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If you’re feeling those extra winter kilos creeping up on you, it's time to kick them to the curb!
We asked Angela Berrill, Jenny Craig’s weight management expert so share her top tips for winter weightloss. They aren’t as hard or tricky as you might think! Tip 1: Watch your portions Watching your portion size is a key factor in helping to reduce your weight or to prevent winter weight gain. A good guide of what portion is right for you, is to look at your hands – a serve of red meat should be no bigger than the  palm of your hand (chicken and fish can be the size of your full hand), the carbohydrate (eg potato, kumara, bread, pasta or rice) should be no larger than fist size and the vegetables should fill two cupped hands. Or more simply; have ½ the plate filled with vegetables, ¼ with meat/chicken/fish/beans/lentils and the remaining ¼ with carbohydrate.
Remember – just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you need to pile up your plate!
Tip 2: Snack right  Studies show that people who avoid eating between meals may end up consuming more kilojoules (energy) overall. This could be because when we are ravenous, our blood sugar is low and our defences are down. Usually we want a quick fix and we don’t necessarily make the best choices. Rather than grabbing a chocolate bar or a packet of chips, which have little nutritional value (other than providing energy, sugar and fat), try reaching for snacks which not only fill you up, but also provide you with some vitamins and minerals. Foods which provide protein will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer; while foods rich in fibre will reduce how much you eat at the next meal.
Some examples of nutritious snacks include:
- Low fat yoghurt – provides you with protein and nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, which are important for bone health.
- Tinned salmon or tuna in spring water on wholemeal toast – fish is a good source of protein and oily fish such as salmon or tuna provide omega 3 fats which are good for your heart and brain. Wholegrain toast is a good source of fibre.
- Vegetable sticks dipped in a low fat hummus – vegetables provide a range of nutrients and important phyto chemicals which help arm your body’s defences against disease and infection. Hummus is a good source of fibre and protein too. Try dipping baby carrots, celery, broccoli florets or radishes.
Tip 3: Turn traditional comfort foods into satisfying and nutritious meals
During winter we tend to fill up on heavy, warm comfort food rather than reaching for salads or other light meals. While many of us may not be so keen to have a winter ‘casserole-, backed potato- or lasagne-free’, there are ways in which you can cut the fat and kilojoules of your much loved winter warmers.
 For example:- Veg up your traditional lasagne, by adding fresh vegetables to the meat sauce. Cut the fat by replacing the cheese sauce with cottage cheese and only use a sprinkling or parmesan on top for flavour rather than lots of cheddar. If you really must have some ‘melty’ cheese or parmeasan isn’t your thing, go for edam rather than tasty cheese as this is lower in fat.
- If you’re baking a potato for a quick meal or snack, try topping with chilli beans, salsa and cottage cheese rather than using lots of cheese and sour cream.
- You can also veg up your traditional casserole by adding potatoes, kumara, carrots, courgette, celery or tomatoes. Remember to trim the visible fat off your meat too!
Tip 4: Move it, to lose it
Weight gain is caused by not doing enough exercise to make up for the kilojoules (energy) we consume either as food or drink. Think of it as a balancing act; if you eat too much and then don’t do enough exercise to burn up the food/drink as fuel, you are going to put on weight. As the Jenny Craig research has shown, most of us tend to eat more over the winter months. Therefore, if we want to avoid putting on any weight, we then need to step up our exercise to balance those scales. The more energy you consume, the more exercise you need to do. Aim to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day.  Tip 5: Get creative with your exerciseOver winter it can be pretty hard to get motivated to do some exercise – especially when it is wet, cold and miserable outside. If braving the weather for a walk, cycle or run isn’t your thing, try going to your local gym or in-door pool. You can even work exercise into your regular day.
Try:
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift or elevator. Even try walking a few flights of stairs on your lunch break if you work in an office building.
- Talk an email – instead of emailing a colleague, get up and go over to their desk instead. It’s much more personal and will no doubt save countless emails going back and forward all afternoon.
- Park your car a further away or get off the bus a few stops earlier than you need to.
- Get up during the ad breaks on TV and walk around the house.
- Cleaning the house. Not only will you have a nice clean house to relish on those winter nights but you will have also burnt off some kilojoules in the process.
- Window shopping at your local shopping mall. Walking briskly around a cosy mall is a great way to scope out the shops while raising your heart rate at the same time.
Angela Berrill |
