4 Reasons Why It’s Hard to Lose Weight in the Fall

You spent the whole summer on point with your wellness routine, and you’re determined to not let a single extra pound sneak onto your frame now that it’s fall. But you know what happened last year. (Five—or more—pounds crept on, are we right?) So why is it so hard to lose weight in the fall? And what can you do about it? We’ve rounded up 4 reasons why it’s hard to lose weight in the fall, plus some dietitian-approved tricks for how to combat the oh-so-infamous holiday weight-creep.  1. Marketers are really good at what they do. All summer, we’re bombarded with reminders to stay accountable to our wellness goals. The swimsuit ads, produce-pushing recipes, and beach vacation plans motivate us to stay on track. It’s easy to choose the unsweetened iced green tea or pick up the light and refreshing salad for lunch when these reminders are in your face all season long. But then autumn comes along. The sweaters come out and rather than seeing Instagram posts of your friends’ toes on a beach, you’re seeing snuggly socks in front of a fireplace. Fall advertisements push comfort foods, hot sweet drinks, and pie. Lots of pie. Don’t fall for the slick fall marketing! Stick to what you know works for you all year round, making simple substitutions here and there, but without too much deviation from the Hot Girl Summer track you’ve been on. PRO TIPS:  Instead of summer berries on your morning yogurt, toss in some diced apples.  Go for an ounce of cheese on a high-fiber cracker with a thin slice of pear instead of the harvest Danish you might otherwise grab in a fit of fall-foodie desire.  Don’t swap your morning oatmeal and walnuts for a pumpkin muffin—add this healthy pumpkin pie spice to your oats instead.  RELATED: Healthy, Gluten-Free Morning Glory Muffin Recipe 2. Holidays overstay their welcome. Doesn’t it seem like the candy jar is just emptied from Halloween and you’re already cooking your Thanksgiving bird? Do turkey leftovers feel like they linger into Christmas and you’re still eating Valentine’s chocolates when Easter rolls around? Sometimes it feels like a big blur of holiday foods, sweets, treats, and free-for-all buffets from Halloween until Easter. It’s hard to lose weight in the fall (and winter) when you’re surrounded by holiday foods and festivities. PLAN FOR THIS. PRO TIPS: Decide how you’re going to handle the holidays before each one creeps up on the calendar. Our reco? Start planning now, because you know how quickly the holidays creep up. Consider doing a gentle food-based cleanse in early fall. It’s a great way to reset your habits and energy before the holiday swirl begins. You’ll go into the season feeling refreshed, in control, and already on track. Learn more about our 5-Day Nutritious Life Cleanse here. At Halloween, allow yourself five pieces of candy. Eat them all at once, or one per day, it’s up to you! At Thanksgiving, make a no-leftovers rule (except for Grandma’s cranberry sauce or this cranberry relish).  Whatever your plans are, tell them to a buddy so they can help you stick to it! 3. Coats and sweaters do a great job of hiding things. Maybe you’re thinking that nobody can tell you put on a few pounds because you’re layered up and coated in outerwear. And it’s true—maybe they can’t see it, but YOU can. Knowing you’re carrying extra weight may make you feel lousy and less fit, and it can definitely mess with your head. PRO TIPS:  Keep yourself in check by actively not hiding. Keep one item you feel great in (maybe a pair of summer shorts or a dress or a swimsuit you’d typically hide away in the fall) some place where you can see it all year long. Try your special summer article on from time to time to keep yourself honest. Maybe even wear it underneath your long johns to remind you there is no hiding from yourself.  Or, just go ahead and sit in front of that fire in your bikini. Yes, you can wear socks, and no, we won’t laugh.  4. Nobody wants to put Baby or pie in the corner. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: it’s no fun depriving yourself. There’s not a lot of immediate glory in not eating the caramel apple pie. Nobody is going to give you a prize for saying no to the mouth-watering pumpkin-spiced latte with whipped cream. You have to be your own biggest cheerleader when the treats are calling your name, and that’s not easy. PRO TIPS:  Instead of having that yucky deprivation feeling, focus on what you CAN have, and you’ll find great satisfaction.  You can have a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on your ricotta with diced apples.  Pumpkin (straight from a can, who needs to put in all that work?) can be a super healthful and delish seasonal ingredient in everything from soup to muffins to pancakes.  Even cocoa can be healthful if you indulge consciously.  RELATED: 6 Genius Ways to Use Canned Pumpkin Keep lacing up those sneakers every season of the year. Keep drinking the same green tea throughout the year and just add ice cubes when necessary. Keep eating the oats for breakfast and switch up whether they come out of the microwave or the fridge before hitting your mouth. Stick to what works, and learn to indulge consciously, rather than constantly. Cheers to a great fall and congratulations on preventing those five pounds from finding their way onto your body this season. Doesn’t it feel great? Make Nutrition and Wellness Your Career Learning about how food and nutrition support a healthy body and lifestyle is such a joy. Bonus? It’s something you can share with others… and make money while doing it. Our Become a Nutrition Coach course gives you everything you need to turn your passion for wellness into the career of your dreams. Request a sneak peek of our program today and

Why We Overeat So Much on Thanksgiving?

Why is Thanksgiving a binge-fest? Why do we not only allow, but plan to give in to our gluttonous selves on the last Thursday of November? Why is Thanksgiving all about the pumpkin pie? The puffed appetizers? The in-dul-gence?! Wow, we’ve taken this holiday and made it all about stuffing our senses like we stuff that bird. The thing is, why we eat so much on Thanksgiving may not have everything to do with the food. It’s super possible that the food is just a symptom of something bigger. Whaaaa? Yeah. Have you ever thought about eating the Thanksgiving meal on a Tuesday in July? You could probably eat that decadent meal in an empowered and healthy way without eater’s remorse and the three day post turkey day coma. If it isn’t just the food, what is it about Thanksgiving that makes it so challenging for us to navigate this holiday? Stress comes with the holidays and stress is a huge trigger to overeat. Thanksgiving brings on not only stressors of travel, broken routines, extra time in crowds, and the like. It also brings good stressors that you may not think of: spending time with your 2 year-old niece or 85 year-old grandmother, writing your holiday cards, standing out in the cold while you watch your alma mater annual football game. . .these are wonderful things, but they take extra energy and this can be draining. Managing stress is important because with stress comes the hormone cortisol, which can be destructive to both your waistline and your health. NL Live Consciously Tip: PLAN for these stressors, both good and bad, so that you are less likely to feel overwhelmed when they come on. Identifying the stressors of the day will help keep you in check. Have a mantra, something like “be in the moment” to remind you stay present and not get overwhelmed. Your world is disrupted during the holidays. Is it possible you’re overeating at Thanksgiving because you’re out of routine? We celebrate Thanksgiving to honor a time when bread was broken among strangers from different lands and harvests were meaningful because everyone participated. These days, the holiday has evolved and we eat with our families and friends and shop at the market down the street for our feast. Still, Thanksgiving is a day, followed by a day off, followed by a weekend that turns our regular day-to-day on it’s ear. Most schools and businesses are closed. Our world breaks routine. The thing is, your body likes routine. It likes to sleep in it’s own bed, go to the bathroom in your toilet, and sleep and wake at the same time. Routines are healthy and even good disruptions keep our systems from humming at their best. NL Live Consciously Tip: As much as possible, stick to your daily lifestyle routines of sleep, waking, morning habits, coffee of choice and wellness work. The little bit of consistency will make it easier to recover from Thanksgiving and set you up for a healthy December. Your nurtured self is on a shelf. Could the desire to overdo it on the sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows related to your disconnection with your body? Let’s face it, celebrating turkey-day is not always easy on the old self care routine. As a host, there is lots of planning, prepping, organizing and expectation to manage. Taking time to squeeze in a lavender bath, read a few pages of a novel, or use your red light therapy mask is just probably not going to happen. But, we need our nurturing time to restore balance to our bodies. Taking care of ourselves, beyond the basic teeth brushing and hair washing takes us from surviving to thriving. When your wellness isn’t thriving, you’re more likely to get sucked into overeating, skipping the exercise and having the extra glass of holiday cheer that starts a cycle of unhealthy behaviors. NL Conscious Living Tip: Feed your soul like you’re feeding your tummy this Thanksgiving by planning to listen to your favorite tunes, call your bestie in Cali, or use that red light therapy mask. Feeling good makes you want to fuel-good! Enjoy yourself this turkey-day, and do it in a way that you can feel great about. Think beyond the food to the underlying reasons why you may have overdone it in the past. Maybe one of the reasons above speaks to you. Squash your stress, maintain balance in your world and remember to nurture yourself. Happy Thanksgiving!