Tag: cold

5 Ways To Stay Healthy This Winter

It’s especially important to stay happy and healthy during the colder months. Here we have 5 tips to help you fight off the colds and winter blues.

With winter just a few weeks away, it will soon be time to snuggle up indoors by the fire, hot drinks, stew in the pot and cosy blankets. But it’s also the time of year for the dreaded shovelling of snow, scraping your car windscreen and those unwelcome colds and bugs.

1. Keep Warm

Cold weather can affect your body’s ability to fight off viruses and infections. By keeping warm, you can help yourself stay well this winter. Your home should be heated to around 18-21ºC especially in your living room during the day. If you have a wood burner, not only does it do a great job of keeping your home toasty through winter it also helps to reduce your blood pressure. Just watching a fire and listening to the sounds of the crackling wood will bring your heart rate down leaving you feeling both relaxed and warm.

2. Exercise

It’s easy to let your exercise routine slump during the cold, dark months of winter. It’s harder to get out of bed in a morning and all you want to do is cosy up by the fire of an evening. Keep up with your routine and you will feel the benefits. Exercise is great for physical and mental health and will help to keep your stress levels down. If you don’t fancy a run in the cold and wet, head to the gym instead or stick on a fitness program at home to get your heart pumping. It’s important to not over do it either as that’s when illness can strike!

3. Sleep Well

8 full hours of sleep every night is recommended. Sleep boosts your immune system, your immune cells and proteins get the rest they need to fight off whatever comes their way, like colds or the flu! Other benefits include weight loss, better moods and it can also strengthen your heart.

4. Eat Well

Eating a healthy, varied diet is essential all year through. Are you getting your 5 a day? Fruit and vegetables should make up just over a third of the food you eat each day. There’s evidence that people who eat at least 5 portions have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

5. Supplement with vitamin D3

Because there’s less sun in the winter months, we don’t get as much vitamin D. Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system so supplementing through winter will give you a boost.

 

How to keep your pets safe this winter

It is important to keep your pets safe over winter, as the temperature drops and the chance for snow increases there are things we can do to help our pets.

1. Wrap up before a walk

As you would put a coat on your dog may need one too. Especially if they are fine coated such as a greyhound or staffie.

2. Check their toes

After being outside it is best to check their toes for snow, salt and grit. The snow between their toes can gather together and create ice balls which can be very painful. To help prevent this you can trim the hair between their toes as this can get very long.

3. Fire safety

This time of year the fires will be going and dogs love nothing more than cosying up by the fire. Check out our other blog about keeping your pets fire safe.

4. Keep them warm and dry

Make sure they are dry once inside and have somewhere warm to return to away from cold drafts.

5. Active cats

Your cat may want to stay indoors more over the winter months. If they do like to go outside make sure they have a warm dry shelter outside they can go to or get a microchip cat flap. This will stop other cats from entering your home and allow your cat to come and go as they please.

6. Keeping small pets warm

If you have pets like rabbits, guinea pigs or ferrets that live outdoors think about bringing them indoors in a sheltered area such as a shed or garage. Give them some extra bedding to keep them warm and keep them away from cold drafts.

7. Winter hazards
  • Antifreeze and de-icer used to stop cars from icing up when in contact with pets they can be very toxic. Cats are at the most risk as they like the sweet taste. Make sure you mop up any spills.
  • Salt and grit, this can irritate pets paws, if you salt around your home choose a pet-safe product.
  • Poisonous plants, holly, ivy and poinsettia are all toxic to pets if they eat them.

3 Reasons To Love The Cold

As the nights are darker and the days can seem very gloomy and cold its hard to see the appeal of winter and the cold. However, there are some benefits and true pleasures to be had in the winter months.

  • Cosy by the Fire

This time of year is perfect to get your log burners going and enjoy the warmth. Your fireplace can create a festive atmosphere especially when decorated. Make sure you stock up on wood get your chimney swept a minimum of once a year.

To give your fire that extra bit of Christmas spirit you can add spices to your fire. Cinnamon sticks create a lovely spicy and sweet smell. Just place two sticks with the logs alternatively you could add a few drops of essential oil to your logs, allow them to dry and then burn away.

  • Warm drinks

There are so many lovely hot drinks to enjoy this time of year from hot chocolate to mulled wine. These are perfect to enjoy in the cold gloomy weather and a great pick me up. Here are some classics that’ll get you in the Christmas spirit;

  • Coconut milk hot chocolate
  • Eggnog
  • Hot buttered rum

If you’d like more ideas and recipes click here

  • Food

Winter brings around all the best food that you can enjoy. From roast dinners and mince pies to cheese boards and lots of chocolate. This Christmas why not try something new at a Christmas market like the chimney cakes or strudel.

Do you like winter or summer?

Eco Fluffy Mama Reviews Firemizer!

Firemizer welcomes another reviewer to it’s ranks,

ECO Fluffy Mama gives her opinion on Firemizer!

ECO Fluffy Mama is British Blogger that has been nominated for and won multiple awards. If you couldn’t tell by the name, Tamsins (ECO Fluffy Mama) Blogs focus on her green lifestyle and environmentally friendly products!

Tamsin (ECO Fluffy Mama) lives in the country side and uses her open fire as her main source of heating. In our eyes this was the perfect match!

“Like with anyone, I am always looking for ways to save money. But making savings for heating is pretty difficult since there are no switching providers like you do with gas.It also gets really cold here in the winter, meaning we get through firewood pretty quick.

So when Firemizer got in touch and asked if I wanted to try out their product, of course, I bit their hand off!”

Check out the ECO Fluffy Mama website and read her full written Firemizer review

Or if you prefer you can watch her video review below!

A big thank you to Tamsin (ECO Fluffy Mama) for producing a great review
and giving her honest opinion

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