Beat
Winter Fat Now!
Dr. Joe
Klemczewski
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 strategyIf 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!! |