Winter is coming, and with it comes for many an intense fear of gaining weight. Holidays approach, the weather gets uncooperative, and it's tempting to stay inside where it's warm and eat cozy foods.

So let's talk about fat acceptance in this coming season!

First: I would love to encourage you to consider not dieting this winter. Diets (as in, changing your food/caloric intake with the goal of losing weight) fail about 95% of the time.

You may lose weight short-term, but statistically, you WILL gain it back.

There's also increasing evidence that dieting does serious damage to your metabolism and increases the likelihood that you'll regain weight and retain further weight. Your body doesn't like it when you suddenly don't feed it enough; your metabolism reads that as starvation.

Instead, consider embracing your body's changes. Weight fluctuations are normal! Across seasons and across the years, your body will change. In cold climates, it's normal to gain some weight over the winter season. Your body wants to keep you warm and fed.

In modern times, we have access to central heating and food flown in from far away. But as recently as two generations ago, it was normal for my ancestors to be cold and hungry in late winter/spring. Gaining weight in fall & early winter helped them survive. My body honours them.

"But it's unhealthy to be fat!" I talk a lot about how that's untrue, so let's briefly recap:

- Fat people can be healthy; thin people can be unhealthy
- You can't tell someone's health from their appearance
- Fatphobia contributes to poor health outcomes

Measuring health by weight/BMI leads to dieting, which is ineffective and dangerous. But if you want to get healthier this fall and winter, that's awesome! Let's talk about ways to do that.

Getting enough sleep has a HUGE impact on your health; long winter nights are a great excuse to catch up. Best evidence says:
- Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day
- Give yourself an 8+ hour "sleep window"
- Avoid screens/bright lights/caffeine close to bedtime

Use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other substances has risen during quarantine and it's easy to drink lots during holidays and colder months. Reducing or cutting out drug/alcohol use is a great way to improve your health. You don't have to be perfect - progress helps!

It's well-known that mental health takes a dive during the winter months, again abetted by quarantine. If winters are hard for you, prioritize mental health: get a SAD lamp, sign up for online therapy, or talk to your doctor about adjusting your mental health medication.

It's a lot easier to exercise in warmer months than cold months for most of us. If you want to continue exercising, look into options: home workouts (Ring Fit Adventure, YouTube yoga), outdoor exercise (snowshoeing, winter cycling, skiing), or gyms (if safe where you are).

Finally, if you're interested in making healthier choices when it comes to food, focus on adding healthy foods instead of cutting out "junk" or labeling foods in a good/bad dichotomy, which encourage a dieting mindset. Eating well doesn't mean depriving yourself!

Some options:
- Add servings of veggies (try canned, frozen, or pickled, and experiment with cooking methods!)
- Add plant-based proteins like tofu, beans, & other legumes
- Cook more of your meals at home and try new recipes

Besides measuring health in ways other than weight, how can you make this winter more body-positive?

Here's a big one: go through your wardrobe, get rid of clothes that don't fit, and buy ones that make you feel good about yourself.

It's okay for your clothes to change!

If you follow people on social media who talk a lot about their body, exercise, or diet in ways that make you feel bad about yourself or guilty, unfollow them. Follow body-positive people in their place.

If your gym/trainer/workout video shames your body size, find a new one.

Celebrate your body, your partner's body, your kids' bodies. Make a note of regularly modeling the kind of self-love you want them to have.

Point out - to yourself or others - media that shames fat people or makes you feel bad about your body. Do this for kids' media especially.

This winter is gonna be tough. COVID will still be around. Holiday celebrations might need to change. The usual bad weather will keep us cooped up.

Wouldn't it be nice to let go of diet culture and not deal with body shame and stress on top of all that?

It's not always easy. Our culture is drowning in body shame, diet culture, and fat hatred. Letting go takes time and practice.

But it's time and energy well-spent. Deciding to drop weight control as a priority in your life is so freeing.

Addendum: I was inspired to write this thread in part by the wonderful first ep of @MaintenancePod. If you want to learn more, check them out and give @yrfatfriend a follow!

I speak from experience: surrounding yourself with media that talks about fat acceptance and body positivity is so wonderful and uplifting.