Yesterday on the Coffee Cake and Cardio’s Facebook Page, I asked…
Rachel responded asking, “Do you find it hard to continue your healthy eating day into the evening? What helps you squash or at least control that late nite snacking?”
Well I wanted to take some time today to talk about snacking and how to control any excess evening snacking that may be going on.
From my experience, late night snacking occurs because of two things:
1. You didn’t eat enough during the day
2. You’re bored
It’s not uncommon for people to go into the day wanting to eat healthy, but what often happens is that people don’t eat enough calories, or the right foods, to fuel them throughout the day. If you think about it, most people only have about 4 hours between when they eat breakfast and when they eat lunch, so AM snacking isn’t usually something people voice as a concern. Maybe you have a yogurt or a piece of fruit, but I usually hear people say that they struggle with afternoon and evening snacking.
For me, I almost always eat lunch at 12PM. Well from 12PM until I get home from work and actually make dinner, is often 6-7 hours later! If I had a healthy, but low in calorie lunch, my body doesn’t have a whole lot to work off of for whose 6-7 hours, which causes me to struggle with overeating when I get home.
The key for me has been to have a nutrient rich snack between 3:30PM and 4PM every day, that way I get a boost of energy for the end of the work day and I have enough fuel to tied me over until dinner time.
Now, if you don’t eat enough at dinner, you’re kinda in the same predicament after dinner! Make sure you have eaten all of your calories by the end of dinner, that way you have all the fuel you need and will not turn to late night snacking.
If you’re bored, I would recommend going to bed! Sometimes that’s the best thing you can do. Even if you don’t go to sleep, just getting out of the kitchen or living room can help you to stop snacking. Take a book upstairs, turn on your favorite show, call a friend, read blogs, etc.. Do whatever you need to do to not turn to food because you’re bored. If you’re actually hungry though, then I’d think about what you ate during the day and if it was enough to fuel your body.
