Kiddipedia
(Top 4 Tips to Tame the Temptations)
The days are slowly starting to get a little bit longer, but the cold weather hasn’t completely left us yet unfortunately. For many of us, the promise of spring feels so far away and the temptation to hibernate and comfort eat is still strong!
Whist there are a whole range of activities that you can do to maintain your health, fitness and mobility during the colder months, it’s common for adults to gain an average of about 5kg during winter. This is due to decreased activity levels, and an increase in comfort eating (diminished dietary restraint).
From an evolutionary perspective, we were instinctively driven to eat more during the colder weather, because food would have been scarce. In our modern age though, we rarely face food shortages, so if sedimentary winter habits and comfort eating linger, (into spring and beyond), the result can create longer term weight loss challenges!
The solution? Avoid the winter kilo-creep to begin with!
Here’s my Top 4 Tips to Tame the Temptations:
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Satisfying Soul Food:
Comfort food doesn’t have to be thick, creamy or loaded with extra kilojoules at all! Whilst we typically consume more ‘hot meals’ during the cooler weather, healthy and soul satisfying meals can be created from high fibre vegetables and protein rich foods like lentils. The combination of fibre and protein can help to make you feel fuller for longer and curb your desire for seconds (or even thirds)!
There’s no ‘rules’ to say that you can’t eat lighter salads in winter anyway… so why even wait for spring and summer, when you can be eating them now, if that’s what you love?! There are some delicious salads featuring roasted beets, pumpkin, haloumi… you’re only limited by your imagination!
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Simple, Savvy Snacking:
Being a little more sedentary during the cold weather, can lead to ‘boredom eating’. Mindless snacking (like eating a family sized bag of chips while you’re watching a movie) is not going to provide you with an appropriately balanced ratio of energy to nutrition. Instead, plan wisely for your snacks and try to make sure they ‘plug’ any nutritional ‘gaps’ that may exist in your regular dietary routine.
Do you need more protein? Could you use some additional healthy fats? Nuts, seeds, yoghurt, or avocado are all great snack choices! Have you ever made your own Bliss Balls or tried something as simple as peanut butter smeared on a cored and quartered apple. So delicious!!
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Consume Kilojoules with Care:
Brrrr….. when it’s cold and bleak outside we’re commonly drawn to drinks like coffee, chai latte and hot chocolate, but as delicious and warming as they are, they can be extremely high in energy, and the excess kilojoules can add up quickly, without us even realising it!
Where possible, avoid drinking your kilojoules…. save them for truly satisfying ‘soul food’ instead! Herbal teas or vegetable and bone broths are a great alternative, but if you simply can’t resist that latte or hot chocolate though, limit the ‘extras’ (syrups, whipped cream, marshmallows), and make it a small size. It’ll still hit the spot!
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Sprinkle the Spice:
Hot, spicy foods that contain chillies or cayenne pepper trigger endorphins, the feel-good hormones. When your brain is triggered with big flavours, you will also feel satisfied more quickly and won’t eat as much. In addition to linking appetite suppression & weight loss to the consumption of spicy foods, the active plant compounds in those foods are linked to a reduction in ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, an increase in ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, improved circulation and heart health, as well as improved mood and management of pain.
Other flavourful spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric and cumin. Try them in your herbal teas as well as your meals.
By limiting the winter kilo-creep with these simple tips, you’ll be ready to bloom into spring, completely full of vibrant energy and life!
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