It's usually during Winter that extra weight sneaks on. And not surprisingly Winter is when many of us are least active. To address this we MUST find either the motivation to exercise in the cold and rain OR find an exercise for the Winter that avoids the weather.

Some options include:
1) Hiring or buying exercise equipment.  You can set it up in a garage, spare room or lounge and then no matter the weather, you have a work out ready to go.  You can opt for treadmills, exercycles, rowing machines or if you have neither the space or budget for large items you can opt for a skipping rope, an aerobic step or even an exercise DVD.
2) Joining a Winter sports team or league.  Soccer, netball, basketball hockey  ... whatever it is, by signing up to a team you've made a commitment and a social contract to turn up for practices and games.  If team sports aren't you thing, there's also badminton and squash clubs that you can sign up to or even the local Zumba class.
3) Joining a gym for the six coldest months of the year.  If you're not usually a gym bunny, joining the gym just for the winter months can be a good option.  Check out your local gyms for one that has a six month membership.  Then when Spring/Summer comes you're carrying less weight and can revert to your favourite outdoor exercises.
or
4) Getting a dog that needs walking every day.  There's nothing like the pleading puppy-dog eyes to get you up out and walking rain or shine.

Salad with a great creamy and cheesy flavour but without the extra calories is possible with the ETA Light & Free Garlic & Feta dressing. 
This variety is 97% fat-free although you can't go over the top with its use because as usual there is a compromise - low fat but quite a bit of sugar - 14.1%.  Despite the sugar this dressing adds lots of flavour to encourage us to eat lots of fresh vegetables.
The ETA range of "Lite & Free" varieties also includes a Honey Mustard, Garlic & Chives, Italian and French dressings as well as Mayonnaise and a Tartare Sauce. These are available from all major supermarkets.

EasiYo is the homemade yoghurt which is so versatile that once you've tried its various uses you'll become a total convert. 
With the unflavoured EasiYo varieties, not only can you can tailor the amount of sugar in your yoghurt and add the flavourings of your choice, but you can also use it as the base for dressings and dips.
And an amazing option for the weight-conscious is to strain the slimmers plain EasiYo through a muslin or brand new Chux cloth for 3-4 hours.  A pale green fluid drains off leaving you with a thick non-fat yoghurt that you can use like cream-cheese on crackers.
There are also flavoured varieties including strawberry, apricot and greek honey but the fruit varieties don't have real fruit in them.  My favourites from the flavoured options are lemon, banana and vanilla each of which are divine spooned over fresh fruit - lemon over fresh feijoas is particularly special!  Watch out though because these flavours are a bit heavy on the sugar.
If you don't already have an EasiYo maker, they cost less than $25 and include a free recipe book.  The makers and sachets are available from supermarkets and KMart.

When it comes down to it there are simple reasons we put on weight and the formula for weight loss is equally simple - energy in versus energy out - it's just not always easy to follow.

Quick fixes are also notorious for quick rebounds - usually our weight gain has come over a number of years, is it realistic to think that we can lose it in a month or so and keep it off.

Well my battle seems to be never ending - and I know I'm not alone. I've had some success this year but I still need more focus and commitment.

This blog is a way of sharing my favourite weight management tips because by sharing them I'm reinforcing them within myself.

And just a disclaimer: I'm not a dietitian, I have no medical training and I'm only sharing what works for me or what I've found interesting or motivating. If any of this helps in your battle to reach a happy weight then fantastic.

Meet My Weight Loss Pal... it's an iPhone App actually called "My Fitness Pal" but don't let that put you off it's great.

Managing weight is all about balancing the energy-in/energy-out equation right?  But if you're anything like me you hate calorie counting!!

My Fitness Pal is brilliant for two reasons: 1) it does all the calorie counting for you through an amazing database with so many foods right down to specific brands including lots of New Zealand's most popular brands like Watties, Anchor, Molenberg etc. You simply find the food in the database and indicate how much you've had and it calculates the calories and adds it to your daily log. It has all your frequent items in a list so after a couple of days it takes no time at all to log your food.
2) The second reason I love My Fitness Pal is that it's based on Nett calories. That's right nett calories - any cardio based exercise counts as negative calories so you can eat more and still be on target. It's a great motivation tool because if you exceed your target you're can get up and go for a walk or pull out a skipping rope for 20 minutes or so and bring yourself back on track.

Best of all "My Fitness Pal" is FREE so look for it on iTunes App Store or go to www.myfitnesspal.com (may also available on Android).