6 Surprising Ways Autumn Affects Your Sex Life

Those higher testosterone levels may be behind why women have thicker waists relative to their hips—that is, they're less curvaceous—in the fall than at any other time of year, found researchers at Simon Fraser University. (All the pumpkin pie doesn't help the waistline, either). And yet—here's the welcome news—men think women's bodies appear more attractive in the cooler seasons, reported a study published in the journal Perception. One theory is that the testosterone rise makes guys more interested in sex, but there's an even likelier cause: the "contrast effect." In the summer, men are frequently exposed to scantily-clad women. Not so when it gets cold outside; therefore, the "attractiveness criteria" shift in our favor. Which means that by January (the month men give women's bodies the highest ratings) only you might mind your post-holiday pudge.