Seasonal slacking

Filed under: Diet, Exercise

With autumn already here, and with winter already rearing its icy head, our bodies are adjusting to the seasons -- whether you realize it or not.

It has been documented that on average, people gain more weight during fall and winter than they do in spring and summer. This is due to several factors: first, people typically are more active and spend more time outdoors during warmer months than they do when it is cold. Second, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas -- three notoriously big-bellied holidays -- occur during these months. Lastly, because our bodies are yet to shake off all physiological vestiges of our caveman pasts, our metabolisms sometimes slow and we tend to store more fat during these months. This most likely occurs as a response to the scarcity in crops and hunting opportunities that our primordial ancestors had during this time of year.

To help battle back, and to keep your heart healthy through these colder months, do your best to alter your workout routine to accommodate for the colder climate. If you are an outdoor walker or jogger, you should be fine for the next month or so, but soon enough you will be facing bitter colds. The easy solution: bring the jog or walk indoors. Treadmills are great, but even better is walking or running on an indoor track. You may also want to try swimming, something you may have not done since you were a child. Or, perhaps you've always been tempted to take a Yoga class, but for some reason haven't through with it. Now is the time. Before you know it, the sun will be back, the leaves will be back on the trees, and it will be warm enough for you to take your exercise routine back outside. Of course, if you happen to live in a part of the country where it stays warm year round, well, you're probably too busy walking on the beach right now to even read this.

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