I’m not doing terribly well in the weight loss department. After a warm and sunny summer and September, we’ve had some of what Winnie-the-Pooh would definitely call “blustery days”. I just want to curl up by the fireplace and listen to the rain on the roof. It seems like a good time to bake cookies with the kids too.
And, I crave chocolate.
I’m trying to convince myself that I am actually craving soup. I did make a pretty good-tasting, last-minute improvisation on Campbell’s Tomato Soup. I added a can of whole tomatoes, a can of corn, and rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. My daughter was baking miniature cheese biscuits that we floated on top, along with sprinkles of Parmesan cheese. (Okay, so the butter and cheese in the biscuits weren’t exactly diet food. But they went well with the vegetables.)
The more I think about soup, though, the more I think about clam chowder. The New England clam chowder with cream and butter.
Ah, the curse of the foodie.
Still. I’m trying to shape my love affair with food into a plus. I can plan salads, veggie omelets, fruit smoothies, warm soups. I can indulge in trying various kinds of teas. I can make rich hot chocolate by mixing one heaping tablespoon of undutched cocoa powder and one heaping tablespoon of Splenda into one cup of skim milk.
One winter challenge I have is that I don’t like a lot of protein foods (except cheese, and I’m wearing a lot of that around my hips already). Protein is really crucial for keeping hunger at bay, for energy, and for keeping blood sugar steady. In the summer I mix a lot of protein into smoothies. I’ll have to find protein outlets that fit my current coziness-seeking mode. Maybe I’ll even roast a turkey. It’s so much tastier than the deli meat.
At least I haven’t gained weight. Still, I want to be losing, even if it’s slowly. I want to start next summer able to do outdoor activities with my family without my knees and feet killing me.
One thing may not be too hard to convince myself to do while I’m in “winter mode”: sleep. Researchers seem to learn more all the time now about how sleep helps people lose weight, and how lack of it messes with our metabolism, our blood sugar and fat-storage system, our appetite control system, and our cortisol levels. Too much cortisol can spike the “flight or fight” survival response which may possibly lead the body to hoard food.
Do any of you have a story to share about how sleep has impacted your weight loss? Do you find it easier or harder to lose weight in the winter versus the summer? Do you have any favorite ways of getting your protein in?
Let’s help each other!
For Mary Ann’s blog about how the fall season impacted her weight loss journey, see Changing Season & Manning the Bake Sale.
For another blog on my “it feels like a cookies kind of day” problem and some alternatives I came up with, see Confessions of a Foodie Mom: Food as Atmosphere?
I have to go to bed now. For my health. Good night!