Tips To Avoid The Winter Weight Gain

Getting through the winter without gaining any weight can often pose a challenge. In an attempt to stay warm we often crave heavy comfort food and spend more time in-doors and in-active. Often the weight gain can go unnoticed as you opt for more comfortable and baggier clothes like trackies and oversized jumpers.

Our nutritionist Stephanie Malouf, shares her top tips on how to avoid the winter weight gain.

01: Cook More Meals @ Home

Cooking your own meals gives you control over the ingredients that go into your dishes. No matter how hard you try to be clean when ordering meals out, it’s never as clean as your own home cooked meals. Much of this comes down to the quality of the ingredients, particularly the type of oils used at restaurants or take-away joints such as canola oil. Instead of meeting your friend out for dinner, invite them over for a healthy meal at home. You’ll save more money too!

02: Replace High Carb Comfort Foods With Lower Carb Options

We crave stodgy comfort food as a way to raise body temperature, however carb loaded meals aren't the only way to do this. There are are so many great recipes available that substitute traditional high carb dishes with lower calorie options that still satisfy the taste buds and warm the belly. Some of my favourite substitutes include:

• Replace potato mash with creamy cauliflower mash
• Replace white rice with cauliflower rice in this simple fish curry
• Replace high carb and creamy based soups with broth based veggie soups such as this chicken noodle soup with ginger and miso broth  or quick and easy chicken pho
• Replace spaghetti bolognese with zucchini noodles with bolognese sauce
• Replace apple crumble and ice-cream with baked cinnamon apples or pears with natural yoghurt

Visit Undivided Food Co & Stephanie Malouf Nutrition for more healthy recipe inspiration.

03: Drink More Fluids

Without the hot and humid weather, we can easily forget to drink water and stay hydrated. Dehydration however can easily be mistaken for hunger, causing us to overeat eat when all our body needs is some fluid. Keep a jug of water on your desk or carry a water bottle around to help remind your to you drink at least 2L a day. There are also some great free mobile apps that alert you when it’s time to drink up. Try ‘Water Alert’ for iPhone or ‘Water Your Body’ for Android.

04: Stock Up With Healthy Snacks

Naturally our appetite can increase when we are cold as our body uses more energy (kilojoules) to keep us warm. Having healthy snacks on hand when hunger strikes will ensure you avoid those high sugar/high fat foods. A cup of bone broth is a great mid meal low calorie refuel containing protein to stabilize your blood sugar levels whilst also warming you up.

05: Brush Your teeth After Dinner

Post dinner snacking is a key cause of weight gain, as our metabolism starts to slow down, allowing our bodies to rest and heal whilst we sleep. Brushing your teeth after dinner can help to resist the urge to snack.

05: Exercise Indoors

We can easily convince ourselves that it’s too cold to exercise. The truth is there are lots of great indoor workouts you can do that don’t require a gym membership and will keep you out from the cold and in shape. If you like training with a group find a local hot yoga, pilates or spin class, many places offer no contract drop-in classes. If you don’t want to leave the house, download a workout app or invest in a skipping rope, which will get your heartbeat pumping without breaking the bank.