How the Weather Screws With Your Weight

When it’s too wet or snowy to wear sneakers outdoors, it can feel too wet and snowy to work out. Case in point: A new poll conducted by Gallup-Healthways found that after Hurricane Sandy, people living on the east coast were twice as likely to skip exercise than people in less affected parts of the country. Adults in the tri-state area were also up to 13 percent less likely to work out regularly after the hurricane, and 7 percent less likely to eat healthfully.

Of course, power outages, serious stress, and higher priorities like cleanup efforts might have skewed the results for good reason. But the truth is, most people tend to exercise less in the winter, anyway. And it makes sense: when it’s cold and dark outside, most people prefer to curl up under covers.

“Weather is such a socially acceptable excuse, we grab it and run—or rather, sit on the couch,” says life coach Laurie Gerber, president of Handel Group Life Coaching. But making excuses and skipping workouts won’t actually make you feel better. And it’ll definitely make you feel worse in the springtime, when it’s harder to hide the evidence of winter laziness: extra pounds.

So, save the excuses for when you’re late for work, and motivate yourself to move in any weather with these tips:

Set a consequence
One reason people aren’t as committed to working out in the winter: Because the consequences (a few extra pounds) are easy enough to hide under bulky sweaters and coats. To prevent a rude awakening this spring, set consequences for skipped gym sessions that you’ll notice now. For instance, if you don’t work out three times this week, commit to sending a Jackson to your least favorite politician. Or take a 2-minute cold shower. Or sleep without a pillow. And tell your housemates to hold you to your word. “This way, your brain will work for you with creative solutions to the weather, rather than convincing you that exercising is unreasonable,” says Gerber.

Save special workouts for awful weather
“When the weather sucks and you can’t imagine leaving the house—don’t,” says fitness expert Dasha Libin, MS, NASM-PES, creator of Kettlebell Kickboxing. Her solution: pop in a workout DVD. Start a collection of yoga, dance, and niche-fitness DVDs before you’re snowed or rained in, but don’t try them. When the next storm hits, you’ll actually be excited to tear off the plastic and try something new.

Try a new winter workout
Snowboarding, skiing, and ice-skating are made for winter, and are also fantastic cardio workouts. Plus, cold conditions boost your metabolic rate to help you burn slightly more calories, according to a 2011 University of Utah study. Plan some trips that you’re excited about, even if it’s just to the local ice skating rink.

Meet your fitness buddy online
There’s no question: a workout wife is a good thing to have. After all, it’s hard to skip a workout when your friend is waiting for you at the gym. That said, you’ll really disappoint her if you risk your life to meet up in severe weather. Instead, use Skype or Facetime to sweat it out together: just pick an at-home workout here, and share the link with your friend. Then turn on the camera, and perform the moves in a place that’s safe, dry, and well lit (so you can see each other).

Give in to your guilty pleasure…with a commercial-break combo
Go ahead–curl up and watch that Housewives, Smash, or Mindy Project marathon. During each commercial break, though, set out to break a sweat with Libin’s four-move workout: do 10 push ups, 10 squat jumps, 30 alternating rear lunges, and finish with a plank hold until the show returns.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More from WH:
The No-Equipment Workout
20-Minute Workouts
The Cheapest, Most Convenient Workout Ever

Jessica Alba’s go-to tips for making affordable, stylish nontoxic choices for your home and family! Buy The Honest Life today!

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4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy


The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.

Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.

Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.

Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!

Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock

More from WH:
Why Being Neurotic Might Be a Good Thing
How Your Mood Affects Your Wallet
Are Monthly Mood Swings from Your Period a Myth?


Reprogram your metabolism, and keep the weight off for good with The Metabolism Miracle. Order now!

javahut healthy feed

4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy


The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.

Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.

Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.

Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!

Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock

More from WH:
Why Being Neurotic Might Be a Good Thing
How Your Mood Affects Your Wallet
Are Monthly Mood Swings from Your Period a Myth?


Reprogram your metabolism, and keep the weight off for good with The Metabolism Miracle. Order now!

javahut healthy feed