Why that voice in your head is that much louder during the Fall and Winter

It is about that time, for many of us it’s the best and most magical time of year full of family, friends, and lots of food!  But for vegans especially, and while I limit this blog to vegans this rings true for anyone dieting or trying to live a better life, as you are constantly slapped in the face with ads and stores showcasing decadent foods, full of rich creamy filling, and chocolatey this and fried that it makes it nearly impossible to stay true to your lifestyle.  Coupled with the food temptations the cold weather brings inner demons telling you to not worry about that cheese, or the egg nog, or the turkey stuffing.  This time of year is literally a breeding ground of excuses.  I am also a firm believer that there is an innate human need to binge eat during the fall in anticipation of a long winter hibernation.  Whether coincidence or not I for one have a heightened sense of hunger as the leafs start to fall and part of me just wants to eat and eat and eat and it’s more true this time of the year than any other time during the year.  I fully believe we are born with this inclination and our bodies prepare us for the coming weather.  There is a reason the whole “New Year New Me” saying is a thing right?  All of us tend to go off the rails once fall hits and use the new year as an excuse. “I can have that extra side of french fries because I’m going to start really hitting the gym in January!”, “Oh Dessert? Ill splurge tonight, it’s fine because I just ordered a treadmill for Christmas!” Its clockwork, we all fall into the traps of the season and then what happens when January comes?  We start working out and join a gym for 2 months and then revert back to our bad ways. It never ever fails, it is a vicious cycle.  
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It is easy to sit here and think of a hundred different clichés to throw out at you about staying strong and having will power and supplementing work temptation with vegan substitutes but in all honesty every person is different and for some people it’s much easier than others.  There really is no answer, the only thing I can say is when you start to hear those voices in your head telling you its ok to cheat on your diet, and its ok to stray from your lifestyle, and it won’t kill you to this one time to stop and think long and hard about all the hard work you have put into getting to where you are today and all the good you have done and how good you feel.  Believe me, the feeling of passing and saying no to those temptations FARRRRRRR outweighs the guilt you will feel from that very short sense of gratification.  You can do it, you are strong, go out there and prove it.