Winter Weight Loss: Beat the Winter Blues and Still Lose Weight After 50

Winter weight loss can feel harder, especially for women over 50. In this episode, Ginny shares three simple ways to beat the winter blues, support your mood, energy, and immunity, and keep losing weight through the colder months without relying on willpower or restriction.

Winter weight loss can feel much harder, especially for women over 50.

The mornings are darker, the evenings are colder, comfort food starts calling, and the healthy routine that worked in summer can suddenly feel much harder to maintain.

In this episode of the Outlook for Life podcast, Ginny talks about why winter can affect your mood, energy, appetite, motivation, and weight loss — and what you can do to support yourself through the colder months.

You’ll learn why winter is not the time to aim for perfection or harsh restriction. Instead, Ginny shares three practical strategies to help you beat the winter blues, support your immune system, manage comfort food cravings, and keep your weight loss moving.

This episode is especially helpful if you feel hungrier in winter, struggle with low motivation, find yourself snacking more at night, or feel like your routine falls apart once the weather gets cold.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why winter weight loss can feel harder for women over 50
How less daylight can affect mood, energy, and motivation
Why morning light and gentle movement can help support your routine
Why you may feel colder and hungrier after losing weight
How to build warm, satisfying meals that support weight loss
Why protein, fibre, vegetables, and healthy comfort meals matter in winter
How to create a simple Plan B for busy or tired evenings
Why routine beats willpower every time
How to keep losing weight in winter without eating like it’s summer

Ginny’s three winter weight loss strategies are:

Get outside early, even if it is only for ten minutes.
Build warm meals that keep you full.
Protect your routine with planning, structure, and a simple Plan B.

Winter does not have to mean weight gain. It simply means your weight loss routine may need to adjust.

Inside Outlook for Life, the July theme is Winter Wellness. We’ll be focusing on the foods, habits, recipes, and routines that help you beat the winter blues, support your immune system, improve your energy, and keep your weight loss moving through the colder months.

You can also join Ginny for the Winter Weight Loss Workshop on 29th July for just $27.

Join the workshop here:
https://www.outlookforlife.com/offers/gZPt67co/checkout

Because you are not too old.
It is not too late.
And winter does not have to derail your weight loss.

Episode Transcript

Hi, everybody! Welcome back to the Outlook for Life podcast.

Where we talk about health,

confidence, weight loss, and aging, positively for women over 50.

Today, I want to talk about something that comes around every single winter. You know, we start the year motivated. For us here, we start the year in summer.

Which makes things a little bit easier. We get into a great routine, we're walking more, we're doing our strength training, we're eating well,

And we start to feel better…

And then, winter comes around.

And the mornings become dark, and the evenings become dark,

And it's cold, and comfort food starts calling your name.

You feel more tired.

You know, maybe the weight stops… stops moving, or starts to creep back on.

And, you know, I want to say clearly,

If winter feels more difficult, you're not making it up.

Because, you know, there is a thing called seasonal affective disorder.

SAD, which is appropriate, really, because it's the lack of daylight hours, it affects our mood,

It affects our energy levels, and of course, it affects our immune function.

As well. So, today I'm just going to give you 3 simple things you can do to support your mood, your energy, and your immunity this winter.

And keep that weight loss

going. I know, you know, in the old days, I always used to have a summer weight and a winter weight.

And my winter weight was a good 5 kilos heavier

Then my summer weight. And that would be on repeat, right? Year after year. Not so much anymore.

But, you know, in the winter when it's colder, we genuinely are hungrier.

We use more calories to stay warm.

If you are one of my Outlook ladies, and you have lost a significant amount of weight over the last few months,

You're going into your first winter without your insulation. You know, if you're my Outlook ladies, you know

what my kilo of body fat looks like, well, not mine, but, you know, it's pretty disgusting.

Um, that is the space a kilo of fat takes up in your body, especially actually around your internal organs, but that is also your insulation.

Think, if you had 8 more of these last winter, then you got this winter, of course you're going to feel cold.

And the other thing that happens is that that change in your body composition

You know, you look at one of those, it's a lot.

You shift those, that change in body composition, of course it's going to affect your immune function.

And for many of my clients, it's really frustrating, because the first winter that comes around, not only are they freezing cold, but they get every cough and cold and winter sniffle that's going.

And it feels like they get it on repeat.

But that is normal. And so what we have to do is put things in place

Uh, to support our immune function, to keep us feeling good,

to make sure that our body knows there's good, nourishing food coming in. You can't go through winter trying to live on

protein shakes, cold protein shakes, and salads, and expect to feel a million bucks, right? It's… it's just not going to happen.

So, we're gonna do 3 simple things to support you through this winter.

Number one, you might not want to hear it, but it's get outside in the morning.

It is one of the most effective things you can do. You know I'm always banging on about getting that morning light on your retina.

But in terms of setting your circadian rhythm for the day,

So that you don't feel inappropriately hungry, right? Every one of our cells

has its own clock.

So when we're setting that circadian rhythm, we are… we're helping to set our meal times.

too. So, it's really, really important, get outside early,

Even when you don't feel like it. And I know it's one that nobody wants to hear in winter, but honestly, it is one of the most powerful

habits that you can build.

And it could just be a walk around the block.

It could just be walking down to the post box and back.

It could be as simple as standing outside with your morning coffee on the deck,

And having a little meander around your garden. It doesn't have to be very much,

to help your mode.

And when you combine daylight with movement, so you go for a little walk, you get a double benefit.

So you don't have to do anything heroic, right? You don't have to go out there for an hour in the freezing cold and the rain.

You know, just literally,

10 minutes. You don't have to smash yourself in the gym when your resistance is low and you're feeling bleh.

just get outside for 10 minutes. Start with 10 minutes of outside time,

In the morning before you start your day. Now, I know some of you are going to say to me, but I'm going to work in the dark, Ginny.

So, leave a little bit earlier so that you have that 10 minutes when you arrive at work,

to get outside and walk around the car park once.

I tell you, it makes a huge difference. You probably think I'm mad,

And I'm talking out of the top of my head,

But this is… there's science behind it.

And it is tried and tested. Put on a warm jacket, get outside, walk around the block. If you're me, take the dog.

You know, whatever it takes, get that natural light and some fresh air.

Um, really, really important when your mood and your motivation drops.

Because, you know, when your motivation drops,

then planning your food goes out of the window,

Cooking goes out of the window. Any other exercise that you might do, whether that's a Zumba class or going to the gym, or whatever it is that you normally do,

That tends to go out of the window first.

So, food choices become harder, right? So,

I think, rather than trying to fix your motivation with willpower, put your…

Female biology first.

get outside, okay? So that's your first winter weight loss.

tool. Number two is to build

Warmer…

males that keep you full.

So this is where, like I said before, many women go wrong in the winter. They try to carry on eating,

how they were eating in the summer, and that is really not going to last very long.

You've got to support yourself. It's not about perfection, it's not about trying to be perfect with your food, but it is getting clever with it.

And I think, you know, that all… that horrible old saying, which was, um…

Summer bodies are made in the winter. You know, when we were younger, we used to say all the time, oh, your summer body is made in the winter.

But that's actually really quite a hard thing to do. It's, um…

it's quite a hard thing

to cate with, especially, I don't know about you guys, but

I feel like, as post-menopausal women and perimenopausal women,

Our mood is already a bit disordered, we're already prone to feeling the blues and a little bit of anxiety.

And I think that lack of sunlight, that lack of vitamin D in the winter makes it worse.

And vitamin D is… I'll talk about supplementing with vitamin D in our next podcast.

But if you can get out in the middle of the day and turn your face up to the sun,

For 10 minutes. Oh my gosh, we're up to 20 minutes of your time on self-care now. You'll never fit that in.

But, you know, even that, that can be a really, really good thing to do as well. However, I digress.

Um, in the winter, it's usually not a willpower problem when your food goes wrong. It's a planning problem when your food goes wrong.

So, your meals need to feel satisfying. So, you know, that's where

My crock pot is my best friend. That's where soaps and stews and curries

And casseroles, and big tray bakes of root vegetables.

Um, with protein, you know, those things all come into their own.

porridge, chili…

Shepherd's pie, you know, all of those yummy…

winter comfort foods, we can make healthy versions of and enjoy.

So, the key is, it's not just warm food, but it's

Building those warm meals properly,

So, you know, at Outlook for Life, we always come back to that same simple structure of starting with your protein,

So you have protein in every single meal. We have the high fiber,

Um, low GI,

really satisfying, slow-release carbohydrates in those first two meals of the day.

And the protein with heaps of fibrous veggies at night. And this time of year, I love to use, you know, those little buttercup squashes.

They are a fibrous veggie, and if you… I cheat and put them in the microwave, prick them first, or they'll explode.

I cheat and put them in the microwave and then scoop the seeds out, scoop the inside out, and use them as a mash.

And they… they taste like…

mashed pumpkin with butter in it.

But without the butter, and that is so satisfying.

Another thing I use a lot, instead of mashed potatoes, is cauliflower. I cook a cauliflower well.

And then I blend it with my stick blender,

And put different things… like, sometimes I put hummus in there, um, a little bit of nutritional yeast or savoury yeast in there.

But sometimes I might do a Cajun, or a Moroccan, or, you know, there's all kinds of different things that you can put in there to make them

to make it feel like mashed potato, right? But you don't…

especially want mashed potato at night,

If you're a woman over 50, you're trying to lose weight, and you're not doing a lot of exercise because it's winter. So that can be a really good swap. Do we want plenty of non-starchy vegetables in that evening meal?

Make sure you're getting your fruit through winter. As I record this, it's International Fruit Day.

Who even knew? You need two to three servings of fruit a day.

And make one of those berries.

So, stock up on berries in the summer, if you local berry farm, or use the frozen berries.

Get that because the polyphenols, you know, what we used to call antioxidants, the polyphenols,

In those blue and blackberries are so good for immune function and brain health.

And as I always say, they're really high on the ORAC score, which is the anti-aging score. So we want those. We want some of those in every day.

And, you know, I think…

It's easy. In the summer, there's lots of fruit around, and it's easier. So this time of year, it takes a bit more effort, you know, but go for your kiwi fruit.

And your mandarins, and your grapefruits, and all of those things that are in season at the moment.

And the serving size is about a tennis ball size.

or about half a cup of its berries.

And the fibrous vegetables,

four handfuls for your immune function, for the fiber,

for, again, the, um, polyphenols that get turned into short-chain fatty acids, which is the essence of your immune function. We need those, so make sure that you're getting in there as well.

Um, you know, don't underestimate

the power of those colorful vegetables. You know, make meals that you actually enjoy, um…

You know, for me, like, I love tempeh, like, I've got a Korean sauce that I soak tempeh, or marinate tempeh in, and then I stick it in the air fryer in long strips, and it's delicious.

tofu, I use quite a lot of tofu. We were talking in the membership about TVP, um, last night, attached to vegetable protein, which is

like a pretend mince, but it's really just dried soy, which has been de-fatted, so it gives you higher protein, and it's quite a good texture.

We were also talking about a taco mix that I make with mushrooms,

And, um, walnuts, which is absolutely delicious too.

But it's whatever your thing is. You know, for me, it might be lentils and beans, and edamame. For you, it might be eggs and fish and chicken. It's whatever fits your way of eating.

But, you know, make it satisfying. Make a big gooey gunge. My crock pot is always full of a delicious sconge.

Because I really believe in… I cook once,

I get 2 or 3 meals out of that one cook,

Plus, I freeze a couple. So, you know, I'll make 8 to 10 servings every time I cook.

Because whilst I enjoy cooking,

I don't always enjoy cooking, so I want to cook when the mood takes me, and I want to play with recipes and flavors.

But I want quick and easy that I can grab when I don't feel like that.

And when you don't feel like that, you know, it's okay to rely on things like,

Um, store-bought burgers, or, you know, I do the tonzu vegetarian sausages, or the whole food mints,

It's fine to do that kind of thing.

just not all of the time.

But it's not going to do you any harm. If you're predominantly eating a whole food diet most of the time,

to throw in a couple of meals a week,

that are quick and easy and out of a packet. You know, that's fine. The pouch soups,

the what-is pouch proteins, all of that is fine, and of course, cans of beans, cans of chili beans, and baked beans,

They make life easy as well. You can make great chili meals. Um, anyway, I won't go too much into all of that, because I'll get lost down that hole.

But, um, for fiber, think about your oats, barley, beans, chickpeas, kumra.

Brown rice, quinoa, maybe cashea or buckwheat.

Um, all of your… all of your… a foresaid vegetables and fruit.

And for winter immunity, don't underestimate

Leafy greens, citrus.

kiwi fruit, broccoli,

pumpkin, you know, carrots, those orange foods have got that beta-carotene that you can

um, convert into vitamin A, the legumes, the herbs, the spices, you know, all of these things, they don't just support your immune function.

Um, but they also help you feel full.

And they support your gut microbes. And we're all about gut health at the moment.

And when you have good gut health, it makes weight loss

feel a lot easier. It's a lot less…

like, punishment in the winter.

You know, I always say to my guys, you should never, ever feel like you're in food prison.

Sometimes it's just thinking out of the square to come up with these delicious ideas.

that keep you going. So this winter, I don't want you asking how little you can eat. I want you asking, how can I build

amazing meals that are delicious, that nourish me and warm me up, and keep me feeling satisfied.

that's a much better question. So, number one, get out.

And move your body, preferably in that morning light. Get the morning light on your retina, move your body.

Number two, plan delicious meals.

Number 3 is protect your rhythm.

Sounds a bit woo-woo, doesn't it? Because our body has

a rhythm. And winter weight gain often happens because our routine

has fallen apart. We've built this brilliant routine in the summer, when it's warm and the weather's good, and the days are long,

And then we hit this time of year, and that routine, like we said at the beginning, goes out of the window.

So, you know, we stay out later, we scroll on our phones more, we move less,

We snack more at night in those long winter evenings. We might skip breakfast, or we eat randomly during the day because, you know, we haven't been out there exercising or swimming.

Um, you know, because in the summer, I swim before work. I'm in the pool at 6.

So, I want breakfast, but this time of year I'm not, so it's easy to miss a meal, so…

Our body loves routine.

So if you want our metabol… your metabolism to work optimally, you want to keep the same mealtimes going.

You know, the same… you're exercising at a similar time, you're eating at a similar time. It's really… it's really, really helpful.

Um, what else happens? Uh…

I guess we tell ourselves, you know, often we have that bad day, we're feeling bleh…

We just want to hibernate.

We're hiding in our baggiest clothes, and we tell ourselves we'll start again on Monday, or we'll start again next month, you know? Or we'll just forget it, we'll flag it till the spring.

And then Monday comes, or the spring comes, and we still feel tired, and we still feel unmotivated. So remember,

Your body loves routine. It likes you to wake at the same time, so even though it's pitch dark,

I still wake up 5, my alarm goes at 5 in the winter, the same as it does in the summer.

So I keep that going. A regular bedtime, keep that bedtime the same.

Your mail's the same, your planned snacks if you need them at the same time.

That basic movement routine,

Have that routine of planning your food for the week, writing your shopping list.

do a click and collect, or pick it up, or go to the supermarket, whatever you have to do.

Make sure that you always have a plan B

for the nights you thought you would cook, and then, like me, you found you don't always like to cook, and…

it goes out the window. Have stuff that's easy to grab, that's in the freezer, or some of those packet meals I was talking about earlier a couple of times a week.

really doesn't matter. Just grab and go, but you can still make healthy choices around those.

If you've planned ahead, if you've planned your Plan B, it's much less likely to be an unhealthy takeaway.

And it's more likely to be a deconstructed burger or something that you've made at home in the air fryer.

just by planning ahead.

Um, so that Plan B can really save the day. You know, that pot… that soap that's in the fridge or in the freezer,

for the nights when things aren't so great.

It's not boring doing this, planning ahead. It is not boring, it's freedom.

Because when you have that routine, you don't have to make a hundred decisions every day about what you're going to eat.

I would say the average woman apparently thinks about food 200 times a day.

I don't. I plan my week.

And then I plan my day, and I don't think about it again.

It's done. That… that's it. I've got… I've got other things I want my brain to be occupied with.

Rather than what I'm going to eat.

Um, that's something I found, actually, when I… because, you know, I used to be bulimic, and then I had a…

definitely a disordered eating problem. It was probably…

It was probably an overeating

compulsive eating disorder.

And my day would be filled with thoughts of what I was gonna eat or what I wasn't going to eat.

Or, if I had overeaten what I was going to eat or not eat tomorrow.

And quite frankly, that is exhausting.

And quite frankly, it took up a lot of brain space, which I now have for other things.

Things that I enjoy, and things that

bring me joy and bring other people joy, because I'm not just obsessed with bloody food all of the time.

So it is a real freedom, you know? When you've got that routine, you already know what your breakfast is, you already know what your lunch is, even if it's a can and a bag and a…

whatever, you know, at work, you know that it's there, you know what it is, you know what your snacks are, you've got your handful of nuts and your piece of fruit,

In the glove box of the car, in your handbag, you're all ready to go, you know what your dinner options are for the week, you know what you've got there, because you've already

cooked. And you also know if you feel like

If you've got a craving for something sweet,

You know what you'll do. You've already got a plan.

So, you know, this can be really important in winter because

tired brains, fatigued brains from stress and lack of daylight,

crave sweet stuff. Very, very often. So, quick comfort food

You notice, you never crave broccoli or lentils, or chicken breast.

Do you? So, you know, we need to have the right stuff on hand

by planning ahead,

like I said before, cook once and eat several times.

Have soup in the freezer, have pre-chopped veggies ready to go. Use frozen vegetables.

Have that tray of pre-baked veggies ready to go.

have… have all of those cooked foods,

or canned foods, or packet foods that you know are good alternatives for you,

ready. Have warm drinks in the evening. I love this time of year, a lemon and ginger tea.

probably used to be a hot chocolate, but I've got rid of that now, and I really love a lemon and ginger tea.

Sometimes I might put a teaspoon of maple syrup in it if I want something sweet,

But that does it. Or a turmeric, you know, you can make a really lovely turmeric milk drink.

which is warm and satisfying and helps with sleep, you can do that. You can do that in the evening.

Um, so, you know, get to bed as well, keep that bedtime routine, get to bed before,

you're overtired, and you start prowling the kitchen.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that winter weight loss needs more

motivation or more restriction, it doesn't, it just needs more planning.

Keep your hydration up. Remember how many times we think that we're hungry?

And we're tired, but actually we're dehydrated.

You only have to be 2% dehydrated to feel fatigue.

And every time we feel fatigue,

that primitive brain, that outlook we call the Labrador, jumps forward,

And will make not the best decision for you. So keep your water up. Like, I drink cold water in the winter. Some people don't, they like hot water, or hot water and lemon.

Those herb teas and fruit teas, they all count towards your hydration as well. So do keep that up, I think that's important.

So, I'll shut up now.

For most women over 50, all you need is more structure, more nourishment, and more consistency. So let's bring this together. If winter feels like it's making weight loss

harder, start with these three things.

Number one, get outside early. Morning light and movement are powerful.

for your mode and your energy, and keeping your appetite regulated.

Number two, build warm, substantial meals that keep you full.

Plan ahead, build around your protein, your fiber, your vegetables,

Lots of flavor, you know? You might like… if you like hot stuff, do chilis and things through the winter.

Chili con carne, oh, yum. Smoky beans, all of those lovely recipes that we've got.

you know, that flavor.

It's your friend, that real satisfying and yummy stuff.

Healthy comfort meals.

Uh, number three, protect your routine.

trying not to hibernate.

Keep your mealtimes regular, keep your sleep regular.

Plan your movement into each day.

planning, remember, will beat willpower every single time. Whether that's

planning your exercise, or whether that's planning your food. You know, and sometimes when you don't feel like it,

You just gotta put a coat on and get outside and go.

And I tell you, I never regret it. There are mornings I'd far rather stay in bed.

But I never come home and think, oh, I wish I hadn't done that.

I always come home and think, I'm so glad I did that.

So sometimes when I don't feel like doing something, that's a question I ask myself.

How will I feel?

In 20 minutes' time, if I… if I miss my exercise opportunity and I stay in bed.

I'll feel sluggish, and I'll feel disappointed.

Well, maybe I won't, maybe I'll feel it's great being snuggled up, but how will I feel if I go and do it? I'll feel

proud. I'll be patting myself on the shoulder and going, well done, you got out there and you did it.

So, you know, I quite often think about that.

So, um, I guess winter is not a reason to give up, it's just a reason to adjust.

Your summer routine may not work in July, and that's okay. You don't need to be perfect.

But you need to find a plan that works for you, in real life,

this time of year.

So this week, choose one thing.

So it could be getting outside for 10 minutes in the morning, it could be making one,

big part of high protein, high-fiber soup.

It could be planning 3 dinners for the rest of the week, so you know what you're going to have before the week gets away from you.

So it's just those small actions done consistently over time that yield huge results.

And get that weight loss moving.

Or, you know, and for some people, over winter, I don't even expect them to lose weight.

I say to them, don't you like your…

your expectation should be to maintain the weight that you have already lost through the summer.

That's cool. That's significant.

That's brilliant. You know, enjoy… enjoy your new weight, and enjoy staying there,

And then when the days get longer, we'll hit it again.

So we're all individual. Our goals, I guess, are all different.

Um, if you'd like support with your health, weight loss, energy,

mode, which foods are great for immunity, all of that stuff.

You can jump into the Outlook for Life 12-week Winter Wellness Plan. Love to have you in there.

If you're not ready to make that commitment yet,

then please join me on the 29th of July for my Winter Weight Loss and Wellness Workshop.

$27, you get the chance to ask me all of the questions you need, and you also get beautiful workbook to go with it as well, that you can keep working through.

As we come through to the end of winter. So very often with the SADs that

Winter blows, or seasonal affective disorder, it's at the end of winter that I hit… that it hits us, and that's why I'm doing this now.

So, quite often, you know, May, June, we're okay, but we get to the end of July and rolling into August.

Or just before we come into spring, at the end of August, beginning of September, because let's face it, it's not always spring.

Like, at the beginning of September, that is when it can hit us. So you may be okay now.

But just know, just know it's great to have some strategies up your sleeve.

For if the winter blows,

hit you. Have a fantastic week, everybody. We're never too old. It's not too late, and winter does not get to derail us. We're on the train,

We started in Auckland, we're heading to Wellington. Don't derail all the work that you have already done.

stay on the train. Have a great week, see you next time.

Winter Weight Loss: Beat the Winter Blues and Still Lose Weight After 50 | Episode 18