Sweet, sound sleep depends on how well a person has prepared for it in the evening. An important role here is played by dishes that are eaten shortly before going to bed. How to prevent insomnia, fall asleep quickly and enjoy pleasant dreams, and how many hours before bedtime can you eat without harm to your health?
General rules for eating before bed
How long is it better not to eat before bed, and can mistakes in evening meals cause insomnia? If you turn this question to reliable medical reference books, you will find out that the general requirements have not changed for decades - it is not recommended to eat food three hours before going to bed.
Another question that arises is what is healthy to eat and is it right that we eat dishes that look tempting but have an adverse effect on sleep? Doctors warn that not all foods have a beneficial effect on dreams, and after an evening snack you will only be left wondering where insomnia came from. To avoid trouble, it is better to understand in advance what you can and cannot eat.
Basic rules to remember:
- distribute the diet correctly - during the daytime portions should be larger than at dinner;
- in the evening, give preference to dishes rich in carbohydrates;
- do not eat food later than 2-3 hours before going to bed;
- Do not injure the body by completely refusing to eat - this causes stress, health problems, digestive disorders, and deterioration in overall well-being.
Another rule is not to forget that some drinks are also harmful and have a negative effect on sleep, and their choice must be taken carefully.
Metabolism after six pm
Why is it so important not to eat 2 hours before bedtime, and what processes in the body are disrupted due to mistakes made? Bright daylight affects the level of glucose in the blood, the activity of the production of the sleep hormone and other processes, so at night the work of the digestive organs slows down significantly.
It is quite difficult to determine when the activity of the digestive organs decreases; this happens at different times for each person, which is why it is so important to maintain proper nutrition, this will help prevent insomnia. Consumption of fast carbohydrates will not be beneficial - the menu must be balanced. High-calorie food will be dangerous here - it will not have time to be absorbed before bedtime and will affect the sides and abdomen in the form of fatty deposits.
But the ban on eating immediately before bed is not only associated with fat accumulation. The fact is that a full stomach will interfere with falling asleep, and food will not be able to be digested normally while asleep. This will lead to morning sickness, constipation (especially if you eat heavily), and indigestion. It is also possible that you feel tired, because having eaten before going to bed, we force the digestive system to work all night.
Ideal dinner for weight loss. The main principles of a healthy dinner
Before moving on to specific dinner options for weight loss, let's first look at the basic principles of creating a healthy dinner. So what is important to know about your last meal?
1. You need to have dinner about 3 hours before bedtime. Not earlier, otherwise you will go to bed hungry. And not later, otherwise the food will not have time to be absorbed.
2. To avoid overeating for dinner, be sure to have a full breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.
3. Forget about the rule: do not eat after 18.00. Unless, of course, you go to bed at 21.00.
4. Also forget about the rule: “eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to your enemy.” You need to have dinner, otherwise hungry evenings will definitely lead you to an eating breakdown.
5. But you don’t need to overeat in the evening. Avoid situations where you snack during the day, and in the evening you decide to catch up on what you missed for the whole day.
6. As a rule, dinner should be 20-25% of the daily calorie intake.
7. The ideal dinner for weight loss should include protein and fiber-rich foods. Protein is a tool for building our muscles and bones, and fiber is a product that is not processed into fat cells.
8. If you still couldn’t restrain yourself and ate too much for dinner, don’t go on a hunger strike the next day. Better organize yourself an additional cardio workout.
9. You can limit yourself to evening kefir (for example, with bran), but only if you eat your calorie allowance during the day. Not the minimum of 1200 kcal, but the norm.
10. The most important rule for losing weight: eat less than your body can burn in a whole day. Therefore, yes, counting the caloric content of the diet and maintaining the balance of dietary fat is the basic principle of nutrition throughout the day, regardless of the correct “dinners” and “breakfasts”. BUT! If you learn to properly plan your menu during the day, you are guaranteed to achieve weight loss faster.
Optimal time for dinner
When and what you should eat – even experienced nutritionists and doctors do not have the same opinion on this matter. Some people believe that eating after 6 pm will affect your sleep at night and your body fat. Others argue that it is not the time that is important, but the break between the last meal and going to bed. Which of them is right, and what is best to do so as not to stimulate violations?
Most doctors say that the last meal should occur long before going to bed, the optimal time is 3 hours. Only as a last resort do they have a snack later, following the rules - for dinner, eat light food that is not enriched with calories. By the way, milk can be an excellent late-night snack. It has already been tested by many people: it promotes quick and quality sleep. A mug taken in small sips before bed is enough.
Ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner for weight loss. Menu for weight loss. Basics
First, let's remember the basic principles of nutrition during weight loss:
- hunger is prohibited!!!
- meals with an interval of no more than 4 hours;
- there are no prohibited products;
- the food is tasty and varied;
- stick to the optimal caloric intake (read how to calculate here).
Friends, when creating a menu for weight loss, remember that food, in addition to satisfying hunger, also gives pleasure. This is how it should be during weight loss. There is no need to eat tasteless food. It won't do any good.
If you now think that the easiest way is to boil buckwheat for the amount of daily calories, or buy low-fat cottage cheese and eat it until you lose weight. Stop! It is not right.
Don't rely on your willpower in hopes of holding out. Will not work! You'll fail sooner or later anyway. In order to lose weight, there is no need to “choke” on food that you don’t like. It is much easier to eat varied and tasty food.
Also, do not prohibit yourself from eating after a certain time. Eat when you are hungry. Just don’t confuse hunger and appetite - more details here. Focus on the physical manifestations of hunger - nausea, weakness, suction in the pit of the stomach, discomfort in the stomach. Believe me, it will do much more harm if you go to bed feeling hungry than if you have a snack before bed so that hunger does not bother you and prevent you from falling asleep.
My only wish is to try not to have dinner as your main meal. You yourself know when your body has the greatest need for food, focus on this, distributing the daily calorie intake in accordance with your needs.
And before we move directly to creating a menu for weight loss, I will remind you that fractional meals involve 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2-3 snacks (more is possible). We distribute the entire daily calorie intake over these 5-6 meals.
What can you eat at night
What can you eat if the night is ahead and you don’t want to ruin your sleep in any way by causing insomnia? There are many dishes, the consumption of which does not threaten sweet sleep and has a positive effect on overall health. It is useful to eat at night:
- boiled chicken breast (you can eat no more than 130 grams at night without harm);
- nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts);
- vegetables, herbs (preferably uncooked or boiled);
- buckwheat, pasta (no more than 100 g);
- light dishes from vegetables, avocados, legumes without adding fatty sauces or hot seasonings;
- boiled fish.
The benefits of fresh fruits before bed are beyond doubt - the fruits will relieve hunger and allow you to sleep peacefully. It is important not to overuse even fruits - everything should be in moderation.
Pay attention to drinks too. Soda water, despite its low calorie content, is far from the best solution. It is recommended to drink a glass of kefir or natural yogurt - they will promote restful sleep without unpleasant dreams or frequent waking up. The only condition is that these drinks must be without sweet fillings.
Will I have trouble sleeping if I eat and go to bed? Doctors warn that even light, low-calorie meals stimulate insomnia, so you should definitely go to bed after 1–2 hours. Only this guarantees that nothing will interfere with your sleep.
Reasons for Late Snacking
We have already figured out how harmful the “night watch” is; now it is important to understand the causes of such attacks in order to eradicate this bad habit once and for all.
- Habits associated with external stimuli and circumstances.
- Lack of a full dinner.
- Lack of food and specific elements (vitamins, minerals) per day.
- Moral prohibitions or troubling problems.
Of course, there may be several reasons or even all of them together, so you need to analyze your behavior, feelings and determine what is the impetus for eating late. Don't be discouraged if you think that all 4 reasons describe your case, it just means that you need to try all the solutions given below.
Let's look at each reason in a little more detail using specific examples.
- Every evening you want to watch TV/film/series and “chew” something while watching it. Or you’re used to drinking tea and cookies with your family/friends before bed. Or you come home from work late and tired, you just want to quickly eat something and go to bed. Or simply, you are used to falling asleep only with a full stomach.
- We didn’t have time to eat before a certain time (invented by you) and decided to skip dinner altogether. Or they ate 1 cucumber and 50 grams of fish (which is portioned and does not reach 200 grams). Or they decided to eat a bar or cake for the allowed amount of calories (and this is a fast carbohydrate that sharply increases blood sugar and quickly “evaporates”).
- All day at work, my head is occupied with other things, as a result of the day a couple of apples and a sandwich (at best). Or you eat the same type of food for a week (an unbalanced diet and, as a result, a lack of vitamins). Or you decided to go on a diet where you need to eat too little per day.
- You strictly limit yourself to something, forbid yourself a certain product (the forbidden fruit is sweet). Or in the evening all the problems of life come up and to calm down, you eat just one chocolate bar.
And now we are all sobbing from hopelessness and exhaling deeply. This is not a tragedy at all and there are no ideal people in the world. Any problem can be overcome if you take it seriously. That's what we'll do now.
What not to eat at night
What exactly should you not eat and how many hours before bedtime is it better to have dinner? Even if you follow the recommendations of doctors or nutritionists and sit down for an evening meal no later than three hours before going to bed, not all dishes are allowed to be consumed. Some foods take a long time to digest, and it is they that cause sleep disturbances or stimulate insomnia. Doctors warn - eat easily digestible, low-calorie foods that will allow you to fall asleep quickly and will not cause inconvenience at night.
It is strictly forbidden to consume the following dishes, even in small quantities.
Ice cream
The sweet treat provokes a sharp increase in blood sugar, and the chocolate present in the composition contains caffeine, which excites the nervous system.
Red meat
One of the foods that takes a long time to digest. Even a few hours are not enough to fully absorb the beneficial elements. Red meat contains tyrazine, which stimulates brain function.
Chips
The spicy product activates the senses. Another problem that arises after consumption is severe heartburn until the morning.
Sweet cereal
They often contain a considerable number of components that increase blood sugar levels.
Pasta with hot sauce or plenty of butter
The combination of starch and carbohydrates negatively affects night's sleep, and spicy additions often provoke painful heartburn.
Pizza
This dish usually contains an abundance of sauces and meat, which cause heaviness in the stomach and heartburn.
Fruit salads
Not all fruits are good for sleep - many citruses and berries provoke frequent urination.
You should also avoid canned soups. Despite warnings from manufacturers, this product contains many additives and salt that cause thirst. Due to the concentration of such components, you will not be able to get enough sleep: you will often wake up.
A light snack after dinner is considered especially dangerous. Even if you feel a slight feeling of hunger, it is better not to satisfy it with foods that are heavy on the stomach - this will certainly negatively affect your night's sleep.
Calorie calculation algorithm
Any weight loss begins with the correct construction of a diet and calculation of the daily calorie intake. The formula for calculating the food consumed (proteins, fats, carbons) helps you correctly calculate your diet and not frantically search on the Internet for “how many hours before bedtime you can eat.” Such formulas exist on the Internet and applications.
The calculator, in accordance with the given weight and height of the human body, calculates:
- Daily calorie intake.
- Sample menu taking into account all individual indicators.
- A load that will “burn” everything gained during the day.
The application will even select the ideal program to not only maintain your current weight, but also get rid of excess weight.
There are already many analogues of such useful programs on the Internet, and there are many positive responses from people who have worked with such applications.
Night gluttony
It often happens that at night the body requires food. I have to wake up and go to the refrigerator. Such night hikes do not bode well - it is snacking instead of sleep that becomes the main cause of obesity. Nutritionists recommend satisfying your hunger before going to bed, and not at night.
Regardless of how many calories were consumed during sleep, the food will not be completely absorbed. There is only one reason here - all organs, including the digestive tract, work in slow motion at night. Thanks to this, most of the elements of the food consumed will be deposited on the sides and waist. Falling asleep after eating at night is also much more difficult - the stomach may require additional portions of food.
One way to cope with nighttime gluttony is to allow the body to be full during the evening meal. To do this, it is not necessary to increase food portions - it is better to introduce greens and vegetable fats into the diet, completely eliminating sweets and fast carbohydrates.
However, if you just can’t control yourself, get up at night with a feeling of wild hunger and go to satisfy it, this may be an indicator of health problems. You should definitely contact a therapist who will prescribe the necessary tests.
There are not so many secrets of proper nutrition that will help you enjoy a sound, sweet sleep. If you carefully understand all the features of the evening meal, you can not only forget about insomnia forever, but also feel the beneficial effects of foods on the body, cope with extra pounds, and stock up on energy and vigor overnight for the whole next day.
