Have you ever noticed how your lips get chapped and your skin gets dry in winter? It doesn’t have to be like this, yet we just accept it and get on with our lives. If we don’t just accept it, that means there must be something we can do about it, right?

We used to blame the wind. Winter brought cold winds, and that inevitably brought lip problems. It seemed logical, yet most people don’t spend their day in the wind and cold. The amount of time they spend outdoors is minimal, yet still the lips get chapped and the legs get dry.

Every year the coaches at Healthy Inspirations notice the same thing: as soon as the cooler weather arrives, people stop drinking water. Dry skin, of course, has nothing to do with weight loss – or does it? Actually, reduced water intake leads to reduced weight loss. Your skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside your body, and so dry skin is an indicator of dehydration.

Winter skin is an accepted though totally preventable condition, as long as we look after our hydration.

Drink more water

It can be hard to drink enough water in the winter. Thirst is less obvious, and we’d much rather have something warm and comforting. You can get the best of both if you consider drinking your water hot. Plain hot water may not sound appealing, but herbal tea or a clear soup or bone broth are excellent ways to make sure that water continues to be a part of your day right through the winter months.

Eat your vegies

While it’s easy in summer to eat salads, winter is more of a cooked vegetable time of year. All vegies contain water, and sticking to the low carb ones increase your water intake as well as keeping your weight loss on track. You can steam, boil, microwave, roast, or bake your vegies, or include them in soups, stews or casseroles. Easy!

Avoid hot showers

It sounds like very bad advice for winter, but hot showers strip the skin of natural oils and make the skin dry and scaly. We’re not suggesting a cold shower on those freezing winter mornings, but find the sweet spot by making it warm enough to be bearable without making your skin turn red.

While we’re on showers, many soaps and body washes can dry the skin or aggravate dryness. Is the shower wash made by the same company that makes the body moisturiser? Interesting.

Patting your skin dry after the shower, rather than vigorously rubbing, can also help with preventing dryness.

Cover up

This makes total sense; after all, who wants to have bare skin out in the cold? Most people would say no, but for those who like to exercise outdoors this might be a good thing to consider. The cold dry air makes water evaporate faster from your skin, so preventing that evaporation is a good thing.

Start now and prevent winter skin becoming a problem this year. Now, where’s my pretty cup and saucer…