!0 Tips for Healthy Winter Eating

Don't Hibernate and Gain Weight - Eat Lighter and Get Moving

Jun 18, 2008 Maryan Pelland

Winter weather saps energy and makes people feel like curling up with a good mound of snack foods, but it doesn't have to be that way. Make lean, healthy choices.

It 's common for humans to change eating patterns and imitate other mammals by sort of hibernating in winter's cold, grey weather. Calorie intake rises while activity level falls. gaining weight is not unusual, say experts.

Then come the holidays - Christmas, Hannukah, New years and a plethora of others where eating rich foods that may be low in nutrients is the norm.

FoodFit.com has a wonderful guide to great foods for winter health. the experts there have compiled a database of in-season fruits and vegetables, nutritional information and tips on how to use those healthy foods.

After determining what's out there that's good and satisfying, it isn't too hard to turn around the inclination to curl up in a warm corner and indulge in chips, sodas, salty snacks and heavy foods while waiting for spring. Here are 10 great ideas for bringing good health to winter.

1. Read up on what fruits and vegetables are in season locally. Learn how to use them.
2. Explore the frozen food section of the mega marget. Nutritionally, frozen fruits, vegetables and other foods are as nutritional as fresh. Surprisingly, some frozen foods are better, like fish. (Health Library, www.epnet.com, True or False: Fresh Food Is Better Than Frozen or Canned Food by Rhianon Davies and Amanda Barrett, MA)
3. Take a heart-healthy cooking class at the local community college or perhaps a hospital community center. New ideas fuel new habits.
4. Find a personally satisfying way of exercising. Swim at the YMCA. Walk or jog at an indoor fitness center. Walk outdoors in milder weather. Buy one pexcellent piece of fitness equipment and use it. Keep active. The couch is not a good friend.
5. Make small, healthy substitutions in typical winter recipes. Broccoli cheese soup is fine, but use low fat cheese, lower fat milk and less butter in the recipe. Experiment to create something with great flavor and less salt and fat.
6. Cook hearty, but healthy meals making sure the mea tin stews, soups and casseroles is lean, the saauces light and flavorful, and all are packed with vegetables.
7. serve dessert every night, but choose fruits, berries, and light treats like angel food cake.
8. Keep a good supply of cut up, fresh, crisp root veggies like celery, carrots, radishes in your refrigerator to use for some snacking. Dip in peanut or other nut butter or light cream cheese.
9. Switch from sweetened beverages to highest quality herbal or green teas. there are health benefits there and tons of flavor coupled with warm satisfaction.
10. Make friends with apples. Winter fruits, apples are packed with antioxidants, available in lots of varieties and truly keep the doctor away. Bake them, sauce them, slice them or just chomp into one.

Hibernating is avoidable and so are winter weight gain and winter blahs. A few minutes of extra thought about activity and nutrition can bring awesome rewards. When spring comes, there's no need to feel as if crawling out of the cave is too horrifying to contemplate.

The copyright of the article !0 Tips for Healthy Winter Eating in Seasonal Cooking is owned by Maryan Pelland. Permission to republish !0 Tips for Healthy Winter Eating in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Healthy Winter Eating