10/07/2026
More tired. More hungry. Craving carbs. Sleeping more, but somehow still exhausted. Less motivated. More withdrawn. Mood lower than usual.
For some people, these changes begin showing up as the days get shorter and last until spring!
At the more severe end is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a recurrent form of depression with a seasonal pattern. But even outside a SAD diagnosis, many people notice that their sleep, energy, appetite, mood and motivation shift during the darker months.
And here’s something we don’t talk about enough:
Men’s and women’s biology isn’t identical.
We share the same fundamental circadian system, but women are also navigating reproductive-hormone rhythms across the month and major hormonal transitions such as perimenopause and menopause.
So when the annual light environment changes, it doesn’t suddenly replace everything else happening in our bodies.
It overlaps with it.
Your circadian rhythm is still responding to light and darkness.
Your hormonal biology is still influencing sleep, appetite, temperature, mood and recovery.
And the season surrounding all of it has changed.
This is why I don’t think the answer to winter is simply:
Push harder. Eat less. Drink more caffeine. Find more motivation. Make more lists of things to accomplish to do more and be more.
What if instead we asked:
What environmental inputs have changed and which inputs can I intentionally support?
1. Morning and daytime light
2. Nourishing, satisfying food that aligns with our monthly and annual cycles
3. Regular movement that is appropriate for where we are in our cycle.
4. Darkness and consistent sleep timing, blue and green free evenings.
5. Connection and oxytocin-supportive activities
6. Warmth, rest and appropriate recovery.
We’re not trying to trick the body into believing it’s July.
We’re learning how to support it each day, each month, all year long.
This is the bigger picture behind Living by Our Cycles, my complete 59-page guide to understanding how our daily circadian, monthly hormonal, and annual seasonal rhythms overlap, and how we can adjust the way we eat, move, sleep, connect and live accordingly.
Because maybe we don’t need to spend every winter fighting our biology.
Maybe we need to understand it and work with it.
https://www.theessentialhomemaker.org/product-page/living-by-our-cycles
