Here’s Why It Seems Harder to Lose Weight During Summer

Summer may be the best time for most people since it’s packed with fun-filled activities like beach parties, music festivals, backyard cookouts and more. Summer is like a treat, a reward for the busy lifestyle.

But the carefree attitudes during summer also come with downsides when it comes to your physical health. With all the partying, drinking, and eating, putting on extra weight is easy and the bad news is, losing it is quite hard.

Your metabolism might slow down a bit when it no longer has to produce heat, according to Sharon Palmer, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in California and owner of the blog The Plant-Powered Dietitian.

“Think of our bodies like a furnace — we stoke it with fuel (food) to keep it warm,” she said. “When it’s colder, we have to add more fuel to compensate for the energy required to produce heat.”

Another expert, Debra Sheats, said that because the environmental temperature is so close to your body’s internal temperature (typically around 98.6 degrees), your metabolism slows down by about 10 percent.

Sheats, an assistant professor in foods and nutrition at St. Catherine University in Minnesota, also said that slow metabolism may not be the only thing that could be preventing you from losing the weight on the hot days.

“When it is very hot and humid outdoors, we have a tendency to not go outside as much to walk, bike or jog,” Sheats said. “Instead, making the choice to stay inside with the cool air conditioning may mean more time spent at sedentary activities such as reading or activities involving screen time.”

Weight increase in the summer is inevitable due to increased water in the body. This is because of the need to drink often when the temperature is high. But don’t let this tiny bit of information keeps you from hydrating. Not drinking enough water is detrimental to your health.

“We sweat more during the summer months,” Sloane Davis, a certified nutritionist said. “If you don’t drink enough water, the body becomes dehydrated, slowing it down and decreasing the metabolism.”

To help speed it up, Davis recommends continuing your regular exercise during the summer months. Working out early in the morning or late in the day would be a good timing because it’s cooler. Or, do yoga at home or go to fitness centers to stay in the air conditioning.

Maintaining healthy habits all year-round is crucial and do not let small, external factors deviate you from your weight loss goal.

Source: Huff Post