Living in a cold climate
 

PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who is having a hard time this winter losing weight or stalling.

Mine has slowed down, so I'm having to work a bit harder at it. But I don't know whether it's the colder weather, or the increased exercise, or the lower calorie deficit or all of the above. I like your question though! If it's just because of the colder weather, then there is another reason to look forward to Spring! :daizy:

I too have slowed down this winter. Now I am not a real active person in the warmer weather alittle gardening messing with my fish pond ect. but arthur like my fish does not like cold. When the weather warms they move more and so do I. SO my thoughts are Fat is more plyable when it is heated other wise it is just sits there. I know on warmer day I even move better Spring is actually only 65 days away so we will be amovin soon.

I have been alot less active and have been hungry more since winter set in this is the first year I have disliked winter! lol.. since the begining of nov I have lost 10lbs compaired to 60lbs in the 4 monthes before
of course there was moving into a new house and not having a frig for 8 days around thanksgiving and two weeks of matience for christmas but hey lol
I also never gotten cold in the winter and I can not go outside without a sweater and I live in florida! its only 61 today that used to be shorts and t-shirt weather

It's called Winter Weight Syndrome and it's perfectly natural. It's explainedhere.

Thanks Zuleikaa for the link, it was interesting. I had the same problem last winter and I thought I was doing something wrong.

Could you send some cold weather this way? We haven't had much of a winter YET! (it's texas...wait a bit, i know)

lol, Hi 3kittens I wish I could. I'll send you the stuff on the road I walk on in the mornings.

I'll even share that -2 degree temp this morning for 1 week of 50 degree weather anytime this winter.

I'm on my second week of induction and have had no weight loss. Pretty dissapointing since my first week's loss was 10lbs. I can't wait till Spring is here, I'm tired of this cold weather.

I'm going to stay on induction past my two weeks, I just hope to have a better week 3.

Just for a different perspective -- I am not convinced there is any relationship between the season and our rate of weight loss. It may just be that you have lost 40 pounds and your body needs a little time-out before losing again. My body seems to lose in fits and starts with very little relationship to the time of year.

I also lose in small spurts and have mini stalls. You are probably right about my body just needing a little time to adjust. On the other hand, this happened to me last winter and I actually gained a little bit of weight while following the plan.

This winter I am staying on plan. I am tired of induction and have upped my carbs some by adding variety, and am continuing my exercise. I am happy right now to just wait it out. Lately, I have gone down a belt notch, increased my exercise, but my scale weight has not changed.

Thanks for replying everyone.

Thanks Zuleikaa! I didn't realize that SAD affected insulin levels. I really think this is my issue. I work from home so don't go out much at all in the winter during the week. So I am sure I'm not getting any sunlight. Guess I better see what I can do to solve that! Thanks again! :sunny:

Dianne, I've looked around and the standard treatment is sunlight. This signals your body that it's not winter any more and that there is no longer a need to store body fat. I have a sun lamp on right now over my plants on the counter and have been keeping it on everyday this week. I expect a really big whoosh any day now! lol

Below is an interesting article on SAD and light boxes from this week's Washington Post:


A SAD Solution
Study: Talk Therapy Beats Light Box for Seasonal Depression
By Cecilia Capuzzi Simon
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, January 13, 2004; Page HE01


For those with seasonal affective disorder -- also known as SAD, a form of depression brought on by the dark days of winter -- light therapy (LT) is the standard treatment.


For at least an hour a day, patients sit in front of a box that emits white fluorescent or full-spectrum light. The treatment is believed to help compensate for a person's decreased exposure to the sun during winter's short days, yet 47 percent of patients overall and 57 percent of those with moderate or severe cases of SAD do not respond fully to it. Compliance is low and relapse is common.

Those sad facts drove researcher Kelly Rohan, an assistant professor of medical and clinical psychology with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, to study the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on SAD.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a form of talk therapy in which patients are taught to identify and change the thoughts and behaviors that lead to their symptoms. One of the most thoroughly studied mental health therapies, it's been proven effective at reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression and other psychological problems.

Rohan's finding? CBT alone was more effective than LT alone, and 80 percent of patients responded completely when the therapies were combined. Those who received CBT also had dramatically lower rates of relapse.

Rohan says it makes sense to use CBT to treat SAD, which afflicts about 5 percent of adults in the Washington area, according to an estimate by the National Institutes of Health. Though SAD is brought on by the body's inability to adapt to seasonal changes, Rohan believes that the biological explanation alone is simplistic. A large cognitive component of the disorder is often overlooked, she says. A person's thoughts in response to those changes are also responsible for the symptoms, she says.

For individuals with a history of becoming depressed in the winter as days shorten and circadian rhythms are disrupted, the season -- and even its approach -- "takes on a certain meaning," she says. "Many patients expect their symptoms to begin" as the fall nears. "My phone starts ringing in August," she says. "Physiologically, there is no reason for symptoms to begin that early."

Many SAD patients, she explains, take cues from the environment -- changing leaves, dropping temperatures, less daylight -- and depressive symptoms and behavior become a learned response. "They go into hibernation mode in anticipation of the winter -- staying indoors, or in bed, and cutting off social interactions, activities and exercise," she says. All are symptoms of generalized depression.

Rohan's study does not disprove the usefulness of light therapy, but she hoped it would identify an alternative or at least complementary therapy for the disorder and address LT's shortcomings. For example, even those who do respond to LT suffer what Rohan calls "residual" symptoms: LT-induced improvement is not as complete as spontaneous remission in the summer months.

In addition, adhering to LT protocol is difficult. "It's hard enough to get a patient to take a pill as prescribed for depression," Rohan says. "Imagine trying to get them to sit in front of a light box up to two hours a day. Fifty-nine percent of patients discontinue use. It's a nice treatment. It's effective. But if people can't comply long-term, that's a problem."

Rohan's study compared three groups -- those treated only with LT, those treated with CBT and those treated with both.

All three groups improved, based on two depression-rating scales. But those who received CBT, either alone or with LT, were less depressed at the one-year follow-up. And in one of the depression-rating scales administered the winter following treatment, not one CBT participant -- with or without LT -- met the criteria for depression. By comparison, 62.5 percent of LT-only participants met the depression criteria the next year.

"Light therapy doesn't teach people anything they can do to cope with stress and depression," Rohan says to explain the low relapse rates for those who had the talking cure. "CBT teaches skills that can be used in other areas of life."

People in Rohan's cognitive therapy groups attended group sessions twice a week for six weeks. During those meetings, they learned about the biological origins of SAD and also about the learned behaviors and ingrained thought processes that Rohan believes contribute to their symptoms. They were taught how to alter behavioral patterns in the winter to "get them to act more like they do in the summer," Rohan says, developing interests and activities for the colder months and making efforts to maintain social contacts.

CBT participants also were required to identify negative thoughts and write them down. This helped them develop a greater awareness of what affects their moods, Rohan says, and provided opportunities to challenge their thinking. Lastly, participants were taught to recognize SAD's early warning signs to help prevent relapse.

"We got them to push themselves even when they didn't feel like it," Rohan says. "When they did, they got relief and were able to do more. That created a positive upswing so they could do even a little more the next time."

Clinical Trial

Rohan is assembling another group of SAD patients for additional research. Anyone interested in participating can receive information by calling 301-295-3241.

Cecilia Capuzzi Simon is a regular contributor to the Health section on psychology topics.

Good article Liz. Thanks for sharing. I've read a lot about SAD over the years and understand it from a mental perspective. Here in Ohio we have many many more gray, cloudy days in the winter than we do sunny days, so I've known for a long time to watch out for mental issues there. It is a bit depressing here in the winter. Having grown up here, I never even noticed the gray days until my friend who was raised in Florida mentioned it. The winter months, especially January, really bothered her when she moved here.

However, I think the twist I'd like to know more about is the physical changes that occur. If it's true that insulin levels increase, then it makes sense that people gain weight in the winter, even if they are exercising, etc. It would be interesting to see a study done on that! I'll go look to see if I can find anything.

More reasons to go someplace sunny for a winter vacation! :lol:

It's a good article Liz, thank you. I wonder about the effectiveness of talk therapy on the physical symptoms. It would have been interesting to hear how the participant's weights measured before and after successful therapy, and if any of them were currently dieting.

I can understand how we can learn to change our negative thoughts and it seems combining this with light therapy works pretty good.

Thanks again.

The article isn't talking about just any type of talk therapy, it is talking about cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a very specific type of talk therapy. I was having problems with anxiety attacks six or seven years ago, and I went to a cognitive therapist to deal with it because I didn't want to take medication. It took about four sessions for me to work through the issues that were causing the attacks and I haven't had one since. Whenever I feel one coming on, I am able to talk myself through the issues and avoid it.

A lot of traditional talk therapy starts with the premise that you need to understand the underlying reasons behind problems and traditional talk therapists often begin by asking about childhood issues. This may be necessary for some problems and some people -- I don't mean to put it down -- but cognitive therapy has been proven extremely effective for dealing with some very specific conditions (including anxiety) in a short period of time. Cognitive therapists help people understand the thought patterns that are causing problems and develop strategies for changing their own thought patterns. The emphasis is on solving problems in a limited number of sessions, not on understanding the underlying source of problems. I've been able to apply a lot of what I learned in my handful of cognitive therapy sessions that focused on panic attacks to dealing with destructive eating patterns.

I don't mean for this to be a plug for cognitive therapy. I just posted it because if forum members are concerned about SAD and are still having problems even though they are using a light box, this sounds to me like something else they may want to consider.

Very interesting topic. I've always been mildly affected by the wintertime blues. I hadn't really thought about this and weight loss until now. I'm starting to realize I need to deal with this in addition to being more strict with myself and what I'm eating.

The weather here has been horribly cold lately. To make things worse, I think we've had over a 10 inches of snow in the past four days. It makes getting out into what sun there is much more of a challenge. I have noticed that I've been kinda wasting my time off by moping around a lot and sleeping way more than normal. I'm sure this is slowing down my metabolism as well as perpetuating a down mood.

Thanks for the article, Liz. I've always been a "winter hibernator" but never thought I had SAD, because I've really never felt depressed in the winter (although I realize one can be depressed and not know it). In fact January has always been one of my favorite months because the seasonal rush is over and you can snuggle up and enjoy your Christmas tree :) I do feel the cold more this year than I ever have before, but in the past I loved snowy weather and would much rather shovel snow than cut the grass on a hot day, for example. But mostly I used to love curling up with a book and a chocolate bar, and I think that's what was always responsible for my annual winter weight gain: too little exercise and too many sweets.

Very interesting! My little one and I are used to being out every day for at least 2 to 3 hours- as long as it isn't raining and it's at least 30 and no wind. Well with the arctic chill here the past 2 weeks lol, we have not been out. Today it finally hit 20 and we all took a trip up to Sam's Club- for meat lol. Supposed to be 36 tomorrow! now that's a heat wave!
I think getting some sun is very important- for my sanity, and just plain feeling good. I lost 11 pounds the first week, and now this week I haven't lost a thing. Haven't cheated, but I've been cheating myself out of water- just haven't been drinking nearly enough. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

I actually lose weight faster in Winter. The first few minutes of hiking outside isn't real pleasant, but after I get going it's much easier and more fun than in the height of Summer. When the temp is over 15 F, hat, gloves, short sleeved sweatshirt, and a zippered sweatshirt on top of that is enough for me. After about 20 minutes I usually have to take of the zippered sweatshirt.

Generally winds here aren't too bad and get blocked by the hills. In Baltimore, I lived near the bay and had to bundle layers of face scarves because of the winds. Here I don't need to do that unless we are below zero.

The weather I care least for when exercising is when it is 33 - 36 and pouring down rain. Thank goodness for a good rain hat and jacket! 100+ and 90+ humidity with biting insects isn't a favorite either. We go through a lot of DEET insect repellant all summer. Nice not to have to deal with that in Winter.

As for SAD and daylight, it's actually a lot brighter outside than I would have thought from looking out the window. My living living room is downright dreary, but outside is bright even though there's a solid layer of gray clouds.

I generally up my exercise this time of year. July and August are the months that challenge me,