No matter where you live, there are times when the elements make it nearly impossible to exercise outdoors. For most of the country, now would be one of those times. With snow, ice, slush, and frigid temperatures, it's only the few and the brave who are outside working out.

For species other than gym rats, making that shift inside can be difficult and even derail one's good exercise intentions. But rather than hibernating and putting on some extra winter padding, here are a few ways to make indoor exercise a little more tolerable:

You're just sitting there innocently cozied up on the couch: cup of hot tea in hand, fire roaring nearby, a heavy throw in your lap. There are no cookies or chips around. No snacks to be seen. But there you go and gain weight anyway. What's the problem?

Well, according to a new study, that weight gain might be a direct result of all that heat, specifically the increased indoor temperatures not only at home, but also in the car, at work, and many of the places you spend your time in the winter.

Hello winter, it's been almost exactly a month since you began, and we're already sick of you. Scratch that. We're already sick. Period.

Between the stomach bug the kid brought home on the last day of school before winter break that seemed to make its way through the family twice over the holidays and the misery of cabin fever, winter tends to take a lot out of us. News flash: some of that is our fault.

Winter coincides with giving up some of our very best health habits -- because we don't think we need them anymore. Want to feel better? Brush up on the surprising habits you should be keeping up with in winter.

Amazon; $27.95Oh, the weather outside is frightful in much of the United States. In fact, as of yesterday, 49 states had snow on the ground. Brrr ... and so much more of a challenge if you have a baby. Between the slippery sidewalks and frigid temperatures, winter requires a whole new arsenal of baby gear.

It means extra layers, and extra planning, and extra bulk, but unless you're in Florida -- the one state without snow -- you're going to need it if you intend to leave your house anytime soon. Even in Florida, temperatures have dipped, so those of us there can use some of it too.

Here are five things you need to go out with your baby when it's cold outside:

On the perfect snow day, school is cancelled but the snow stops falling just as your kids are waking up, so you can feed them breakfast and hustle them outdoors to play. If you find the parent who has that kind of "in" with the snow gods, can you give them my number? I've yet to meet a perfect snow day.

Instead, we're usually stuck indoors as the snow falls and the wind blows and the teachers get a good laugh knowing we're just dealing with the same thing they suffer through every day. Stop staring longingly at those snow boots, Mom and Dad, just adopt some new tricks of the parenting trade (TV hounds need not apply):

When you're the mother (or father) of a child between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old, the winter can seem long, indeed. In the summer, hyper toddlers can be convinced to take a quick stroll around the block or to march off to the park for some playtime. They can go outside in the winter, too, but they often don't want to and doing so can be such a production (find the gloves, snowsuit, thick socks, boots, and battle to get it all on) that we decide it's not worth it.

Sometimes it seems like the best option is eight hours of Sesame Street a day until the sun comes back out sometime in April. Luckily, there are a lot of options besides TV to keep your toddler entertained through the winter months.

Here are a few ideas, and if you have more, feel free to add them. Fun winter activities to keep your toddler entertained:

When it comes to warm winter attire, we tend to spend a lot of time thinking about outerwear like coats, hats, scarves, mittens, and gloves. But good winter underwear are just as critical for wintertime warmth as the stuff you wear on the outside. It's true!

Consider warm underwear a good investment too. Don't go for the cheapest stuff you can find. Go for quality and smart design. After all, you can wear it winter after winter for years to come, and frankly, not freezing your tailgate off is totally worth the dough.

Here are our picks for some of the best wintertime undergarments.

'Tis the season to be dry and scaly ... but you don't want to look like this poor woman, do you?

Usually when cold weather comes around, my skin gets painfully dry, and my hair gets so staticky that I look like a walking science experiment.

This winter, though, everything's different.

Read on to see the simple steps I'm taking to stay moisturized this winter -- and share your own moisturizing secrets in the comments!