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How to beat the Winter Weight Loss Blues

Are you about to go into summer with a few extra pounds on your waist? Or (for those in the North) do you want to avoid adding extra fat this winter? If so, read on…

Winter Weight Loss Blues
One of the most common complaints in the health industry is at the end winter when summer is fast approaching and no one is happy with how the look. Everyone is scrambling for a ‘quick fix’ weight loss program to make sure they look lean and thin for the beach. I want to discuss some important issues regarding this depressing time of year.

Note - If you are up North and about to go into winter, or down South and about to hit summer this post has advice and strategies for both of you.

Why winter damages weight loss
The reasons why people get fat in winter are quite simple. They date back to the good old days where people had to store some extra fat over the cold months because we needed warmth and energy when there wasn’t much food around.

However, now-a-days the reasons are much more practical and easy to deal with. We put on weight in winter because:

• It is cold and thus fruit seems less inviting so we eat cooked, dense meals.
• It is cold so we don’t get outside to exercise as often as we should.
• Pastas, cereals, breads and other high carb foods seem more appealing in the winter.
• The days are shorter (daylight) and thus we feel there is less time to devote to exercise.
• We wear jackets and sweaters everyday and so dont notice weight gain as much.

Strategies to beat the Winter Weight Loss Blues
So, if you have added a few kilos over the winter or are trying to avoid doing so this year, check out some of these strategies.

1. Pre Cook Meals
Pre cooking certain meals is an excellent way to stay on top of the foods you eat. Generally I find that winter is a very impulsive time for diet and I grab whatever is near me and whatever is warm and filling.

However, cooking a chicken salad or making a huge batch of vegetable soup is an excellent way to make sure you keep your diet clean.

2. Find a new indoor-workout
Often in winter we dont even feel like going to the gym even though it is nice and warm inside the gym. If you are like this, try finding a workout that you can do indoors in your house.

One of my favourite ways to work out indoors is to set up a circuit of weights and cardio exercises. A friend of mine had a boxing bag hung up in his garage as well as bar bells, dumb bells, skipping ropes, etc. We could set up a circuit like this:

• 2 minutes of fast boxing on the heavy bag
• 30 seconds rest
• 1 set to failure of jumping squats
• 30 seconds rest
• 1 set of bar bell curls to failure
• 30 seconds rest
• etc.

We would devise a different circuit each time and put an emphasis on a different muscle. This kept us very lean and toned during the winter without ever having to leave the house.

3. Don’t drink coffee
The cooler weather sucks us in to the cafes on the way to work, to the car, to the toilet - any opportunity we can get. However, everytime you drink a coffee you add lets say a�two teaspoons�of sugar. You also might buy a snack while you are out.

If you buy three coffees in a day that is�6 teaspoons�of sugar and three snacks that are outside of your normal 6 meals a day. And that is a lot of extra fat by the end of the winter. So, avoid coffee and other winter habits that lead to adding more junk food to your diet.

4. Switch back to fruit earlier
Sometimes people wait right until the middle of summer to start eating fruit as a meal again. This is usually because this is when the best fruit is available but it is important to make an effort to start eating fruit earlier in the winter months to avoid adding extra kilos.

Many fruits are available all year round like bananas, apples, etc. so find something you like and eat it. Eating fruit as a whole meal is an extremely good way to manage weight gain and stay healthy during winter.

5. Use winter to get up early
One of the things about winter that can be a great advantage is that it is very dark in the mornings. If you can get used to getting up early when it is dark and going for a run, it will be so much easier to get up and train in summer when it is light at 6am.

My reasoning is that many people find it hard to get back into weight loss cardio after winter because they feel fat and unfit. However, if you have been training throughout winter it will be much easier to step up the intensity when summer comes to get in shape.

6. Cut back on carbs
Carbs in the winter are not a great idea beacause you really cant use up all the energy in them and thus will store it as fat. Try to only eat carbs in the morning (if you must have them) so that you can burn some calories as you walk around during the day.

Don’t eat anything near bed time as it is converted straight to fat.

Anyone got any other winter weight loss tips or advice?

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