How do you get through the winter?

Hi everyone!

I was just sitting here thinking what a wonderful time of year to start a diet (lifestyle change). Fresh fruits and veggies, and beautiful weather to be outside getting some exercise. Cantaloupe has been my savior this summer, I eat it like candy. I'm starting to worry about fall and winter, if I can keep this up. I hate canned veggies and fruit, the produce section is pretty sparse in the winter months, not to mention lack of exercise. I don't have a gym membership and it's like pulling teeth to get me outside in the winter. What sort of things do you do to help keep on track during the cold months?

One word: SOUPS.  There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup to fill you up and warm you on a cold day.  Plus, soup is SO versatile, there is almost nothing you can't make a soup out of, so you're sure to find something you like.  Winter has its own supply of delicious vegetables that are great in soups: pumpkin, winter squash, rutabaga, turnips, etc.  Plus since soup is water-based it fills you up for very few calories, and you can pack so much nutrition into them.  Look up soups and stews on cc or another recipe website like recipezaar.  You will be browsing for hours.  Make a big pot and eat it all week.  You can even freeze it and reheat it for those days when you just don't know what to have.  Hope this helps!

I'm also a fan of soups.  And I particularly love casseroles as well!   You can make some real cockle-warming creations that are very healthy if you take advantage of seasonal winter root vegetables and things like beans and other pulses/legumes.

For exercise... can I recommend winter walking?  You need to invest in some good outdoor gear, warm hat & gloves and some stout shoes/boots but once you're kitted up you're bomb-proof. :-)  There's nothing to beat setting out on a crisp wintry day when the sun's low in the sky, the path is crunchy underfoot and your breath streams out in front of you like a wraith.  Walk with a friend and the miles get eaten up amazingly quickly.  Walk alone, put your brain on idle, and it's almost meditative.

Good luck! 

I actually love the winter.  I love the cold and rain and I wish it would snow more here.  I prefer hot meals, soups etc and don't eat much seasonal fruit (mainly apples, bananas) I hate getting hot and sweaty and love wrapping up warm.  So exercising is better in winter for me.  I love going for walks, wrapping up and coming back to a cosy home. 

I didn't think of soup as being a 'diet' food. But yeah, I like soups. I will definatly miss the fruits though.

I, too, hate winter. I hate having to be decked all the time and cycling to college in rain and snow. But the good sides of winter are snowball fighting and sledding - if you have snow.

My winter greens intake consists mostly of soups, red beet, bananas, pineapple and chicory. You can also make nice low-cal and healthy smoothies from frozen fruit if you mix them with yogurt and fruit juice, they don't seem "artificial" to me when in that form

pssht, winter's when clementines are in season =]. mmm, talk about candy.

Anyway, I definitely find it harder because you're inside more with your food, but I concur on the soup idea. & hot chocolate. lots of hot chocolate. Oh, & frozen veggies are a lifesaver.
Plus, shoveling burns like a million calories haha. Seriously, the workout that I feel the most the next morning is DEFINITELY shoveling.

Cross that bridge when you come to it, just worry about summer for now =]