5 ways to avoid winter weight gain
From getting adequate sleep to soaking up the sun, here is how you can stay healthy during the winter season
If there is one thing that we hate about the winter months, it’s probably the thought of gaining weight easily. However, if you feel that working out regularly, and drinking and eating in moderation are enough to prevent you from gaining weight, then you need to think again. From getting adequate sleep to embracing the sun, experts share a complete guide to prevent you from gaining weight during the winter. 1 Healthy comfort snacks: Winter is the season when people generally give in to eating comfort food, which may result in weight gain. The solution to this conundrum is that you snack on healthy comfort food such as carrots, onions, beetroot, winter squashes, sweet potatoes, yams, turnips, parsnips and rutabaga. This will satisfy your cravings without causing you to gain weight.
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Embrace the sun: Expose yourself to sunlight in the winter season. Exposure to little sunlight can cause one to crave for high-calorie and fatty food like cakes, cookies, ice cream and chips. Lack of sunlight decreases the production of serotonin in our body. Serotonin is responsible for boosting our mood and suppressing food cravings.
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Adequate sleep: If you want to avoid gaining weight during this season, then it’s important that you get adequate sleep as per your body’s requirement. Lack of sleep slows down your metabolism and leads you to crave for unhealthy food that is rich in carbohydrates. This is one of the reasons for gaining weight during the winter. Before sleeping, avoid alcohol and coffee. You need to sleep for at least eight hours in this season.
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Warm the body: The cold weather can cause stress to the body. Some of us tend to eat more when we are stressed. Therefore, you need to keep your body temperature stable, and you require energy for that. To curb your hunger, indulge in leafy green vegetables. Also eat legumes, hot peppers and ginger to maintain your body temperature.
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Spice it up: To speed up your metabolism avoid overeating and spice up your meals. Use warm spices like red pepper, cinnamon, clove, garlic and ginger to boost your metabolism. These spices when added to your food, will do wonders for your taste buds. They will also help you avoid chemical-laden marinades.