This cold weather is making me hungry?

tpalit2001

It's so frustrating. I've always observed an increase in my appetite in winter, and since I've lost > 40lbs since last winter, my TDEE has dropped, and I really can't eat the way I used to in previous winters or I'll quickly gain back the weight.

I crave burgers, and fries, and more burgers, and more fries. I had a somewhat decent week until yesterday when I went 3000 calories (my TDEE is 1700). I made up partially for it today eating at a decent deficit. But why? why does winter do this to me?

Anyone else feel a significant increase in their appetite in winter? What do you do?

jaycete

It's normal for appetite to increase in winter. You burn more calories in winter because your body has to work harder to reach homeostasis when it's cold. This is especially true if you are outside for long periods or if the temperature of your home is lowered; personally I don't turn my heat up much so my home is a lot cooler in winter.

There is also a possibility that sunlight suppresses appetite and in winter days are shorter so there's less sunlight. Last I checked, studies were not conclusive on this.

Note: these only apply if you live in a place where winter is colder than other seasons and where the days are shorter.

There's also the fall/winter holidays: Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever you celebrate and Thanksgiving if you live in the US. They are all food heavy holidays. So you may be conditioned to feel an increase in appetite if you grew up with these holidays.

I certainly feel an increase in my appetite in winter. Before I started trying to lose weight, I'd just eat as I wanted to eat. I did not put on more weight in winter even though I ate more.

If you're still trying to lose weight, you could try to eat at maintenance for a bit or reduce your weight loss goal. If you continue to lose weight at a higher rate than predicted, you can increase your caloric intake more. Give it a few weeks, of course.

If you are maintaining, do your best to stick to maintenance but monitor your weight. If you notice it dropping over the course of a few weeks, increase your intake a bit.

If you really cannot stick to maintenance, try increasing your caloric goal to gain 0.5lbs. Yeah, it sucks that you'll be gaining more weight but 0.5lbs every week for November to March is 10 lbs total. It's better to control your weight gain than to just let it go. You don't want to fall into a cycle of "Well, I *kitten* up so I might as well give up and eat everything" so don't see weight gain as a failure. You can lose it again. You'll also still be practicing the habit and self discipline of logging and keeping to a specific caloric goal. And hey, you may not even eat that much or you'll burn more than expected it due to the cold.

DebLaBounty

Craving comfort foods in the winter is understandable and happens to many of us. It's colder, the days are shorter, and maybe you even get the winter blues. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. It's just more psychologically challenging to motivate yourself to move around when it's darker. So your body, thinking it's time to stock up on fat for the winter, signals it's time to eat burgers, fries, and donuts. The only way I've found to combat packing on the pounds is to continue to log calories on MFP. Sounds like you've already figured out that a day of overindulgence means the next couple days require more discipline.

Numer1ca

I have SAD. (Seasonal affective disorder) so I sleep more and gain weight and eat comfort foods. The joke is that I gain5 pounds every winter and hibernate like a bear. Which would be fine if the 5 pounds magically melted in the spring.

I did awesome this summer, but as fall came closer I got noticeably depressed. There are 2 external situations that pushed me over the edge were I have opted for anti depressants and therapy.

As a result, I am obviously feeling better because I am back to exercising and tracking. Yay! Medicine.

I’m still making “autumn recipes” but I am making sure to measure and try and have 5 fruits/veggies a day.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I do start to eat differently. I start to eat more stews, curries, chilli.
I cram them full of vegetables though so they don't effect my weight.

I do put on around 5 pounds as I feel the cold terrible.