Healthy Living • YMCA Health and Fitness
Ask A Personal Trainer: How can I ditch my winter weight?
30 March 2018 - by Nicole Meredith
Delving into the world of fitness and nutrition can feel overwhelming. So we asked Paul, a personal trainer and the Senior Director of Programs at the Oshawa Mary Street YMCA, to answer some of your most frequently asked fitness questions. Here’s his three-step system to whip yourself into shape, just in time for summer:
Canadian winters don’t do your beach bod any favours. It’s not just that we’d rather snuggle up on the couch instead of trekking to the gym through a foot of snow. Oh no, it gets way worse: your body’s hardwired to respond to freezing cold temperatures by sending your cravings for calorie-dense food into overdrive. Just like that of any other animal, the human metabolism figures we need to put on a few pounds to help us survive in what it seems to think is the arctic wilderness.
So, as happy as we all are that it’s officially spring, a ton of my clients have let me know how eager they are to work off all that chili-with-extra-cheese they’ve been indulging in since October. Fingers crossed we don’t have to wait much longer to pack up the parkas — but that also means we don’t have much longer to hide beneath all of those layers.
The good news is there are three simple steps you can take to ditch that pesky winter hibernation habit, and get yourself back on track in time to spend the summer poolside:
1. Reduce and replace
There are some no-brainers you can work on reducing in your diet to get noticeable results fast. One is excessive refined sugar (like that entire tub of ice cream you dig into for “dessert” every night). The other is alcohol. I’m not saying you need to cut these things from your diet entirely, but if you consume them every day, try keeping them to one or two days a week instead.
I’m also not saying that you should deprive yourself. Replace these not-so-healthy things with healthy alternatives. Veggies are pretty much a free pass, so eat as many greens as you want, whenever you want.
2. Make strength training part of your weekly workout routine
There’s a misconception that exercise only burns calories while you’re actually in the middle of sweating it out. Most of my clients are pleasantly surprised to learn that the more muscle mass you gain, the more amped up your metabolism gets (read: you can eat more without gaining a pot belly to show for it!). Strength training literally breaks down your muscles, and your body has to do a lot of calorie-burning work to repair them. So, when you’re brutally sore the day after an intense MuscleFit class, take some comfort in the fact that your metabolism is going into overdrive, even though you’re luxuriating in a gym-free rest day.
3. Get outside
The benefits of moving your workout into the great outdoors can’t be overstated. Even if you just take a leisurely stroll on your lunch break, research shows the fresh air and sunshine will work wonders on everything from your memory to the quality of your sleep, and can even reduce your risk for cancer. And guess what else happens when you feel all zen and refreshed? You become much less likely to dive in to that tub of ice cream in a stressed-out haze of comfort-food seeking.
Overall, the key is to make a few simple changes to your daily routine — small tweaks you can easily sustain in the long term. Your personal trainer can help you replace less-healthy eats with better alternatives, take your strength training routine to the next level, or find an outdoor activity that suits your lifestyle.
Paul has a degree in Human Kinetics and Education, with a specialty in Phys. Ed, and is a YMCA Canada-certified Fitness and Personal Trainer. For over six years, he's been working as a personal and small group trainer at the Oshawa Mary Street YMCA, where he also teaches Bootcamp, MuscleFit, CycleFit, and Kettlebell classes. Paul runs a variety of fitness workshops and conferences, including the YMCA Personal Training Certification course.
Canadian winters don’t do your beach bod any favours. It’s not just that we’d rather snuggle up on the couch instead of trekking to the gym through a foot of snow. Oh no, it gets way worse: your body’s hardwired to respond to freezing cold temperatures by sending your cravings for calorie-dense food into overdrive. Just like that of any other animal, the human metabolism figures we need to put on a few pounds to help us survive in what it seems to think is the arctic wilderness.
So, as happy as we all are that it’s officially spring, a ton of my clients have let me know how eager they are to work off all that chili-with-extra-cheese they’ve been indulging in since October. Fingers crossed we don’t have to wait much longer to pack up the parkas — but that also means we don’t have much longer to hide beneath all of those layers.
The good news is there are three simple steps you can take to ditch that pesky winter hibernation habit, and get yourself back on track in time to spend the summer poolside:
1. Reduce and replace
There are some no-brainers you can work on reducing in your diet to get noticeable results fast. One is excessive refined sugar (like that entire tub of ice cream you dig into for “dessert” every night). The other is alcohol. I’m not saying you need to cut these things from your diet entirely, but if you consume them every day, try keeping them to one or two days a week instead.
I’m also not saying that you should deprive yourself. Replace these not-so-healthy things with healthy alternatives. Veggies are pretty much a free pass, so eat as many greens as you want, whenever you want.
2. Make strength training part of your weekly workout routine
There’s a misconception that exercise only burns calories while you’re actually in the middle of sweating it out. Most of my clients are pleasantly surprised to learn that the more muscle mass you gain, the more amped up your metabolism gets (read: you can eat more without gaining a pot belly to show for it!). Strength training literally breaks down your muscles, and your body has to do a lot of calorie-burning work to repair them. So, when you’re brutally sore the day after an intense MuscleFit class, take some comfort in the fact that your metabolism is going into overdrive, even though you’re luxuriating in a gym-free rest day.
3. Get outside
The benefits of moving your workout into the great outdoors can’t be overstated. Even if you just take a leisurely stroll on your lunch break, research shows the fresh air and sunshine will work wonders on everything from your memory to the quality of your sleep, and can even reduce your risk for cancer. And guess what else happens when you feel all zen and refreshed? You become much less likely to dive in to that tub of ice cream in a stressed-out haze of comfort-food seeking.
Overall, the key is to make a few simple changes to your daily routine — small tweaks you can easily sustain in the long term. Your personal trainer can help you replace less-healthy eats with better alternatives, take your strength training routine to the next level, or find an outdoor activity that suits your lifestyle.
Paul has a degree in Human Kinetics and Education, with a specialty in Phys. Ed, and is a YMCA Canada-certified Fitness and Personal Trainer. For over six years, he's been working as a personal and small group trainer at the Oshawa Mary Street YMCA, where he also teaches Bootcamp, MuscleFit, CycleFit, and Kettlebell classes. Paul runs a variety of fitness workshops and conferences, including the YMCA Personal Training Certification course.
