IS EATING AT NIGHT OKAY?
April’s Myth and Fact question is one of the questions that have the most confusion. The reason why we are so confused is because when we read things we often get half the details and information of why we should or should not do something. This week we are going to answer the question — is eating at night okay?
The answer is simply – YES. You can eat at night. It doesn’t matter what time you eat. Your body doesn’t stop when you go to sleep. In fact, your brain and body stay remarkably active while you sleep. Your body actually works harder while you are sleeping and burns more than when you are awake/sitting/resting. — It burns more at sleep because it has to work harder to keep everything alive while you are sleeping. That’s why sometimes you might wake up sweating. Your body and brain are running 24 hours a day.
MYTH: it’s a complete myth that you won’t lose weight if you eat at night. And also a Myth that you will lose more weight if you don’t eat at night.
FACT: You can’t eat at night if you already ate all your food during the day. Most people consume more than they need to during the day. So by the time night arrives you are more than done. And yes if you are over eating you will gain. But if you are eating for weight loss and following your menu – it doesn’t matter what time you eat.
I often explain we have weight loss, maintain, and weight gain days. —If you follow your menu and eat all your food that’s allowed from your menu during the day and still grab something extra at night you will go from weight loss- to maintain. If you grab more than something extra it will eventually be a weight gain day. However, if you stick to your menu and you save a snack or two for nighttime it doesn’t matter how late you eat it — you will still lose weight.
RECAP: If nighttime comes and you didn’t save any of your snacks — then you are done and you can’t eat at night. But if you know you like to eat at night then it’s up to you to give up a snack or two during the day and save it for nighttime.
Most people love to eat at night. Why? Because we are in our comfort zone. The outside world no longer exists. The kids have settled down, and you are done with work and you can finally sit and relax in bed or in front of your favorite show. When the sun goes down and dinner has ended – what’s the first thing you do— you find yourself in the pantry or refrigerator looking to grab something to relax with whether it’s a drink, snack or dessert — we reach for our favorites at night. Night time is also when many will go out for a drink or two. Whatever the case the most important thing is to make sure you save your snacks/desserts/drinks for when you need them. It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night you have them.
— We sometimes get into these mindsets – Im going to force myself to not eat at night — and then what happens you end up bingeing. So now you ate your food all day and ate all extra food at night. You wake up in the morning feeling defeated.
FIX: it’s so much easier to plan and prepare. If you like to eat at night – save your snack(s) until night time. You can get through the day a little hungry but if you know night time is too hard – save the snacks. If you know you are going out for a drink with friends at night then you have to give up a snack during the day. It’s an easy fix if you plan for it.
So at the end of the day – it doesn’t matter what time you eat. What matters is you are only eating what is on your menu and never more. Plan it out. Each day know when you are eating and if you like to have something after dinner or night time – plan what you want to save for that time. When you do this you are giving up something during the day. This goes back to when I tell you that it’s okay to be a little hungry. You need to be a little hungry at some point in the day but it doesn’t matter if it’s Morning – Noon – or Night. Plan and embrace the little hunger and skip the snack when you know you can get through it.
TIP: Don’t skip the snack/dessert/drink when you really enjoy it or need it. Skip the snack/dessert/drink and embrace the hunger for when you are busy and it’s easier to get through with tea, water, coffee.
We do our best to stay 110% on program 6 days a week so we can enjoy our cheat day. And when we do stay 110% on program all week long we really look forward to our cheat day — you can use this same mental strength for your days. Pick a snack, dessert or drink that you love to have at night and mentally you will stay on program all day knowing you have a yummy treat at the end of the day to look forward to.
You are the only one who has the power over your own mind
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
