Every spring merciless advertisers start hounding us with reminders that swimsuit season is around the corner so we diligently start chipping away at the few pounds of winter weight gain.  We diet, sweat, sacrifice, and avoid early outings because we’re embarrassed thinking our body isn’t quite perfect yet.  Summer, fall, and back to the holidays and ritualistic winter weight gain.  Is this an acceptable cycle or would you rather shake off winter blahs without having to shake off the extra pounds?

            There are a couple hormonal/physical issues that you would be well served to understand, but there are also a few behavioral pitfalls that if you plan for, you can avoid.  Let’s go over the physiological first.  Most have probably heard of seasonal affect disorder.  In short, as our pineal gland in the brain receives less sunlight due to shorter days and the Earth tilting away from the sun, our bodies produce less of key hormones.  These lead to apathy and fatigue all the way to severe depression.  Theses hormones can literally be the difference between normal function and avoiding activity and overeating.  If you feel that in February, March, or later winter in general, you have less energy, more fatigue, and less ambition, there are things you can do to mitigate those symptoms and retain your vitality which in turn will help you sustain your activity level and normal eating habits.  If you feel depression with any level of severity, I would recommend seeing your physician to possibly test for seasonal affect disorder.  It truly can create more problems than just weight gain.  In it’s more mild forms, you can make sure you get more sunlight, use special light bulbs (full-spectrum) that stimulate the pineal gland, use supplements like St. John’s Wort and a bioavailable high-powered multi-vitamin, and just through the knowledge of what you may be facing physically, keep your training consistent even when you don’t feel up to it.  That alone can be your biggest weapon against falling levels of these hormones. 

            The behavioral issues are easier to change because you can simply invoke self-discipline and create new winter habits versus battle against seemingly uncontrollable hormone fluctuations.  Did you catch “simply invoke discipline?”  Not always simple, of course, but compared to fighting an unseen enemy like seasonal affect disorder, you may appreciate having the ability to control your mood and weight instead of being a slave to despair.  Here’s a five-step plan to make sure you don’t gain unwanted weight over the upcoming cold season:

 

1)      Develop flexible food goals

2)      Create a monitoring/accountability system

3)      Create a first-line plan of action for small gains

4)      Plan for holiday splurges

5)      Develop a unique winter workout strategy

 

If you don’t typically track food intake, it may be a good time to create a baseline

understanding of your metabolic range.  Most people let 4-5 or even 25 pounds creep up on them and exclaim, “But I didn’t eat any differently!”  Unlikely.  A little dessert here, a second piece of pizza there, and all of a sudden, you feel things jiggle when you go over rail road tracks.  Take this winter to chart your food intake and develop flexible goals.  This may be simply calorically or you may break it down into protein, carbs, and fat.  You can also add layers of health challenges.  An example that I sometimes use is to eat nothing but fruit, vegetables, and lean protein for awhile when I feel my nutrition has slid backwards too far.  Whatever plan you develop, the end goal is to become aware of what your body needs and this will help you know when you may be exceeding it.

            Once you’re comfortable with a food goal plan, make sure it works.  A weekly weigh-in is an example of making sure you’re staying on track.  Actually tracking the calories or protein, carbs, and fat with a numeric goal or average in mind is a more specific way of monitoring, but some don’t like feeling too constrained and this level of detail may seem obsessive.  To others, it’s what they need to be objective and feel less stress.

            The best-laid plans will crumble from time to time.  Whether it’s a cookie or a box of cookies, we can all end up feeling like we’ve blown it and not know how to recover from the damage.  First, the “damage” is commensurate to the crime.  A cookie:  no problem.  A large pizza and half a gallon of ice cream:  lace up those running shoes.  The best way to handle an occasional unplanned splurge is to have a solid game plan that you can employ with confidence, not despair.  Here’s one idea:  The next day, drop carbs moderately and fat as low as you can and do an extra cardio session.  Depending on the volume of food you consumed, you may want to keep carbs a little lower for another day, but realistically no longer than that.  You may gain two to three pounds in water retention from the extra carbs, but you’ll drop that slowly over two to three days; don’t panic.  You’ll gain confidence in knowing how to make amends for those dietary indiscretions, but don’t do it often or you’ll develop a cycle of binge/purge habits even if small. 

            There will also come times when instead of an unplanned splurge, you actually plan a celebration meal or special occasion.  This is a popular question from clients, “Dr. Joe, my birthday is Saturday, what can I eat?”  The superbowl, a wedding, you name it; there will always be a “reason” to eat less than healthy.  The best advice I can give is to choose well.  Every little event doesn’t have to be an excuse to eat poorly.  It is, however, a good “training exercise” to teach you to eat those foods in small amounts so that the frequent times we encounter temptation, we don’t end up back on the treadmill for hours of penitence.  That way, when we do have a planned splurge, we can guiltlessly do the extra workout or lessen carb and fat intake for a couple days without the risk of falling into constant binge/purge cycles.  Your mindset and control are an important difference.

            The last way to help avoid unwanted winter body fat is to evade the normal activity decreases associated with the cold weather.  Use the constraints of poor weather to plan a new challenge.  Doing the same type of cardio or workouts without change can cause even the most diehard fitness buff bouts of boredom and lackluster effort.  But, if you plan something new, such as a new class or a self-challenge that spans the Winter, you can soar into Spring with increased fitness levels.  For example, pick a distance such as a 3-mile run.  Once or twice a week, run it with a goal of beating the previous time.  Combined with the dietary habits to keep weight stable, a new activity, a self-challenge, or even a cardio partner can take the edge off of winter training and make it fun.   Instead of paying for the holidays in May, you’ll be ready for the beach!