Beating late night binging is a must for weight loss success - Here's How

Beating Late-Night Eating

Tips that helped save late-night nibblers from the call of the fridge or the cupboard

For many people it is easy to eat well and stay on track during the day but night time is when things that can go wrong usually do….Too much snacking while preparing kids lunches for the next day or picking while you are cooking dinner.  The most damage comes from raiding the pantry, fridge or freezer for after dinner munchies.

First of all you need to establish why you are wanting a late night snack, develop a strategy and then change your way of dealing with those late night snack attacks!

Reasons for evening eating
These are some of the main culprits…..Can you relate to one?

Boredom
You may be bored or dealing with another emotion like stress, and use this time to preoccupy or anesthetize yourself with food. If boredom is your enemy then find tasks around the home to occupy you, a diversion might be all that you need.

Restriction
You have restricted your calories too much during the day and truly are hungry. This is a big one, review what you are eating during the day and check whether restricting your food intake during the day is the problem.  This might be a conscious or unconscious restriction.  If you days are action packed and you are skipping lunch and forgetting afternoon tea then you are definitely going to be hungry.  If it is an unconscious choice you maybe operating under the false myth of reducing calories will help you lose weight.  Eat regularly during the day and you might find your late night snacking problem solved!

Off-limits thinking
The more you tell yourself you can’t have something the more you want it!!!!!  ‘Diet’ mentality is a common cause for bingeing and late night snacking.  Depriving yourself of regular wholesome food is going to play havoc with your mind.  Eat to fuel your body rather than deprive it and you might be surprised at the results.

 

Emotions

We think that a biscuit binge or a serve or seven of ice-cream will make us feel better.  Maybe for about....1 minute and then you feel sick!  You may get a quick release of dopamine that will make you feel great for that 1 minute but the more we abuse this dopamine release the more sugar we have to consume to get that same ‘hit’  It takes just a matter of moments to consume 500 calories, just think about how long it’s going to take you to burn off. 

 

Are you FLAB??????  Before you eat ask yourself am I FRUSTRATED, LONELY, ANXIOUS OR BORED… If you answer yes go and distract yourself and stay away from the kitchen!

 

Late-night survival strategies
To combat those cravings, here are some real-life survival tips for beating the refrigerator battle.

·  When you feel the tug to comfort yourself with late-night snacks, investigate other things you consider comforting, like reading a good book, having a relaxing bath or shower or even going to bed early.

·  Keep busy while you are breaking some bad habits set yourself a project list that you can refer to when late night snacks are tempting you.  It may be cleaning out the linen cupboard, clean the bathroom…..Anything to side track you!

·  Try delay tactics as a tool to avoid snacking.  If you ‘think’ you are wanting to snack first have a drink of water, had the water and are still tempted go to the loo!  Sounds crazy but it might be a good diversion to get you as far away from the kitchen as possible!  Another good strategy is clean your teeth, you are less likely to head back into the kitchen if you have already cleaned your teeth.

·  If you are genuinely hungry or you have tried some of the above strategies and you still want something to eat then picking low-fat snacks is a good idea: rice crackers, yogurt, fat-free pretzels or maybe a herbal tea will do the trick. It’s important to take out the portion and close the container before eating. If you have made the decision to eat, then sit and enjoy it guilt free, don’t stand in the kitchen and scoff it, sit and enjoy. Other ways to monitor behavior include "closing" the kitchen and not walking back in.

·  Make sure you're eating enough throughout the day: Evaluate your level of hunger when you wake up. After an eight-hour stretch, you should be moderately hungry within 30 minutes of waking up. If you're not, you probably ate too much the night before.

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