How can I stop gaining weight in winter? Your Weekly Diet Plan

Gaining weight in winter makes your body lethargic.

As your eating habits change drastically in winter because you consume more fat and high calorie food.

But you can always fix these not so healthy habits by doing a few lifestyle adjustments while sitting at home.

These will help you keep your blood warm and active.

From eating the right foods, to small home based workouts, you can incorporate these changes to be fit and healthy. Here are some of these you can start from.

Before you get started, however, here’s my simple word of warning: don’t.

The trick to long-lasting weight loss

If long-lasting weight loss is what you really want, slow and steady wins the race.

It’s not about drastically overhauling your lifestyle and losing 10 kilos in 10 weeks, but rather, working on healthy habits you can integrate into your daily routine, for good – and your healthiest weight will follow.

That means there’s no need to overly restrict yourself, cut out entire food groups or start doing silly detoxes.

Instead, you should be incorporating foods from all five food groups (they are: grains, lean proteins, fruit, veg and dairy or alternatives) in the right proportions, as well as drinking plenty of water, cutting back on booze and exercising regularly.

Of course, kilojoule consumption is important for weight loss.

To lose weight, you want to be in a slight energy deficit (that is: you need to consume less energy than you expend) – but it doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself.

The magic number for weight loss is 6300 kilojoules – that’s about 25 per cent less kilojoules than the average daily intake of 8700 kilojoules.

Any less than that and you’re going into dangerous territory.

Whether you want to lose weight or not, it is of utmost importance that you give your body enough nutrition so that it can function properly.

If you cut your intake too much, not only will your diet be nutritionally inadequate, but you’ll actually start to lose muscle mass rather than fat mass and, if you stick at it for a long time, it could potentially slow down your metabolism, too.

7-day calorie-controlled meal plan for weight loss

If healthy weight loss is what you really want, here’s my calorie-controlled meal plan that’ll have you on the right path to healthy weight loss in no time.

Monday

Breakfast: half a cup of natural muesli, one small tub of reduced-fat yoghurt and a passionfruit.

Snack: skim flat white and a packet of roasted chickpeas.

Lunch: two slices of wholegrain toast topped with a quarter of an avocado, two slices of reduced-fat cheese and one sliced tomato.

Snack: half a mango and two hard-boiled eggs.

Dinner: vegetarian chilli con carne made with sweet potato, red kidney beans, capsicum, tinned tomatoes and lots of spices.

Tuesday

Breakfast: half a cup of natural muesli, one small tub of reduced-fat yoghurt and a punnet of strawberries.

Snack: skim flat white and half a mango.

Lunch: four corn thins topped with two tablespoons of hummus and a tin of tuna, served with cherry tomatoes and baby cucumbers.

Snack: four whole grain crispbreads topped with half a cup of reduced-fat ricotta cheese.

Dinner: four store-bought falafels served with hummus and roasted eggplant and pumpkin, cooked in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Wednesday

Breakfast: half a cup of natural muesli, one small tub of reduced-fat yoghurt and a passionfruit.

Snack: skim flat white and two hard-boiled eggs.

Lunch: two slices of wholegrain bread topped with a quarter of an avocado, two slices of reduced-fat cheese and one sliced tomato.

Snack: one peach.

Dinner: 100 grams of grilled chicken breast served with one small baked potato and a salad made of mixed greens and carrots with a homemade honey-mustard dressing.

Thursday

Breakfast: two slices of wholegrain bread topped with a quarter of an avocado, two slices of reduced-fat cheese and one sliced tomato.

Snack: skim flat white and a handful of cherries.

Lunch: four corn thins topped with two tablespoons of hummus and a tin of tuna, served with cherry tomatoes and baby cucumbers.

Snack: one punnet of strawberries and a low-sugar muesli bar.

Dinner: one small fillet of salmon served with roasted pumpkin and cauliflower, cooked with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Friday

Breakfast: two slices of wholegrain bread topped with a quarter of an avocado, two slices of reduced-fat cheese and one sliced tomato.

Snack: skim flat white and a nectarine.

Lunch: wholemeal wrap filled one can of tuna, salad and one slice of reduced-fat cheese.

Snack: one peach and a small tub of reduced-fat yoghurt.

Dinner: one fillet of fish served with a small baked potato and homemade coleslaw dressed in yoghurt and lemon juice.

Saturday

Breakfast: half a cup of natural muesli, one small tub of reduced-fat yoghurt and a nectarine.

Snack: skim flat white and a banana.

Lunch: two slices of wholegrain bread topped with a small tin of reduced-salt baked beans.

Snack: half a mango.

Dinner: homemade hamburgers made of a small wholegrain bun, 100 grams lean beef mince, mustard and one slice of reduced-fat cheese, served with homemade coleslaw dressed in yoghurt and lemon juice.

Sunday

Breakfast: Two slices of wholegrain bread served with two poached eggs and baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms cooked in a splash of extra virgin olive oil

Snack: skim flat white and a mango.

Lunch: four corn thins topped with two tablespoons of hummus and a tin of tuna, served with cherry tomatoes and baby cucumbers.

Snack: four wholegrain crispbreads topped with half a cup of reduced-fat ricotta cheese.

Dinner: salad made of hot smoked salmon and mixed greens with a tangy herb-yoghurt sauce.

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