Do Runners Burn More Calories in Winter or Summer?

There should be some benefit beyond heart, lungs, and the “feel good” to running outside on a frosty, winter  day! Unfortunately, calorie burn is not one of them. The metabolism of fat or burning fat for energy, actually slows down when the temperature gets colder. This is a nice preservation feature if you’re a bear hibernating in a den, or stranded in a blizzard, yet it’s not the pat on the back you might be looking for if you’re trying to lose weight. While you might breathe heavier when initially heading out, respiration returns to normal fairly quickly. Heart rate is often lower, but not always during cold weather exercise. So no, running outside is not an effective strategy for accelerating calorie burn in the winter months. Despite all this I’ll continue to run outside on cold winter days and hope you do too. Conquering the elements is what we Northern runners do, neither wind, nor rain, nor sleet, nor snow…not quite super hero stuff but still empowering!

When the Power to Cut Out Exceeds Work Out

In the New Year, just in time for vacation or bathing suit season, people choose severe low calorie diets, pills and beverages to help promote weight loss. The will power to cut out calories comes easier to some, than factoring in 30-60 minutes of daily exercise. While restrictive eating can result in significant weight loss, the long term success rate is poor at less than10% and it’s far from a healthy solution. Let’s compare the health differences between moderate exercise and restrictive eating.

 
       (For better viewing click on chart)


The best approach to weight loss is one that combines regular moderate activity with a healthy balanced diet. To learn more about healthy diets see a Registered Dietitian in your area by going to www.eatright.org. They will be able to co-design with you, a healthy eating plan that fuels your activity at the right time, based on your health conditions, weight goals and lifestyle.

Coconut Water

Why are they always handing this stuff out at the pre race events and why would I want to drink it as an athlete? Zico, O.N.E. and Nature Factor are examples of brand names. The Zico brand contains only 60 calories/11 oz serving, 0 grams of fat and 0 grams of cholesterol. The big benefit is that it’s loaded with potassium at 670 mg as compared to 422 mg in a medium banana and 36 mg in 1 cup of Gatorade. Coconut water contains 60 mg sodium, 1 gram protein and 15 grams of carbohydrate which would be too light on sodium and too much fluid in order to meet your carbohydrate needs during a race. Post race coconut water would still be too light on sodium unless you added some salty pretzels, too light on protein for muscle recovery and inadequate in carbohydrates for glycogen replacement. The athletic benefits in a nut shell: it may reduce the risk of muscle cramps, help regulate blood pressure and if you like the taste you may hydrate more regularly.