9 Useful Steps To Beat The Winter Weight Gain

Are you worried about getting fat during winter because the body’s rate of metabolism becomes slower? The cold season is here and, along with the cold chills and snow, comes winter weight gain. You might not feel it but you might be putting a lot of extra pounds in your body during the holiday season as a result of a decrease in the body’s fat burning ability.

During cold weather, people are usually confined to the couch, bed or inside the house which causes the body to produce less energy. Aside from the sedentary lifestyle that slows down the body’s rate of metabolism, eating comfort foods unconsciously builds up fats, carbohydrates and proteins in the body causing weight gain.

The best way to beat the winter weight gain is to prevent it—-increase your metabolism and have a change in nutrition habit during cold seasons. Increasing metabolism means exercising everyday despite the feeling of being a couch potato during winter. “There’s no enough reason to say you cannot do it, everything has its ways.”

These recommendations will help you to beat the Winter Weight Gain problem:

• Exercise indoors:

Try alternative exercises inside your home or office throughout the winter.

• Take 30 minutes of jogging inside your home.
• Play DVDs of aerobics and engage in the exercise.
• Play a dance song and move into the beat.
• If you have your own exercise machine such as a treadmill, make it a habit every morning to use it for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

• Prepare your own meals:

Feeling cold means the body’s rate of metabolism is low so less energy is produced. This may make you lazy to cook so you end up ordering for pizzas or burgers which contain very high calories that makes you fat. Fill up your cupboard so you will not be tempted in ordering delivery foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, vegetable oils, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and proteins should be available. It is best to cook healthy and low calorie meals such as:

• Vegetable salads
• Wheat sandwiches
• Casseroles or stews
• Brown rice

• Buy Healthy Snacks:

Snacks are inevitable when you’re lying or sitting indoor and usually eat it every two hours while watching the TV! Instead of eating junk foods, French fries or burgers, and drinking milk shakes, go for healthy snacks such as bananas, apples, oatmeal cookies, low fat apple pie, barley or wheat, berries, sugar free sodas, fruit shakes or cereals.

• Consume Holiday foods in lesser amounts than you used to:

Special occasions such as the holidays require a family to prepare tempting foods such as turkeys, steaks, potato salad, pies, and cakes. Be sure not to indulge yourself because this is the main reason for weight gaining—eating a lot! Eat in moderation and indulge yourself with a small serving of dessert for a job well done.

It is also important to drink lots of fluids in the form of juices, or water. This makes you feel full despite eating small amount of food. But make sure you’re not drinking lots of sodas because this contains high amounts of sugar that can also make you gain weight.

• Engage in intensive fitness workouts:

Allot one to two days a week for an intensive workout at the gym. Nothing beats increasing your body’s rate of metabolism fast through workouts. You can try abdominal, back, biceps, butt, calf, chest or hamstring routines. These will not only help you beat winter weight gain, but also makes you healthier inside and out.

• Think about your liver:

During the festive season, we create a toxic environment for our liver because of high fat consumption and alcohol drinking. When our liver function is impaired, sugar regulation is also a problem which leads to higher sugar levels in the body. Performing exercise increases the blood circulation to the liver thus improving its ability to clear out excess sugar and toxins in the body.

• Avoid getting a disease:

The winter season is likely to give you flu. Getting sick and being confined in bed makes you less likely to exercise and more prone to gaining weight. Wash hands regularly, and take doses of Vitamin C and Zinc.

• Get into walking!

Call your friends for a brisk walk in the snowy street. You might not know it, but you might have walked a two kilometer distance, that will increase the body’s rate of metabolism, while chatting.

• Have fun:

There’s no other way of enjoying the holidays while preventing weight gaining but to play in the snow like children do. Create snowmen or throw snowballs with your friends and family, engage in ice skating or play hockey. This can significantly increase your metabolism and burn up fats.

The body’s rate of metabolism during winter is indeed a major cause in winter weight gaining. Unless you are slothful, you can prevent adding pounds to your body by engaging in activities that aim to increase the body’s rate of metabolism.