Feeling Hungry and Peckish?… It’s Called Seasonal Hunger!

For most of us living in the Southern part of the hemisphere, the temperatures are dropping and the food is looking more delectable…Not to worry though, it is a common occurrence.

 

Experts call it seasonal hunger and we can blame our appetite for naturally increasing in colder weather as our activity decreases and waistlines, well, pack on some winter warmth.

 

As the outside temperatures drop, it makes our bodies work harder to keep warm. Shivering can occur which stimulates the metabolism and sends signals to our brains to find ways to keep warm.  We start to favour foods that warm us up quickly and can raise internal furnaces. For most of us, that means traditional comfort foods such as stews, soups, roasts, puddings and hot chocolate!! To make matters worse, the shorter daylight hours mixed with chilly conditions make for a more sedentary lifestyle…and lots of excuses to move less.   If you be smart about it you could actually use the season to move some stubborn kilo’s and take advantage of our raised metabolisms!

It is a matter of staying awake to the process of why we are eating more with some ways to stay in control of your appetite this winter.

+ Get your daily Vitamin D…dark rainy days make us want to stay indoors and eat.  Make the most of sunny days and get out there and increase those serotonin levels.

+ Find ways to exercise indoors.  This could be an exercise DVD ( I love Tracy Anderson) or buy a stationary bike or running machine.  Find ways, not excuses and create your own heat!

+ Swap high-calorie comfort foods for healthier versions. Trim the fat of meat pre-cooking, have a hot chocolate with skim milk or a low-fat minestrone instead of creamy pumpkin soup (or use evaporated skim milk instead of cream)

+  If you find yourself searching for snacks, making it a high protein, high fibre choice…  It will kick-start your metabolism and help you to stay warmer longer.

How do you overcome the winter munchies?