I always find Winter a difficult time of year.  Even as we have moved into Autumn I have struggled.  I am someone who very much feels the cold and when I feel cold I want comfort in any form I can get.  Cold weather challenges me in ways I would rather not be challenged.  I find it difficult not to cave to my old favorite comfort foods and I also find it difficult to get motivated to run because of the initial cold I feel before I have warmed up.

On top of this the holiday season is nearly with us, so wherever you look there are all those lovely comfort foods and delicious “treats” from our childhood to contend with.  If you are trying to lose weight or trying to maintain your weight, Winter plus Christmas can be the biggest challenge you face.  So what can you do to help yourself through it?

I would just like to share with you what I do to get through Winter and Christmas.  Hopefully it will help you find ways to resolve your own issues with this time of year.

I live on a diet predominantly of raw foods.  I eat a high fruit diet and I eat a lot of greens.  In cold weather I can struggle with the need to eat something hot to comfort me.  To help me feel the comfort from heat I miss from food I sit by the fire when it gets much colder, I drink herbal teas (I really like them!) or sometimes just holding a mugful helps.  I also, when it gets really cold, may treat my body to some homemade Veggie Soup.  I find Veggie Soup so comforting that nothing beats it for me.

Also in the UK, satsumas seem to be a huge thing at Christmas time, so when with family or doing the holiday thing, instead of buying chocolates and candy I buy a lot of satsumas.  It just so happens that I absolutely adore satsumas and can eat bags and bags without feeling like I am missing out on Christmas!

Below is my Veggie Soup Recipe (salt-free of course).

My Veggie Soup Recipe:

1tsp of ground coriander
1 large onion,
1 Leek,
5 carrots,
1-2 potatoes,
3 cloves – crushed,
3 cloves of garlic,
3 bayleaves,
1/2 tsp Oregano
big handful of fresh corriander

Method: Chop and fry onions and garlic in vegetable oil until caramelized.  Throw in chopped leek, crushed cloves, dried oregano and coriander powder with a splash of water and sweat down.  Chop carrots and potatoes, put them in once leeks have sweated down and cover with water.  Bring to the boil and add 1/2 tsp of black pepper and the chopped fresh coriander.  Simmer until vegetables are soft.  Put half the solid contents into a blender, blend to a paste, then add back to the pan and mix.  Simmer for another 5 minutes and serve.
 
 
I find Veggie Soup to be great for Winter because it comforts me, it keeps me warm and it stops me seeking comfort in junk foods and fatty foods that I really don’t want to be eating.  It gives me what I need in the Winter months. I think anyone who is trying to maintain their weight or trying to lose during this time should eat Veggie Soup even at Christmas

These few simple things that I do are enough to keep me on track during the Winter.  However although it keeps me on track with food, exercise is a completely different ballgame. 

I am a regular runner until about Autumn when the cold just literally kills me.  I run now and then in the cold months and only manage this by making sure I have clothes perfect for running and perfect for keeping me warm.  Instead of running though, I do a lot of walking with my toddler.  Carrying him around in a sling in the Winter months helps me protect him from the cold but also helps me keep toned (and very warm!).  He is a heavy little thing!  I also try to do yoga more often than I would the rest of the year. 

When trying to keep regular with exercise keep it simple during the Winter months.  Try to find something that you can do in the house if you have been using the beautiful outdoors before the cold months.  If there is a warmer day take advantage of it.  If you only manage to get something in one warm days, that is better than nothing.

Don’t get too hung up on it if you put on a little weight during the Winter.  It is only natural.  I might put a few pounds on but they melt away once Spring arrives.  What you need to do is just try to keep to your routine as much as possible and not let Winter drag you down.  Picking foods that tie in with the Holiday Season but are low in fat and fairly healthy, will prevent you putting on huge amounts of weight and also will allow you to still feel part of the Christmas season.  If you feel segmented or isolated, you will be more likely to get too carried away and you will only regret that!

Winter is hard but we can get through it but finding a few simple comforts that won’t add pounds to our bodies.

It’s now October and 9 months have gone by since you made your 2009 New Years Resolution(s) and by now you should have resolved them or be well on your way to overcoming them completely. Maybe your resolution was to lose weight or maybe it was just to join a gym and add exercise into your life. Whatever it was hopefully you were able to do what you set out to do. If so, congratulations! You are one of FEW who manage to keep to their resolutions. I remember being told at the gym in my old town that most sign ups in January will end up leaving by March – all in the name of the New Years dedication!

If you haven’t made any progress in your weight loss resolution or your gym resolution or any other resolution you may have made, why not? What stopped you from following through on your goal(s)? Was your heart not really in it? Or did the pressure of making a commitment in that way make you falter?

Whatever your reason, do you think that you are in the position of making the same mistake for 2010? Will you be telling yourself that 2010 is going to be the year to change your weight, to get fit and healthy and finally live the life you want? New Year’s resolutions for the most part fall into the same trap as when we tell ourselves “I will start tomorrow”. We put it off and off maybe because we aren’t ready or maybe because we put too much pressure on ourselves. In many cases it can be our food addictions that lead us to this conclusion.

Change can be daunting, but by putting it off we don’t get to where we want to be and remain in a position we really aren’t enjoying and haven’t enjoyed for years.

So why wait?

If you really are that unhappy with your weight or current health, why wait until 1st January 2010 to start making changes, why not start now? What will really change if you hold off until the New Year? Anything? Did it this year?

Year after year you may find yourself stuck in this loop of promising yourself that 2010 will be different, then 2011 and so forth. You won’t make progress and the relationship you have with yourself won’t get any better.

So why not make 2010 the best year ever by starting your Resolutions now?

  Instead of waiting for January to come around, why not set to work making the new you now. Why not go into 2010 the way you want to be – the new slimmer you (or well on the way to it). Is it that easy? Yes it can be. If you decide to start now you may also alleviate some of the pressure you put on yourself when starting out in the New Year as you will be well ahead of everyone else! Make the decision to change now and get started.

How Do I Get Started?

Weight Loss Mindset

The best starting place is to take a look at some of my articles on the Weight Loss Mindset & Goals. Getting your mind into the right mode to help you lose weight is great. This can also be applied to other resolutions you may have as well.

Observation

Once you feel mentally ready for the task you may then want to take a few days observing your eating and drinking habits. Write down everything that you eat and drink. Write down how you feel before and after. Make a note of your food triggers.

Below is an example of how you can set out your food journal (plus also make sure you add drinks):

Once you have done this for a few days you should be able to see where you can make some small changes that will give you great results. For an example let’s look at drinks. Many people consume a lot of calories in the drinks they should to drink. I believe that if you want to drink fruit juice, you should really only drink it if you have freshly squeezed it yourself. Most store bought beverages aren’t worth the health implications. So if you drink lots of store bought fruit juices or are a soda fan, cut these out. This may be a big task for you, so you might want to just keep to this goal for the month of October. Commit to only drinking water and herbal teas.

Observation is key to getting results when trying to lose weight. By really seeing exactly how you behave you can start working on your diet and the way you use food. It was only through observation that I was able to truly become aware to what extent I was an emotional eater. Before observation and allowing myself to be aware in the present moment, I really didn’t think I was an emotional eater. How wrong was I!

Before Photo & Journaling

You may also want to take a before picture. Taking a photo of you at the beginning of your journey will give you motivation in times of difficulty. You can also see exactly what making small changes will do the shape of your body too. Journaling will also help with you stay motivated and can be very helpful for anyone who has emotional eating issues but not a great support system.

See my article on this here:Weight Loss Tip: Taking Photos & Keeping A Journal

These 3 tips are great starting points for anyone wanting to take action now. Take your time and enjoy the process. Be happy you are starting now, because this means you really can have the best year ever in 2010.

When it comes to weight loss, keeping the motivation going to eat healthy and to refrain from eating food that is bad for our health, leaves us moody, depressed and lethargic can actually be a lot harder than it seems.  This is because, as discussed on this blog, food is addictive.  When we wean ourselves off food that is full of addictive substances like opiods and heterocyclic amines, it can be hard.  We almost have a come-down.  In fact when you stop stimulating the body with substances from junk foods, it can leave you tired for days.  But we hold on to that taste sensation like it means more than anything else – consequences don’t matter and we soon are eating something processed again, which makes us feel better and the cycle begins.

So how do you break this?  How do you make weight loss easier and more motivating?  One tip I would like to share with you today is something I have found that has helped me when I was first starting out on the healthy eating path.  First taking a before picture is a great motivator.  When you take this, you will feel motivated to look better in 6 weeks times.  Take a picture of your back, sides and front.  Then do the same in 6 weeks time.  If you lack motivation you can always take a picture to see your progress a little earlier on.  If you are making quite dramatic lifestyle changes you will see results, even if you don’t lose weight (potentially because you are gaining muscle) your shape will change.  So keeping a before photo and logging your progress is a good motivation.  It keeps you set on your next goal (e.g. slimmer arms) and gives you a pick me up in times of struggle with a healthy lifestyle.  It also shows you that you are serious about making this work.

Some people choose to make this change a public issue.  Some even start online blogs to keep themselves accountable.  If you are brave enough then this may be a great idea but I don’t reccommend.  I don’t recommend it because changing your lifestyle can be quite tough.  It can feel embarrassing if you can’t stick to your new diet or if you don’t lose weight or if you simply slip-up.  Writing a journal can be great to help you through these times but it will be much better for you to keep this private.  There is less pressure on you to get to your goal meaning you won’t panic, give-up or slip into a bingeing session.

So keep a journal but keep a private one.  Journals are great.  It can also be helpful to log your eating habits for the first few weeks.  You don’t need to be obsessive over it but logging your meals will make you more conscious of your eating which is a great thing.  Many of us have wandered through life mindlessly eating.  Some days we probably couldn’t have recalled what we have eaten.  The more aware you become of your eating, the more aware you become of how food makes you feel.  If you document it you will be able to see links between moods and whether you eat for emotional reasons.  For me this method opened my eyes to how particular junk foods left me sluggish and tired for the rest of the day.  Making myself aware of this also helped me to stop eating those foods for good and helped me create a healthier relationship with food.

Most people do not have a healthy relationship with food.  As a society it is caught up in emotional eating.  We eat for celebration, mourning and loss, for socializing, dating – the list is endless.  Life seems to evolve around food!  So if we want to break that connection and start eating for nutrition and pleasure without pain, we must become more aware of our eating habits and how food affects us.

So if you are struggling with your weight loss – taking photos and journaling your eating habits for a few days maybe the motivation you need to progress and take your health seriously.