by Deborah English

Created on: October 01, 2007

Winter weight control is an issue for most of us. The problem with winter is plain and simple: it's dark a lot, and it's cold! These two seemingly minor factors, can make it very difficult to maintain (let alone attain) a lean body weight.

The reason for this harks back to prehistoric times when life was all about physical survival: if you didn't store enough fat during the warmer months or eat enough food during the winter months, you simply did not survive the winter.

The problem is compounded with our modern lifestyles, in that we are also less active. Unlike our Neanderthal counterparts, who were forced to continue an active lifestyle during the winter months in order to obtain food supplies, most of us live relatively sedentary lives.

Modern humans offset this deficit, by gym memberships, organized sports, outdoor exercise programs and recreational activities. Unless we are particularly dedicated to our sport, this is often substituted by hot chocolate and marshmallows in front of the television during the dark, cold winter months.

Unfortunately evolution has not yet cottoned on to the fact that modern humans don't need to store extra fat for the winter. During winter, our bodies still click into survival mode. Not only do we crave heavier, more slowly digestible and thus more warming foods, our body also wants to protect itself by storing fat, because fat stores keep the cold out.

Although, it may seem futile to fight against this seemingly indelible DNA encoding, it is possible to beat winter weight issues.

Following are a few tips to beat winter cravings for fattening and thus, warming foods.

1. Add heat in the form of spices to your food. Spicy food doesn't necessary mean hot' curries containing mind-blowing chillies. There are many other spices such as garlic, ginger, cloves, cumin, coriander, and star anise which are delicious, warming, and are valuable for keeping your metabolism revved up and consequently, burning more energy.

2. If you are a winter casserole junkie, go for it. Stews are nourishing, filling and warming. However, always choose lean meat, and cut excess fat off. If you must use a thickener, instead of flour, use the much healthier alternatives of rice, or grated sweet potato instead.

3. Eat plenty of hot soup. Not only is soup highly nutritious and warming: it is wonderfully filling. Due to the water content in it, soup has proven to take longer to digest than a regular meat, potato and vegetable meal and thus, keeps you full for longer!

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