Hello question

lauradraper8423
lauradraper8423 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself

Hi, I'm new to this group. Does anyone else gain as the weather cools in fall? Trying to move more and get outdoors. Thoughts?

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Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 10,459 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10950255/hello-question

    hi Laura. Welcome to MFP!

    I think it depends on you and your weather tolerance. I live in the Deep South, and typically do a ton of steps. But when the weather is hot, my jet black, low to the hot asphalt dog refuses to go for long walks, yet gives me evils if I dare go out without him. So I look for other things to do, or just default to fewer steps.

    If it’s cool, as it was this morning, he gambols like a much younger dog. We got an extra half mile in this morning as a result. I’m also considering walking rather than driving to the gym if it stays nice like this. I can already look forward to steps starting to go back up. Yay!!!

    We have folks up north who don’t like to go out in ice and snow, and they have the opposite issue. One lady here is a serious rower, and she packs up her oars and does indoor rowing when it’s too cold on the water.

    So….depends?

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 10,459 Member

    however….dont make excuses. I always had a reason “I could t” for years, which lead me to obesity.

    If you don’t like walking, find something else to do. Cardio, yoga, rebounder. Heck, the first month of the pandemic I simply did 100 flights of stairs, up and down our three story house. The cats were tremendously amused.

    And there’s always mall walking, or gym/community center with indoor track.

    As the ads say, Just Do It.

  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,395 Member

    I tend to gain in the summer.

    Parties and pool time = more alcohol and snack consumption = weight gain!

    I'm back on track again and caught the weight gain early. Will take me until December to get back to my preferred weight range. One would think I would learn my lesson but apparently not because it happens every summer!

    cheers

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,348 Community Helper

    Yeah. I'm in maintenance. In the Fall, I often gain a little.

    As the weather cools and the days get shorter, my appetite picks up. (Jokingly, I blame my Scandinavian genes for wanting to fatten me up to survive Winter.) My favorite exercise is outdoors, so I go through a period of withdrawal or denial before starting my less-fun but important Winter activity routine. On top of that, I have a late Fall birthday, US Thanksgiving, then the end-of-year holidays - food celebrations, in my culture.

    None of that really matters, though. If I want to manage my weight, I have to deal with that.

    In maintenance, that Fall gain is mostly OK with me because I also tend to drop a little weight in Spring. Besides, if I want to drop my weight sooner a little by intention, I know how to do that quite well, and I have done it sometimes. (We're talking like 5 pound or so range, nothing major - jeans still fit.)

    When losing, I figured it out. If I wanted to indulge sometimes, I needed to budget for that calorically, or compensate for it before or after. If I didn't work out, I needed to eat less (and in my case, put up with a crankier, unhappier mood). Once I treated it as a situation to manage, thought about various ways I might manage it, experimented with some of those - seriously committed to finding a solution - I could work it out, I learned.

    To me, "seriously committed to finding a solution" are the big words there, the unavoidable truth. What I put in my mouth, chew or sip, then swallow - that's 100% in my control. How much I move, how often, in what ways? Also 100% in my control. Those things are decisions I make, and I need to own those decisions. I can use decisions I control to head toward my goals - however gradually - or not.

    That's it: If I don't do it, I decided not to do it. I need to own my decisions and their consequences. Anything else is self-deception. Saying "gosh, I get more crave-y or less active because Winter's coming" . . . ? At most, that's an excuse for me, not taking responsibility for my own future well-being.

    Maybe that's not true for you. I don't know. It's true for me.

    Here's the thing: Being consistently at a healthy weight, and reasonably fit, have both been huge quality of life improvements for me, and the combination of them is utterly gangbusters. Once I got serious and committed, it was easier than I expect to accomplish. (Not easy every single second in every way of course, but manageable.) The difference was mindset.

    Wishing you success: IME, it's worth the effort. Best wishes!

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