Night Time Eating Derailment - Help!

Late night snacking is a deeply ingrained pattern that almost all of us have been stuck in at one point or another. Even if your goal isn’t to lose weight, eating immediately before bed is not optimal for your health.

Right before bed, it’s best to only drink water or tea and allow your organs a rest period. This creates spaciousness for cellular repair, organ detox, and inflammation repair. However, when life gets real, late-night snacking isn’t always something you can avoid. You might be up late with the kids, be a shift-worker or be dealing with life circumstances that are keeping you up.

Here are a few snack options you can reach to that won’t derail your weight loss efforts. All of these options are in line with the Clean Eating philosophy.

1. Cucumber slices with lemon juice + salt or hummus

Cucumber slices are refreshing, light on the system and full of water. Sometimes just a light snack of fresh sliced veggies with a bit of hummus will be just the right amount of food to help you disarm your cravings and get to sleep without eating too much.

2. Ezekiel bread, gluten-free toast or rice-cake with coconut oil + salt or sliced avocado

Sometimes a slice of toast or a rice cake is just the right amount of carbs to help put your cravings to bed and allow you a good nights rest without feeling stressed out by your thoughts about food. You can add a slice of avocado or some coconut oil and salt for a bit of healthy fat.

3. Chamomile tea with a teaspoon of honey and splash of coconut milk

Sometimes what your body really seeks is comfort. If you feel like your hunger craving is really a call for warmth, try a nice cup of chamomile tea with a splash of coconut milk and a spoonful of honey.

4. Hardboiled egg

Mostly protein and a little bit of fat, a hard boiled egg (or two) can help you relax your cravings and get to bed without dreaming of food all night.

5. Sliced Celery and Apple with almond butter

Apples and celery with a small spoonful of almond butter will give you a little bit of carbs and protein but not too much before bed.

6. A few slices of left over chicken or turkey

Eating a bit of protein can help you curb your late-night cravings and go to bed without feeling too full.

Stress can trigger hunger that isn’t necessarily ‘true hunger’. But when you’re in the midst of hormonal chaos, it’s nearly impossible to avoid giving in, and before you know it you’ve consumed double your calories for the day at midnight.

One of the most effective ways to bring yourself back into balance is to give your body the feeling of being “safe and supported”.

This is important, because feeling safe triggers your brain to relax. When your brain isn’t being driven by stress, it stops sending signals  to the rest of your body that forcibly cause you to overeat.

On a primal level if your brain is saying “we’re in trouble” your body will respond with “we better eat as much as we can and store ALL of it as fat”.

When we’re stressed, our digestion slows down, our metabolism crashes and the fat can pack on quick. But once you move through this phase and give yourself the time to come back into balance, the weight can also come off fairly easily.

Clean Eating + Self-Care are the two key ingredients to getting the results you want. 

I created a community for those that Clean Week will help support and help you through the hardest part of this journey, the first 7 days. While you’re taking the challenge, all of your meal plans and workout routines are mapped out for you to take the stress off as much as possible.

You’ll also be in the community with all of the incredible people who who are just starting out on their own Clean Eating Journey with you.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, powerless or alone, I want to invite you to join me in the group by taking the 7 Day Clean Week Challenge.

Let's do this!

Christi