One concern that I often hear a lot from my clients in Booty Boot Camp is the fear of 
eating late.
I think it’s safe to say that we have all heard the advice to not eat after a certain time, say 7pm. Most of us have come to believe that if we do eat past that magical cut off time, our weight loss efforts are doomed to failure.
But this is simply not true as a cut and dry fact. There’s more to it than that.
One thing you must understand is that it is not necessarily just that you are eating late that’s the problem. What you eat AND if it fits into your overall calorie allotment for the day is what you really need to keep an eye on. If you graze all night, you will definitely be over your calories for the day, and your diet efforts could be shot.
Consider this; after a full day of healthy, portion controlled eating,
night time grazing is more about satisfying an urge to munch as opposed to true hunger. Wouldn’t you agree?
So what can you do?
First, you need to re-commit to yourself to the bigger picture; the process of making lifestyle changes, not just putting yourself on another diet. If night time munching is one of the reason that you’ve put on weight over the years, then it is obviously one of the things in your life that needs to change.
Does that mean you’ll never again sit down to a big bowl of buttered popcorn after dinner?
Of course not. You and I both know that to say we are cutting something we truly love out of our life forever is a recipe for failure.
This is about you getting control over your actions. You deciding when you will have a late night snack and
not just marching into the kitchen like some food crazed zombie.
Next, you need to get control -this can take on more than one form:
- Adjust your meals and snacks throughout the day so that you have a few hundred calories to "play" with at night. In other words, give yourself some leeway. Maybe eat a slightly smaller lunch so you can have a slightly larger dinner.
- Try saving your last snack of the day for your after dinner munching.
- Note: Just be careful not overload your night time calories, your metabolism will stay more active and your weight/fat loss results will be faster if you spread your calories as evenly as possible throughout the day.
- After a healthy dinner and snack, sip on your favorite calorie-free flavored water, even if you’re not thirsty. Just having flavor on your tongue can keep you for reaching for a diet killing treat. You can also try chewing on gum.
Change is not easy. Give yourself time to make the adjustment to more balanced eating. Strive to make small changes every day and over time you will get to your goals.