For the majority of people who live in parts of the world where the weather gets cold in the winter, this time of year is synonymous with eating heavy foods (and lots of them), and staying inside because of the bitter cold and wind outside. Clearly, these types of activities are exactly the opposite of a weight loss diet and will, therefore, lead to winter weight gain among many people. The result is the annual tradition of making a New Year’s resolution that may or may not be kept, and feeling panicked at the beginning of the warmer weather, when none of the clothing for warmer weather fits right or looks good anymore.
Fortunately, there are some great ways for you to stop winter weight gain from taking hold. There are some very simple strategies that you can adopt to make sure that you’re giving yourself the best possible chance to keep the extra pounds from getting anywhere near you.
• Get your vitamin D – the winter months come with less natural daylight so it’s up to you to make an effort to get as much of it as you can. This is most important early in the morning. Go for a morning walk – even if it’s for only fifteen minutes – and sit near a window as much as you can. The more sunshine and vitamin D you get, the more serotonin your brain will manufacture. This will help you to stay motivated for activity and will help you to keep your appetite under control at the same time.
• Discover a winter sport you love – the cold weather makes it seem natural to hide inside where it’s warm, but there are actually lots of fun things that you can do, including skating, snowshoeing, skiing, and many other outdoor sports that can burn tons of calories, fast. In fact, even shoveling out an average driveway can burn about 200 calories. Just get yourself outside and do something and you’ll be burning calories right away and stopping the extra fat from getting anywhere near you.
• Make motivational goals – Plan something for spring right at the start of the winter season. Think about a trip somewhere warm where you’ll need to look great in a swimsuit, or start training for a marathon you’d like to run next summer. That will force you to think about eating right to avoid winter weight gain and exercising right away instead of putting it off.
