How to avoid winter weight gain

You know how it goes.

The weather turns cold, winter arrives, and you hibernate for the next few months. You pull on your sweat pants, big, bulky jumpers and spend the next 8-12 weeks inside, on the couch, skipping your workouts because it’s ‘too cold’ to get up early in the morning, or too wet to go for a walk. You treat yourself to comfort foods, drink more alcohol than usual, and hide under baggy layers. You feel warm and comfortable, and tell yourself you’re nurturing yourself, when you’re really just hiding at home.

But eventually the weather starts to get warmer. You know that you’ll have to start taking off the layers sooner rather than later, and start wearing clothes that show a little more skin. And then you feel the familiar panic as you realise you’ve put on more weight. Your jeans no longer fit, your shirts are feeling tighter, and you can’t imagine what the hell you’re going to wear this summer.

That’s when you look for the next diet to go on. Maybe a cleanse, maybe a fast, or maybe a 6-12-week challenge. Whatever it takes to lose the weight in time for summer. The more extreme the better, right? Because you have to shed the weight and you have to do it quickly.

But what if you didn’t have the same old panic every year? What if you could emerge from winter feeling better than you did, when it first started to get cold? Imagine being excited about the warmer weather and having the confidence to take off the layers, not needing to hide the excess kilos. Imagine if your jeans fit better after winter than they did before.

Emerging from winter looking and feeling better than ever, and avoiding the winter weight gain doesn’t have to be a dream.

How much weight do Aussies gain?

The majority of Australians gain weight over winter with the average weight gain being anywhere between 500g and 2kg. However, statistics from the Dietitians Association of Australia show that 38% of women and 53% of men gain up to 5kg over winter.

And the worst news of all, is that many fail to lose that weight later in the year, which means that every year, Aussies are gaining more and more weight.

Why do we gain weight?

Researchers believe there are a number of reasons why we tend to gain weight over winter.

• Winter is a time when our primitive instincts kick in and our body-clock tells us that it’s time to hibernate — similar to bears
• We produce more sleep hormones, due to less sunlight during the day, which can cause us to feel hungrier than normal, especially if we’re sleepy when it’s not time to sleep
• Our metabolism increases slightly in order to burn more energy to stabilise our body temperature, which causes us to be hungrier than usual
• We tend to reach for warm, comforting foods that are usually higher in calories
• Our exercise program falls by the wayside in favour of a warm house, and comfort food.

But we’re about to show you that you don’t need to gain weight this winter, and that the above reasons for many people gaining weight are nothing more than excuses. In some cases, you can even make them work for you.

Here’s how you can avoid the winter weight gain this year, and emerge from your ‘hibernation’ more energetic, more confident and looking better than ever.

How to avoid winter weight gain

Remind yourself of your goal

Just because the weather changes doesn’t mean you lose sight of your goal. However, when the weather gets cold and we just want to stay inside, it’s easy to tell yourself that your goal isn’t that important, or you have plenty of time to reach it. This is the first sign of complacency, which is the beginning of a slippery slope towards where you came from, undoing all the good work you’ve put in along the way.

However reminding yourself of your goals and why they’re important to you can be incredibly powerful and help you stay on track. If you need help setting or re-setting your goal, be sure to read our blog “How to set SMART goals to lose weight.”

If you haven’t got a deep, burning WHY — a reason to keep chasing these goals, then you need to read our blog “Find your ‘WHY’ to lose weight”. Because once you have your WHY, you’ll be able to find your HOW — how to stay on track even during the winter months.

Move more

One of the first things to disappear during winter is our regular exercise program. We’d much rather stay in a warm bed than get up and get our workout done. And the thought of going for a walk in the cold is almost too much to bear some days, especially when Netflix is beckoning. However, regular movement will help keep the excess kilos at bay, and will also improve your mental health and your productivity levels.

Try to stick with your current routine and structure around exercise. Stopping and then starting again in a few months’ time will be even harder than sticking with it now. Keep your training times the same where you can. Schedule these sessions in your calendar and treat them like any other appointments that you would keep. By sticking to these sessions, they’ll soon become a habit that won’t be so hard to keep up with.

Where possible go for regular walks outside as this will benefit your body and your mind. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) — feeling low, sad or depressed is very common in winter due to lower levels of sunlight. However, regular movement can improve your mood, and exercising in the sunlight can improve it even more. A walk during your lunch break can make all the difference.

Don’t forget other fun activities with your family such as bike riding, ten-pin bowling, swimming (in a heated pool), or even playing in the snow all counts as movement. So too does incidental exercise (e.g. taking the stairs instead of the lift). And if it’s really too cold or wet to venture outdoors, you can always spend some time stretching out your muscles, or working out at home.

One strategy to help you stay consistent with your exercise is to set boundaries around the things that you know will distract you from getting it done. For example, no screen time unless you’ve done some form of movement that day. If you haven’t read our blog on the boundary strategy, be sure to read it here — Forget diets and food rules. Try this weight loss tip instead.

Cook more

Would it surprise you to learn that 90% of Australians eat more takeaway food during winter? While there’s nothing wrong with eating out, regularly grabbing fast-food that is high in fat, sugar and calories is an absolute disaster for weight loss. However, the allure of takeaway is often harder to avoid during the cooler months, as it appeals to our need to feel warm and comforted.

You don’t have to say ‘no’ to your favourite foods, but set a boundary around how many times a week you eat take-away food. And when you eat out, try to choose a restaurant or a café meal over a fast-food joint.

Cooking more meals at home will mean you’ll be able to limit the calorie overload, while ensuring that you’re providing your body with the nutrition it needs. While we may be looking for more warming comfort foods (due to that slight rise in our metabolism and those extra sleep hormones that are making us hungry), you can enjoy them without the excess calories.

Soups, stews, and casseroles can be hearty, warming and low in calories and high in nutrition, if they’re packed with lean protein, legumes and vegetables. Warm oats with fruit for breakfast is ideal. Not only are these foods great for your waistline, but they’ll also contribute to a healthy immune system, so you’re better able to fight off winter chills, ills or viruses that may be doing the rounds.

Using this extra time at home to experiment with new foods, nail your food prep, or try new recipes will also help with your weight loss journey long-term, because you’ll have a whole new repertoire of quick, easy-to-prepare delicious meals that you can turn to. Our website has a few great recipes you can try, that will satisfy your taste buds and your appetite. You might even want to check out our own Recipe Book, which is full of tasty, meals to help you lose weight.

Limit alcohol

It can be very tempting to grab that bottle of wine to enjoy by the fire, or even have a nip of spirits before bed to warm you up. However, drinking too much alcohol will play havoc with your weight loss goals, and will definitely contribute to winter weight gain.

Not only is it high in calories, but alcohol:

• increases your hunger levels
• leads to poorer food choices
• impairs your digestion and nutrient uptake
• reduces muscle growth and increases fat accumulation
• impacts your sleep
• reduces the likelihood of exercise

Just like your favourite foods, you don’t need to eliminate alcohol completely. However, in order to avoid weight gain, you do need to limit how much you drink. Setting boundaries around alcohol consumption can also be useful. For example, limiting drinking to weekends only, or only drinking when you catch up with friends. Don’t forget our blog on setting boundaries has many examples on how the boundary strategy can help you avoid the winter weight gain.

Sleep more

Sleep is one of the most underrated things you can do to change your body shape. Many people mistakenly believe that resting is what lazy people do. But it’s actually what smart people do. And with the extra sleep hormones that we produce during winter, the colder months are the perfect time to work on your sleep habits.

Getting enough rest helps your body transformation in so many ways. Firstly, it helps you recover from training and build muscle, and we know that building muscle is the best way to increase your metabolism and help you lose weight. Because it helps you recover from your training, it also prevents injury and burnout, which means you’ll be more consistent with your training so you’ll get better results.

Sleep also reduces stress, which can cause weight gain, or difficulty losing weight. It also boosts your immune system and your mood. So this winter make the most of the longer nights and those extra sleep hormones that you produce.

Track data

Tracking data will speed up your weight loss results, and help you avoid winter weight gain like nothing else.

Data is basically information that you record which reveals where you are, what you struggle with, why you struggle with it and helps give you clarity around the things you need to work on. Recording data over the winter months will give you an insight into the habits that are sabotaging your success. For example:

• What you eat and drink, when you eat and drink, and why
• Details about training and exercise, especially the factors that prevent you from getting it done
• How well you’re sleeping
• How your body feels
• Information on your mood, thoughts and behaviours

Recording data will help you become more aware of the things you do that sabotage your weight loss. For example, realising you crave salty, fatty foods when you’re tired will help you understand why sleep is so important, and why you need to work on that habit.

An excellent form of data recording is to continue to try on clothes that will give you an idea on how your body is tracking. Jeans are the perfect example, as they usually have very little stretch in them. By trying on your jeans every week or two, you’ll be able to monitor whether you’re on track with your weight loss goals, or not.

However, sometimes our emotions can get the better of us and we can feel discouraged because they don’t fit as well as we would like them to. But taking weekly or fortnightly photos of you wearing the jeans (or other clothing), will show you if you’re making progress. And when you are making progress, you’ll feel more motivated to continue to stick to your plan and stay focused on your goals.

Work with a coach and make yourself accountable

The surest way to ensure that you’ll emerge from winter looking, feeling and functioning better than you did beforehand is to work with a coach who will make you accountable.

During winter, a lot of people become slack with their exercise programs, and their commitment to their goal wanes. They tell themselves that they can either ‘do it alone’, or ‘there’s plenty of time’ to shred for summer. In short, they take away all elements of accountability! If you’re thinking like this, then you definitely need to work with a coach to keep you on track.

A coach will not only help you see the blind spots that you can’t see — the thoughts, behaviours and habits that are preventing you from losing weight — but they’ll keep you accountable to the things that will bring you results. And when motivation is low, and you don’t feel like doing these things (e.g. getting up when it’s cold to do your workout), that’s when you need accountability the most.

Accountability keeps you progressing and keeps you consistent. Anyone can start exercising and eating healthily, especially when the weather is warm and you’re highly motivated. But sticking with it and being consistent when the novelty wears off is hard. Accountability will keep you consistent with the daily actions that will lead to success, and it will help you consistently keep working at developing habits that will support your ability to lose weight and keep it off for the long-term.

That’s why accountability is a key component of our Confidence Avalanche Body & Lifestyle Program — because we know you’ll succeed when you make yourself accountable.

A bear or butterfly?

This coming Spring, do you want to emerge like a bear with a sore head, or a beautiful butterfly ready to take on the world?

Because you really have two choices.

The first is to spend winter as you usually do, hibernating at home, rugged up on the couch, watching TV, eating and drinking what you like. But you already know how that turns out. You emerge from winter cranky and frustrated with yourself because you let yourself go. You have to scramble to find clothes that will fit your larger body size, hating every minute of going shopping, and needing to settle on what you can find, even if you don’t like them. In the meantime, you’re signing up to the latest diet or quick-fix, or restricting your food, because you’re so desperate to lose the excess weight and the self-loathing that goes along with it.

Or, you can treat winter like your personal chrysalis. Enjoy the quieter pace that winter brings but use it as a time to reflect on what’s important, improve your sleep, get better at your food prep, enjoy movement, and reduce stress. Because if you do, you’ll emerge like a butterfly ready to spread their wings.

Imagine walking into Spring excited to go shopping for the new season’s clothes. Imagine feeling proud of yourself and comfortable in your own skin, as you catch up with friends for coffee and brunch. Imagine feeling free around food, instead of watching every morsel you eat, and calculating the calorie content.

Which is more appealing? The bear or the butterfly?

If you choose to be a butterfly, we can help you grow your wings. And you can start right now via our online coaching program. This program, delivered completely online will give you the right advice and guidance on the things to do, that will ensure you’ll avoid the winter weight gain, and come out of winter looking and feeling better than ever.