Winter is really upon us, together with some pounds we gained feasting on all the delicious holidays treats. You may think that you should wait for sunnier days to shed those extra pounds – especially since nobody is in the mood for outdoor exercise in this weather – but you should reconsider. It is quite easy and fun to stay in shape and boost your health during the cold season. If you do not have some trick of your own, let’s find out together today how to lose weight in winter with no fuss!
1. Throw in Some Winter Fruits and Vegetables into Your Diet
If you think the best diets in the world are only for summer when you can enjoy fresh fruit and veggies from the market, you should rethink your meal plan. Winter comes with amazing nutritious varieties. Naturally sweet, dense root vegetables, hearty winter greens are your best friends this season. Try Brussel sprouts, zucchini, cabbage, kale, sweet potatoes, beets, squash, beans, chickpeas, carrots, leeks and more. Citrus fruits, apples, avocados, and pears boost your energy and health, filling you up with all the good vitamins. Seasonal fruits and veggies make amazing dishes that warm you up and help you stay in shape all winter long. If you are not a huge fan of them, however, alternate with frozen fruits and veggies, as they do pack all their wondrous features in their freshness.
2. Change Your Eating Times
The days are shorter and darker, but nobody says you cannot take advantage of this. Instead of counting calories all day long, you should only adapt your schedule to the season. Fix your breakfast time early in the morning (around 8), have lunch at noon (around 1) and do not eat your dinner past 6 o’clock in the evening. Thus, you are left with 12-14 hours of not eating, which equals a regular fasting session.
3. Increase Your Protein Intake
Switch from the typical 15% of total calories to 30% protein intake on a daily basis and you can actually shed a pound a week. A higher protein diet fools your brain into thinking you ate a lot – and it will not impose hunger on you anymore. In other words, a boost in protein means less eating and fewer calories. We do not talk about high fat, artery-clogging meats, and dairy products, however.
We talk about a glass of low-fat milk instead of a glass of water, lean meats (skinless chicken or turkey breast, lean fish etc.), nuts, beans, mushrooms, and so on. If you are adamant to lose weight, check out these protein shake recipes for weight loss that can help you get there faster and in a delicious way!
4. Eat Only the Right Fats
We dread the concept of fat when it comes to dieting because fat is what we want to get rid of in the first place. But good fats are totally different from artery-clogging ones. Good fats in winter boost your health, help your nervous system function properly (improving thus your mood in the process), help your organism absorb vitamins A, D, and E, keep you warm in the heinous winter weather, boost your skin’s looks and feel, and allow you to lose some weight.
In order to achieve all these goals, your fats need to be monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Avoid trans fats and hydrogenated ones that make almost all processed foods and snacks. Switch to olives, olive oil, almonds, avocados, salmon, walnuts, anchovies, flax seeds, grass-fed butter, unrefined coconut oil, and so on.
5. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
Most people tend to avoid drinking water in winter, especially cold water, but that would be a mistake. Winter weather and wind has harsh effects on all of us. Drinking water before a meal allows us to eat less for starters. It will keep your body functioning properly and help your skin fight off the symptoms of winter dehydration. Moreover, foods high in water contain little calories but plenty of vitamins you need in order to shed pounds and make it through the cold season. Focus on all the soups you can make and enjoy, fruits and vegetables, hot cereal, and so on. Just make sure your winter soups contain little to no starches and dairy. Think about broth or tomato-based soups loaded with veggies (and some proteins we talked about above).
6. Keep an Eye on Your Beverages
Filling your body with liquids that are low in calories will make you feel well fed but help you get slimmer, since there are no calories in veggie broth or lemon water. However, keep an eye on the other liquids you drink. The sugars in milk and juices, the calories in hot chocolate drinks, and the chai latte you cannot skip in winter are your worst enemies. Nobody says you should give up completely your guilty pleasures, but an herbal detox tea with honey is going to help you lose weight in winter better and healthier than sodas and sweet drinks.
7. Exercise Indoors
You did not expect us to skip on this part, did you? There is not a healthy guide on how to lose weight in the winter to skip the part where you should move around a little to warm up and wear down those extra pounds. You can pick from probably hundreds of easy indoor exercises that you can engage in with no fuss and keep your metabolism in the right shape.
Wrapping up…
Now that we learned how to lose weight in the winter with these seven easy and fun tips, tell us how you shed your holidays’ pounds during the cold season! Do you have other secrets and advice you’d like to share?
