The worst winter weight loss tips of all time

Did you know that a staggering one in four Australian adults is obese? And according to a recent study published by the NSW Food Authority and NSW Health, on average almost half of us can expect to pack on a couple of kilos during the colder months.

“The temptation to avoid exercise (and the cold) increases during winter, as does our tendency to eat junk foods that make us feel warm and happy – and so it’s during this time that many of us turn to (ineffective) diet fads to help maintain our weight,” says Ravinder Lilly, expert nutritionist for USANA.

Check out four of the worst winter weight loss tips of all time…

#1: Meal skipping

Skipping meals sends your metabolism into a spin, messes with your mood, tinkers with your energy levels and as if that wasn’t enough to put you off, it also heavily increases your chances of splurging. Your metabolism is just like a newborn baby; it needs consistency and to be fed at specific times in order to stay functional (and well behaved). What you should be eating is three healthy meals daily, with two to three small healthy snacks. You should be eating every few hours and choosing mostly low GI foods.

#2: Replacing food with coffee

It’s been heavily reported that compounds found in coffee beans can reduce hunger pangs, so a cup of Joe is fast becoming a go-to snack replacement, which can spell danger for your waistline, not to mention your anxiety levels. Why is this? Well, the average skim flat white contains around 128 calories, and if you’re downing Australia’s average of four a day, you’re drinking the calorie equivalent of two full-size Mars Bars and a large salmon bagel with cream cheese! Worse still, excess coffee drinking is known to increase the level of “fight or flight” hormones, which can spark all of the things that are counterproductive for weight loss, such as anxiety, sleeplessness, an increased heart rate and high blood pressure.

#3: Cheat days

The whole concept of following a strict diet during the week and then throwing it all out the window for a day of indulgence on the weekend can create some very unhealthy patterns in your diet, erase all of your prior efforts, and can actually lead to weight gain! Instead, stick to a cheat meal system, where you look forward to a few cheat meals a week, instead of a full-blown day of unhealthy eating.

#4: Calorie counting

As not all calories are created equal, calorie counting can be a counter productive way to lose weight. Though important for portion control, it’s all too easy to fall into a certain mindset, where you begin to consider a handful of jellybeans as the same as an apple, just because they share a calorie count. The other factor that needs to come into the equation is nutrition, and whether the food you’re eating will give your body something other than sugar as they will have a totally different effect on your metabolism.

Have you heard any other wacky weight loss tips? What would you recommend for healthy weight loss?