Tag Archive for: snacks

How to Tackle Nighttime Overeating and Binge Eating

Do you find yourself coming home from work after a long day and immediately heading to the fridge? Does it feel like this eating is “out of control”?

There are many reasons why you may be overeating or binge eating at night when you are not physically hungry.

  1. You’re not eating enough during the da,y leading to feelings of ravenous hunger at night.
  2. You are eating for reasons other than biological hunger, such as emotional hunger, boredom, loneliness, sadness, etc.
  3. You ignore the signs of hunger throughout the day.
  4. You are using food as a way to unwind or relax at night due to a hard day or general life stressors.
  5. Eating at night is a habit or a part of your routine (that you just can’t break)

Once you’ve identified when and why you may overeat and binge eat at night—how do you confront this issue?

Here are four ways to end the struggle with nighttime eating:

(1) Eat consistently throughout the day.

Eating meals throughout the day ensures sustained energy, limits glucose spikes and crashes and can be just what you need to stop overeating and bingeing at night.

 

Ensure your meals have a balanced amount of macronutrients—carbohydrates, protein and fat.

 

If you are a chronic dieter, it’s quite possible that you aren’t including this very important nutrient with your meals – carbohydrates! Part of embracing Intuitive Eating is recognizing that all food groups are nutrients fit! Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your body. Add carbs back to your meals throughout the day, and you may just see those nighttime binges disappear.

 

(2) Power up with snacks.

Overeating at night is more than likely due to a lack of sustained fuel throughout the day. Having large gaps between meals with no food can leave you feeling ravenous by the time your next meal comes around.

 

If you have a good rule that states “no eating in between meals”, it’s time to toss that rule to the curb. Adding in a snack, either between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner could prevent those serious hunger pangs that leads to overeating, both at dinner and late at night.

 

Here are some snack suggestions:

  • Cheese, fruit, and crackers
  • Yogurt and granola
  • A handful of trail mix
  • An apple or banana with almond butter

 

(3) Listen to your hunger cues.

Ignoring hunger cues will more than likely lead to overeating. Choosing to listen to the signals of your body will allow you to give your body what it needs. This in turn will help you build back trust with your body.

 

This feeling of trust is important to develop since dieting has stripped you of trust. If you’re holding onto a limiting belief around hunger and fullness, then work on reframing these beliefs into more empowering true beliefs.

 

For example, if you think “I can’t trust my hunger and fullness signals”, flip it around and start to tell yourself “I CAN eat when hungry and stop when full.”

 

(4) Check in on old dieter habits.

Do you find yourself defaulting to old dieting habits? Do you:

  • Only include certain foods in your meals
  • Deny yourself certain foods because they’re “bad”
  • Skip meals
  • Hold onto food rules (ex: no snacking during the day)
  • Ignore your hunger cues

 

These habits are deep rooted in your diet mentality—check in with yourself to identify if these habits may be surfacing. The only solution is to grant yourself unconditional permission to eat and allow yourself foods that satisfy you.

 

Still stuck in the spell of diets? Pop your name and email in the boxes below and start your journey towards breaking the spell of diets and developing TRUST!

 

Unconditional Permission to Snack

As an intuitive eater, it’s all about giving yourself unconditional permission to eat but… are you actually giving yourself unconditional permission to snack as well?

Snacks are an important source of energy and nutrients and can help your body in a lot of different ways—keeping your blood sugar steady, preventing you from having mood swings or even burning out after a long day.

For those exiting the diet world, snacking in between meals was once something deemed wrong—but not with intuitive eating.

 

There is nothing wrong with snacking!

If you’ve denied yourself snacks for a long time, or just simply don’t know where to start, you may be wondering—what the heck do I eat between my meals to satisfy by desires and keep my hunger at bay?

In the world of Intuitive Eating, snacks don’t have to be fancy or meet any sort of requirements to be considered “a snack”—in fact, a snack is whatever you want it to be.

 

For example:

  • Leftovers from the night before
  • A bag of trail mix
  • A bowl of cereal
  • A scoop of ice cream

 

YES! These are all snacks!

Whatever your body is desiring—whether that’s something salty, sweet, light or heavy…there is no judgement on if it’s a snack or not.

 

If it’s fueling your hunger needs, and leaving you satisfied, that’s all that matters!

If snacking is something new to you, or your stuck on what to try, here are some snack ideas based on what YOUR body is telling you:

 

Sweet Snacks

  • Smoothies
  • Oatmeal raisin cookies
  • Banana nut muffin
  • Yogurt with crunchy granola
  • Toast with nut butter, or fruit spread
  • Fresh, canned, dried fruit
  • Chocolate chips

 

Savory Snacks 

  • Dips (like hummus, tzatziki, bean dip, guacamole) with crackers, chips, or veggies
  • Toast with hummus spread, or avocado
  • Cut vegetables like carrots, cucumber, bell peppers, or broccoli florets
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Hard boiled eggs with salt + pepper
  • Tortilla chips (or any kind of chips)
  • Nuts and seeds

 

Salty Snacks

  • Popcorn
  • Homemade potato chips
  • Homemade French fries
  • Olives
  • Cheese dip with crackers
  • Salted roasted chicpeas
  • Trail mix

 

For more information on snacking as an Intuitive Eater, watch my latest video upload at Bonnie.Tube.