How Do I Stop Late Night Snacking?

by Feb 13, 2019Fat Loss, Psychology

How Do I Stop Late Night Eating?

Multiple times I have had clients come to me and mention how they know what they’re doing but just cannot stop themselves when it comes to falling off of their nutrition in the evening, totally derailing the hard work they’ve been putting in during the day and beating themselves up about it.

How Do We Quickly Stop Late Night Eating?

That’s the question a lot of people want to know the answer and whilst there’s no scientific proof that I am aware of, after working with 1000s of people on a 1-1 basis and 1000s more in group and through other programs a pattern has emerged which has allowed me to find the cure for late night eating, at least with the people I have worked with.

This pattern that emerged was specifically around their levels of stress and how many decisions they have to make during the day which in my eyes actually burnt out the portion of the brain which is set up to make these decisions, the portion of the brain which then controls the amount of willpower we actually have available to us, as this decreases we struggle to be consistently logical with some of our decisions and if you then add another dimension to the rate of decline in will power, the level of tiredness you feel, it can be obvious to see the big reason you may be falling off at night after a long stressful day within your business and life as a whole.

As a person who has had multiple periods of late night eating, binge eating and an eating disorder what I will tell you for certain is that those people who say ‘just don’t have the chocolate in the house’ have never really had this issue and are quite frankly twats for saying that is the answer, I used to drive to get peanut butter, chocolate, pizza I even remember driving to a burger joint at 2am then they didn’t have the milkshake I wanted so I went to another 30 minutes away and go my peanut butter milkshake fix finally at 3:30am, I can’t believe I just admitted to that on the internet, the worst thing is that now we are able to have this stuff delivered even easier at any time of the day!

And yes, that was a good few years back!

 

What Is The Cure?

If you’re able to use your imagination here around something I have spoken about multiple times in how we have things called ‘stress stackers’ pilling up during the day. Each stress stacker is like a block in the popular game ‘Jenga’ and piles up until the tower collapses, multiple things can be a stress stacker:

  • Alarm clock
  • Bad weather
  • Traffic
  • Spilt coffee on your clothes
  • Forgetting your charger etc

You can read further into stress stackers from a previous article and video I have published right here

The sooner we have our tower crash the sooner we lose willpower through the day hence why usually by the end of the week we really get big cravings going on due to lowered sleep and higher stress accumulation throughout with a chance to recharge at the weekends fully.

The cure is going to be managing your stress levels by doing certain things for yourself which is actually one of the hardest things that hustling entrepreneurs seem to be able to do and what I have noticed sets high performers aside from other entrepreneurs is their ability to actually do this, love themselves. Loving themselves by doing some of the following things:

  • Breathing/meditation exercises
  • Walking in nature
  • Exercise
  • Eating nutritious food
  • Taking time off
  • Having good relationships and sex
  • Being able to say no when it doesn’t feel right

 

Here’s What I Suggest

By putting yourself first you will be able to develop your own daily routine based on your rules, it won’t happen overnight especially if you have a family and I totally get this but it can and will happen over time if you really want to lower your stress levels.

Get your food tracked:

Use an app such as My Fitness Pal to track all the food you’re having throughout the day including in the evening, at least you will be aware of it rather than just guessing.

Make sleep your ‘non-negotiable’:

If there is one thing I know is more important than other things, no matter how close, especially when it comes to how I feel it is sleep, to me at least 7 hours is non-negotiable, 8 is where I love to be and maybe 8.5 hours when I have hit it a little harder, this isn’t an option, it is non-negotiable for me to not just perform at my best but also not over eat or get cravings later in the evening, ironically one of the things that makes us eat is tiredness and when that’s mixed with FOMO (fear of missing out) due to the latest Netflix box set I know people find it hard to just go to bed, it’s easy when you give yourself the self respect you deserve, Netflix will be there tomorrow for when you’re doing your cardio.

Fibre is key:

Getting a good amount of fibre from fruit and vegetables is going to help you feel fuller for longer, most of the time these late night cravings aren’t even brought on by actual hunger however being able to feel stuffed will help you crave less

Get water in:

Make sure you stay hydrated, when dehydrated you usually will crave sugary foods or even savoury due to their sodium levels, get a glass of water and down it before tucking into any junk.

Be accountable and open:

Find someone you can get to make you accountable, an accountability, health and stress management coach like myself or even a reverse bet can do the trick, check in and discuss anything you have felt before and after you have had and given into these cravings, there will be a pattern you find over time.

 

Overall these cravings are mostly in your head, not an addiction and can be controlled with simple steps, consistency is key along the way and something I look to develop with every single person who comes on board my Revitalization Blueprint coaching, if this is something you want help with then drop me a message, we can chat asap.

 

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