ASKDOCTORANCA

After a summer of loose fitting sun dresses, pulling on
jeans again is always traumatic.
Besides tempting summertime foods such as ice cream cones,
smoked back ribs and juicy grilled burgers, our summer
lifestyles are filled with less obvious pitfalls.
Even if you are active in the warmer months golfing,
gardening, and walking, you might still find yourself
trapped in a summer weight gain cycle.
Usually people expect to lose weight in the summer and end
up being surprised that weight loss doesn’t naturally
follow with the season.
One reason is that in summertime, our social patterns
change.
We socialize more, seeing friends during the week as well
as on the weekend. And of course, with socializing comes
snacking and drinking that wouldn’t occur if you were home
doing chores or even sitting alone watching television.
Summer can also hold unexpected health and weight gain
traps. It seems counter-intuitive to gain weight in summer
weather when you’re outside more and more active, you
should be shedding the pounds. But, when we’re rushed
it’s fast food we tend to pick when hunger strikes; add
more BBQs, parties and a few extra drinks a week and you get
extra pounds.
Air-conditioning is another hidden pitfall; it tricks our
bodies into craving heavier foods than we’d choose when
feeling the true effects of outdoor ambient temperatures. As
a result of living and working in air-conditioned comfort,
today we eat more during the summer months than 25 years
ago. Winter appetites are regulated by the shorter daylight
hours that make us crave comfort foods. Summer appetites
should be regulated by warm temperatures but the prevalence
of air-conditioning means appetites don’t diminish.
Swimming in cold water is also a problem for Canadians who
vacation near lakes that are frozen for several months, and
oceans that contain icebergs well into June. Low water
temperatures stimulate appetite, while exercise that
increases body temperature (running, cycling or playing
tennis) often diminishes appetite. Research shows that
competitive swimmers typically have body fat levels that are
about 5% higher than runners and cyclists; swimmers often
report increased hunger after exercise.
And yet another weight gain component is stress – the
cold temperatures from air-conditioning and lakes or
swimming pools  you cool off in act as a stressor on your
body, causing it to release more cortisol – the hormone
that helps pack the weight around the mid-section.
If weight gain is your issue, your first strategy is being
aware of the pattern and its triggers, so you can modify
your eating behaviour (reach for more fresh fruits and
vegetables, which are plentiful during the warmer months,
rather than all the fattening foods), become more conscious
of your social habits and environment, and follow up with a
nutritional cleansing program in the fall.
To start with, learn more about cleansing during my next
Naturopathic Detoxification FREE tele-seminar.