HOW TO OVERCOME WINTER WEIGHT GAIN

How to Overcome Winter Weight Gain

Today, we’re taking a hard look at winter weight gain.  It’s a common problem—people tend to pack on a few pounds during the winter months.

But we want to fight back, and we hope you will join us.  Let’s get after this now, while winter is still in full force.  We’ll have less to deal with when the warm breezes start blowing!

The good, the bad…and the solution

Although winter weight gain varies from person to person, research shows the average gain to be five to seven pounds!  Some people gain this extra weight because they have Seasonal Affective Disorder—a type of winter depression.  But most of us can’t blame winter depression for our tendency to pick up extra weight during the winter months.

So, why does winter weight gain happen?  According to Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD, founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, it happens because we eat more and move less during the winter months¹.

This is bad news and good news.  It is bad news because it would be kind of nice if we could blame our cold-weather corpulence on something exotic like the jet stream cycle and waddle off for another espresso.

But it is good news because we can do something about it.  We don’t have to greet spring with softer middles and tighter clothes.  So let’s celebrate leap year by tackling winter weight gain with our weapon of choice here at Fitness Revolution:  discipline.

Hour of decision

According to Merriam-Webster, discipline is a “rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity².”  This is perfect.  In order to fight winter weight gain, we have to discipline ourselves to follow some rules. 

Here we go…

1.  Banned language: For the next several weeks, do not allow yourself to say, “Just this once.”  If you pay close attention, a ‘just this once’ situation comes up practically every day.  You go to a retirement party.  You take spouse out for a birthday dinner.  Someone brings a meal by your house because you’ve been sick.  Your co-worker brings in the leftover pizza from last night’s party.  Your child has leftover Valentine’s Day candy.  You have to say no every single time.  Otherwise, you will never get ahead.

Just grit your teeth, resist what others are having and make good food choices.  I’m not saying it is easy.  I am saying it is necessary.

2.  Plan your occasional splurge, and do not deviate from the plan. Unending deprivation is never a good idea, but you have to be intentional about the time, place and food that you let yourself splurge on. 

Love the hot wings at your favorite restaurant?  Then let’s make a deal.  Eat clean for six days.  No cheating.  And then at the end of those six days, go have the wings.  Guilt free.  Just enjoy them.  Then set the next goal.  But you are not allowed to deviate from your plan in the meantime.

If you do, you lose the wings. 

Don’t waste your fun calories on something that doesn’t compare to those wings!

3.  Keep moving.  Exercise is not an optional activity.  Now more than ever you have to get your body in motion.  Exercise is very effective at preventing weight gain—and that is what we’re after right now.  Don’t even worry so much about losing pounds; just work to keep the winter scale-creep from happening to you. Try to get some cardio in at least six days a week.

Remember:  spring is coming.  Let’s be ready for it, and leave winter weight gain behind.

Sources

¹http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/5-tips-to-avoid-winter-weight-gain

²http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline

DAVID E KNAPP NCSF-MCPT,CNS

WWW.PRINCETONBOOTCAMPS.COM

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU

What Motivates You?

The statistics

Brace yourself.  According to Rod K. Dishman, Ph.D., director of the Behavioral Fitness Laboratory at the University of Georgia, nearly 50 percent of people who begin an exercise program drop out within the first 6 months.  The question is, “Why?”  What is it about sticking with a fitness routine that causes so many people abandon it?

The answer?  Motivation.  They don’t want health and fitness badly enough.  It is a simple fact of human psychology that if we want something badly enough, we’ll do everything we can to get it. 

Your challenge is to find out what motivates you to get serious about fitness and stick with it.

Unlocking your motivation

Dan Napagitano found motivation.  Told by his doctors that he was minutes away from a heart attack, Dan decided to fight back.  Even though he had not been in a gym in  years, He picked up the phone and told me he was serious and determined this time.   Dan had been a client of mine before but I had to fire him.  I did not want to take his money if he was just going through the motions.  I told him call me when your head is in the game.

You do not have to be part of that 50 percent who quit.  You can stay committed and finish strong.  It is all about finding what motivates you personally.

Here are some possible motivators for you.

1.  Do it for your health. Consistent exercise and healthy eating are the two very best things you can do for your health.  You will develop a strong, healthy heart, reduce your chances of many cancers, prevent diabetes, keep a sharp mind and resist dementia and avoid many of the common ailments that come with aging.  It is possible to age without decay, and the key to this is exercise and eating well.

2.  Do it to look better. Appearance isn’t everything, but most of us care how we look.  A strong and healthy person just looks good.  And it isn’t all physical.  Your demeanor will change as you develop the confidence that comes from the discipline of fitness.  You will appear more energetic and confident because you will be more energetic and confident!

3.  Do it to relieve stress.  Really!  It isn’t a cliché.  Exercising really does cause physical changes in your brain and nervous system that results in feelings of calmness and well-being.  In fact, you may get so hooked on the mental benefits of exercise that you will crave it!

4.  Do it to be strong.  If you have never done focused weight training, then you literally have no idea of the total transformation that you will feel after just a few weeks.  There is nothing like bending over to pick something up that normally results in discomfort, strain and even pain, only to find out that it is a piece of cake!  And by getting strong now, you reduce your risk of age-related falls and fractures because you have the core strength and balance to keep yourself stable.

It is worth taking the time to discover the powerful motivators in your life.  Don’t worry about ‘bribing’ yourself:  do what it takes to get yourself moving.  Find out what makes sweating worth it.  Find out what you want more than that brownie. Your health is at stake; in fact, your very life is at stake. It’s time to transform yourself.

DAVID E. KNAPP NCSF-MCPT-CNS

princetonbootcamps @ yahoo.com