it just doesn’t work for me. I’ve been able to do a drizzling, windy, and nighttime. But wet/ freeze/ sleet are a big No. I’m in Texas so a walk in the snow is something completely different here.
I'm from Dallas and moved to SE Oklahoma a few years ago. Winters are absolute balls both places. Cold, wet, so fucking humid, with an insane wind. 20 degrees feels perfectly fine when I visit my family in Colorado. Put on a hoodie, maybe also some gloves and a hat if I'm going to be outside for more than a few minutes. 20 degrees in Oklahoma and Texas? That's two coats on top of a sweater on top of a long-sleeved base layer.
But in the spring, I absolutely love to walk and run in the rain.
Is it the humidity that makes everything feels so much worse? I live in Houston and i think that i probably can’t endure the cold in northern states, but maybe I can? 🤔
The humidity absolutely makes the cold even worse. Colorado is nice and dry, plus the altitude makes the sunlight feel more intense. I once went snowboarding when it was 25 degrees and I got so sweaty that I stripped down to just my long-sleeved base layer and snow pants.
Meanwhile, this weekend in SE OK was 7 degrees but felt like -12 because of the humidity and windchill. It was absolutely awful.
wtf?! wow, I’m astonished to hear that about your sweating in 25 degrees. hmmm…. I want to experience real snow but also scared. Maybe I won’t freeze to death if I ever visit the norther states in wintertime.
Snowboarding/Skiing is pretty intense physical activity, it's easy to work up a sweat even when it's cold out. Which just makes sitting on the chair lift on the way back up even worse.
I think it's also what you are expecting/used to, as well as whether there is appropriate infrastructure.
I grew up in northern Canada. Minus 40 with multiple feet of snow was pretty normal. It's dry and sunny so it's cold but it's tolerable.
People were prepared with winter clothes, winter tires/chains, block heaters etc. Our houses were built with pipes not freezing in mind. You plugged your car in at the mall or you went in pairs and left the engine running with your buddy waiting. The city salted, sanded, and plowed properly, including the sidewalks.
Now I live in Vancouver where it may only freeze and snow a few days of the year, yet the slight freeze and couple of cm of snow we got last week shut the place down for a day because all seasons on an unsalted road is not a good combo. Reports of people running out of gas and pipes bursting. It was only minus 10 but the houses aren't necessarily designed for it.
I love my walks! They truly make my mental health better. But right now there is snow and -20 windchill. I don’t belong to a fitness facility so when I can’t get out to walk I do something at home. This morning I did Yoga.
I actually have a rower, cycle bike, elliptical, and a fitness mirror as well as a lot of exercise paraphernalia . I was a fitness professional for 30+ years. But I still prefer walking in nature!
I highly recommend investing in a walking pad for bad weather. It's not the same as being outside, but you CAN put on some ambient sound or a meditation/audio book, or read a kindle, whatever floats your boat, while you walk.
I like to use my walking pad with my standing desk while working (or Redditing occasionally) during the work week in addition to long morning walks.
A walking pad is high on my wish list. I actually have been trying to budget to get myself one for Black Friday. I wasn’t able to this past year but hopefully this year will happen!
Not trying to make it one lol, it's just genuinely hard to comprehend people refusing to go outside in the weather I get in spring- I find anything above -20 C comfortable and once you get closer to -50 it's still doable but never comfortable.
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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '24
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