Spring is the time when flowers bloom, birds sing - and people go on diets.
Studies show, Daryn Eller wrote in an article in the current issue of Redbook, the Hearst magazine, that many people gain up to seven pounds between October and March. Here are some low-stress nutrition and fitness tips that will help you lose some winter weight.Get a good night's sleep. The more you rest, the fewer calories you will be inclined to eat, recent research suggests. Our bodies require 10 to 15 percent more calories when awake - one reason sleep deprivation seems to precipitate an increase in calorie consumption, said Allan Rechtschaffen, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the University of Chicago.
When animals lack sleep, they lose body heat, which may lead them to eat more to compensate for lost energy. Researchers believe the same thing happens to humans.
Eat alone when you can. Surveying food-intake diaries of 700 adults, researchers at Georgia State University found that when people eat with others, they consumed meals that were 44 percent larger than when they ate alone.
Switch from salad to soup. A lunchtime salad is not diet food when you slather on dressing. Substitute a bowl of vegetable soup and you will get a healthy serving of produce and only a third of the calories.
Scale down on snacks. Among treats under 100 calories are five mini caramel rice cakes, 15 gumdrops, a half cup vanilla ice milk, five vanilla wafers, seven pretzels, one slice raisin bread, two graham crackers, one cup fresh strawberries and two cups air-popped popcorn.
Rearrange your plate. Instead of having the entree take up two-thirds of your plate, devote that two thirds to starch and a pile of vegetables. Leave only one-third for the entree.
Strengthen your muscles. Toned muscles burn more calories than slack ones. Working out with weights is most efficient, but you can use your body weight as resistance, especially if you have been a winter couch potato.
"Your muscles will be unaccustomed enough to the weight of your own body to gain some strength," said Sue Thompson, an exercise physiologist at RecPlex Fitness Center in Mount Prospect, Ill.
The best exercises include sit-ups, squats, leg lifts and modified push-ups. Start with five of each and work up to 25 repetitions a day.
Make time for meditation. Ease stress and you are less likely to turn to food for mental relief.
Take a hike - every hour. Get up and walk around on the hour, said Cynthia Kereluk, whose exercise show airs on Lifetime television. Even if you manage only five minutes, the walking will add up to 40 minutes - about a 120-calorie burn-off - during an eight-hour workday. Walk fast and you can up that to 400 calories.
Eat cereal for breakfast. High-fiber foods fill you up and keep blood-sugar levels steady most of the morning, making you less inclined to patronize the snack cart. Bran cereal has up to nine grams of fiber a serving. If you don't like the taste, mix it with your favorite low-fiber cereal. Choose berries, especially high-fiber raspberries, over melon, and whole-wheat toast over white.
Cut 200 calories a day. It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose one pound. But with a 200-calorie daily savings you will drop nearly 21 pounds in a year.
Those 200 calories, according to Redbook, are the difference between a large jelly doughnut and a half raisin bagel, or between pasta Alfredo and linguine with red clam sauce. - AP Special Features