Many people tend to gain weight during the winter months. Some people joke that they are eating and sleeping more because they are getting ready to hibernate. But we do not get to crawl into a warm hiding place and sleep the fat away. In our sedentary culture, where more than half of all adults are overweight, factors that accelerate weight gain are a real concern. Those extra pounds acquired over the winter may stay on year after year, eventually contributing to health problems such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

People gain weight during the winter months for different reasons. If you have a tendency to gain weight during the winter, it’s important for you to figure out what factors contribute to this tendency, and then plan accordingly. Simple changes in behavior often have enormous health benefits. Following are some ideas for preventing winter weight gain. As you read, decide which would be helpful for you.

make a holiday survival plan.

Holidays can mean less time to exercise, more treats, and extra alcohol and stress that trigger overeating. You couldn’t find a better recipe for weight gain. If your weight gain tends to come during the holiday season, consider making a holiday survival plan.

First, come up with a plan for staying active. Think about factors that have made exercise during the holiday season difficult in the past: loneliness, travel, busyness, lack of childcare, etc. Try to come up with some creative solutions to these barriers, then schedule them into your calendar the same way you schedule parties, meetings and family gatherings.

Second, if the holidays create excess stress for you, think of ways to reduce it. Exercise is the best stress-reducer around, and stress reduction is one of the best reasons to stay active, no matter what the season may be. Also important are getting enough sleep, focusing on your priorities and eliminating low-priority activities if you are too busy. Make time for those activities that give the holidays meaning, and that provide pleasure and opportunities to be with people you enjoy.

Third, eat defensively. Include occasional small portions of holiday treats that you really love, but balance this by eating more prudently at other meals. Avoid munching and drinking just because “it’s there.” If you drink alcohol, keep your consumption reasonable.

make friends with winter.

Winter can cause a decline in physical activity, as shorter days and inclement weather can limit exercise options. If winter weather creates exercise barriers for you, take a closer look at those barriers and come up with some creative solutions. If early darkness forces you off the streets, how about some indoor options? Check out fitness centers and community recreation programs in your area, and move your exercise program indoors.

Are you uncomfortable in cold weather? Buy some warmer clothes and learn how to dress for cold weather. If it snows where you live, learn a winter sport. Cross-country skiing, ice skating and snowshoeing are terrific calorie-burners.

winter doldrums? get into the light.

Many people experience mild to moderate winter depression. Severe winter depression, known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is marked by depressed mood, sleeping more than usual, increased appetite, cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, and weight gain. If depression is a problem for you, talk to your healthcare provider. Providers may recommend some form of light therapy, which relieves winter depression in many people.

Don’t forget that exercise can be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. People who experience winter depression can try combining exercise and light therapy by exercising outdoors when time and weather permit.

By Barbara A. Brehm, Ed.D.

The goal of this challenge is to be a springboard into a new, higher level of fitness aimed to build from where you’re at and reinforce your healthy habbits.  This should be a great way to jump start your summer and get you into shape.  

Working with a certified personal trainer, you should be able to effectively, and safely meet your goals, while staying motivated, and being held accountable.  

If you’re looking for a fad diet, or quick easy fix, you should look somewhere else. But, If you’re looking to become a more health conscious and create lasting change, this is for YOU!

Fitness Points (60%): 10 daily points x 7 days= 70 points a week (not including 7 free points)  for a total 140 team points.                                          

Weight Loss (40%): Simply the difference between your teams beginning weight and ending weight. (put into a percentage of total body weight lost)



Here are 10 things that you need to be mindful of that will help in losing weight. Following to these will be 60 % of your competition score

It isn’t realistic that you will get all of them every day but consciously do as many as you can. At the end of the day I want you to mark off how many of them you stuck to.

EACH DAY YOU HAVE A TOTAL of 10 POINTS possible.

 EACH WEEK you get 7 FREE POINTS- You can use them as you want- 1 a day, save them for the weekend, give yourself a “free day” without rules. . . (sorry no ‘extra credit’ possible)

Here are the Fitness Points:

____ EAT AT LEAST 4 SERVINGS OF FRUITS 0R VEGGIES. They’re the perfect food- high in fiber and low in calories. They often take more preparation than other foods so plan ahead. Use them to replace carbs for your meal base.

____ EAT BREAKFAST- It’s proven that those who eat breakfast lose more weight. Aim for something high in fiber that will keep you full throughout the day and get your metabolism going.

____ MEASURE OUT/REDUCE PORTIONS- All fatty/ starchy foods should be measured- That means you should use a measuring cup before eating your whole wheat pasta, high fiber cereal, salad dressing, cheese etc. Eating too much of a good thing will still prevent you from losing weight. After measuring a few times feel free to eyeball it. Resist second helpings. Instead drink some water or give yourself a 10-15 minute break to see if you’re still hungry

____ UNHEALTHY FOOD TO <150 CALORIES- You can eat these 150 calories however you’d like. Deprivation often provokes a backlash. Having a little bit of indulgence each day can keep you from feeling deprived. It can be a half cup of ice cream, a tiny brownie, or a 100 calorie pack of chips, just keep your indulgences to under 150 calories and you’ll be just fine.

_____DRINK AT LEAST 64 OZ OF WATER- Don’t let your body confuse hunger for thirst. Drinking will help to make you fuller faster, and often helps fend off the need to snack.

_____EXERCISE AT LEAST 30 MINUTES (as long as you exercise 4 days a week you get full points) Get into the habbit. I tell my clients exercising 3 days a week you will get a pretty good base. Exercise 4-5 days a week and you’ll start to see your body really change. Try to exercise more days than you rest. Most experts recommend cardio most days of the week and strength training 1-3 times a week.

_____FITNESS CHALLENGE WELLNESS FOCUS      (YOU CHOOSE)             Choose a goal to work on for the next 6 weeks. It needs to be attainable, and something specific to your goals. Are you training for a triathalon, starting a yoga class, learning to meditate or practicing stress management? This goal does NOT have to be directly related to fitness.

_____WEEKLY FOCUS       (YOU CHOOSE)            Choose a goal you want to really focus on for 1 week. It should be something that is VERY ATTAINABLE. Think about what you have going on that week before you decide on this goal.

HERE THEY ARE AGAIN:

____1) LIMIT UNHEALTHY TREATS TO <150 CALORIES

____ 2) NO SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES /ALL GRAINS WHOLE GRAINS

____ 3) AT LEAST 4 SERVINGS OF FRUITS 0R VEGGIES

____ 4) EAT BREAKFAST

____ 5) MEASURE OUT/ REDUCE PORTIONS

____ 6) NO EATING AFTER 8:00 PM

_____7) DRINK AT LEAST 6-8 GLASSES OF WATER

_____8 ) EXERCISED AT LEAST 30 MINUTES

_____9) WEEKLY FOCUS____________________________

_____10) COMPETITION FOCUS___________________________

TOTAL POINTS = 10

I will have this tally at the bottom of blank food diaries or for those of you who already have a system, I have a separate weekly sheet that has each day listed.

                           -THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU START-

MAKE CONCRETE GOALS- If you haven’t already, sit down and journal the reasons why you’d like to get in shape or lose some weight.  Think about exactly what you have to gain by getting fit. If you want, you may put this list some place you can see it to motivate you.  

Make both goals that you can measure (weight, # of times you exercise a week…) and some that you cannot ?(feeling good about yourself, having more energy etc.)

Just as important, think about any negative attitudes, habits, or obstacles that need to change before you can reach your goals.  If you have tried to slim down in the past and it hasn’t worked really evaluate why you may have fallen short. 

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN-I cannot emphasize this enough.  In order to be consistent you will need to learn to schedule out time for preparing meals, going to the gym, etc.  Plan meals before you go to the grocery store. Know what you are going to eat BEFORE you get hungry. Also be on the look out for healthy meal ideas/ recipes.  If you get bored and food doesn’t taste good you aren’t likely to stick with healthy eating.  

Choose one day a week to be your planning/prep day. Plan healthy snacks and meals in detail before you go to the store . It is nearly impossible for you to get in all your vegetables without planning and prepping in advance. Then either in the morning or the night before make your concrete meal plans for the day.  

ENLIST THE HELP OF FAMILY OR FRIENDS- Tell those around you that you’re getting serious and participating in a fitness competition. We all need all the support that we can get and it’s easier to be healthy if you aren’t doing it alone.  Also they can remind you and get you back on track if you feel like lapsing.

DEJUNK YOUR HOUSE-   If you are serious about getting fit and slimming down you can’t expect to resist temptation when your cupboards are full of less than healthy options.  Either get rid of it or put it away some place where you won’t be tempted.

START STENGTH TRAINING- By strength training even just 2 times a week you’ll be able to help fend off many sports injuries and help your body can handle the increase in exercise.

 LEARN TO LOVE YOUR BODY- Do not allow yourself to be negative or pessimistic about how you look.  Most of us are hard enough on ourselves so beating yourself up rarely does any good.  Accept how you look right now with the knowledge that you are doing what you can to take care of yourself and get in shape.

START JOURNALING-

 Writing down what you eat is EXTREMELY important. YOU MUST DO THIS. Get into the habit right now and you’ll thank yourself.  It just takes a few minutes of writing it down shortly after each meal so you don’t leave out small things. This helps to make you more conscious of what you’re eating and helps me check up on you and avoid plateaus. Write down on paper what you eat during the day a then enter it online. This will count your calories and break it down into proteins, carbs, fats.

As far as online journaling try to do it every 1-2 days for at least 2 weeks.

There are are a few online journaling sources, the one I recommend is: www.mypyramidtracker.gov 

It has tons of nutrition tools and info, and the largest database of foods. check it out1) Sign up and then enter in your personal profile.

2) “Proceed to Enter Food Intake” and enter in your food for the day. Save foods you frequently eat by pressing the “frequent food” button. I usually enter in all my food and then when that is done do all the serving sizes at once.

3)When you are done with that go to “ Analyze your food intake” up at the top of the page. It may ask you if you are looking to maintain or gradually decrease your weight. Choose “gradually decrease”

4)Check out “Nutrient intakes” to find out the amount of calories, fats, protein, carbs you’re consuming. There are also other tools that let you see how your diet measures up to national dietary guidelines or track your caloric intake over time.

In the fitness world the word “protein” has become a buzzword which is associated with all things fit- weight loss, muscle building, fat burning, energy. . .  As a personal trainer one of the most common nutrition questions I’m asked is “How much protein do I need?”

Many seem to proclaim, “the more protein the better”. Yes, protein is an important source of energy and is the building block of muscle, but science seems to indicate that some in the fitness world are going a bit overboard.   There seems to be a great divide on the subject when one compares what scientists conclude and what many athletes/strength trainers swear by.  Until recently, the opinion of athletes has been largely unsubstantiated in the scientific literature.   We know that dietary protein needs are elevated in individuals who are regularly physically active, but exactly how much is the question. 

The data suggests that the RDA for those who engage in regular endurance exercise should be about .54-.63 g protein/lbs body mass/day  and .77-.81 g protein/lbs body mass/day for serious strength exercisers. 

The typical North American diet contains protein near these quantities, so most individuals who decide to begin an exercise program will obtain sufficient protein as long as their diet is mixed and they are careful to consume adequate energy.

A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that high protein, low glycemic load (1.5+ g/kg body weight) diets were significantly more effective (-5.5 lbs) for short term(12 weeks) weight loss in comparison to the traditional diet of calorie/portion control.   However, the study also concluded that at 9 months both diets yielded the same results and declared their long term effect to be the same. 

Cutting carbs helps one lose water weight and so for a quick fix a higher protein diet isn’t a bad idea.  Most people are motivated by quick results and so for many the water weight lost is encouraging enough to keep them focused on their goal.  Also eating a small amount of protein with each meal is a great way to fend off hunger and keep you satisfied for longer.  Personaly when I’m training hard I consume a protein shake a day, adding an additional 28 grams of protein to my diet.  I eat sensibly the rest of the day and don’t worry about the numbers.  A protein shake can also be useful as a meal replacement or as a low calorie sweet snack.  I have several clients that I currently have drinking protein shakes daily and for them it does seem to help.   

 So if your goal is a beach body by summer, bring on the egg whites and chicken breasts.  If your goal is to obtain long term weight maintenance you’re probably better off saving your money and just eating a but less and cutting out junk. 

The key to fitness is efficiency and consistency. 

Many people put a lot of time into their workouts and settle for mediocre results.  While I commend them for trying, 95% of the people I see in the gym aren’t nessesarily doing the right exercises at the right intensities and so they aren’t seeing the results they need.

  This is where having a certified personal trainer comes in.  A trainer can create an exercise program that is best for your body, including exercises that you enjoy and that will yield the greatest change in the least amount of time.  Many people go to the gym doing the same things that they’ve done for years and think “I’ll just try really hard this time and I’ll get different results.”  Wrong. 

The more you can switch up your exercise routine the more you will keep your body guessing, your fat burning, and your muscles growing.  For many people all they have to do is walk into a gym and they lose a few pounds but after a while everyone reaches a plateau.  This is where it gets fun and I get creative.

A trainer can help you decide exactly what you need to change in your diet/exercise plan so you can continue seeing results. 

Today I am officially registering for the Grand Island Trail Marathon.

  The race still spans the 26.2 miles but instead of pounding pavement, I’ll be running along the beach and coastal hills of an island off the coast of Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.  It was ranked in Runner’s World Magazine’s as one of “10 Marathons to Run in 2008″. 

The race is small for a marathon, with only 300 runners, compared to the last marathon I ran, the Mayors Midnight Sun, with 2,000.  It promises all organic snacks at the end, less fanfare, and low impact on the ecosystem.  The race requires that you pack in your own water and warns not to expect a port-a-potty when you need one.

Since running my last marathon I have learned an incredible amount about training and proper sports nurition. 

What I will do differently this time:

1) Fuel up- Take in more protein and carbs before my run, stay hydrated, replenish during and after long runs.

2) Weekly speedwork- Yes, slow and steady wins the race but still the only way to finish the race faster is to train faster.  This time around more interval training, hill workouts, tempo runs.  . .

3)Strength training- While devoting so much time to running it seems unreasonable to hit the gym, but a little weight training goes a long way in increasing speed, helping with hills, and injury prevention.

4) Cross training- One day a week should be enough to fend off boredom and help with overuse injuries.