Weight Watchers want you to share your autumn and winter healthy living triumphs and/or pitfalls - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

For many, Autumn often symbolises a time to be with family, wrapping up, staying indoors with a good movie and indulging in our favourite comfort foods. The healthy living habits from summer can often take a backseat and, as a result, these cooler months can often put our health goals and weight loss journeys on pause. With that being said, Weight Watchers want you to share any funny autumn and winter healthy living pitfalls or triumphs you have gone through.

Zoe Griffiths, Head of Programme and Public Health at Weight Watchers, adds: “For many, the shift in season will bring with it a change in outlook. It’s a time when we start to notice that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is becoming be more difficult. In fact, working with psychologist Professor Geoff Beattie, we have identified that 18th September is the date when the seasonal shift begins to impact Brits’ lives. But just because the seasons have changed, doesn’t mean your outlook has to too. You are very much still in control of your own healthy lifestyle!”

"Weight Watchers has a plan to help avoid those pesky pitfalls all autumn long! Introducing… The Weight Watchers Guide to Owning Autumn. The Guide will be updated each week throughout the season to help counteract the seasonal shift and make it easier for people to take control of their weight loss journey and overcome the lifestyle challenges posed during the cooler season."

Zoe continues: “At Weight Watchers, we believe that you can say ‘yes’ to the things that you love and still enjoy a healthy lifestyle – any time of the year! That’s why with food, activity and wellbeing deeply engrained in our philosophy, we have designed the new Guide to Owning Autumn, which provides motivation, support and tips and tricks, so that you can enjoy the cooler seasons while showing autumn who is boss!”

Watch this video to find out more!

Have you ever convinced yourself that colder weather calls for an extra glass of wine? Perhaps you’ve managed to fool everyone that you went to the gym by wandering around all day in your gym clothes, when actually they’re just so comfy? Or maybe you successfully managed to dodge all the chocolate that your kids collected at Halloween?

Whatever your healthy living pitfall or triumph, post them on the thread below. All MNers who comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky person will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I love autumn! Going out for a walk on a crisp, dry day and seeing all the autumn colours is such a boost to my mood. I love racking up FitPoints on my Fitbit too! Stews & soups are really low in SmartPoints. It's much easier to keep the weight off with WW, even in the colder months. I've lost over 2 stone & kept it off for 15 years!

I love pumpkin or butternut squash soup in Autumn and it's very slimming.
Unless you put a handful of cheese in and serve it with bread, then it's delicious but not so slimming.

I love a Baileys hot chocolate on a cold evening, definitely my winter sin

Autumn is too tempting to stay in, or to jump in the car to get where you need to go rather than walk when it's pissing down. It's easier to snack when you're in the house than out.

However, September has always felt like a 'new beginnings' month for me, much more than January. The start of school term, the move from summer to winter clothes, it just feels like a good fresh start month.

Arghhh, Autumn is the most comforting season ever and perfect for baking bread and cakes, making jam and chutneys - all the stuff you can't eat on a diet (yeah yeah, I know, you can factor them in but honestly it's just not worth it). I'm on a baking ban at the moment because I'm trying to lose weigh and it makes me so sad.

I'm a sucker for hot chocolate in autumn! I've tried to switch it for herbal teas or if i'm really craving hot chocolate then I make my own with raw cacao powder, maple syrup and maca and lucuma powder so that it's good for me!

I also batch make some winter soup for the freezer to always have something warming and healthy to eat at hand.

I absolutely love Autumn - I'm so ready to wear boots and a big coat! I think a lot of the comforting stews, chillies and soups can be made relatively low on smartpoints, just need to avoid having lots of bread and butter on the side! I've just weighed myself after my first week of WW online and have lost 6lbs without feeling at all deprived so am feeling very positive about being able to make normal meals fit into the plan

I find I crave fat a lot more when it's cold

The best thing about Autumn is the food! Stews and casseroles and fruit crumbles start replacing salads in our house. I try and keep the meals healthy by using a ton of veg in stews and having small portions of fruit crumble maybe once a week.
We have a dog so staying in on colder mornings is not an option, we head for the woods to enjoy the changing colours. Kicking piles of leaves about helps burn off some of those calories (but we put them back with a huge mug of hot chocolate to warm up)

Autumn is time to get the slow cooker out and experiment with stews and soups. Also, porridge for breakfast is a good way to start the day at this time of year.

I convince myself that Terrys chocolate orange is definitely 1 of ypur 5 a day. And 5 is acceptsble!

winter is for lovely casseroles with rich gravy - the family all home safe and the curtains drawn and door locked - in our family we say "all in the bos" meaning bosom together but we`re a daft lot.

In the Autumn I try to come up with more varied, healthier meal options. I like to pack a punch with hearty, homemade soups with lots of fresh vegetables like Minestrone (a family favourite), so that my kids are getting plenty of vitamin c to help them fight off seasonal bugs. We have diabetes in the family and since my mum cutback on the carbs I have too, I feel better for it and have lost about a stone. I have introduced alternatives like couscous and quinoa which are cheap if you buy the packets and create your own meals. I love to get out with my kids collecting conkers, kicking the leaves about and then coming back to a warming casserole, as Billy Connolly said "There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing" x

I would love to spend the winter eating crumble and custard, however the children don't like it which does save my waistline. Lots of hot cups of tea are a good way at getting the warming feeling without worrying about weight.

Chocolate is usually my downfall but my daughter got loads of chocolate for her Birthday last month and I haven't eaten any of it (despite her trying to ram it into my mouth everyday saying chocolate for you mama). I've also been healthy eating and exercising and lost 5lbs in my first week!

With winter come Christmas and parties galore. It's the booze that's my biggest pitfall and the yummy nibbles that go with it. The easiest way to not fall into this trap would be to....stay home and not bother with the party but that's boring and life is too short!

Pumpkin spice latte. Which as soon as they are over the eggnog lattes come out 😱 absolute major pitfall

Autumn - hmmm - all sorts of "s" foods come to mind such as slow cooker casseroles and concoctions, stir-fries, soups, stews, stuffed things including chicken and marrow, all types of spuds and sausages for us.

Not overly healthy or even unhealthy, but served with lots of vegetables and pulses these types of meals are hearty and filling, and suit both mood and weather.

Not forgetting the rather more stodgy and calorific puddings - sticky toffee, crumbles, Eve's pudding, all manner of pies and pastries and lashings of custard and cake. Delicious.

Autumn is full of pitfalls for me - the days are shortening so I exercise less, and there are more treats in the house due to Halloween etc, so I eat lots of rubbish.... but it tastes nice!

I love autumn and always view September as the start of a new year. Best way to keep healthy is to get out and kick all the piles of leaves on the pavements and roads. Love a good walk in the woods followed by a steaming cup hot bowl of soup! Bliss

I run more in the evenings as it gets darker as I'm self conscious and find running in daylight quite intimidating. Whereas when it's dark after I've done the bedtime routine I often go out running.

As soon as it gets colder i switch from my staple meals of salads to soups/stews. Hot and comforting and healthy - based on chickpeas; green or puy lentils; black beans; all sorts of other beans; baked tofu; combine with all types of veg, add in a carb such as noodles, pasta or brown rice, or serve with brown bread.

I actually eat better in the winter as I tend to cook more. For some reason, even when the weather's grim I cook less in summer.

Down falls are definitely Yorkshire puddings. I also like to have a hot lunch in winter whereas in summer I'll just have salad.

I hate the rain so I find it hard to get out and be active during the autumn. I have to force myself to get out, or at least do a fitness video at home. In the summer , if it's sunny I'm happy to go out and I can spend the whole day doing long walks.

I love making soups as the weather gets colder. With the Base of an onion and a stock cube I add various zero or low SP ingredients e.g. carrots celery parsnips lentils and cook on the hob or slow cooker. Blend as desired and there you have a low point lunch with minimum effort!