Why Do Winter and Cold Weather Make Us Hungry?

Do you feel like having something sweet and have no desire for salad at all?

Do you feel like you're fighting your cravings for carbohydrates more than ever?

Don't understand what's happening to you during this winter period?

Every morning you set a goal to start eating healthy but end up disappointed because you can't achieve it, and your goal slips away?

You should become familiar with the phenomenon of Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD.

SAD is an emotional disorder affecting a large part of the population. It causes mood changes, increases hunger, cravings for carbohydrates and sugars, and lowers energy levels.

There is a connection between the weather and darkness to the feeling of hunger, which is influenced by hormones secreted in our body, including serotonin and melatonin.

The serotonin hormone causes a feeling of fullness and is responsible for good mood.

Melatonin is responsible for preparing the body for nighttime sleep. Darkness causes melatonin to start working more in our body and prepare it for sleep.

When the level of serotonin responsible for fullness and good mood drops, hunger arises, along with the search for excitement to lift the mood.

A drop in serotonin affects mood and sometimes leads to melancholy, hypersensitivity, pain, and increased need for carbohydrates. The body strives to raise the serotonin level, seeking chocolate and carbohydrates.

This article does not give you a good excuse to eat chocolate and carbohydrates. It's not a free pass from taking responsibility to blame the winter and hormones. It's an understanding of physiological reasons and offering alternatives for coping.

Before each meal, we will pause, take a deep breath, and practice awareness of our healthy choices and stopping automatic impulses.

We will adopt a presupposition from NLP's presuppositions and overcome the problem.

The presupposition we will practice in this challenge: there are more than two choice options for every situation.

Instead of the disheartening question, whether to eat chocolate or give it up, remember there is another choice. Tell yourself: although in winter there's a need for something sweet and carbohydrates, chocolate and pastries are not a must. You can provide your body with complex carbohydrates that stimulate serotonin production and improve mood.

There are many choice options.

You can choose complex carbohydrates, whole grain spelt bread spread with natural date syrup, with raw tahini and a lettuce leaf. You can eat a warm salad with sweet potato. You can eat oatmeal porridge with water and a little plant-based milk, with some honey and cinnamon. You can add warming spices to your diet, like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, garlic, black pepper, cardamom, or cloves.

Warm drinks are also an excellent solution for these cold days. But instead of hot chocolate and sugary drinks, drink herbal teas or vegetable-rich soups.

Be careful to avoid adding croutons or soup almonds. There are more options here: prefer adding barley to the soup, or green buckwheat pearls. This way, you will nourish your body, feel full, and raise the serotonin level affecting fullness and good mood.

Consider the best options for your body and mind.

Did you make a choice? Be at peace with it, eat with joy and pleasure. Guilt doesn't melt fat; it increases the cycle of guilt and the need for compensation, leading to wrong choices.

Magic Questions:

Were you able to act differently after going through the challenge with this presupposition?

Would you like to practice a different presupposition to face this challenge?

What feelings arise in you after you've overcome the challenge?

What does believing in yourself allow you to do differently?