Many people struggle leaving their warm cozy home to exercise during winter. It’s too cold, it’s too wet, it’s windy and just plain old miserable.

But seriously, what else have you got to do besides sit in front of the t.v. and eat stuff that isn’t going to help you progress with your goals?

This is the season you should be making more of an effort to move more to avoid going backwards in your goals.

We naturally store extra fat during winter:

As part of the animal kingdom, we naturally store extra fat during winter. So it is harder to lean up during winter. This is to help the body insulates naturally against the cold. Your metabolism tends to slow down, you tend to be more fatigued and sleepy, and move less, to help reduce the amount of energy burned so that you naturally store more fat for insulation.

So it takes effort to consciously move more to combat that.

In the warmer months, your metabolism speeds up to help cool your body down, so it is easier to burn fat during that time of year. Your body wants to burn fat as it doesn’t need the insulation. It is also why you naturally become more motivated to move. Your brain signals the body to move to burn energy to avoid storing it.

The winter blues:

The reduced metabolism and movement also reduces the production of serotonin. Exercise produces serotonin and endorphins, the happy hormones that make you feel great. Reduced sunlight limits vitamin D absorption and as such further reduces production of serotonin. Put all this together and you result in the winter blues. In fact some people even suffer SAD (Seasonal Affected Depression) which is a diagnosed form of depression associated with the reduced levels of serotonin and endorphins in the winter months.

Why do you increase carb intake during winter:

Simple carbs (products high in sugar and high GI foods, think lollies, chocolate, chips, cookies etc.) signal the brain to release dopamine that is another feel good hormone. Your cravings increase during the colder months to help improve your mood. Simple carbs are also typical of emotional eating, so if you are already suffering the winter blues, you will tend to turn to simple carbs more. Simple carbs also induce sleepiness, sending you into what’s known as a ‘carb coma’, so that you have less energy to burn fat. This contributes to your body being able to store more fat for insulation.

What can you do?

Consciously make an effort to move more. If it is too cold, wet and miserable to go out and train, then exercise at home. Don’t succumb to the excuse ‘I’m not motivated to train at home’. Implement discipline and get up and move. Otherwise you will find yourself going backwards quickly, and having to work twice as hard through summer to make up for it. Summer is the time to go out an enjoy life more. Don’t spend that time having to make up for lost work during winter. Use winter as your ‘smash your goals’ time, so you can make the most of your results and extra energy through the warmer months.

Get out and train. And if you can’t get out, train at home. We have a training app for all of our members so if you can’t make it to the studio you can train at home with one of our programs online.

Go on, get moving…

– Coach Terri