4 Tips to Prepare for Winter Temptation

It is definitely that time of year. The cold weather is moving in, it’s getting darker much earlier, and the push to eat right and exercise is hitting the floor. At least this is where I’ve been finding myself lately. The culprit behind my lack of motivation: Winter! I have noticed over the past week that my desire to eat filling comfort foods instead of healthy alternatives,  and to just curl up with a good book and a cup of coffee as opposed to my 30 minutes of exercise a night, has gotten much stronger.

The horrible news, this is natural! This is our instinctual way to prepare for the long and cold winter months. Our bodies respond to the weather and tell us to start conserving and storing energy. And guess what that means, conserving and storing fat to get through the winter months. I don’t think so! I just spent the last two months losing 22lbs, and I am not going to sit back and gain it all back because my body says I should. The trouble is that this means a lot more work on my behalf. I’m going to be fighting natural instincts here, and that’s just not easy.

So here is “THE PLAN”:

1. Take time to prepare multiple healthy meals including salads and fish:

What this does is curb the tendency to give into certain cravings and temptations when   waiting to decide on what to eat right before you plan to eat. This way you’ve already taken the time to think through your meal decision, and not giving instinct the chance to interfere.

2. Exercise before reading:

This will be hard because it depends on internal motivation. I just have to make a deal with myself that I will work out before I curl up for the evening. The thing to remember is that working out will warm me up the same as curling up under a blanket.

3. Drink hot green tea instead of coffee:

I don’t know about you, but when I drink coffee it has cream and sugar, and that adds to the unhealthy level. Then I sit there and drink a couple of cups instead of just one. The solution, replace it! Green tea is a very healthy alternative so long as you don’t overdo it. It tastes great when served hot, and you never add cream or sugar.

4. Eat only when HUNGRY:

Halloween, Thanks Giving, Christmas, New Years. This is the lineup of food related Holidays, and they happen one right after the other. Each one includes temptation of massive amounts of food, candy, sweets, beverages, and everything in excess. So if you just focus on only eating when you are actually hungry, and after you’ve had a good drink of water, this should curb a lot of the tendency to overeat at this time of year.

I’m not going to lie, this will not be easy. Again, I’m fighting thousands of years of natural instinct here, and I just have to remind myself: I have heat, a well stocked grocery store, and I live in the city. There is no need to give into the instincts bred into us from the times when we had to make a fall harvest last all summer, lock ourselves inside to keep the cold outside, and not be able to work cause the world is frozen over. This is just going to take some good common sense, and a little bit of discipline.