Is nighttime snacking ruining your weight loss goals?
I hear this all the time from my clients and the snacking after dinner. If your goal is to lose weight then this could be what is stalling your weight loss goals.
Here is why we do this and how to help.
Habit
Habit is probably the number one thing that causes us to snack.
My biggest habit that started as a teenager was waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then getting something sweet to eat.
Usually, it was like twinkies, nutty buddies, or cereal.
Get up more than once and I would reach for more.
I wasn’t over 200 pounds for no reason.
My nighttime snacking was out of control!
This was a hard habit to break and to this day I still struggle with this.
What’s changed?
I can tell you my snacking didn’t and to this day when I get up I pop something in my mouth, but instead, I have grapes in the fridge. I still wanted the sweet taste so grapes became a go-to to help.
Some habits are hard to break and this one was for me. The same thing goes with if you have a habit of wanting a snack later before bed. Try something that isn’t full of carbs and sugar.
Go To Bed!!
Think about what time you get up in the morning and how long you’re awake until you go to bed.
If you are even a little sleep deprived and most of us are nowadays, try just going to bed. You could just be tired.
When you are not getting enough sleep your body craves carbs for fast energy to help keep your body moving.
While we need carbs during the day for energy, we don’t need them at night and you may not be hungry, just tired!
So go to bed!!
Our bodies need sleep and living a healthy lifestyle you need to get at least 7 to 8 hours.
When we start cutting hours each night and you add those hours up, you could be missing a whole day by the end of the week and think about how much you are losing in a year.
Not enough sleep and it will throw your hormones off and when our hormones are off we start craving food.
Make sure you are getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
Strive for Progress Not Perfection
There is so much that goes into your health and fitness and it can get confusing.
We also put a lot of pressure on ourselves thinking it’s all or nothing.
The truth is, it’s a learning process and never perfect.
We have to figure out where we are on our journey and start from there and build from there. I am always here to help you navigate this process so feel free to reach out!
