Why Winter Makes You Crave Comfort Foods and How to Stop the Seasonal Weight Gain Spiral in Perimenopause

Let’s have a real conversation for a moment. 

You know how it feels when the first cold winds hit, the days get shorter, and suddenly all those foods that never seemed like a big deal in summer start calling your name nonstop? Creamy soups, baked goods fresh from the oven, chocolate, pasta, anything that feels like warmth and comfort.

And if you’re in perimenopause, it is not just a little shift. It can feel like your cravings have a mind of their own, your energy dips faster, and somehow, despite your best efforts, the scale starts creeping up. It is frustrating, confusing, and sometimes you might even feel like you are failing, but let me tell you this as a friend: none of this is your fault. Your body is simply responding to biology, hormones, and the natural rhythm of winter.

Winter has a way of amplifying the challenges that perimenopause already brings. Blood sugar swings, fluctuating estrogen, cortisol spikes, and changing sleep patterns all collide to make cravings feel urgent and almost impossible to ignore. But the good news is that once you understand why this happens, you can respond in a way that works with your body, not against it. You can feel in control again and enjoy the season without feeling trapped by food or guilt.

Let’s start by talking about why winter has such a powerful effect on appetite and cravings. Our bodies are wired to respond to seasonal changes. In the winter months, shorter days mean less sunlight. This decrease affects serotonin, the neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, energy, and appetite. Lower serotonin makes you feel more sluggish, moody, and yes, more likely to crave foods that provide instant pleasure. Carbohydrates and fatty comfort foods temporarily boost serotonin, giving your brain that quick mood lift it desperately wants. It is your body trying to keep you calm and safe, even if it feels like sabotage on the scale.

Now, layer on perimenopause. The estrogen fluctuations typical during this stage impact insulin sensitivity and serotonin production. This makes your blood sugar less stable and your cravings stronger. Those mid-morning or mid-afternoon hunger spikes aren’t random. They are a signal from your body telling you it needs support. When you combine lower serotonin, fluctuating estrogen, and the natural winter mood dip, cravings are no longer just a nuisance, they are biologically driven.

And then there is stress. Winter often comes with increased responsibilities, family expectations, and social events. Cortisol, our stress hormone, rises in response. Cortisol directly affects blood sugar and appetite. High cortisol can make your body store more fat, especially around the abdomen, and makes your hunger cues feel more urgent. You may notice that when you are stressed, you reach for that comforting food first without even thinking about it. This is normal. Your nervous system is simply responding to perceived stress.

There is also the psychological component. Winter encourages slowing down, nesting, and seeking comfort. Food becomes a source of emotional relief. For women in perimenopause, emotional regulation is often more difficult due to hormonal changes. Small stressors can feel magnified, energy is lower, and the brain seeks out reward and comfort. Food offers immediate satisfaction. It is accessible, socially acceptable, and culturally encouraged. When you combine this with the body’s natural hormonal responses, it is no wonder winter feels like a trap for cravings and potential weight gain.

So why fatty foods in particular? Fat is energy dense, digests slowly, and provides warmth. Evolutionarily, craving fat in winter made sense it gave our ancestors long-lasting energy when food was scarce and cold days were harsh. Today, our bodies are wired the same way, even though survival is no longer the goal. Combine fat with refined carbohydrates, like pastries or creamy pasta, and you have a recipe for blood sugar spikes followed by crashes. Those crashes trigger more cravings, more hunger, and more frustration, creating a cycle that feels impossible to break.

Metabolism also shifts in winter. Activity levels often drop, daylight exposure is reduced, and sleep patterns can change. For women in perimenopause, this compounds the problem. Insulin resistance is more common, meaning the body struggles to use glucose efficiently, and excess energy is stored as fat. Even if you haven’t increased your food intake, winter conditions plus perimenopausal changes can slow your metabolism and make weight gain easier.

It is at this point that many women try to “fix it” by tightening control skipping meals, cutting carbs, or trying to be strict. 

I want you to hear this clearly: restriction makes everything worse. It signals danger to your nervous system, increases cortisol, and almost always leads to stronger cravings, binge eating, and guilt. Winter is not the time to punish yourself. The solution is to respond to your body’s signals with support, not suppression.

So what does that look like?

 Start with stabilizing blood sugar. Meals that include protein, fiber, and healthy fats prevent the sharp spikes and crashes that trigger cravings. Regular meals signal safety to your body, lower stress hormones, and help your metabolism function optimally.

 Supporting your nervous system is equally important. Prioritize consistent sleep, gentle movement, daylight exposure, and stress management practices. Your body craves comfort, but it also craves stability and balance.

Winter is the perfect time to shift your focus from restriction to nourishment. Warm, grounding meals with vegetables, protein, and healthy fats meet your body’s needs, stabilize energy, and satisfy cravings without the guilt. 

Simple habits like starting your meals with vegetables or adding protein to snacks can make a dramatic difference in how you feel throughout the day. Over time, your body will start to feel more in control, cravings will lessen, and the winter weight spiral can be stopped before it starts.

Let me be clear: winter does not have to mean weight gain, stress, or guilt. When you understand your body’s biology, the effects of perimenopause, and the impact of seasonal changes, you can respond with compassion and strategy. 

You can honor your cravings without letting them control you. You can maintain your metabolism and feel in charge, even during the darkest months.

I help women move from reactive eating to regulated eating. From feeling out of control to trusting their body again. Winter becomes a season of stability, healing, and metabolic support rather than fear and restriction. When you stop fighting your biology and start working with it, everything changes.

If you are ready to take back control of your eating and feel good in your body again, I have three powerful ways to help you get started:

👉 Download my free 7 Day Sugar Reset Guide. It is your step by step blueprint to balance your meals, stop cravings, and stabilize blood sugar naturally.
 👉 Check out my 7 Day Meal Plans available on my Linktree. They are designed to make healthy eating simple, balanced, and sustainable for only $9.99.
 👉 Join my Fullscript supplement store for free and get access to professional-grade supplements that support blood sugar, hormones, gut health, liver detox, metabolism, stress, and sleep all shipped directly to your door. You can also shop my pre-made bundles so you don’t have to guess what your body needs.

You deserve to feel nourished, energized, and confident every single day.

If you are new here, Hi, I’m Sarah Seguin, a Holistic Nutritionist and Metabolic Balance Coach who helps women in perimenopause break free from sugar addiction, stabilize their blood sugar, rebalance their hormones, and finally feel energized, clear, calm, and in control again. I work with women who feel stuck in the cycle of cravings, emotional eating, brain fog, fatigue, bloating, and stubborn weight that just will not move and I show you how to reset your metabolism in a way that is gentle, nourishing, and sustainable.

The program I run, The Sugar Reset Method powered by Metabolic Balance, is a personalized nutrition and metabolic healing system designed specifically for your unique biochemistry. This is not a diet, not restriction, and not a temporary fix. It is a complete metabolic reset that teaches your body how to use food for fuel, stabilize hunger, reduce cravings naturally, support nervous system regulation, repair insulin sensitivity, and rebalance hormones from the inside out. Women who go through this program not only lose weight, gain energy, and improve mood they learn how to trust themselves and their body again.

If you are ready to start small, download my free 7 Day Sugar Reset Guide to begin balancing blood sugar and calming cravings right now. If you want extra support at the supplement level, you can join my Fullscript dispensary for free and shop practitioner-only brands or choose from my curated bundles created specifically for sugar cravings, hormone balance, and metabolic healing.

And if you are feeling called to deeper support, you can explore my coaching options and book a discovery call.

✨ Get all of the links here: Click here!
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You are not meant to do this alone. I am right here with you.

To Your Health,
 Sarah