December does something interesting to your physiology that most people don’t think about. Shorter days mean less sunlight exposure, which shifts your circadian rhythm. Melatonin production ramps up earlier, and your body starts getting signals to conserve energy. From an evolutionary standpoint, this made total sense — less food available, colder temperatures, legitimate survival pressure. Your ancestors would’ve actually slowed down during winter. But here’s the problem: Modern life doesn’t give a darn about your biology. You’ve still got projects to complete, deadlines to hit, kids to manage. The sun goes down at 4:30pm and your body’s screaming ‘conserve energy’ while your life is demanding ‘perform at 100%.’ That’s a real physiological mismatch, not just a motivation problem. You can white-knuckle it with willpower, or you can address what’s actually happening. When you’re stressed and running on fumes, certain systems take the biggest hit — hydration and electrolyte balance being major ones. Cold weather makes you less thirsty even though you’re still losing fluids. Add in the fact that you’re probably craving comfort food and fighting your body’s natural rhythms, and it compounds fast. A hot drink helps. Getting your electrolytes dialed in helps more. It’s not sexy, but it works. Sometimes keeping the wheels on through winter is about the small, consistent stuff. Like a warm mug of Chocolate Salt when your body’s telling you to hunker down but you’ve still got work to do. Enjoy hot — and Stay Salty 👊