Before I tell you what’s helped me, I want to say that I think it’s perfectly okay to have a snack at night. I know that I can’t go to bed hungry because of how active I am. I also realize that I can have a snack and be satisfied enough. More on that below. Anyway, here’s how I broke up with my late night overeating habit:
1. Having enough throughout the day. If I was eating less than 1400 calories during the day, I was going to be hungry. Especially since I exercise. So first step was to make sure I was eating frequently enough so that I had nutrients and food throughout the day. I ate breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and a snack again before bed. Of course, I made healthy choices but I also didn’t make compromises when it came to my food. I didn’t save all of my delicious foods for late at night. I enjoyed the things I wanted throughout the day. The message was simple: No matter what time of day you eat the food, you are still consuming the food and the calories. I noticed that when I ate chocolate during the day, I didn’t have an absurd craving for it late at night.
2. Eat a good dinner and drink lots of water. I used to make a lot of simple meals for myself because I live alone and it’s easy to just whip up some eggs and toast at night. But where does that lame meal get me? Yep you guessed it, with my head in the fridge poking around at midnight because I’m so freaking hungry. So in an effort to curve my cravings, I made a commitment to either make dinner ahead of time for the week or spend time cooking it. As soon as I started incorporating more vegetables and healthy carbs into my diet, I was satisfied until bed. Oh and water. A big glass of water filled me up too.
3. Ask yourself if it’s worth it. Like I said, quitting overeating was difficult. There were many times where I found myself staring into the fridge at midnight after I had just eaten a banana and peanut butter. One evening I decided to try something different. I sat myself down, took deep breaths and waited 10 minutes. The entire time I was debating if I should enjoy some toast, ice cream or some other delicious snack hiding in my cupboards. But in the end the question that kept me from eating anymore was: Is this worth it? Will those calories be worth all of your hard work at the gym? How would that bowl of ice cream make you feel tomorrow? The answer was an obvious no. So I scooted out and headed straight to bed. Now I find myself using this technique nearly once a week. My hard work at the gym is important to me and I’m not willing to just to let it all go in the same day.
4. Have a healthy late night treat. I always feel the need to have something a little sweet at night. Most of the time this leads to me going overboard on the quest bars (two quest bars = too many), ice cream, or any chocolate. Of course, you know I’m an avid healthy baker so I started making black bean avocado brownies weekly. I enjoy one before bed spread with a little peanut butter. I’m happy because I know that they’re healthy but also the fats from the avocado and fiber and protein from the beans fill me up to the point where I’m not hungry at all.
5. Stop using food for emotional reasons. Food only helps you feel good for so long. Sometimes I know that I’m overeating because I’m stuffing down my feelings. If there’s something bothering me, I can always tell since I seem to have an uncontrollable desire to eat more. Identifying the reasoning behind your eating habits will help you along your journey. Journaling is wonderful for when you feel like you are want to eat or even browsing inspirational Pinterest messages; I do it all the time!
6. Tell someone else. This was the best thing I did! I told Tony that I really wanted to quit eating so much late at night. I actually think he was disappointed a bit because he’s also a late night eater, but telling him really helped me to be accountable to myself. I made a choice to eat more at dinner since I knew I would only be having one snack before bed time. In fact, I’ve felt like we’re both making healthier choices when we do snack because we are mindful of one another.
So far, I feel like things have been going really well for me for the last month or two. I’m feeling great and enjoying big breakfasts once again!
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