-and the reason why you don’t want to work out as much!

So long summer, Au revoir amazing white sandy beaches and hot 90-degree weather. So sad, it was fun!

While most of you (like me) worked hard on your fitness and your bikini bodies for those summer vacations, what is to come of your fall silhouette?

Autumn is typically the weather for cuddling, chilly days; hot chocolate and warm apple pie. Yum, am I tempting you yet?

My point EXACTLY.  Who wants to go to the gym when it starts getting chilly? As the mercury drops our motivation for looking slim subtly sinks and although those tight skinny jeans provide some motivation, our cozy chunky knit sweaters can easily hide a bulge. So what’s a girl to do?

Being fit, staying healthy and living vibrantly is not just a 3 month must – it’s a way of life.

If your motivation is purely aesthetics, remind yourself of those slinky Halloween costumes, holiday parties and New Years sparkly dresses to slip into. If you are doing this to FEEL good physically and to feel good about yourself EVERYDAY then that will hopefully provide some long-term motivation.

So incase you are wondering, it’s not just your imagination… the cold weather can really increase your appetite.  I have been noticing that I have been craving more kinds of comfort foods and a lot more of it, specifically as the weather cools down.

“Studies indicate that we do tend to eat more during the winter months, with the average person gaining at least 1-2 pounds – those who are already overweight can gain more.” And that adds up over the years.

“Not only does the winter season set us up to crave these higher-calorie foods, but the holidays put them in front of us, usually in great abundance,” says McAllister, MD and author of Healthy Lunchbox: The Working Mom’s Guide to Keeping You and Your Kids Trim.  The same is true for the fall.

The reason why? You may have guessed. It goes back to our caveman ancestors, living outside or in more exposed areas they needed to bulk up to keep warm.  We fortunately do not need to do this.

However, feeling cold does trigger a self-preservation mode that tells the body to heat up fast. Your body then begins to crave foods full of carbs and sugars to deliver the heat your body is looking for.

Just giving in to these cravings creates a cycle of spiked blood sugar that keeps you coming back for more.

Our body craves warm foods as well so instead of heading for the hummus platter or a salad you crave richer, heavier meals.

With the decrease in sunlight that you are exposed to dwindling down, people stay in more, especially when its dark and gloomy. You can suffer from a mild depression with out even knowing it which also amps up our desires for instant satisfaction as well as our cravings for cuddles and comfort food.

How to control your cold weather cravings?

Here’s the how to get a handle on your health this fall and winter season:

1)    Go for soups. Even though they tend to bloat you with added salt, they will fill you up and warm you up instantly.  Stay away from soups with a lot of sodium.  Go with homemade soups with real ingredients as opposed to the canned style and have only soups 1-3xs a week and not more, to battle the bulge. They are a great go-to if you are really hungry but are trying to avoid the baked lasagna sitting on the counter.

2)    Heat up your plate. Even if it normally would not be heated try to nuke the tuna salad or healthy option. Do this for lunch too. Feeling the warm plate and having something warm to put into your body really is a comfort.

3)    Keep snacking. Adding some high fiber, high protein snacks like peanut butter on crackers are great (or almond butter and gluten free crackers if you are me), add protein powder to your breakfast, add bananas, or nuts to a snack.

4)    Substitute the coffee and make it a snack. I gave up coffee for chai lattes with dairy free milk like coconut or almond milk, or even just tea. Stay away from coffee as it can lead to caffeine addiction, anxiety, hypertension, insomnia and nervousness, which increase your stress-related emotional eating. Make this new warm drink a snack between meals. It will fill you up and help you avoid the vending machine. For desserts you can even sub in a hot chocolate, just make sure to make it with mostly water instead of all milk – just top it off with a small amount of skim, soy or coconut milk.

5)    Make a winter work out plan. Write down how you worked out all summer and see how it can translate to cold weather fitness. Take your outdoor run to the treadmill, swim in an indoor pool, work out to an indoor dvd and find ways to motivate yourself. Working out burns calories and suppresses your appetite so you can easily say no to some of your trigger foods.

6)    Get some vitamin D. Add vitamin D to your supplement list or try to go outside in the sun, even in the winter at least for a 5-10 minutes. The sun’s rays help you fight depression and emotional comfort food eating.

7)   Hug it out. Skip the comfort foods and sub in some actual comfort. Hugging calms you down, decreases stress levels and releases any pent up emotions that may cause you to emotionally eat.

8)   Layer it up. Don’t give in to just throwing on a huge chunky sweater. Layer it up with a body hugging tank or t-shirt first. This has many benefits. First you will see how you look in a tight shirt and notice if any love handles are creeping up on you, second and most importantly it will keep you warm. Keeping warm is an obvious thing to do in the cooler months, but not all of us really layer it up. Trap body heat to make you feel more comfortable in any situation instead of shivering at your desk for the sake of fashion.  Add tights under jeans, double up on socks and bring an extra sweater or vest to throw on under your jacket. I know I am always super cold so layering helps me so much. Adding the layers in your clothes will prevent you from adding the fat layer around your stomach.

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo

Emily