If you notice yourself bingeing more in the winter, you’re not the only one. Winter changes our routines, moods, and energy levels. These shifts can make eating feel harder to manage. This season can bring more cravings, more emotional eating, and more shame. But your body is not doing anything wrong. It’s trying to help you feel safe and cared for.
Let’s explore why winter can make bingeing feel worse and how to support your body with care, not control.
But first, if you’re new here, hi! I’m Dr. Meredith MacKenzie, a binge-eating therapist and intuitive-eating coach. If you’re bingeing more in the winter and feeling overwhelmed by cravings, guilt, or emotional eating, my group program One Body To Love can help. Inside, you’ll find steady support, real-life tools, and a warm space to reconnect with food and your body, especially when things feel heavy. For day-to-day encouragement, come say hi on Instagram.
When the Season Shifts and You’re Bingeing More in the Winter
Winter brings less sunlight, colder weather, and shorter days. These changes affect how your body and brain function. With less sun, your body makes less serotonin, a brain chemical that helps boost mood. At the same time, melatonin (the hormone that helps you sleep) increases, making you feel more tired.
Craving carbs and comfort food is your body’s way of trying to raise serotonin levels. Eating more in the winter isn’t a failure. It’s a natural response to these shifts.
Also, cold weather often means staying indoors more, moving less, and having fewer social connections. These factors can leave you feeling low or disconnected. And that emotional load often shows up in your relationship with food.
Emotional Eating and the Winter Emotional Load
Winter can be a heavy season. There’s the pressure of the holidays, less time outdoors, and fewer breaks from daily stress. If you’re a caregiver or working in a high-responsibility role, that pressure often builds up.
By evening, you may feel tapped out, and food becomes a way to cope, comfort, or escape. You may find yourself eating to feel something, to feel less, or just to feel okay.
This isn’t about weakness. Emotional eating is a tool your body and brain have learned to use to manage feelings. Winter often brings more emotions to the surface: loneliness, sadness, anxiety, or just the heavy tiredness that comes with burnout. These are real, valid experiences. And when food becomes a comfort, it makes sense.
Feeling stuck in the binge-restrict loop, especially this winter? This video offers a gentler way to break the cycle.
ADHD, Executive Dysfunction and Winter “Shutdown”
If you live with ADHD, winter can bring a special kind of shutdown. Less daylight and lower mood can make it even harder to plan meals, shop for food, or cook. Executive function tasks, such as starting dinner or remembering to eat during the day, can fall apart. This often leads to bingeing at night.
In winter, ADHD brains may feel foggier or slower. You might forget meals, skip snacks, or not notice hunger cues. Then, suddenly, you’re starving, and your body wants everything.
Bingeing more in the winter is common for ADHD brains trying to survive low energy and limited structure. The drop in dopamine that often comes with winter weather can make motivation and focus even harder to access. Even simple food tasks like defrosting something or making a sandwich can feel like too much.
You might crave quick hits of stimulation or comfort, and food is one of the fastest ways to get both. Add in the guilt or overwhelm that often follows, and the cycle can repeat. This isn’t a failure. It’s a sign your nervous system is asking for care, predictability, and support, especially during a season that naturally lowers energy and increases demands.
Want support that works with your ADHD brain this winter? This episode is a must-listen.
How to Work With Your Body Instead of Fighting It
Trying to “fix” bingeing by cracking down harder or creating more rules doesn’t help. In fact, it often makes things worse. Your body isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a system that needs support.
Here are some ways to work with your body:
- Notice patterns without judgment. Pay attention to when you’re more likely to binge. Is it late in the day? After a long meeting? On days you skipped lunch?
- Create a soft structure. Offer your body regular meals and snacks. This helps stabilize blood sugar and gives your brain the fuel it needs.
- Built-in rest. Fatigue is real. More rest might mean shorter work periods, warm baths, or earlier bedtimes.
- Name your needs. Sometimes we eat because we need connection, quiet, or care. Ask yourself what else you might be needing.
- Practice self-kindness. Talk to yourself with the tone you’d use with someone you love. Especially after a binge.
- Support your nervous system. Warm meals, steady routines, and gentle transitions can help your body feel safer and less reactive.
- Let it be a process. You don’t need to get it perfect. These small shifts can build more trust over time.
These gentle practices help you meet your body where it is, instead of pushing it to be somewhere it’s not. Over time, this creates more ease, not just with food, but with how you move through winter.
Gentle Food Practices to Try This Season
Winter often calls for a different kind of support, one that’s slower, softer, and more focused on warmth and ease. If food has felt chaotic or overwhelming lately, simple changes can help you feel more nourished and steady.
Here are some food-related ideas to help you feel more grounded and supported this winter:
- Keep warm, easy meals on hand. Soups, stews, and baked oats can feel cozy and nourishing. Try prepping or freezing portions when you have more energy.
- Have snacks ready. Quick options like cheese and crackers, nuts, or fruit can help bridge the gap between meals.
- Use a thermos or mug. Hot drinks like tea, cocoa, or warm milk can offer comfort when you want something soothing.
- Honor your cravings. Craving carbs? That might be what your body needs. Eating carbs can support brain function and mood.
- Try a grounding meal check-in. Ask: Did I eat enough today? Did I have protein, fat, and carbs? Have I had a break or a breath?
None of these are rules. They’re gentle ways to reconnect with your body’s signals and care for yourself through the season. Start small, notice what helps, and let food be one of the ways you offer yourself comfort and support.
If winter has made food feel harder, the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating can help you reconnect with your body’s needs.
Supporting Yourself When You’re Bingeing More in the Winter
If you’re bingeing more in the winter, your body isn’t failing you. It’s responding to stress, emotion, and the natural shifts of the season. You don’t have to fight it. You can meet it with warmth, care, and steady support. Food freedom includes hard seasons, quiet wins, and real-life ups and downs. Winter can feel heavy, but with the right tools and compassion, it can also feel more manageable.
If this is something you’re moving through, there are a few ways to get support. Food Freedom in a Weekend is a self-paced course that gently walks you through the core foundations of intuitive eating. For deeper, personalized care, One Body To Love and 1:1 coaching are designed to meet you exactly where you are.
Not sure what kind of support fits best? Tune into the podcast or YouTube channel for guidance you can use right away. Or book a free call, and we’ll figure it out together.
