February: How to Stay Motivated Until Spring
- Marilyn Yaquinto, PhD
- Feb 8
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 20
February is a tough month to navigate. First, it's no longer about holiday cheer and uplifting visits (hopefully) with family and friends for ample feasting and gift-giving.
Second, it's still deep in wintry moodiness and weather lashings. Many of us know we'll have to grapple with its nasty effects for weeks to come. That celebrated ground hog in Punxsutawney confirmed that much.
Third, at this point, few people have stuck to their New Year's resolutions. Quitters Day was back on January 10 when 88% of people had already given up. That number has certainly fallen further. I abandoned most of mine, too, except for one.
Meanwhile, the National Day calendar offers some notable dates to look forward to in February. There's Pizza Day on the 9th, Drink Wine Day on the 18th, and on the last day of the month, Tooth Fairy Day. If these don't inspire, there's always Presidents' Day, on February 17, when banks are closed and retailers offer those big savings on mattresses and large appliances.
Of course, I couldn't leave out the February superstars: this weekend's Super Bowl extravaganza and Valentine's Day on the 14th. Both of these can delight or depress, depending on how much we're into pro football or that someone special in our lives. I've had those years when it was me and some girlfriends enjoying a few Love Potion Cocktails.
Even for non-fans of football, the commercials that debut during the Super Bowl telecast remain popular crowd pleasers, even though many of them are popping up online days way ahead of the game. With an average cost of $7 million for a 30-second commercial, they remain a big deal no matter when or where they get watched. Below is one earning plenty of attention.
Keeping New Year's resolutions (ok, maybe just the one)
I mentioned above that I'm sticking to one of my New Year's resolutions for this year: to eat healthier.
My January blogs previewed our Whole 30 adventure, which started on January 2 and ended on February 1. The first phase is (thankfully) over, and it was a tough slog at times. We successfully eliminated dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, and alcohol for 30 days straight.
The absence of alcohol was tough on our wedding anniversary, January 22. It wasn't the same floating a lime in a glass of club soda. Even using stemmed glasses didn't help, as our taste buds knew the "bubbles" were somehow counterfeit.
But we did it. That alone was worth celebrating before realizing any other rewards. We're now in the final phase, which involves slowly adding back the missing food groups, taking care to note any adverse reactions such as bloating, gassiness, or other digestive issues.
For me, all of the above occurred when I added back mozzarella cheese to an otherwise Whole 30 eggplant parmigiana. Maybe too much too soon. I've since restricted dairy to just a few crumbles of feta until my system adjusts. And it better. We're headed to New York City next week for a quick getaway, and I'm looking forward to enjoying a slice of the city's renowned pizza. (I'll keep a few antacids at the ready.)
Who says February is boring?
There's no denying that for most of us living in North America, this month is accepting that it's still cold outside (and sometimes snowy and sleety too). But complaining about the weather is not going to help any of us overcome the winter doldrums that may have settled in about now.
It was a shock to our systems to experience winter again, after having lived in the Phoenix area for the previous six years. After buying more sweaters and thermal gloves, we're hoping our blood thickens at some point. Is that even a thing? (Turns out it is. Check out the link to learn more.)
No matter where many of us live, February remains that post-holiday, Spring-is-nowhere-in-sight sort of month. It lacks personality. And a clear identity. It's just there, like a bowl of plain oatmeal.
We're well aware that we're in for a snowstorm while in New York, but hoping that doesn't get one of our "walking tours" canceled. It's with an ex-NYPD cop, who is supposed to take us to iconic Mafia-related sites around town. That includes Little Italy, where the tour includes sampling the sumptuous food there. (More antacids, please!)
I'm interested in such a quirky tour after having written a book in the late 1990s about gangster films, many of which involve New York locations. The book is a survey of such cinema's critique of American society and how its antiheroes, often immigrants or other marginalized young men, become criminals to seize their version of the American Dream. That is, until they're violently gunned down by fierce rivals or relentless cops (often "rogue" ones, the focus of my 2020 book).
As I wrote in my gangster book's preface, the seductive draw of such films as The Godfather and Goodfellas is that perhaps "we see [the gangster] as a nightmare vision of our own desires and ambitions run amok."
While in New York, we'll also do the usual tourist stuff, catch a Broadway show and pay our respects at the 9/11 memorial. No matter the weather, we vow to make the most of our time there.
That's the essential message for surviving February, isn't it? Stay busy, focusing on whatever sustains and expands our quality of life, despite the gray skies and freezing temps.
At home we try our best to exercise indoors and stroll around our local museums. Since winter started, we've tried to pick a day each week to visit another of the Smithsonian museums in our newly adopted hometown.
Nearly everybody's hometown has a museum, historical society or movie theater that can fill up their February calendar. Like many communities, ours also offers book readings, trivia nights, and yoga classes, to name a few of the indoor options available this time of year.
Since most of us have to go outside at some point and brave the elements (to go to work or pick up kids at school or visit the Big Apple just because), just bundle up and carry on. This too shall pass.
Spending quality time in the kitchen
I've discovered that one of my favorite things to do during the dreariest months of winter is to cook. My husband and I spent most of January in the kitchen because of Whole 30. It's now February and we're pretty psyched about cooking and eating a wider variety of food. After the dairy try-out, which didn't go so well for me, we added back grains. We'll be adding back a food group every two or three days and be back to "normal" by mid-month.
For the debut of grains, we chose to make our own whole wheat bread. It was our first time baking anything other than pre-made cookie dough.
Like so many others, baking intimidates me. I have no such fears about cooking, even when recreating recipes from our travels. While in Istanbul, we fell in love with "imam biyaldi," which more or less means the "imam fainted" after eating this delectable eggplant dish. We've made it many times over the years, experimenting with different recipes, depending on the ingredients available.
Cooking is something creative my husband and I can do together. It also engages all our senses, from what ingredients smell and sound like when sizzling, to what a meal looks and tastes like when it's finally on our forks.
On the other hand, baking seems about exacting chemistry. It doesn't like free-wheeling experiments. I can't toss in a pinch of baking powder to add pizzazz to bread dough as I can with herbs in a pasta sauce. Baking is about measuring and fractions and mixing dry ingredients to wet ones (or is it the other way round?).
The bread idea came about because we wanted to continue our healthy path. We thought, why not make our own? After doing plenty of research, we lined up all those measuring things and power tools. I mean sifters, blenders, and one prized KitchenAid stand mixer. It's an expensive appliance I've used once in the eight years I've owned it. And that was to (unsuccessfully) make pizza dough. This brave new me, though, dragged it out from the back of the cupboard and dusted it off. Literally.
Other than strictly adhering to a recipe and what seemed like endless waiting for the dough to rise and rest and bake, the process was easier than we thought. As it was the first morsel of bread we'd eaten since the start of 2025, so the bar may have been set incredibly low.
Not only was it delicious, it smelled heavenly. The kitchen was warm and toasty but also a mess, with flour scattered everywhere, including in my hair. No doubt that's a part of the creative process. The Dutch Masters probably had to clean their brushes after creating their masterpieces too.
Cooking as winter therapy
I'm not the first to note the inspirational, even curative, effects of cooking, especially when the great outdoors isn't beckoning this time of year.
"Research has shown links between cooking and reduced stress, anxiety, and depression," notes Renata Haidle, of Simply Local, a Montana-based site that celebrates local food and culture. "Many therapists now recommend cooking (and baking, by extension) as a tool for improving mental health and well-being, alongside art therapy, physical activity, and even play therapy."
Haidle outlines the "therapeutic benefits of cooking":
● Mindfulness and Stress Reduction. Cooking engages repetitive motions (like chopping and stirring) that can be as meditative as they are rhythmic.
● Enhanced Creativity. This comes from experimenting with flavors and ingredients that is about expression and a sense of accomplishment
● Established Routine. Cooking adds structure to daily habits, especially those involving our health, offering us a sense of control over a key aspect of daily life.
● Social Connection. Cooking with or for others fosters social connection and the chance to bond over the act of creating and sharing meals together.
● Improved Nutrition. Cooking at home often leads to healthier food choices that, in turn, impact our mood and overall well-being.
Lasting lessons from our 30-day experiment
All in all, besides further embracing the joy of cooking, did we experience any other valuable takeaways from our Whole 30 adventure?
Yes, we learned to eat outside our comfort zone and to discover "substitutes" we didn't know existed. Turns out almond milk is tastier than nonfat milk. Plant-based cream cheese adds the same creaminess to recipes as the full-fat dairy version. Those sweet potato "toasts" proved delicious enough to adopt long term as acceptable substitutes for bread, if carbs are an issue. And when we added pasta back in, we used spirals made from brown rice that worked well in tuna salad.
My husband and I each lost about seven pounds during our 30 days. My blood pressure went down considerably and we're both sleeping better at night. I don't have drops in energy in the afternoons, as I experience consistent levels throughout the day. I'll have to wait to see with the next set of blood tests if there’s been any impact on my cholesterol numbers. I suspect those will have improved as well.
Going forward, we have vowed not to return to the way we used to eat. We're now slowly transitioning to a more broad-based Mediterranean diet to help us continue to lose weight while cooking and eating fresh, whole foods. That means encompassing our favorite cuisines from so many of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, from North Africa and the Middle East to the countries of southern Europe.
Eat in a new way (for us), but using an approach that’s ancient and proven to be among the healthiest diets in the world. In other words, eat like my husband's Italian ancestors before they came to America. (His grandmother, though, would certainly wonder why he's even in the kitchen!)
Check back for updates on our cooking and culinary journey in the weeks ahead. Find out if we're continuing to make fresh bread every weekend.
I'll be posting updates to Instagram while we're in NYC. And some pics of a slice (or two) of pizza. Buon appetito!
If you need help with anything that was shared in this blog, book a discovery call below. Remember I'm here to listen and help you map your path forward.
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