It’s a painfully familiar picture: everything around has fallen asleep, it’s dark everywhere, but then light appears in the kitchen, and a hand reaches out to the refrigerator door, at first hesitantly, and then confidently. Then everything is like a fog. The desire to eat all the goodies at once does not disappear until the hunger goes away, forcing us to get out of our warm bed and go in search of delicacies. What to do if you want to eat at night, and how to get rid of the habitual midnight vigil, which turns into extra pounds on your sides and hips?
A hard day at work, a trip to the cinema or a party with friends, and now you find yourself at home. Remembering that your figure will not become slim by itself, you deny yourself dinner: after all, it’s already seven o’clock - you can’t eat. At night you toss and turn and can’t close your eyes. How can you calm both yourself and your grumbling empty stomach? There is only one way out - tiptoe into the kitchen and put into your mouth everything that your eyes fall on: a sandwich with sausage and cheese, a bun, a cutlet... After that, your soul is calm, and you have extremely pleasant dreams. It’s just that the number on the scale is terrifying - away with dreams of a thin waist.
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A cry for help sounds like a sentence. I eat at night, what should I do? Put a lock on the refrigerator? Test your endurance by counting sheep? Fight off hunger with your favorite pastime - but this will result in lack of sleep and constant fatigue! It's time to understand the causes of the bad habit and find effective ways to get rid of it.
Is it harmful to eat at night?
Is late-night snacking really that bad? We can say with confidence - yes, it really has a negative impact on our condition. During sleep, the stomach should rest, and not work like a clock. Continuous exercise leads to poor health in the morning, lethargy and loss of strength. Interesting fact: by falling asleep, rather than devouring endless pies and rolls, we help rejuvenate the body.
Experts say: there are two things that provoke aging. These are trips to the refrigerator in the dark and severe restrictions on food, leading to starvation.
The frightening news for those who like to eat heartily while others sleep soundly does not end there. The harm of the habit of eating at night lies in the destructive effect it has on the digestive system. The stomach has difficulty coping with unplanned work: it simply gives up and does not complete its task, because it wants to rest, and not work until the morning. The result of this “shirking” is that glucose enters the liver. Do you think there's nothing wrong with this? However, the consequences of such a movement are the storage of fat in reserve and unwanted extra pounds. Eating as a substitute for restful and healthy sleep is one of the causes of obesity.
Metabolism also suffers: salts stagnate in the body, which affects joint mobility. Pain and stiffness of movement arise, and sedentary work in the office becomes simply unbearable. Muscle fatigue and arthritis are constant companions of this unpleasant process.
Disrupting the body's work cycle is extremely dangerous. It can react not only with weight gain, but also with the occurrence of serious diseases: diabetes, atherosclerosis, sudden surges in pressure. Do you need such problems? I’m sure no one wants to grow old before their time and acquire a bunch of sores.
Reception “We satiate ourselves with everyday food, and enjoy the delicacy”
We often overeat not because we want to eat at night, but because we want to enjoy ourselves.
A delicacy is a food whose task is not at all to satiate us, fill us with energy, proteins and vitamins. The task of the delicacy, with the help of an abundance of bright tastes and aromas, is to evoke special pleasure, joy, improve our mood, and create a feeling of comfort.
Treats are always either excessively fatty or excessively sweet food, and often both fatty and sweet at the same time. For example, smoked sausage, caviar, chocolate, or sponge cake.
The need for treats may be greater or less. But rarely does anyone have any need for treats at all.
People who are alarmed about something eat, sometimes at night, more treats, people who are calm eat less. It is in the abuse of such food that the psychological reasons for extra pounds lie. But you can correct overeating of treats with the help of nutrition.
Avoid eating treats on an empty stomach or at night. Don't turn treats into meals in their own right. Eat them in small quantities at the end of the meal, after having had your fill of everyday food, that is, not very fatty and not very sweet food. Eat them slowly, savoring every bite. This way you will be satisfied with very small amounts of tasty food and enjoy their taste. And no risk of extra pounds.
How not to want to eat in the evening at night: reasons for “breakdowns”
Why does the desire to put another tasty treat in our mouths flare up in us when we are about to sleep? How to explain the very fact of midnight feeding? After all, the body will not give signals, begging for saturation, just like that!
- The first reason that causes a feeling of hunger in the dark is an incorrect diet, incorrect distribution of portions throughout the day. As a rule, most lovers of snacks at night deny themselves breakfast, somehow have lunch at work, hastily swallowing instant noodles or eating unhealthy fast food. They allow themselves to relax only in the evening. That’s when freedom begins: fried potatoes, fatty chops, pickles and jams fly into the stomach...
- Are you nervous about trifles or are you struggling for a long time and decisively with prolonged depression? Stress also leads to a harmful desire to console yourself at night, recklessly wielding a knife and fork. When we are sad, we look for a source of joy and positivity. As a rule, many people prefer to shorten their search and choose food.
- The last reason is problems in the functioning of our body. Those of us who suffer from gastritis or diabetes really want to eat at night. Excessive secretion of gastric juice, increased blood sugar levels - disturbances in biochemical processes can lead to more and more “disruptions”. In this case, a recommendation from an endocrinologist or gastroenterologist would be good advice.
How to stop eating at night? Is the fight against hunger really doomed to failure? Let's try to find the answer to a popular question and help those who have become hostage to their own desires, which have a detrimental effect on their figure, spoil their health and lead to more and more disorders.
The “Walk = Lose Weight” Technique
As has been noted, moderate-intensity exercise improves mood, a feeling of vigor and... reduces appetite. The thing is that such a load stimulates the breakdown of stored fat and thereby reduces the need for food as a source of energy.
The best example of such a load is recreational walking. The pulse at the height of the load is no more than 110 per minute, the sensations are only pleasant. No shortness of breath, no palpitations. There should be enough breathing to maintain a simple conversation. The feeling of vigor and tone after completing such a workout should be higher than before. The best thing is healthy walking, exercise on a treadmill, or an exercise bike. Duration 20-30 minutes per day. The optimal time for classes is 19-20 pm.
I must warn you that intense and super-intense exercise, with shortness of breath and sweat, will most likely lead to an increase in appetite and uncontrolled eating.
How to stop eating at night
What do sufferers who want to get rid of their addiction to late snacks do: they inhale essential oils, in the hope that this will definitely help and prevent the feeling of hunger, brush their teeth as soon as the desire to eat their favorite treat arises, put on tight clothes to remind themselves about the imperfections of the figure... It’s all to no avail: at midnight a plate appears on the kitchen table, filled to the brim with goodies. We offer the following effective ways to break the habit of eating at night:
- We must not forget that the root of all evil is poor nutrition and limiting oneself in food. You starve, and then you break down, attacking cakes and sweets. Is constant testing of the body's strength worth the end result - weight gain and metabolic disorders? Stop exhausting yourself and plan your daily diet wisely. You can eat delicious food without gaining weight. How do you like this news? Sounds tempting. Together with us, divide all products into “profitable” and “unprofitable”. Monitor the calorie content of your meals, adjust your diet, and the results will not take long to arrive.
- How to force yourself not to eat at night? First, try giving yourself a full breakfast. You need to saturate your body in the morning regularly, and not every other day or whenever you want. Your health is not a toy. The consequences of fasting after sleep are the rapid onset of hunger, increased appetite and the appearance of extra pounds. If we want to become slim, we will have to forget about the habit of skipping our morning meal.
- Are you coming up with new ways to avoid eating at night while your empty stomach grumbles menacingly? Stop skipping dinner. This is another mandatory component of a proper diet, and you cannot break the routine. We are talking about both “night owls” and “larks”. Surprisingly, you can eat more calories in the evenings and not gain weight. However, do not forget that this rule will only work if the energy value of dinner does not exceed 650 kcal for women and 950 kcal for men. What to eat to fill yourself up before rest, meeting the specified norm? The ideal option would be fish or lean meat, poultry or game with a side dish of vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, zucchini, etc. Be sure to calculate the calorie content of each dish!
What to do to avoid eating at night? Another tip is to drink more water. Place a full glass in each room if you constantly forget about your fluid intake. Fun fact: Warm or hot water reduces your appetite. She finds it easy to feel full between meals. You should not quench your thirst immediately after lunch: this will lead to “retention” of fat in the body and weight gain.
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Stop eating for the night! Have pity on your body, and it will definitely thank you with harmony and wonderful well-being throughout the day. Create the right diet with us. The clinic’s doctors will select the right program and help you get rid of extra pounds by eating tasty and healthy food. Get slim without debilitating restrictions and resorting to dubious methods.
Food at night: how I stopped snacking before bed
So that you understand: food at night is not dinner, but what follows it. As a rule, the feeling “I’m not hungry, but I want to eat something” appeared in me a couple of hours after my evening meal. And, as you might guess, it was not a lettuce leaf. Cookies, nice chunks of buttered loaf, and chocolate bars were what I ate before bed. A moment of acute pleasure was replaced by remorse, but the next evening everything was repeated.
No, I didn’t become overweight (yet), but after a heavy meal I slept restlessly and got up the next morning exhausted and with a heaviness in my stomach. Instead of detoxifying and restoring, my body sought to digest everything that I had thrown into it shortly before bed. Sometimes long after midnight. Realizing that I couldn’t cope with the habit on my own, I turned to psychologist Natalya Knyazeva for help. Looking ahead, I will say that I only needed two consultations. And then the second one was a control test, just in case.
There are many reasons why we want to eat that are not related to physiological hunger. We may turn to food to improve our mood or cope with stress. My reason turned out to be even more banal: with the help of food at night, I tried to relieve drowsiness in order to spend more time with my night owl husband.
So I had to choose between sleep and communication. And more and more often I went to bed an hour or two earlier than him. It's a shame? A little. But how light, energetic and proud of myself I began to get up the next day! Of course, this recipe is not suitable for everyone. Below are other ways to gradually stop eating at night.
Have an afternoon snack around 5 p.m. Eat fresh berries (in summer), some dried fruit or a banana (at other times of the year). This way you stimulate the production of serotonin - the hormone of happiness. It, in turn, will trigger the synthesis of the hormone melatonin, a regulator of circadian rhythms. You will be emotionally stable and calm for the rest of the day.
Take a break
Do yoga, meditation or sex. Go for a walk. Shake your abs. After this, you can take a warm bath with oils or foam. It's good to bring a book or magazine there, as well as a glass of water or relaxing herbal tea.
Get a manicure
Paint your nails with polish according to the rules in four layers: with a base, two layers of color and a top coat. Now you can't touch anything for an hour.
Decide in advance
If you can’t immediately give up food at night, try following Natalya Knyazeva’s recommendations. They helped me.
“Immediately after dinner, take a nice plate and put on it everything that you plan to eat today before going to bed, if you feel so inclined,” the psychologist suggests. — It’s good to divide these products into small portions. After eating one, wait 15 minutes before eating the next one. Naturally, you don’t have to finish everything you put on it.”
What to choose? A good option is natural yogurt with a low (but not zero!) fat content and other “evening” foods that calm the nervous system and help you fall asleep.
Clear the landscape
The best way to avoid eating junk food like crackers or candy bars at night is to not have them at home. Instead of chips and salted nuts, it is better to stock up on dried fruits.
If for some reason you cannot avoid buying fast food, at least let it not come into your field of vision. Put these products in closed cabinets. This will increase the chance that you will choose what you put on a nice plate for your nightly meal.
Eating consciously
In front of the TV, computer, telephone and even a book, we eat mechanically, without giving ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the taste. Move each piece in your mouth to fully experience its taste. After all, different areas of the tongue are capable of capturing different shades of taste.
To lengthen the tasting process, you can put frozen berries, pieces of fruit or a slice of chocolate on a beautiful plate. Cold significantly reduces the sensitivity of taste buds, and with it the desire to chew something goes away. Plus, a frozen piece of chocolate will need to sit on your tongue for about two minutes to melt! Maximum pleasure with minimum calories.
