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It\u2019s winter! It\u2019s cold and dark and your body just can\u2019t seem to get warm. Aside from\u00a0that, due to the cold and inclement weather, you are outside much less than the rest of the\u00a0year. You feel warmer when you eat and since you\u2019re stuck inside, you eat to keep\u00a0yourself occupied. And even when you are trying your best to keep your eating under\u00a0control and keep your exercise routine regular, somehow, your weight is creeping up. It\u2019s\u00a0only natural that our bodies want to warm up. Humans aren\u2019t bears; we don\u2019t need to eat\u00a0massive amounts of food and then hibernate for the winter, but our bodies do want to\u00a0maintain a comfortable body temperature, so we tend to want to eat more. Between eating\u00a0more and having no desire to be active, weight gain will happen. How can we handle it?<\/p>\n
Getting Out<\/strong><\/p>\n You have talked yourself into not going outdoors because of the cold. It\u2019s just cold. It\u00a0isn\u2019t snowing or raining and the wind isn\u2019t excessive. Stop complaining about the\u00a0weather! If you go into anything with a negative attitude, then it is pretty much a\u00a0guarantee that you won\u2019t complete your task. It\u2019s all a matter of how you dress: dress\u00a0accordingly and once you begin moving outdoors, whether it is brisk walking or jogging,\u00a0you might even want to peel off a layer of clothing. You will warm up and be more than\u00a0comfortable. Focus on the positive! The winter sky and air are more refreshing and clear,\u00a0and with no leaves on the trees, you get a nice view of the sky and terrain in the distance.\u00a0Just try it once. Go outside and for 10 minutes, commit to not being miserable and instead\u00a0find something positive to enjoy about the outdoors in winter. The cold weather may\u00a0even encourage you to move a little fast, which is generally better.<\/p>\n Feeling Down<\/strong><\/p>\n In winter, we can develop a general lower level of happiness. This is basically low-level\u00a0dissatisfaction \u2014 not depression \u2014 that we can get when it\u2019s cold and dark. When this\u00a0occurs, we are twice as likely to use comfort foods as a pick-me-up than we would under\u00a0more temperate conditions. In winter, we go for energy-dense, calorific foods, which tend\u00a0to be sweet or have high fat content. We know that food itself is a comfort as far as mood\u00a0goes, because it actually impacts the same circuitry of the brain as drugs do. In addition,\u00a0we secrete more melatonin in the winter. Melatonin is the hormone that controls our day-\u00a0night cycles in our bodies. It is increased in the winter and that has a negative effect on\u00a0our getup. It makes us want to sleep more and be lazy. Also, keep in mind that in the\u00a0winter, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can hit you. It is real disorder and causes mild\u00a0depression due to the season you are in. Most people suffer from this much more in the\u00a0winter.<\/p>\n Plan gatherings with family and friends and schedule time doing activities we enjoy,\u00a0using natural and true mood enhancers rather than food-based mood enhancement as a\u00a0quick fix. The sense of true enjoyment and connection we derive from these activities\u00a0will last longer and help us avoid the health-eroding effects of junk foods.<\/p>\n Vitamin D Deficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n Vitamin D aids in bone and tooth formation and also helps maintain heart action and\u00a0proper functioning of the nervous system. It is present in sunlight, fortified milk and\u00a0orange juice, fish, eggs and butter. The single best way to get a proper dose of vitamin D\u00a0is to absorb some good old sunshine, as it is produced when ultraviolet rays hit the skin.\u00a0But in the winter, the hours of sunlight available to us that give us the D that we need are\u00a0limited and in certain northern latitudes, you just can\u2019t get it. So what can we do? Eat\u00a0those foods with more D and supplement. Your body needs sunlight to synthesize vitamin\u00a0D, but with the fewer daylight hours and lower trajectory of the sun, you won\u2019t get\u00a0enough. Preliminary studies suggest that people with low levels of vitamin D store more\u00a0fat, though the precise mechanism has yet to be identified. It appears that lack of vitamin\u00a0D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage, so the calories you consume are stored\u00a0in fat cells rather than used for energy.<\/p>\n Unlike our ancestors, we live in a time of plenty. Many years ago, we knew ahead of time\u00a0that food would be scarce in the winter. Our bodies got used to the fact that we needed to\u00a0store fat for ourselves in order to get through the winter. Nowadays our bodies still want\u00a0to hold on to our fat stores when it gets cold. But we have an abundance of food available\u00a0to us and we need to fight this tendency by exercising and eating what we should. Given\u00a0our propensity to be a little down, a little tired and more inactive, this is a real challenge.\u00a0But it is not insurmountable and with proper planning and remembering that sometimes\u00a0we just have to do things we don\u2019t feel like doing, we can overcome our winter malaise.<\/p>\n There are some practical things to do regarding eating that always help in the winter. Try\u00a0to eat hot meals when possible. Soup is always a great idea. A vegetable soup is healthy\u00a0with few calories. If you feel like you are getting the \u201ceats\u201d at night, drink hot herbal teas.\u00a0Getting down on the floor and doing pushups and sit ups or just walking or jogging in\u00a0place for five minutes is good exercise and will take away your appetite. If you live in an\u00a0apartment building, go up and down the stairways a few times.<\/p>\n If we gain about 2-4 pounds each winter but shed those pounds each spring it\u2019s\u00a0acceptable. But if we don\u2019t shed those pounds after the winter and add more pounds each\u00a0winter, after 10-15 years, we might be carrying 40-50 pounds extra in midlife. So, pay\u00a0attention! Keep your food in check, exercise even if it is cold outside and get your\u00a0vitamin D. Because doing so will \u201cadd hours to your day, days to your year, and years\u00a0to your life.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alan Freishtat<\/strong> is an A.C.E. CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER and a BEHAVIORAL CHANGE and WELLNESS COACH with over 19 years of professional experience. Alan is the creator and director of the \u201c10 Weeks to Health\u201d program for weight loss. He is available for private coaching sessions, consultations, assessments and personalized workout programs both in his office and by telephone and skype. Alan also lectures and gives seminars and workshops. He can be reached at\u00a002-651-8502<\/a> or 050-555-7175<\/a>, or by email at\u00a0alan@alanfitness.com<\/a> Check out the his web site \u2013www.alanfitness.com<\/a> US Line: 516-568-5027<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s winter! It\u2019s cold and dark and your body just can\u2019t seem to get warm. Aside from\u00a0that, due to the cold and inclement weather, you are outside much less than the rest of the\u00a0year. You feel warmer when you eat and since you\u2019re stuck inside, you eat to keep\u00a0yourself occupied. And even when you are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":38897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n
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