How to Avoid Winter Weight Gain
Winter weight gain happens to almost all of us, and there are actually biological reasons for it – but it doesn’t have to ruin your weight loss goals if you know how to “trick” your body out of fat-storage mode.
Why do we gain weight before winter?
Remember that many centuries ago, we didn’t have the modern conveniences we do today. We didn’t have pre-packaged foods, grocery stores, and microwaves. Instead, we needed to hunt and gather our food, and store some of it away for winter when food would be scarce. We also didn’t live in climate-controlled homes back then, so having an extra layer or two of fat on our bodies would help keep us warm, as well as providing a store of fuel our bodies could burn if we weren’t eating many calories.
In our modern world, those challenges have been eliminated for the most part, but our bodies still attempt to pack on a few extra pounds of fat when the seasons start shifting from Summer to Fall to Winter.
What can we do to stop winter weight gain?
Here are a few strategies that work very well:
- Complex carbohydrates
Have you ever noticed that when Fall arrives you start craving more starchy foods? Eating a lot of starchy foods triggers the release of insulin, which helps your body store more fat. To minimize this effect, lean more toward whole grains and complex carbohydrates from fibrous vegetables. This will help satisfy your body’s craving for carbs while also minimizing the impact on your blood sugar levels.
- Hot beverages
Drinking low-calorie hot beverages is comforting as the weather starts to cool, and this can help you overcome cravings for fattening foods too. Try drinking coffee or tea with cinnamon when you start craving high-calorie foods. Cinnamon has thermogenic properties, which means it helps boost your metabolism, and the warmth of the tea or coffee will keep your tummy feeling full and satisfied. If you don’t like tea or coffee, you could substitute hot water with lemon.
- Stay active
Daily exercise will also keep your metabolism active. Strive for a healthy balance between cardio exercises like brisk walking, running, aerobics, and cycling, and strength training exercises like weight lifting, pilates, and yoga.
- Sunshine
Getting a daily dose of sunshine helps boost your mood (so you’ll be less tempted to eat for emotional reasons). Your body produces Vitamin D when it is exposed to natural sunlight, which can help you avoid feeling depressed, anxious and lethargic. When the weather gets too cold to spend much time outdoors, you can simply sit near a sunny window inside your home for a few minutes a day and enjoy the same benefits.
- Keeping it all in perspective
Even though your body may be predisposed to packing on a few extra pounds before winter you can do things to stop that winter weight gain. You can still stick to a healthy eating and exercise plan and continue with healthy weight loss during the colder months of the year. It may be a bit more challenging than during the Spring and Summer, but it’s definitely not impossible.
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