Winter Weight Gain: Sweater & Legging Season is No Excuse to Let Yourself Go

Hey Fit Fam,

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year (as long as it doesn't get too chilly). I love not having to wear a coat, that crisp breeze, sweaters, leather jackets, boots!! But it's also a time of year we tend to tell ourselves it's "okay" if we put on a few extra pounds because .. well .. we are more COVERED!
It's also very easy to gain winter weight because of all the holidays!! You have Halloween (all the yummy candy), Thanksgiving (pies, stuffing, mashed potatoes w/butter, etc), Christmas (so many parties. so much of my mamas yummy fudge) and New Years Eve (uhh, alcohol). Of course it's important to enjoy those moments with friends and family... we ALL have to "live a little" .. but remember when I talked about "Finding Balance"? You certainly have to do the same during the winter...so that come Spring you aren't finding yourself taking those horrible drastic measures to be ready to show your body again! Not to mention ... a toned muscular body DOES make those skinny jeans and leggings look WAY better. Just because you are covered up does NOT mean that it's okay to let yourself go.

Modifications, portions, planning and WILL POWER are going to be key this time of year. Of course you are going to want those winter comfort foods ... so have some!! Just save real treats for your cheat day. Eat a smaller slice of the pie on Thanksgiving and grab the smallest plate you can on Christmas dinner (your eyes are usually much bigger than your belly.) In most cases you can also carefully modify your everyday comfort food recipes and they will be okay. Just make it a small portion as one of your 6 small meals a day and remember everything adds up ... "fat free" cheese and sour cream is still dairy and still has macros you must account for! Heck .. even the tomato sauce and veggies in your chili recipe have carbs, so just account for it ALL!! Never assume!! If you are all alone or have a small family ... you will have plenty of leftovers if you are eating a small portion! That is okay! Nothing wrong with Meal 5 one night becoming one of your meals the next day :)

Chili is just one of my comfort food favorites. We have an amazing recipe that I'll post for you soon! I also love APPLE CIDER! I especially love SPIKED apple cider. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!! I'm pretty sure this will either be the "dish" I choose to bring on Thanksgiving or on my "please make" list for my husbands mom, lol!! Finding a modification for a spiked cider is obviously impossible. You can make it BETTER for you .. but almost anything with alcohol is a "no go". So it will have to just be one of those "splurge" choices I make this "off season".  As for a non alcoholic apple cider .. a pre-made sugar free, low cal, low carb cider hasn't been easy to find. If you know of one .. please share!! I found ONE K Cup that has a sugar free version and one packet version. They claim to have them at wal-mart ... but I've not seen it at mine. But they do have them online .. so I just may have to order some for those cold nights in front of the fireplace that will be here before we know it!! If you want to make some cider at home...it looks like the best suggestion is to find a good flavored tea. There are tons of apple cider teas. I am going to Teavana to see what they have! Then just experiment! I am going to make some and add Braggs Apple Cider Vinager and Stevia! I'll let ya know how it turns out!

If you are more of a "Hot Chocolate" girl in the fall/winter -- if you order my Starbucks drink HOT  it tastes even more like Nutella Hot Chocolate than it does cold and is totally guilt free!! (*You can see how I order it on the link highlighted. Note that the more sf mocha you use... the more chocolatey it tastes. I've been doing a Venti 2 sf mocha and 1 sf hazelnut most days*)

I am still on contest prep until the weekend before Thanksgiving. But after that I hope to post more of some of my favorite clean chilly weather comfort foods! I have several!

I'd love to know what your favorite winter weather recipes are! Send them my way...sharing is caring!!! I will have more posts about staying on track during the upcoming holidays coming soon!

Eat Clean. Train Dirty.
Stacy