Are you storing body fat for winter?

Oh Polachicago, I would love to be able to hibernate for the winter, as soon as the dark nights draw in I want to just snuggle under the covers and yes comfort eat for warmth so animals must do this naturally. My puppy is eating more but he is young and growing rapidly anyway but I have noticed the cats are emptying their bowls a lot quicker in the last week since it has been cold. I always put on a bit a weight over the winter, helps keep me warm and not noticable as hidden under layers LOL. Huggles. Ellie :D

Not 100% sure. I think animals sense its time to hibornate when the days get shorter lack of light...maybe for the same reason the leaves change color on the trees. Being fromthe north in USA I am very familar with putting on extra weight for the winter. I think this is all natural. It even happens to me here in mexico in the warmer climate. But not to the degree as in the north. This is a great post! Stay warm get fat. have a great week. :)

Wehn it starts geting cold and nope we cant hibernate be nice some times if we could!

Hi dear i dont think we Human can hybernate though we have some fats deposits in our body and they can be used if we need to, but sure not for hybernating, our body metabolism is designed in such way And dogs dont go for hybernation, the reason which i think about their increase in apetite is, as its fall and going to be cold days so they are eating more so fat deposit can save them from Cold winds, as u know fat disolve to make carbohydrates which provide energy to body Take care

I think human do not have such behavior as the survival behavior, if human becomes fat, the reason is it's cold, people do not like going outside to do more activities. Animals know it's time to hibernate maybe according to the lower temperature day by day.

Well I dont believe that we humans have the same behavior. We just know how to bundle up more to survive the cold. Because we humans don't really want to gain weight just for a few months. we prepare for the winter in different ways. We put plastic over our windows

I dont have to store fats for winters. Its natural. I feel more hungry and eat a lot in winters and obviously i get those fats required for winters. I feel more active in winters than in summers.

For humans well I think we don't need to store fat anymore as food are as abundant as it is. For animals they do that because they may either go on hibernation or some kind of fat for heating purposes but for us humans we have a comfortable home and we can keep it warm so why the need for fat in out body. It will just turn into bad cholesterol that is bad for our health.

my cat likes to eat and mostly the same amount every day the only thing different with her in fall and winter is that she doesn't shed as much as she does in summer or spring I heard they can feel it in the air when the cold season comes I am just glad she is indoor cat, I feel sad if I see litle cats or dogs outside in the cold and I can't bring them in because hubby will complain and we can't afford additional pets right now

For whatever reason, I tend to lose weight in the winter and gain it in the summer! I think I lose in the winter because I am using up energy to try to stay warm, I live in the mountains where it tends to snow a ton and be much colder!

I have noticed that my dog and cat's coat has gotten so much thicker in the past couple weeks. I guess there is some butilt in behavior that tells them it is time to get ready for the cold. No I don't think humans have the same survival behavior. Oh yes we get ready because we know it is coming, but whether we get ready for it or not is up to us, where animals know that they must do this to survive. We do it because we are told that it is that time of year again.

Can we hibernate... I WISH! I'd love to sleep thru the winter and all the ice and snow and nasty muck and 20 below zero wind chills. Wake up just as the grass starts greening and the buds on my pear tree start showing up. The older I get the harder the winters are on the bod. I can sure tell most of my ancestors come from colder climates. At the end of every fall and the first few weeks of winter I get ravenously hungry and usually put on at least 5 lbs. I think we all slow down a bit as well with less sunlight. More than likely less sunlight and cold weather is also what causes the slower metabolism and hibernation in animals.

LOL--nah, my two "deprived" kitties eat the same no matter what time of the year. As for me? The human in the domain. I tend to loose weight during the winter for some reason and eat the same as I always do. I think I loose the weight as I'm exerting more energy to keep warm on those cold days and nights. Also I'm usually more active in the colder months since I have more energy as the hot weather tends to drain me and then I don't feel like doing much of anything

I don't want to store fat, I have more than enough but apparently my body doesn't think so! I don't think we could hibernate, our bodies aren't made to do that, to shut down or drastically slow functions that would let us sleep for months.

My problem is my stored fat never seems to go away. LOL. When the weather strats to cool, I guess animals know it's getting close to winter, so they prepare themselves. That's only my opinion, for what it's worth. Good to hear from you.

Considering this is the start of the season of eating, I'd say yes, lol! I think it's somewhat instinctual among animals to store up energy reserves. And humans adapted by storing up their harvest for the periods when wild game became scarce. Also, eating more and moving around less helped people through the lean periods. I'm doing things backwards this year. I work at college football games and walk many miles in the stadium each game. This year, to keep in shape for the games, I started walking the stairs at work. This added exercise has resulted in some weight loss (I don't have a bathroom scale, but the mirror tells me my six-pack is coming back after a couple of decades of hiding). I enjoy all the feasting the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays bring, but now that I've started the exercise habit, I think it's going to have less of an impact on me (for which my belts are very grateful).