Ep: #12 - How To Ditch Evening Snacking For Weight Loss

DO YOU FIND YOURSELF EATING IN THE EVENING WHEN YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY?

Snacking in the evening may feel like a habit that is super hard to break to you right now.

It is perhaps something you have always done or just feel like you do not have the willpower and strength to stop it.

If you are working on weight loss you are likely to have identified this as one of the biggest saboteurs to your weight loss efforts.

You would not be alone.

But there is hope ladies and I am going to share some great tips tonight and when worked on you will not feel restricted but powerful and in control.

How does that sound to you?

So evening snacking…

I want to define this first.  I would define it as eating food in the evening when you are not physically hungry.

If you are new to reading my blog I do not advocate traditional restrictive diet methods rather I advocate tuning in to your body signals via intuitive ‘style’ eating.  

So my first message is if you are genuinely physically hungry…unless you have a genuine loving/healthy reason you do not want to….EAT! 

This is so important…I do not advocate starving or restricting your body IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE…YOU WILL FEEL LIKE CRAP…YOU WILL WANT TO QUIT!

If you are hungry, that is your body telling you it needs you.  So listen up👂

If you are working on weight loss with my methods I encourage you to get really clear on what is going on in your, life, mind, body & soul. 

This in turn allows you to move away from restrictive, boring, and complicated diets to eating naturally and in-tune with your natural hunger cues. 

Combine that with life/weight loss coaching and you have a power combo like no other!

OK lecture over :)

And moving on…

Know you are not alone.  You are not a unicorn evening snacking is a common problem for many a lady working on weight loss.

So why do you eat in the evenings when you are not hungry?

I had a little brainstorming sesh and came up with the following:

1) Tired after a busy day at work

2) Can’t be arsed to make dinner/cook

3) Didn’t want the planned dinner

4) It's available

5) Bored

6 ) Stressed/feeling low

7) It’s what you do when watching the TV

8 ) Need an energy boost

9) Cold/dark and wanting comfort food.

10) Numbing out from the day

11) Kids left food lying around

12) Wanted it

13) Partner is eating

14) Need to relax

15) Feeling overwhelmed

What do they spark for you?

I am going to bet you could tick a fair few of these off as coming up for you at some point in time.

Am I right?

The thing is the reason can shift about a little so it sometimes can feel like you “do not know” but that seemingly simple thought can get you really stuck if you are not careful and disempowered.

So let me help you try and figure it out.

I think of us like a laptop. We charge up overnight and then take the power cord out in the morning.

Throughout the day you are gradually losing battery power from all, the, ya know, general living of life that you are doing.

Doesn’t matter what you are doing, working, looking after kids, housework, running a marathon for all I know but even if you are sitting on your bum, you are also breathing, thinking, and feeling and all of this takes energy from the mind and body.

So it is no wonder really that you get to the evening and you feel knackered and head into power save mode or worse you are at the point where you have the blue screen of death where you just cannot pass go.

So is it really surprising that when presented with a tasty little snacket that you are not going to want to eat it to numb out, to feel relief, to get some energy, to feel happier?

Is it really surprising that at that moment if left to your own devices you will not be in control enough to make a decision that is going to serve your weight loss?

Is it really surprising that you aren’t going to say fuck it I will start again tomorrow? But what then?

GUILT

SHAME

ANGER

RESENTMENT

JUDGEMENT

Result - Still just as bloody tired!

It could also impact your mood/ability to sleep, digestion, your sleep quality could be off, you could get night sweats etc to name a few things.

So I think we are all clear on the problem but what's the solution?

We get compassionately curious!

You do not need to beat yourself up night after night saying you have failed and that you just can't lose weight because that biscuit jumped into your mouth.

Treat yourself with love and compassion!

Something led to that moment. You made the choice to eat for a reason.

So your first step is to GATHER AWARENESS

What is happening in your day leading you to that point in time?

• What is happening in the moment?

• What are you thinking and feeling?

• What are you telling yourself?

• What is your environment like?

• Who is around you?

All of this information is valuable data that allows you to understand yourself more.

If you want lasting weight loss it is important to GATHER AWARENESS about what comes up for you in and around the evening time.

Remember that for lasting weight loss you need to look beyond the WHAT you need all the W’s WHEN,WHY, HOW AND WHO.

Yes, you could swap out your biscuits for carrot sticks, yes you could try and will power through it but what is that solving you in reality? You are just living to FIGHT another day.

I'm a lover, not a fighter me.  Other than fighting for each and every one of you to ditch the beat downs and to find lasting weight loss.

Once you gather your awareness you STEP INTO ACTION.

Then you work on being ACCOUNTABLE to yourself and with the support of others.

Ok, so my advice straight from the membership to you…

1. Learn more about eating with your body's needs

As a 'dieter' you may do things like saving up your calories and points for the evening, for the 'witching hour'.  You may tell yourself it is fine because you have "not eaten much that day", "it's in your allowance" but if you are not physically in need of that food this is still an overeat which will impact your weight loss progress if you are not careful.

Plus, you are not really being accountable to yourself as you are making excuses and justifications for it.

So listen to your body's natural hunger cues and eating when you're genuinely physically hungry is the solve.

If you are not hungry there is some kind of emotional eating going on that's you need to solve for success.

You may be thinking whoa hold on I am not an emptional eater...rude!

But technically every time you eat it is from an emotion.

A thought leads to an emotion, leads to an action/inaction.

The question is, is it a thought loop that serves or not?

It may take some time to get used to this way of eating, but it's a more sustainable way to lose weight and maintain your health over the long term.

It's the first step also in figuring out really what is going on.

If you are physically in need of food but would still prefer not to eat in the evening for other reasons like digestion and sleep look at your food intake during the day are you eating enough for your body?

2. Make realistic commitments to yourself

If you have eaten a pack of biscuits, drank a bottle of wine a night, devoured a family bag of Maltesers in front of your favorite Netflix every night or most nights for years don’t set yourself up to fail going cold turkey.

Brainstorm small and easy things you can try and then level up.

Yes, you can try and swap the biscuits for carrots it won't hurt but can you sustain that without willpower, does it still bring you what you need. Plus even eating a carrot when you are not hungry is still technically an emotional over-eat.

3. Check in on your day

What led you to that point in time. Is there something in your day that you could change to give you more bandwidth in the evening?

Stresses at work? Relationship issues? Are the kids driving you round the bend?

How can you work on these areas of your life?

4. Check in on your mind

Ask yourself what do I really need? 

What am I really looking for?

Could it be relief, comfort, love, connection, disconnection, reward or maybe you're just physically tired and need to go to bed.

That is where the real work is getting to the root.

5. Know your triggers and patterns

Do you do the same thing every night or only if there are certain factors. 

Is there a particular place it goes down? 

Some people have eating chairs, graze in the fridge, pick at the kids plates, do you eat when your partner eats etc?

OK, that is it, folks. Why not join the Facebook Group and let me know what this brings up for you.

QUICK RECAP

• Eat if you are genuinely hungry and cannot wait until your next meal

• It is not about the FOOD and the WHAT

• Look at the WHY, WHEN, HOW, WHO before, during, and after

• Know yourself well and figure out small shifts

• Be compassionately curious do not add unnecessary judgment to make you feel worse

If you need any help with what I have discussed today why not join the Triple-A-Way Membership or enquire about 1 to 1 coaching. I would love to help you figure out your life and weight loss once and for all.

What out for next week's blog on MOTIVATION.

Want to get started on losing weight for the last time?

Check out the Triple-A-Way Membership HERE.

Come join the Wellness4Women Facebook Group where you can watch the live video to accompany this blog plus catch other free training, resources, useful tips and to connect to a community of women just like you!.

Categories: : habit change, intuitive eating, Weight loss