I first stumbled upon this concept last January on a particularly brutal Boston evening. I've always loathed winter and though I absolutely loved The Charles, Boston Common and Bay Village in the summer, I was still having trouble adjusting to the unforgiving Boston winter even after 7 years in the Northeast. Without further ado, I introduce to you hygge - the concept that can make you healthier without diets this winter. Let me explain.

If you're not familiar with it yet, hygge (pronounced hoo-guh) is the Danish idea of coziness and comfortable conviviality that improves our overall health and wellbeing. You can hygge-fy your home by arranging soft pillows on the couch, lighting a few candles and turning on the fireplace. Surrounding yourself with family and friends can greatly boost the positive effects of hygge, but if you're like me and enjoy spending time alone, choose a book to dive in with a glass of hot cocoa or red wine.

I practice hygge religiously on the weekend when I prepare breakfast and hang out with it in bed till noon while catching up on the news, watching the newest Anthony Bourdain or browsing through Instagram. So how is hygge related to diets then? This is how I see it - we all gain a few extra pounds in winter, right? In most cases, that's because it's so damn cold out that all we want is to snuggle ourselves up in a blanket with a bowl of pasta, a few slices of pizza, a juicy burger or whatever other comfort food can help us escape the misery for a moment.

Unfortunately, all the comfort ends up coming back to bite us in the ass a few months later when we put on the designated spring break bathing suit and it looks tighter than remember it. Does that mean we have to stoically withstand winter and say no to our comfort cravings? Hell no. We don't have to deprive ourselves from the little happiness we can experience in the cold months. What we have to do is change our game plan.

In Norway, hygge is accompanied by a philosophy of "healthy hedonism." For example, our Nordic friends indulge in triple cherry gløgg, which is a Scandinavian mulled wine with cardamom pods and star anise, The New Yorker reports. It's absolutely fine, nay - mandatory, to spoil ourselves a little during the winter season, but we have to be aware of what we put in our bodies.

To me, hygge is a very wholesome concept. I'd even link it to a form of yogic awareness of surroundings and mood. Instead of devouring that steaming bowl of nachos with melted cheese while watching Game of Thrones, make yourself a vegetable soup with some ginger, kale and mushrooms and sip it slowly. Feel your toes touching the fluffy rug. Enjoy the soft touch of the blanket on your skin. Sit by the fire place and drink some hot cocoa, even add a little pure coconut in it. Learning to be aware of your experiences in the soft embrace of hygge will be invaluably useful over the course of these tough months.

If you shift the emphasis to the overall experience of comfort incorporating touch, smell, conversations, you'll notice how you stop mindlessly devouring a whole bar of chocolate or last week's lo mein (I'm guilty of this one). Once you learn to pay attention to the entire experience, you will be able to identify the moments you're craving comfort as opposed to feeling hunger. If you use hygge right, it can keep you mindful and healthy all year round.