How do you stop late night snacking?! It’s a problem that many of my clients have. You finish up the nightly chores, put the kids to bed and grab a seat on the couch to relax for a bit. Then it hits you, “I think we still have some of those chips in the pantry” or “I could really use some chocolate right now.”
Whatever the craving, it comes down to eating when you hadn’t intended and with a side effect of weight gain that you truly didn’t want.
Here are five tips to STOP night time snacking:
Make a commitment
Sounds simple enough but this is different than simply saying that you want to stop night time snacking. This is an actual commitment that you follow through on. Something I do with myself and coach my clients on is the concept “Decide and done.” Once you make the decision that you are not going to snack at night anymore, that’s it. No more discussion. No more back and forth with excuses and justifications. No more second guessing the decision. Going back and forth with yourself about whether or not to have that snack only serves to make you miserable now and potentially make a decision that takes you further away from the person you are trying to become.
“To-try list”
The thoughts we think are instructions for our brain. When we tell our brain NOT to do something, the instructions aren’t very clear. While the instruction to not do something is generally singular, the options for what to do can be endless. With lack of clarity on what to do in that moment, your brain will want to default back to what it knows and what it has always done: reach for the night time snacks. To make the instructions for your brain more clear, make a list of 20 things to try when you are having a craving to snack at night. Every person is different so I can’t tell you that knitting will certainly work any more than I could tell you the reading a book would. These are things to try and then evaluate how well they worked.
Change your routine
Humans are creatures of habit. We love routines and predictability. If night time snacking is a part of your routine, then consider creating a new night time routine. You don’t have to turn the whole routine upside down. It could be something as simple as not sitting in your usual spot on the couch. Also, be aware that if your body is used to being fed again at 9pm you are likely going to experience hunger cues at that time for a few weeks before your body gets used to the new routine. This is OK. Expect it and remind yourself that you are getting closer to being the future version of you that doesn’t snack at night. It’s something to be celebrated!
Close down your mouth
After dinner, clean your mouth and shut it down for the night. Take the time to brush and floss your teeth, rinse with some mouthwash as well as put some Chapstick on. I don’t know about you but I LOVE a fresh and clean mouth. When I have that clean minty feeling, I have no desire to eat plus the taste from the toothpaste also alters the way food tastes (hello orange juice!). Not only can this deter you from wanting to eat but it also a great self care.
Self Care
A lot of my night time snacking had nothing to do with being hungry. Many nights I would plop down on the couch after a long, stressful day and want to eat something just to feel good. Especially during the pandemic, many of us are just wanting to feel good instead of the stress we feel daily trying to juggle working from home with homeschooling and keeping every one healthy and safe! The simplest version of self care is to check in with yourself before you make the decision to eat. Ask yourself “What am I really hungry for?” or “If I wasn’t hungry, I would be feeling…” Allow yourself to get curious with what else might be going on. Are you lonely or bored? Did today feel pretty crappy and you just want to feel good? Are you tired and just need to go to bed? The best form of self care is to give yourself the support you truly need.
So those are my five tips to stop night time snacking but I will give you a bonus tip as well. Maybe you feel like this is all too overwhelming and beyond what you can handle right now. That’s OK. We all have different abilities at different times in our lives. Maybe for you the best thing is to just not buy the types of foods you snack on late at night and replace them with more nutrient dense, prepackage snacks. It is best to have them prepackaged and commit to only having one a night. As you master that level up in your nighttime snacking game, you will feel more confident in eventually cutting it out entirely.