7 tips to avoid winter weight gain
At this bleak time of the year, it can be hard to keep the diet on track. In these cold and wet winter months, its dark when leave the house and dark when you are coming home. It can dampen the mood to be inside all day and not see the sunlight.
There have been surveys that show the average person will gain 2-5kg of weight during winter.
But guess what?! The cold and dark are not responsible for our overeating or weight gain!
We usually reduce exercise and reach for some warm comfort food and overeat. Get prepared for those warmer months and kick the bad habits now. Just a little motivation and some willpower for the next month or two will get you through!
Here are some tips on how to beat your winter weight gain:
Exercise Make sure you keep to a regular fitness schedule instead of heading straight home to sit in front of the TV. Make an effort to head straight from work, get some fitness in and then head home. Lets make fitness one of your priorities during winter. If its not raining, make an effort to go outside. It might be colder so you will rug up but doesn’t mean you can’t get out in the fresh air every now and then.
Don’t go out Hungry Ensure you eat before going shopping, to the movies, the shopping centre, to a party or the the local bar for drinks after work. You will find a lot of our eating isn’t because we are actually hungry. The social setting or environments where the foods are loaded with Calories, foods you smell around or foods you see will make you think you are hungry. There is a social eating trap that we fall into with pressures we may not even realise. How hungry are you really? Or are you ordering that meal because everyone else is?
The Alcohol trap Drinking occurs mostly in our social settings and during winter this seems to happen a lot more. Sip your drink slowly as the alcohol is going to stop you from your fat loss. Remember Alcohol has a lot of Calories so lets drink some water in-between drinks where we can. So here is my little trick I use – I get a vodka with water and lime. I drink it slowly while everyone else has two drinks. Then I switch to just water and lime. Trust me, by this time, no one will know the difference! Except all of my friends who have just read my trade secret! Why waste the Calories on alcohol when you will ultimately end up eating fatty pub food while your out.
Reduce your Calories If you find you’ve had some bad days – lets get back on track! Do a detox for a day to give your body a break from the large Calorie intake and get a bit of a cleanse. If you reduce your Calorie intake per day, this is going to help you get back on track as well. If you don’t exercise every day, just drop your meal size and Calorie count per day and you are less likely to gain weight. Try bulk up on vegetables that have a more nutritional content and less Calories.
Boredom Bingeing It’s time to stop bingeing while your inactive inside because you are bored. Sitting in front of the TV all weekend while it's thunderstorms and bleak outside? Before you grab that packet of crisps, grab a drink of water or tea. Lets stay hydrated! Fill up on some water or tea and see how hungry you are in 20mins? You will probably forget all about it! Clean the house or get some of those tasks completed that you’ve had waiting around for a while. Invest in some weights or a yoga mat to keep active at home. At work and feeling hungry – take a lunch break and get a nutritious meal, walk down the stairs for a bit of incidental exercise, walk to work, take a 5 minute break from your desk to refresh.
Superfoods Its time to stock up on your vegetables and all the great superfoods around. Instead of your starchy potato, opt for a sweet potato full of fibre which will make you feel fuller for longer. Keep those apples around in winter, always a great fruit to have around when you are hungry for a snack. Kale equals great nutritional value! Try some new ways to incorporate kale into your meals. Like Kale chips or Homemade Kale & walnut pesto which is totally amazing.
A mental check-in So now your feeling stressed from the winter weather and have turned to your unhealthy habits? Check-in with your body and make sure you are hydrated and have healthy intentions in mind. If your feeling miserable, do something about it. It is a tough time of the year to stay positive and I know winter can seem depressing. Do something that makes you happy rather than the continued cycled of the depressed mode and get back to those healthy habits. I meditate every day and exercise to keep myself on track. I don’t buy naughty snacks at the supermarket to come home or if they are there? You got it, they will be eaten. If we happen to order some high Calorie food for the night, I detox the next day to cleanse the body. But I don’t let it happen every night, stick to a healthy eating habit. Allow 1 night of high Calorie food per week.
