What to do not eat in the evening. Psychological techniques should not be eaten at night. Reception "pre-meal"
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.
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.
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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 evoking feeling hunger in the dark - 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 noodles instant cooking 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 good advice will be a recommendation from an endocrinologist or gastroenterologist.
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 hostages own desires, which have a detrimental effect on the figure, spoil health and lead to new and new disorders.
How to stop eating at night
What sufferers who want to get rid of their addiction to late-night snacks don’t do: they inhale essential oils, in the hope that this will definitely help and prevent the feeling of hunger, they brush their teeth as soon as the desire to eat their favorite treat arises, put on tight clothes to remind themselves of the imperfections of their figure... All to no avail: at midnight a plate appears on the kitchen table, filled to the brim goodies. We offer the following effective ways getting rid of 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 it worth it constant test the body on the strength of the final 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 energy value dinner will 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. Interesting fact: warm or hot water reduces 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.
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.
Good day to you, my dear readers! Question: “How to avoid eating late in the evening and at night?” - very serious. After all, eating at night puts your health at risk, causing your body to age at a rapid pace.
It's all about growth hormone - this hormone is responsible for the renewal and restoration of the body. And it is produced during night sleep, and for a sufficient amount of the hormone to appear, the last meal should be no later than 3-4 hours before bedtime.
It is clear that eating at night does not fit into the normal functioning of the body at night - it simply will not allow it to restore strength and renew cells (read - rejuvenate!).
But how can you not eat at night if your work schedule won’t allow you to eat differently? Or if it has become a real habit-obsession?
Let's try to answer these tricky questions.
Eating at night: is your regime to blame?
No, not a daily routine, as you might think, but a nutritional regimen.
Coping with a bad habit
I’ll say right away that eating at night is not natural for a person - a nighttime craving for the refrigerator can only appear due to constantly repeated actions, which subsequently become a bad habit.
Moreover, a person always finds a fairly logical explanation for why he eats at night.
For example, I got used to night trips to the kitchen during the first year of my son’s life. He didn't sleep well, and I breastfed him several times a night. After each feeding, I would eat some nuts or cookies, telling myself that I needed to replenish nutrients for subsequent feedings.
This went on for a couple of months until I realized that it had become a habit. And then I thought well (this was, of course, during the day - at night we are not always able to think logically) and admitted to myself that eating at night was a consolation for me, a kind of compensation for the lack of sleep and the nervous tension it caused.
And I decided never to eat at night, and even recorded this decision in writing. In addition, I wrote that if I eat at night, I will gain weight, grow old, and, therefore, experience even deeper nervous shocks. I ended this opus with the phrase: “I want to be young, beautiful and healthy, but eating at night prevents me from doing this. I firmly decided not to eat at night.”
And from that day on there was not a single crumb in my mouth eaten at night.
How to refuse food at night - a concrete plan
So, a few mandatory steps:
1. You build your diet according to the above model.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to refuse food at night. You have to eat sometime! If you eat little in the morning and during the day, then your increased evening appetite is predictable.
I emphasize once again: in the morning – enough, in the afternoon – moderately, in the evening – modestly.
2. You recognize the problem.
Not at the level of complaints to friends or passing thoughts, but seriously.
Take time for this - admit to yourself that there is a problem and proceed to the next step.
3. You make a decision.
Making a decision in writing is the best option.
You can write what prompted you to do this, why you don’t want to eat at night anymore. It’s even better to indicate a few very specific goals for which eating at night is only a hindrance.
4. You support yourself.
I supported myself this way: I reread my decision several times a day, like a royal decree. Therefore, it “popped up” in my head quite often during the day, and at night (even sleepless!) I had no desire to eat.
Working hours and night meals
Does your work schedule force you to eat at night? Let's figure it out.
Daytime employment
Option one. During the day, you absolutely cannot find time to eat - it is occupied with more important tasks.
I had this too. I decided it this way: dried fruits, fruits, nuts, diet bread, baby food (fruit and meat purees) are always at hand, and you can allocate 5 minutes for food 3-4 times a working day.
Portions are:
- 1-2 fruits;
- 3-5 dried fruits;
- 5-6 nuts;
- a jar of any puree.
Bread can be added to anything.
What will it give? You will not have an increased evening appetite, because... you still ate during the day.
Eating before leaving work is especially important! He will prevent.
Night schedule
Option two. You work at night, so you eat at night.
But why do you eat? This will not help you become more energetic - the body perceives food differently at night, it is also digested, but the pace of this process is much slower.
Coffee or tea can sometimes really help, but food doesn't.
If you wake up hungry at night, believe me, this is the result of habit and/or poor diet. Try eating in the evening - before work, and in the morning - after work.
If it doesn’t help, start working with the habit, and not with night hunger, because... it is probably false.
In fact, your answer to the question “how to avoid eating late at night?” can only be based on awareness and firmness of decision. There is no magic pill or shaman that will rid you of late-night eating. Yes, you know that yourself. Make a decision - and late night eating will no longer ruin your life. With all my heart I wish you firm decisions and easy victories!
Surely, you have noticed that in the evening you want to eat many times more than during the day. How to deal with “night hunger”? Take our tips, they really work!
“Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, give dinner to your enemy.” Proverb
It's funny that the proverb doesn't say anything about what to do with a late-night snack?
Causes of nighttime breakdowns
Why do we find ourselves drawn to the refrigerator when night falls? Midnight eating is a way to eliminate the brain signals that are begging for satiety. In fact, to solve a problem, you need to eliminate the cause. Overeating at night can have several causes:
1. Incorrect diet and illiterate distribution of portions per day - lovers of snacks at night often refuse breakfast, have little lunch at work, “swallowing” mashed potatoes and instant noodles on the go. People allow themselves to relax in the evening. That’s when the stomach has a “holiday”. They use fried potatoes, pickles, chops...
2. Nervous situations and prolonged depression - stress is one of the motivators of the desire to eat at night in order to drown out mental pain. Instead of looking for a source of positivity, many choose the easiest source of pleasure - food at night.
3. Improper functioning of the body - eating before bed can be tempting for those who suffer from diabetes or gastritis. When there is an excessive level of sugar or acidity in the stomach, “breakdowns” occur, and the person runs to the refrigerator.
The question “how to stop eating at night” is asked not only by snack lovers, but also by everyone who watches their figure.
Eating at night is harmful!
Most people cannot eat at all in the morning, and easily skip breakfast. But it’s probably impossible to find people who don’t like to dine. Many people like to eat before bed, and attempts to “not eat after six” usually lead to breakdowns and irritability.
From a medical point of view, overeating at night is harmful, as this leads to active production of insulin, a hormone that promotes fat accumulation. So it turns out that on the one hand, eating at night is bad, but not eating is also not good.
Therefore, it is very important to find a middle ground, that is, not to overeat in the evenings. The following techniques will help you solve this problem, which can be divided into three groups - behavioral, dietary and psychological.
What does late-night eating do to us?
American scientists conducted an experiment. They divided several mice into two groups and fed them a very fatty diet. There was only one difference: the first group was fed in the morning, and the second group in the evening. Both groups recovered.
But those who were fed in the morning recovered by 20%. And those who were fed in the evening recovered by 50%. This is what evening overeating is!
Dietary ways to avoid eating at night:
1. You can eat... but only low-fat foods
Usually this rule helps everyone, because the formation of fat in the body is influenced by the fat we eat. And if we eat less fat, it means there will be less of it in the body. Feel free to eat low-fat cottage cheese and meat, cereals with water - they are filling and do not affect excess weight.
2. Low-fat nighttime snack
If you eat a slice of lean meat with vegetables an hour or two before bed, nothing bad will happen. Before going to bed, you can prepare a delicious snack from 50 g of cottage cheese, boiled buckwheat, fermented baked milk and a couple of spoons of muesli. Its calorie content is only 130 kcal, and its fat content is 3-4 g.
3. Proper dinner
Surprisingly, the more abundant and fatty the dinner was, the more you will want to eat within a couple of hours. This means that it is unlikely that you will be able to eat enough at one time, so it is worth changing your tactics and eating small portions several times during the evening.
Before leaving work, eat yogurt or granola. When you get home, you can have a light snack. And in about half an hour - a full dinner. Thanks to this technique, it will be easier for you to control yourself at dinner and choose low-fat foods.
4. Varied food
The more components in your dishes, the more varied their flavor combinations, and the slower you eat. That is, you eat less food. Overeating is usually associated with taste monotony. We quickly get used to food and forget about it, which means we don’t notice the amount of food we eat. To diversify the dish, combine several types of vegetables, etc.
5. Pre-meal
There is a small dietary trick - if 20 minutes before a meal you eat a small piece of fish, lean meat or cottage cheese with bread plus a glass of kefir, then at dinner you will be full much faster and will be able to control yourself. This happens because animal protein in combination with starch always gives maximum satiety with a minimum of calories.
If you don't want to "eat" extra calories, drink a glass of milk or mineral water 15-20 minutes before dinner in small sips.
6. Allow yourself treats in reasonable quantities.
Sometimes our overeating is associated with our desire to indulge. But treats are not designed to saturate our body; they are created to give us pleasure and lift our spirits. It is always fatty or sweet foods that affect the formation of extra pounds.
To avoid overeating treats, savor each bite slowly to savor the flavor.
7. Instead of food - herbal tea
Brew yourself some mint tea - its incomparable aroma and refreshing taste will curb your cravings for uncontrollable late-night eating!
8. Last meal without spices!
Do not add spices and herbs to the dish during the last meal - they exacerbate the feeling of hunger and increase appetite.
9. Mini dessert
After dinner, treat yourself to a light dessert - a small piece of dark chocolate, low-fat yogurt, fruit. This food will lift your spirits and help you fight your nighttime appetite.
Behavioral techniques of not eating at night
The main task is to organize food and make it less fatty and plentiful.
10. Walk before bed
Often evening overeating is caused by the desire to calm down, and not to be satiated. After all, as you know, food calms you down. But not only food can calm you down; for example, a walk in the fresh air works just as well.
11. Make your body happy, not your stomach.
Body treatments, such as a bath with aromatic oils, massage and shower, also help to calm down and reduce the need for food. They cause pleasant sensations, which means they reduce the need for “edible” pleasure.
12. Walk more
Physical activity perfectly improves mood, invigorates and reduces appetite. But the loads should be moderate, for example, healthy walking, which will reduce the need for food and start the processes of fat breakdown.
13. Go to bed early
The secret is simple - the earlier you go to bed, the less you eat. And adequate sleep makes it easier to control weight.
14. Inhale the aroma!
Aromatherapy or incense sticks will also save you from evening overeating. Use soothing scents - lavender, mint, chamomile.
Psychological techniques of not eating at night
A lot here depends on our thoughts and attitude towards food.
15. “I can do anything”
If a person knows that it is possible to eat at night, he will not overeat, but if he is sure that it is impossible, he will constantly break down.
16. No time to eat
The modern pace of life often simply does not leave time for food, so why not use it with good intentions. Go to the movies, theaters and exhibitions more often - this will cheer you up and save you from unnecessary calories.
17. Out of sight
One of the most simple ways fix your diet and start life with a clean face - throw away all the junk food that is hidden in the kitchen cabinets, refrigerator and freezer.. It’s better to put vegetables and fruits in a visible place, they won’t be such a scary snack.
18. I am the slimmest!
Imagine yourself slim and beautiful, attractive and charming. Would such a girl really eat enough at night?
19. Fridge stickers
Place stickers in a visible place that will indicate bad habits. Look at it always when you want to break your decision, let such a written reminder deter you.
20. Photo on the refrigerator
Glue the photo to the refrigerator. The options can be very different: very fat woman, the kind of person you never want to become, or, on the contrary, a girl with ideal parameters, the figure you strive for.
21. Go to bed!
No matter how funny it may be, the sooner you go to bed, the better for you! Lack of sleep produces ghrelin, a hormone that causes hunger. Studies have shown that people who sleep less than 7 hours consume 300 more calories.
22. Drink plenty of water.
Place a glass of water in each room, which perfectly saturates the stomach between meals.
Do you personally have any working advice? Share with us!
Everyone knows that eating at night is harmful! But some people simply cannot sleep without a sandwich or two, so late trips to the kitchen have become the norm for them. What is the reason for this and how to stop eating at night?
The persistent desire to snack at a time when the body should be resting is not an ordinary habit that can be overcome by willpower, but a dangerous one. hormonal disorder, called night eating syndrome. In other words, an eating disorder.
The reasons for the occurrence of such a disease vary from person to person. Late dinners due to work, banal attempts to eat stress or malnutrition throughout the day. But in the future, an irregular diet leads everyone to the same result - hormonal imbalance!
The fact is that at the end of the day in the body of a healthy person there is a peak in the production of the hormones of satiety and sleep, leptin and melatonin. And frequent eating in the dark disrupts this natural order, and everything happens exactly the opposite.
A decrease in melatonin provokes insomnia, and a decrease in leptin provokes an increase in appetite. And so we go to the kitchen to eat and sleep peacefully, thereby only worsening our health.
Getting out of such a trap is not so easy, since we are always moving in a vicious circle: hormonal imbalance - late-night snacking - even greater imbalance...
Why is it harmful to sleep on a full stomach?
The human body functions differently at the beginning of the day and at the end. Therefore, what is good in the morning can be harmful at night.
When we sleep, all our organs “rest” after the day’s stress, and digestive system not an exception. Just imagine that a delicious late dinner will lie in your stomach untouched until the morning.
Gradually it will begin to decompose, releasing toxins, and after waking up it will begin to be digested. And everything that has formed in the food overnight will enter the blood. Agree, this is not the most useful “fuel”!
Plus, according to many scientists, a large dinner at night can disrupt our biological rhythm, accelerating the aging process. Professor Dilman was the first to put forward this theory, back in Soviet times.
A person has the power to turn back his “biological clock,” and the first thing that can contribute to this is sleeping on an empty stomach. During daylight hours, rejuvenation is hampered by food and constant stress.
As for people who eat stress, they are unlikely to get rid of it. And subsequent obesity will only worsen the emotional state.
To become happy again, you need to eliminate the very cause of stress, and not try to cheer up with all sorts of goodies.
According to the latest research by Australian scientists, completely depriving yourself of night snacks is also harmful!
If a person tries to sleep while experiencing strong feeling hunger, his sleep will be shallow, not deep. And the likelihood that he will get out of bed and go to “terrorize” his refrigerator will increase sharply.
However, at least 2 hours should pass between the last meal and rest. It is advisable to give preference to products with a high glycemic index.
For example, low-fat yogurt, a glass of kefir, an apple, berries, a dessert of chopped bananas, milk or bread with jam. Why?
Because they contain tryptophan, which promotes the production of serotonin, which causes a feeling of drowsiness.
How to protect your refrigerator from night raids
An effective nutrition system that helps cope with late hunger was developed back in the mid-20th century. This is the “overnight diet,” the origins of which were the famous American psychologist Albert Stankard.
Its essence is not about how to eat before bed, but about proper daytime nutrition, thanks to which you can control your nighttime appetite.
Basic rules of the Stankard diet:
- Fractional meals. Eat more often - every 3 hours. Small volumes. Switching to fractional meals will allow you to avoid critical hunger during the day; as a result, the body will not “ask” for an additional portion after sunset.
- A hearty breakfast is required. As a rule, after a hearty late-night snack, there is no appetite in the morning. But breakfast is the main meal of the day! And you cannot refuse it under any circumstances.
However, you won’t get away with a light salad and a cup of coffee, otherwise in the evening your legs will carry you to the kitchen. Breakfast should be hearty, the most best option- porridge.
- More protein. Eat more poultry, eggs, turkey, cheese, cottage cheese, seafood and fish. Such foods are rich in serotonin and melatonin.
- A good and natural way to normalize the hormonal environment. Plenty of sweets.
As night approaches, the desire to try something tasty increases, so don’t deprive yourself of pleasure.
- There are a lot of delicious and harmless desserts. Well, or the benefits of which outweigh the disadvantages. For example, apple, yogurt, berry mousse or meringue, cottage cheese, honey, fruit puree. Last snack no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
Don't listen to people who advise not to eat after six, it's harmful! Drink a glass of kefir 2 hours before you lie down.
- And if you wake up hungry in the middle of the night, create a false feeling of fullness with the help of mineral water, prudently leaving it by the bed. Or save 100 g of fermented baked milk. Do not go into the kitchen so as not to provoke yourself to “just one bite.” During the day, avoid foods that increase your appetite.
These are alcohol, fast food, flour products, melon, mango, grapes. True, one glass of good red wine will even be useful.
What else will help get rid of night hunger?
Try not to focus your attention on what you shouldn’t eat at night. Make dinner as enjoyable as possible: tasty, beautiful, in good company. A little later, enjoy an excellent dessert, and then watch interesting film
with friends, take a walk in the park, read a book, take a fragrant bath - all this will distract you from thinking about food. And aromatic oils will help you get ready for sleep.
By the way, carbohydrates for dinner are strictly contraindicated. At this time of day, they rapidly accumulate in the form of subcutaneous fat.
Of course, you won’t be satisfied with proteins alone; easily and quickly digestible fresh vegetables and fruits will come to the rescue.
Be sure to follow the rule of not preparing food in the evening. The appetizing aroma and appearance of the food will cancel out all the successes achieved on the path to getting rid of an unwanted addiction, because you probably won’t be able to resist trying your culinary masterpiece. Nothing to do? It’s better to do evening fitness or take daily walks under. An active lifestyle will increase the production of endorphins and melatonin, giving you a feeling of happiness and a rested appearance.
What, in combination with a balanced diet, is a guaranteed guarantee of health! Develop the habit of brushing your teeth after meals and just before bed. Surprisingly, fresh breath
It really kills your appetite. Or, on the contrary, staleness provokes it. Lastly, go to bed early. Many of us like to watch TV before going to bed, surf the Internet or play games. computer game
. As a rule, such entertainment lasts until late at night. And in the process, there is often a desire to grab something tasty.