How to stop overeating at night? Nighttime snacking is one of the most common problems among women who care about their health and figure. And although there is nothing terrible or harmful about late meals with a properly structured diet, in most cases this habit causes psychological and physical discomfort.
In this article on How to Green, we will talk about the myths associated with nighttime eating and tell you how to structure your diet so that the obsessive desire to eat late ceases to be a problem.
Optimal time for dinner
Let’s start with the fact that there is no universal formula: the optimal time for dinner depends on your health, lifestyle, routine, goals, and gastronomic preferences. But there are several general principles that you can apply in your life depending on what you want to achieve in terms of your figure and well-being.
Ancient medical systems such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine place a great deal of emphasis on daily routine and nutrition, using them as the primary tool for maintaining health. An early and light dinner is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and optimal functioning of the digestive and hormonal systems. Modern research confirms that early dinners help stabilize insulin sensitivity, balance hormonal levels, improve sleep quality, and increase stress resistance.
A general rule that works for the vast majority is to finish eating about three hours before bedtime. That is, if you go to bed at 11:00 PM, then dinner at 7–7:30 PM will be optimal for you. But an important factor determining your gastronomic choice in the evening is the total caloric content of your diet during the day. If you are significantly undereating and not getting enough nutrients, then not thinking about food at night will be much more difficult.
To eat or not to eat?
The first thing to do is to figure out why you eat at night and whether it is a real problem for you. Many Western European nations traditionally have a fairly late and hearty dinner, while generally remaining healthy and slim. But if this habit causes discomfort, it is important to determine whether it is emotional hunger or real physical hunger.
Physical hunger is easier to deal with: most likely, you are not eating enough during the day. The best thing to do is to rearrange your diet so that the main, filling, and nutritious meals are for breakfast and lunch so that by the evening you do not feel very hungry and want to sweep away everything in sight.
If you cannot eat normally during the day, then without a twinge of conscience prepare yourself a full dinner, while avoiding sweets and heavy, complex foods. Fish, vegetables, lentils, a little whole grain – these products will be a good option that will fill you up without overloading you.
Salad is a controversial food for the evening, here it is best to focus on your well-being. Fresh vegetables and greens are quite difficult to digest, especially if you are too lazy to chew them thoroughly, so for many, large portions of salads in the evening can cause discomfort in the intestines.
If your hunger is emotional and you want something tasty even after a full dinner, you should start analyzing the problem with psychology. Most often, women eat in the evening to relieve dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with themselves. Look at your days: is there room for pleasure and activities that you really like? Or is an evening cookie the most pleasant thing that happens to you all day? Start asking yourself why you reach for food without feeling real hunger.
An honest dialogue with yourself can be the beginning of changes not only in how you eat but in your whole life in general because food is a direct reflection of what is happening inside you. And if there is discomfort in your relationship with food, then most likely this is just the tip of the iceberg of some internal experiences.
There are a number of gastrointestinal and hormonal system diseases in which a small snack before bed is necessary to maintain the necessary balance in the body. But before making any diagnoses, it is worth taking a comprehensive blood test and consulting a specialist.
How to eat during the day so as not to overeat at night?
We have identified several rules that will help you adjust your diet so that you can calmly leave the kitchen in the evening and do other things, rather than circling around the refrigerator. Many of them are simple and obvious, but very effective.
1. Have breakfast
Eating breakfast can make all the difference in how you feel hungry and full throughout the day. Eating enough fiber, protein, and fat in the morning will help stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the day, avoiding spikes in glucose levels and, as a result, hunger.
2. Allow at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast
We have already written about the benefits of intermittent fasting in this article. In addition to the positive effects on your figure, long breaks in meals help regulate feelings of hunger and satiety by normalizing the levels of hormones responsible for our appetite.
3. Avoid snacking
For the same reason, it’s worth eliminating snacks: too short breaks between meals don’t allow your blood sugar levels to drop enough, which leads to a constant desire to eat, especially in the evening. Try to wait at least four hours between main meals, which will help your body fully process glucose, switch to fat-burning mode, and regulate your hormone levels so that your nighttime appetite will disappear on its own.
4. Eat enough protein, fat, greens and fiber
According to one of the most popular and well-known American nutritionists, Kelly Levesque, these four components are the basis of a healthy diet and a slim body. A meal that includes these elements will not only give your body all the necessary micro- and macronutrients but will also help regulate hormones and blood glucose levels so that by the evening you do not feel the desire to chew anything. With a hearty three-meal diet with the inclusion of healthy and nutritious foods, you will feel a stable level of energy, the feeling of hunger will cease to be chaotic and your overall well-being will improve significantly.
5. Keep a food diary
If you find it difficult to assess your diet and understand the reasons for your evening appetite, start keeping a food diary, where you write down everything you eat and when, as well as the main symptoms and emotions during the day.
A few days of such observations will help you see your habits and some patterns: for example, on days when you have a full lunch, the feeling of hunger in the evening is significantly lower than on days when you only have a salad during the day. Or you want to drink tea with something sweet every evening after everyone goes to bed because this time is the only opportunity to be alone and “treat” yourself. When the reasons are clear, it is much easier to understand them.
6. Plan your evening
Once you understand the reasons for your nighttime hunger, planning your evening can be an effective tool in forming new habits. If you have changed your daily diet to be nutritious and eliminated snacks, but the desire to eat at night does not go away, think about what you can replace this habit with. This could be yoga, a bath, or evening herbal tea that will calm your appetite, relax your nervous system, and stabilize your blood sugar levels.
Also Read: What to do if you constantly want to eat? A medical Explanation
Recipe from How to Green: Evening Tea
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp peppermint leaves,
- 1/2 tsp. dried chamomile,
- 1 small cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon,
- 1 tsp fennel seeds.
Pour boiling water over all the ingredients and let them sit covered for 10–15 minutes.
Eating late at night can be part of a healthy lifestyle if it doesn’t cause discomfort or negatively affect your figure or well-being. But in most cases, nighttime eating is an unhealthy habit and a consequence of our food choices during the day, which are fairly easy to change. Food should support your lifestyle and nourish your body, not serve as an emotional outlet and be reflected in extra inches on the waist.
