Cold, dark winters makes most of the folks strict to your bed, reading books & munching high sugar cookies & sweets! Who would dare to go for a morning walk or do a high intense workout early in the morning? Even active folks adopt a sedentary lifestyle. This coupled with lot of festivals makes us consume a lot of sugary retreats. A regular practice of these during the entire winter season makes up gain.
Research has shown that during winters an individual on an average gains 2 to 3 pounds. This essential means, folks add 2 to 3 pounds every year leading to weight accumulation over decades. So what does this happen? Eating more & exercise less is the primary reason for weight gain trend. In other words, change in eating behavior – Overeating snacking, consuming sugary food & preferring processed foods over green-is the key reason.
During winter holidays, people indulge in lot of activities & get together such as -festivals, family events, outdoor excursion & lot others. During these events, they consume a lot of outside food, cakes desserts & drinks(alcohol) which add up a lot more calories.
It is not only eating habits but weather all plays a spoilsport. During such a cold season, most of us stay indoors & indulge in minimal physical activity. While staying indoors, you either feel bored or glue yourself to your favorite movie or channel. Both means you would prefer snaking more. So in general during winter holidays & festive season, we tend to put a lot of weight. So what can be done to prevent this weight gain:
- Try to keep tempo of physical activity high. You can do this by doing lot of NEAT exercise( refer my blog on NEAT)
- Weigh yourself everyday to keep track of what is making your weight gain or what physical activity is helping you maintain your weight.
- Indulging in regular physical activity & keeping your motivation high during workouts can result in least weight gain. If you are looking for a curated weight loss program & developing a fitness discipline, join our fitness community here.
- Avoid consuming too much sugar filled cookies. For instance, if your regular practice during winters is to munch 4 to 5 cookies on a daily basis, do not consume more than 2 daily. Instead, prefer having complex carb powered meals.
- If you are going for social outings or family get togethers, have a good meal of protein, high complex carb & low to medium fat coupled with a good healthy smoothie before going out so that you feel full & do not end up eating junk stuff.
- Normally when you are bored you tend up consuming more. So get yourself involved in something constructive or indulge ins some discussions/debate with friends or family members.
