Winter is a critical period for athletes who easily gain weight. The reduction in training, combined with end-of-year festivities, predisposes the body to store any excess calories as fat. Many athletes experience a seasonal “yo-yo” effect: winter weight gain is followed by increasingly difficult attempts to return to peak form. So, how can this phenomenon be avoided? We answer this question in this article.
Article published in Trimax Magazine – February 2020
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Energy Metabolism
How can you limit these physically and mentally taxing weight fluctuations? A large part of the answer lies in understanding and anticipating the phenomenon. This involves a better understanding of metabolism, which encompasses all chemical reactions occurring in the body’s cells, whether they are nerve, muscle, or fat cells.
Two opposing mechanisms occur simultaneously:
- The catabolic process, characterized by a set of “breakdowns” that extract energy from stored fats, sugars, and proteins.
- Anabolic metabolism, which is related to cellular development. It synthesizes elements needed for the growth, structuring, and functioning of cells. This metabolic process has an energy cost, expressed in kcal or kilojoules.
Energy requirements depend on the importance of various types of metabolism:
- Basal metabolism accounts for non-negotiable energy expenditures to maintain vital functions: breathing, heartbeat, and kidney elimination. It primarily depends on genetics, as well as age, sex, height, muscle mass, and more. Environmental conditions, like external temperature, can also influence this parameter. Basal metabolism generally ranges from 1200 to 2000 kcal per day, depending on the individual.
- Resting metabolism corresponds to energy used in daily activities (excluding training): eating, walking, working, thinking, etc.
- Training metabolism depends on the duration and intensity of physical activities. The more intensely you train, the more energy you burn! It is quite easy to double, triple, or even quadruple your daily energy expenditure with regular intense efforts.
In simplified terms, weight regulation and body composition largely depend on energy input and output. The more you eat and the less you expend, the more weight you gain—and vice versa. Unfortunately, metabolic expenditure varies significantly between individuals. Some burn a lot at rest, while others are very energy-efficient and easily store any excess energy.
The Winter Challenge
In winter, training volume and especially intensity often decrease, leading to a significant reduction in energy expenditure. For athletes with a “low” basal metabolism, fat gain can be challenging to control during periods of reduced training.
Here are some tips to maintain your weight during winter:
- Lower the temperature in your home. At 17°C, you burn more calories to stay warm compared to 22°C. Plus, it might save you some energy costs!
- Eat and drink cold. Your body will expend energy to “heat” food to 37°C for digestion, creating an additional energy expenditure.
- Keep training regularly, including intensity. Intense training engages all muscle fibers, which are highly energy-demanding. Strength training, yoga, pilates, and triathlon training are excellent options for winter.
- Continue competing (running, swimming, mountain biking) to maintain rhythm and burn calories.
- Increase protein intake. Protein digestion has a high energy cost and supports muscle mass development, which is a significant energy consumer.
- Boost your fat intake. This helps with satiety, reducing hunger pangs.
- Eat light dinners to avoid nighttime storage. Focus on vegetables and proteins (fish, eggs, white meat).
- Avoid sugars to limit insulin release and lipogenesis (fat production). Insulin stores energy from carbohydrates as glycogen (when glycogen stores are low) or as fat via lipogenesis. Limit fast sugars to post-training only. If you indulge, do it at the end of a meal (diluted with other foods) or after a good workout.
- Avoid alcohol, as it provides “empty” calories that are unnecessary and burdens the liver.
- Limit heavy meals to once a week. No more than that.
- Choose nutrient-dense foods, like legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans), whole grains (preferably organic), and seafood.
- Have a monodiet day weekly to detoxify your kidneys and liver. On those days, eat only apples, grapes, or brown rice. Hydrate well in parallel.
