5 Foods That Prevent The Winter Weight Gain

As the temperature drops, maintaining a healthy body weight can become difficult due to interrupted workouts, comfort food cravings and more nights in tempting us to overeat. Here are five of my top winter foods that help keep the weight off. 

Warming low-starch veggie soups: During the winter time we often crave warming comfort foods which can lean towards high starchy carbohydrate options such as pasta and mashed potato. Replace these with low starch warming soups such as creamy mushroom soup, immune boosting chicken soup or cauliflower and leek soup, particularly a small bowl at the beginning of the meal to increase fullness.

Protein:  Ensure you add a protein rich food to each main meal such as eggs, fish, chicken or beans. Protein keeps you feeling full, controls your appetite and prevents the sugary and high calorie food binges.  Protein also helps stabilise blood sugar levels to keep you energised throughout the day.

Protein containing snacks: Naturally our appetite can increase when we are cold as our body uses more energy (kilojoules) to keep us warm. Having healthy snacks prepared when hunger strikes will ensure you avoid those high sugar-fat foods which are often all that are available when out and about. Try my Hummus with veggie sticks, Cacao Power Balls, Coconut Caramel Balls or a small handful of almonds for an easy and nutritious pick me up when on the go.

Fibre rich roasted veggies: Fibre creates bulk in the stomach keeping you fuller for longer and also regular! Roasting a big tray of veggies at the beginning of the week such as broccoli, sweet potato, cauliflower, eggplant and carrot makes it easy to incorporate more fibre and nutrition in your meals. This also reduces meal prep time as you can use the veggies to create different meals. For example, enjoy them as a side with your dinner protein such as baked salmon, combine with some baby spinach and a serve protein to bulk up your lunch salads or blend with some bone broth, stock or water for a nutritious soup.

Water: I know water isn’t exactly food but it is easily and often forgotten about in the absence of hot and humid weather. Dehydration can easily be mistaken for hunger, causing us to eat when all our body needs is some fluid. Keep a jug of water on your desk or carry a water bottle around to help remind you to you drink at least 2L a day.

Interested in a personalised meal plan to keep you on track this winter? Get in touch!