Stop Late Night Snacking

If eating late at night is a problem for you, try these easy-to-use strategies!

Is late night snacking a problem for you? Do you often eat late at night even though you have had a substantial dinner? Have you ever woken up during the night with intense sugar cravings?

If so, you're not alone. Many people fall into the trap of eating late at night despite the fact that they want to lose weight. As we all know eating late at night is one of the worst things you can do if you want to lose weight!

Nevertheless, it is a habit that you can easily overcome and in this article we will cover the 4 best ways to stop late night snacking fast!

Eat more during the day

The first step you may want to consider taking is to eat more during the day. Now, I know this may sound counter-intuitive since you're trying to lose weight but if you're feeling hungry at night the reason may be due to the fact that your body needs food. If so, feed it!

You are far better off eating a bit more food during the day when your body can burn it off rather than eating late at night when your body is preparing for sleep and your metabolism is starting to slow down.

when some people want to lose weight they will tend to skip meals or severely restrict their food intake. Even though a calorie deficit is required in order to lose weight, if the deficit is too severe then extreme hunger often results, leading to late night snacking.

My own experiences with late night snacking have usually occurred on Sunday evenings . The reason for my late night snacking episodes was due to the fact that I had slept in that morning. On those days I would get up at around 10am and have breakfast.

However, this is normally the time I would have been having my mid-morning meal so I'd actually missed a meal by getting up at this time. As a result, when the evening came around, even after having dinner, I was still hungry simply because I had not consumed enough calories (energy) that day compared to what my body required.

If you experience a similar situation then all you need to do is simply make a conscious effort to eat slightly more food in each of the meals you have during the day. This doesn't mean you need to stuff yourself but by simply having a little bit more food in the 4 or 5 meals you will be able to ensure you don't get the cravings at night.

Also, if you do happen to get cravings at night then you may want to eat a punnet of strawberries after dinner. Strawberries are delicious but only contain about 10 grams of carbs in 1.5 cups of them! This will make it much easier to overcome your cravings without consuming too many calories.

Have a slightly larger portion of
protein with your dinner

Protein has potent appetite-suppressing effects so having a slightly larger portion size with your dinner means that your appetite in the evening as well as your tendency to get cravings will be significantly reduced. This of course means that your likelihood to to indulge in late night snacking will be reduced as well.

Change your evening habits

If you get into the habit of consistently performing the same action after dinner each night your brain remembers this and encourages you to do the same thing repeatedly.

For example, if you create the habit of sitting on the couch after dinner, watching television and eating biscuits, your brain automatically starts encouraging you to do the same things every night after dinner. Even when you don't feel hungry (because you just ate dinner), you brain starts making you get cravings for the biscuits and the late night snacking cycle begins.

Also, think for a moment about where most kids go when they get home from school each day. As soon as they walk through the door they go to the fridge or the pantry to look for something to eat.

Did they go the fridge or pantry because they were hungry? Maybe. Or did they go there because that is what had done dozens of times before and their brain had linked the two activities together?

Therefore, if you do have the habit of eating snacks or biscuits after dinner at night, make a conscious effort to change the habit. Perhaps drink a glass of water instead or eat a punnet of strawberries.

Even better still, get off the couch and do something, anything! Go and read a book, take the dog for a walk, listen to some music, have a conversation with your partner, anything at all.

If your reason for snacking is due to a conditioned response, then you just need to make a conscious effort to change what you do in the evening and then create a more positive, empowering response.

Take GI Factor with your dinner

For most people dinner is their largest meal of the day. If this is the case for you then it may be possible that it is causing your blood sugar level to fluctuate quite a lot. This fluctuation in blood sugar may be the result of a large insulin response, which results from eating a substantial meal.

Since insulin's function is to store nutrients in the body cells, a few hours after eating a large meal your blood glucose is likely to drop, resulting in sugar cravings.

By taking a glucose disposal agent like, GI Factor with your dinner, your body will not need to secrete as much insulin because the glucose disposal agents will assist insulin in its function as well as mimicking insulin's action. This of course makes it easier to keep your blood sugar level stable and therefore, avoid cravings and late night snacking.

These 4 strategies can definitely stop your late night snacking habit quickly and easily. Try them and see for yourself how effective they are.

Also, if you would like to discover more strategies to help you lose weight and get in great shape, get a copy of my e-book, 'Look Good Feel Great!'

Please Add Your Comments Here!

For taking the time to give me your feedback I am pleased to send you a complimentary copy of my 52-page e-book, 'How to Lose All the Weight You Want in the Next 90 Days!' (Valued at $17).

Please provide a return email address with your comments. Your contact details will always remain private and will not be published, shared or sold.

Here is the complete list of nutrition articles: