Autumn comfort eating

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Gail1471
Gail1471 Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Is it just me or has the onset of Autumn brought more hunger for stodgy comfort food? I was enjoying the extra calories of trying to maintain my weight after loosing 16 pounds. When I was loosing weight I was so strict with myself for 9 months and now Im like a pig indulging in Apple pie and other sweet and stodgy carb loaded food. I've rarely completed my food diary because I don't want to see the total and I've gained 3 pound in a week. I'm less motivated to exercise too. I know what I need to do, move more, eat less and log everything. Just wondering if others are having the same issue.
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  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    Really craving carbohydrates in the fall may be due in part to decreasing daylight and the resulting chemical changes in the brain. Some people are enormously sensitive to this. If you are one of them, you can try a couple of things. One is to get outside more at mid-day. Another is to get a light box of the kind used to treat seasonal affective disorder and use it 30 min each morning. Doing both has worked for me.
  • tahxirez
    tahxirez Posts: 270 Member
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    OP I get like this every year and especially this year which is my first maintenance holiday season. Last year I was still in the losing phase. I have been successfully maintaining since April and haven't had any issues but the colder weather certainly has me ravenously hungry. I just keep logging honestly. If I gain there will be no surprises why. I also keep a 250 deficit in my goal so that I have a slight calorie bank to adjust for my lazy logging and (lately often) overages. It will all work out. If I notice myself out of range well I'll just have to get back to a real deficit and correct it.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    OP - there is a lower calorie alternative to literally ANY fall/winter food you might crave. You just need to do your homework and be willing to try new things. Pumpkin Greek yogurt, baked apple zoodles with cinnamon, sweet potatoes, butternut squash. Since you have more time (with it getting dark and all) its a great time to experiment in the kitchen. DONT give up what have lost.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    My comfort foods are stews and soups...they're generally right on par with where I need to be calorie wise.
  • robdowns1300
    robdowns1300 Posts: 152 Member
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    Always log everything. Every day. If your'e prone to eating things that you shouldn't, log before you eat it.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,973 Member
    edited November 2016
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My guess is that this has nothing to do with season but a lot to do with overrestricting for 9 months.

    She lost 16 pounds in nine months. Why do you assume she was overrestricting?

    I lost 15 pounds in the last 10 months, I'm dead in the middle of my healthy BMI now.

    Autumn has always been a time for me to want to eat more carbs/food in general - for all the reasons already stated. Less outdoor time, shorter days, a touch of Seasonal Depression maybe, all the yummy holidays, biology screaming to "put on some fat, it's getting cold."

    I battled 5-10 pounds every winter for the last nine years since I reached my healthy BMI. I keep telling my body it's okay, I'll keep you warm. It still fights me.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My guess is that this has nothing to do with season but a lot to do with overrestricting for 9 months.

    She lost 16 pounds in nine months. Why do you assume she was overrestricting?
    Because of the bolded that reads like a restrictive mindset:
    Gail1471 wrote: »
    Is it just me or has the onset of Autumn brought more hunger for stodgy comfort food? I was enjoying the extra calories of trying to maintain my weight after loosing 16 pounds. When I was loosing weight I was so strict with myself for 9 months and now Im like a pig indulging in Apple pie and other sweet and stodgy carb loaded food. I've rarely completed my food diary because I don't want to see the total and I've gained 3 pound in a week. I'm less motivated to exercise too. I know what I need to do, move more, eat less and log everything. Just wondering if others are having the same issue.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    Just chiming in to say just after 4 days of using the SAD light every morning for 30 min I am no longer a carb craving machine plus I had enough oomph to get to the gym for some weight training and interval work this afternoon. Hopefully I will be on track for the rest of fall and into winter.
  • tahxirez
    tahxirez Posts: 270 Member
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    Jakep2323 wrote: »
    Thats not a bad question really though - does the body need more food when it is cold? Does the cold affect how many calories the body needs or uses?

    I have no sources (so don't ask) but perhaps it is an evolutionary response to light patterns/season change? Being extra lean moving into the colder months (less food availability) was likely not ideal for hunter/gatherer homo sapiens. I could be environmental conditioning much the same as an animal entering seasonal torpor (i.e. bear.) Reduce energy expenditure, increase energy consumption for storage? Idk I definitely don't think there is a significant need/use of increased calories (i.e. you don't need to eat more to maintain during colder months.) Rather you are stimulated to eat more due to potential food shortages in the near future? Just a thought...
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    I imagine the desire for starchy foods over the winter season is also to do with availabity as much as putting on fat to keep warm. Foods would have been fairly scarce over winter so much like other animals storing fat is a good plan.

    But in terms of modern day living, root vegetables will save you. Soups, roasted vegetables including pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes etc. All are fairly low calorie and filling. And in my lunch box.
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 514 Member
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    I agree that fall has some tasty foods and some holidays that stress indulgence, Halloween, Thanksgiving. YOU have to have resolve and say no. There are plenty of delicious things out there without the excess calories and carbs, you just need to find them. Not logging is ridiculous, your body still knows you ate it, whether you log it or not.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    I don't necessarily crave the food more (I always deal with cravings) but since it's getting colder I find myself way less willing to go take a walk or play outside with my kids so I'm sure I'm burning fewer calories. That means the extra handful of crackers or fun size candy bar from my kids' Halloween basket makes a bigger difference now!

    3 lbs in a week isn't bad though. I recently gained 7 lbs just in a weekend of major overeating on a get away with my husband! I went back to eating in a deficit and was back in my maintenance range in 5 days. I just stay vigilant with the scale and when I start gaining, I hang out in that deficit for a while. I'm back to maintenance calories now. I never stop working out regularly though, no matter what my diet is like. I think that helps me get back on track with food easier.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    The thing that struck me most about the OP is that you were "so strict with myself for 9 months". And now that you've reached your goal you are pigging out. This is a very common scenario. Weight control doesn't have to be black and white. You can have apple pie and maintain your weight. Just do it sensibly.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    Jakep2323 wrote: »
    Thats not a bad question really though - does the body need more food when it is cold? Does the cold affect how many calories the body needs or uses?

    There are some things out there saying the body will burn somewhat more calories when hot or cold
    https://weather.com/health/news/one-reason-love-winter-cold-air-burns-calories-20140123
    http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/calories-burned-cold-weather-12046.html

    However, it doesn't make any difference how cold or hot it is outside when most people spent time avoiding the outside in temperature controlled buildings or mean of transportation.

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