Autumn appetite

I aways seem to put on weight around this time of year. I often think that it's because the early evenings and rain make getting out to run more difficult and that it's harder to motivate myself to swim when the weather's bad. And, of course, there's all the Christmas celebrations and food.

And all those things are true but it's more than that. The other factor to take into account, which I always forget and then remember when autumn comes around, is the sudden urge for carbohydrates.

Maybe it's related to putting on weight for the coming winter: I don't know. It seems to me that part of it is comfort. Like today, when I went for a meeting in Heathrow. All the meeting rooms were taken so the person I was meeting, Gosia, suggested that we go to a coffee shop, nearby. It was only a short walk, a couple of hundred yards maybe, through the cold air and sharp wind, but as I queued for our coffees, I had a huge urge for one of these pastries. 

I resisted but only on this occasion!