Part 5 of The Metabolic Mover Series examines the collision between our cultural "New Year, New You" momentum and our body's natural midwinter metabolic slowdown. This exploration reveals why January commitments often falter—not from lack of willpower, but from fundamental misalignment with our biological rhythms.
Well, well. If it isn't my "That sounds like a January problem" problems coming home to roost.
–February.
This exploration reveals why January commitments often falter—not from lack of willpower, but from fundamental misalignment with our biological rhythms. By understanding the dopamine-driven disconnect between our December promises and our February reality, we can develop movement practices that honor our body's seasonal needs.
I love podcasts, they're the best kind of habit stacking... one of my faves is the Huberman Lab by Dr Andrew Huberman. He often discusses the importance of aligning our behaviors with our circadian biology.
The idea is that forcing high productivity during winter months conflicts with our natural "hibernation" tendencies, noting that our dopamine* systems are naturally lower during shorter daylight hours.
PS: The dopamine connection comes back around later on in this post.
Dr H recommends "calendar syncing" - matching our highest-demand activities to our biological rhythms rather than social expectations, a concept that we might all agree with in principle.
For parents of young children, however, manual overrides to festive/social calendars are much less realistic as we're under extreme cultural and familial pressure to provide magical experiences and make memories to last a lifetime.
My empath tendencies align more with Dr Katherine May's poetic ideas of accepting the "fallow" period in life, that winter is a time when we sit with feelings of isolation. Her book, "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times," explains: "Wintering is a season in the cold.
It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider."
She argues that fighting against this natural rhythm creates unnecessary suffering... so in a sense, aligning with wintering as a time of suffering is a healthier way to suffer than fighting against suffering, which only serves to compound it.
Scroll on to soak up the crux of this post, then head over to its continuation – Sliding Doors, Slow Rewards – exploring the power of yoga and mindfulness practices to balance dopamine and metabolism for healthy seasonal transitions.
James Clear (Atomic Habits), points out how our "January surge" often fails because we're trying to make massive changes during a biologically challenging time. He suggests instead "sliding door moments" - small, strategic choices that honor our current energy levels while building toward larger goals.
As I was listening to this concept, it occurred to me that it has been floating around in the media for years under various avatars (eg, habit stacking). I just always wrote it off. As an Ashtanga yoga practitioner, it didn't resonate with my sacred, six-days per week practice.
My motto was always go big or don't bother.
However, since becoming a parent, I have felt this massive tension, always near breaking point, never "having time" for my practice and feeling the kind of guilt/depression that only recovering Ashtangis (and maybe Catholics) can relate to.
Joking aside, any addict can relate to this concept, as we'll explore next.
Looking into the neurobiology of what makes us want to do hard things, I find it fascinating to see that this conflict between what the mind wants and what the body needs is written like an epic family feud, with wants and needs cast as foes.
Your mind wants to do hard things for the rewards it anticipates. Yet it is winter and your body needs to rest. What drives this at-all-costs craving?
By understanding the dopamine-driven disconnect between our December promises and our February reality, we can develop practices that honor our body's seasonal needs. I used Consensu.ai to look at the research as presented below. Prepare yourself for the nerdy section...
Dopamine, disrupted
Your movement practice/workout can actually light up the same reward pathways in your brain that addictive substances target. Research shows that exercise stimulates your brain's "feel-good" dopamine system in a way remarkably similar to how drugs work (Medrano et al., 2020). And whether its workouts or just work, your brain aligns its addictive machinery the same way.
This explains why some people genuinely crave their daily fix—and why missing workouts can trigger withdrawal-like symptoms for fitness enthusiasts. It's not just dedication; it's your brain's chemistry literally becoming rewired to pursue that post-exercise high. When combined with the socio-pharmacological properties of a practice where people gather and connect, the neurobiology becomes even more compelling.
Just seeing your leggings, hearing a favorite training song or mantra, or driving past your gym/studio can trigger a dopamine response that makes you crave movement—the same way an environmental cue might trigger someone to reach for a cigarette or check social media.
Your brain learns to associate these cues with the reward that follows, creating powerful habit loops that keep you coming back for more (Medrano et al., 2020).
This relationship becomes particularly significant during midwinter when several metabolic factors converge:
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Seasonal Dopamine Deficit: During winter months, decreased sunlight exposure reduces natural dopamine production, creating a neurochemical environment where individuals may either avoid exercise entirely (due to lowered baseline motivation) or paradoxically intensify exercise behaviors seeking the dopamine "high" to compensate for seasonal deficits (Tonello et al., 2021).
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Metabolic Downregulation: Midwinter metabolic rates naturally slow in response to environmental cues—a vestigial hibernation response—making the body less responsive to exercise stimuli. This means the same workout that produced significant dopamine release in summer may yield diminished returns in winter, potentially driving exercise-addicted individuals to push harder for the same reward (Dopico et al., 2015).
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Inflammatory Response Variation: Cold-weather exercise triggers a more pronounced inflammatory response, particularly when performed indoors in dry air conditions. This elevated inflammation can impair dopamine signaling pathways, creating a feedback loop where exercise addiction intensifies as the reward becomes more elusive (Hsuchou et al., 2017).
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Circadian Disruption Effects: Winter's shorter daylight hours disrupt normal circadian rhythms governing metabolism, simultaneously affecting the timing of optimal dopamine sensitivity. This misalignment means that exercise performed at certain times may fail to deliver expected dopamine rewards, despite increased effort (Eisenstein et al., 2014).
A Dopamine Hit By Any Other Name...
The practical implication is that individuals with exercise addiction tendencies may face heightened vulnerability during midwinter—either experiencing withdrawal-like symptoms if unable to maintain summer routines, or risking overtraining injuries by escalating workout intensity to chase diminishing dopaminergic returns against the body's seasonal metabolic wisdom.
What we know is that whether its exercise, social media, or personal productivity... these are all drugs as far as the brain is concerned.
The Midwinter Movement Solution
Rather than fighting our biology with caffeine and willpower, consider these seasonally-aligned approaches:
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Implement "Sliding Door Moments": James Clear (Atomic Habits) points out how our "January surge" often fails because we're trying to make massive changes (motivated by dopamine) during a biologically challenging time. He suggests instead "sliding door moments" - small, strategic choices that honor our current energy levels while building toward larger goals.
-
Practice "Calendar Syncing": Match high-demand activities to your biological rhythms rather than social expectations, as recommended by neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman.
-
Embrace the "Fallow Period": Dr. Katherine May's book, "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times," explains: "Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider." She argues that fighting against this natural rhythm creates unnecessary suffering.
-
Adopt Gender-Specific Approaches: Dr. Stacy Sims, leading female physiologist and author of "ROAR," specifically addresses how women's hormonal cycles interact with seasonal changes. She notes that forcing intense "new year, new you" programs in January can particularly impact women's stress responses and metabolic health.
By respecting our body's seasonal metabolic shifts, we can transform January's resolution disappointments into sustainable practices that carry us through winter with both compassion and progress.
References
Chong, T. T., et al. (2015). Dopamine enhances willingness to exert effort for reward in Parkinson's disease. Cortex.
Dopico, X. C., et al. (2015). Widespread seasonal gene expression reveals annual differences in human immunity and physiology. Nature Communications, 6, 7000.
Eisenstein, S. A., et al. (2014). A comparison of D2 receptor specific binding in obese and normal-weight individuals using PET with (N-[(11)C]methyl)benperidol. Synapse, 67(11), 748-756.
Hosking, J. G., et al. (2015). Dissociable contributions of anterior cingulate cortex and basolateral amygdala on a rodent cost/benefit decision-making task of cognitive effort. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Hsuchou, H., et al. (2017). Blood-brain barrier and neuroimmune interactions. Comprehensive Physiology, 7(4), 1175-1212.
Ko, D., & Wanat, M. J. (2016). Phasic dopamine transmission reflects initiation vigor and exerted effort in an action- and region-specific manner. Journal of Neuroscience.
Medrano, M. C., et al. (2020). Exercise addiction is associated with emotional distress in injured and non-injured regular exercisers. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1288.
Michely, J., et al. (2020). The role of dopamine in dynamic effort-reward integration. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Salamone, J. D., & Correa, M. (2023). Dopamine, effort-based choice, and behavioral economics. Behavioural Processes.
Tonello, L., et al. (2021). Correlates of seasonal variation in mood and behavior: A prospective population-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 477-489.
Walton, M. E., & Bouret, S. (2019). What is the relationship between dopamine and effort? Trends in Neurosciences.
Zénon, A., et al. (2016). Dopamine manipulation affects response vigor independently of opportunity cost. Journal of Neuroscience.
Head over to the continuation of this post – Sliding Doors, Slow Rewards – exploring the power of yoga and mindfulness practices to balance dopamine and metabolism for healthy seasonal transitions.
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