Let’s face it. Wintertime gives us too many excuses to stay indoors. Warmth, good food, good drinks, good football games, reruns of “Monk” — all of these conspire to get us to shun the chilly outdoors.

For most of us, this reluctance to venture out combines our perception of discomfort with our determination to avoid it. Other than polar bears, arctic seals and a few discombobulated well diggers in the Yukon, the list of cold-weather aficionados is pretty short. And that is most unfortunate!

Two things about this time of year make it doubly dangerous for our fitness.

First, the days are noticeably shorter and our body clocks seem to respond to this. Imagine yourself dozing in a recliner in front of the TV, the fire off to the side, and then think about a hibernating bear snoozing away in its den, not really caring at all about the TV remote.

Secondly, we have the season’s supply of insane quantities of all types of food and drinks, most with two things in common: We don’t partake of them in any other time of year, and each temptation has a caloric content containing at least three zeroes. Beyond that, apparently there is some unwritten law of etiquette and culinary satiation that requires us to sample everything, usually more than once.

We all know we are going to eat; even to hint at not doing so would be just the mutterings of a dieting madman. But left unchecked, many of us will emerge from our den of hibernation with a dread dilemma confronting us: Either our bathroom scales have suddenly become defective or we have, in fact, gained 10 pounds.

The antidote to the lethargy and gluttony, of course, is offsetting physical activity. Given the current state of our economy and the impact the omnipresent negative news reporting has on our psyches, the only place to escape is outdoors. The good news is that you actually can escape in comfort.

If you keep three simple maxims in mind, you’ll find that you can enjoy just about any day in just about any weather. I like to use the acronym “LAD.”

“L” is for layering. Start with a base layer of clothing that takes moisture away from your skin, follow with a garment that transports the moisture and finish with a breathable shell.

“A” is for attitude. Just telling yourself that being outside is something you want to do, not have to do, makes all the difference in the world.

And finally, “D” is for dry. If you do the layering right, keeping dry keeps you warm. If there is precipitation, this becomes even more important.

So if you are going to do the extra eating, then try to get out and get moving. Come January, you’ll be glad you did.