The holidays have passed and all of the excitement is winding down and now we settle in to that endless stretch of winter.
I don’t know about anybody else, but even though it is a fresh new year, winter is still a difficult time for me. All I want to do is burrow under a blanket and hibernate until March. If you need to lose weight, it can be hard to cut calories at a time when your body is wanting to get fed to stay warm. Maintaining can be just as hard.
It’s also a little hard getting out of the holiday food mentality. I don’t turn a switch on and off very well. I kind of have to ease my way back in. Part of that is that there were cookies in the house and I sort of just ate fewer of them as time went by. Now they are gone and I kind of still crave them and the urge to bake more is there, but I have not done that.
This is the time of year where I really miss outdoor biking. The indoor trainer is okay, but it’s like the treadmill. Not as fun as being on the open road. I just kind of have to suck it up and do indoor workouts for a while. I try to think of it as more cross training and something different. Another thing that seems to have been par for the course the last few years is doing some home improvement project in the winter. Not only does this keep me from snacking, it keeps me moving and burning calories. Plus using all those muscles that I work hard at building up get put to use! 😀
I think smaller, more maneagable goals help me as well. Regular readers know I love to do the monthly goals. It’s helps keep me accountable, but it also adds some variety and challenges because, let’s face it, maintaining is not nearly as exciting as losing.
Do you have any winter strategies you use to keep on course?
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Make sure you read more at my fellow AIMers’ blogs for their thoughts on this topic!
AIM: Adventures in Maintenance is Lynn, Lori, Debby, Shelley, and Cammy, former weight-loss bloggers who now write about life in maintenance. We formed AIM to work together to turn up the volume on the issues facing people in weight maintenance. We publish a post on the same topic on the first Monday of each month. Let us know if there is a topic you would like us to address!
It really does help to have some sort of “external” project on which to focus, doesn’t it? Almost as much as it helps to be rid of those extra cookies. 🙂
You and I are so much alike when it comes to winter Lori! I have to give you major props for how far north you are willing to live.
It’s probably only yesterday that I felt I was fully back in the swing of better eating. I said this to Debby but I’ll repeat here: soup is a savior for me when it comes to wanting comforting foods. It’s all that and yet I can make it healthy!
I’ve found with all the cleaning and organizing I’m doing with this studio project, it really keeps me pre-occupied and not so focused on food (at least for a while…)
I like to keep busy as much as I can to avoid eating. I also have a hard time getting out of the holiday mentality, but the first few days are the hardest, and I’ve done great for the last week eating within my daily calories. I actually like winter, although our winters are not as harsh as yours. I have run when it’s 15 degrees out, and loved it! I know I am weird. 🙂 I’m nervous about ice and snow, especially after my sprain, so I’ll be doing a lot more gym workouts.
Haha, I wrote about burrowing under the covers, too…it’s so tempting!! Good point about having the physical projects to keep yourself moving/burning calories and not eating or focusing on food. I’m partway into my office organizational redo, and that does help, for sure.
I struggle in the winter too. My body craves more food, but I really try to stay within my calorie range. Spending more time in the weight room in the winter helps!
COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉 I agree Lori – maintaining is hard no matter how you slice it…. plus our bods change so we have to maintain & change to meet that changing bod…
You will have lots of house projects n your new home!!!!!
I totally understand you. I think I would be the same if I lived in the same part of the world as you do. But since I don’t and we usually don’t have those hard winters, I can still go outside everyday and keep running outside all year round. That makes it easier to eat healthy during Winter. Hmmmm you should have bought your new radiance home here in Holland. People bike here all year round outside too 🙂
I am not a fan of this time of year. I just want to sit inside and eat comfort food. It is hard to transition away from the holiday eating but also, since we are less active, to less food overall. I guess I need to hit the gym more and try to resist all the goodies out there. 🙂
I’ve always admired your goal-setting, and every time I read about one I think, ‘I need to do that, too.’ My problem is that I forget I’ve made a goal unless I write it down, so perhaps if I made myself accountable via my blog, that would help. Hmmmm….
I think it’s a tough time because my body is still in the “holiday cookie craving” mode. Guess my taste buds got to experience goodies on too much of a regular basis over the holidays.
As for winter, I think it really gets bad after the Super Bowl. Up until then, I look forward to snowy Sundays, hunkering down with a warm fire and glass of wine.