Nutrition - What do/should you be eat/eating before bed?

[nckfitheart2009]

Hi Everyone,

The moment I find difficult to be disciplined in my eating is evening.
All carbs eaten evening are more likely to get stored as fat. So I know that is the time to keep carbs cravings to zero tolerance level.:

So " What do you/should you eat before going to bed ?"

What I eat before going to bed is 100-125ml (about a cup) of fat free probiotic greek yoghurt plus two teaspoon of unsweeted muesli, fat free cottage cheese 100-125 ml plus a tea spoon of Almond butter (spoon almond butter being the maximum essential fat allowance for the day).

I can not seem to find any alternatives a part from a healthy shake with no caffeine content, otherwise I would be buzzing instead of sleeping hard and ending up not focusing while working out the morning.

Hoping to read your thoughts on this,

Happy thanksgiving
Hope you had a great time with your family,

Nathalie

 

[Katerchen]

I do not eat anything after supper, which is between 6 and 7 pm. Eating right before going to bed is not necessary. If you eat nutritious meals (combination of carbs, protein and fats, with carbs being the majority of calories) throughout the day you have plenty of stored glycogen for morning exercise.

 

[Stebby]

Only if I'm hungry, I have an ounce of almonds before bed. If I'm not hungry, nothing.

Stebby

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Only if I'm hungry, I have an ounce of almonds before bed. If I'm not hungry, nothing.

Stebby

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this...

What I meant by before bed was 1.5-2 hours before going to bed.
Evening---Not just before

 

[RapidBreath]

I try to focus my evening meal on healthy protein, veggies, and maybe a little fats (olive oil at night, not fish or coconut because those will wake you up.) I eat enough at my night time meal, that I don't need any food right before bed. If I am peckish, I might have a piece of string cheese or a hot cup of herbal tea with lemon and a tsp. of honey.

 

[nckfitheart2009]

I try to focus my evening meal on healthy protein, veggies, and maybe a little fats (olive oil at night, not fish or coconut because those will wake you up.) I eat enough at my night time meal, that I don't need any food right before bed. If I am peckish, I might have a piece of string cheese or a hot cup of herbal tea with lemon and a tsp. of honey.

Had camomile tea yesterday. I like it. I do eat piece of cheese sometimes too. Love cheese. Mozzarella is one of my favourite for salad.

 

[mini-natty]

I always eat a hot fudge sundae before bed...just kidding! Oh man, if only ice cream had 0 calories .

I find it hard to stay out of my kitchen after dinner. I don't think I'm necessarily hungry, but I tend to crave some sort of sweet or salts. So after dinner, I will reward myself with a dessert of either a small piece of dark chocolate melted into a nice cup of decaf coffee or a few Nilla Cookies (these are low cal only coming in at 25 cal each). I also on occasion air pop popcorn with some coconut oil, if I'm craving salty. The beauty of popcorn (not microwavable) is that 7 cups comes in at 150cal! Usually after 1 or 2 cups, my craving is gone and I have not gone overboard in the calorie department. It's a wonderful thing .

Natasha

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Hmmm Dark chocolate

I always eat a hot fudge sundae before bed...just kidding! Oh man, if only ice cream had 0 calories .

I find it hard to stay out of my kitchen after dinner. I don't think I'm necessarily hungry, but I tend to crave some sort of sweet or salts. So after dinner, I will reward myself with a dessert of either a small piece of dark chocolate melted into a nice cup of decaf coffee or a few Nilla Cookies (these are low cal only coming in at 25 cal each). I also on occasion air pop popcorn with some coconut oil, if I'm craving salty. The beauty of popcorn (not microwavable) is that 7 cups comes in at 150cal! Usually after 1 or 2 cups, my craving is gone and I have not gone overboard in the calorie department. It's a wonderful thing .

Natasha

Hi Natasha,

I know what craving you are referring to. I am the same but because of insuline resistance lingering in my family ( my grandmother and mother both had it) I have to keep on top of those cravings. I am the first born daughter of my mother so I have to take action.

Now last time I checked i did have it. Now I can treat myself sometimes
Dark chocolate sounds good...I do have a square portion occasionally. I can live without chocolate for months.I love my chocolate to be the best one, Belgian. Dark chocolate is a great cheat cause it fills me up.I like the one which contains at least 70% pure cocoa. I do not like fake fully loaded with vegetable oil yikes

I think for me your suggestion highlighted above sound great to me. I would have that during the day though. I need to learn to keep my evening cravings under control. It does get crazy sometimes...Like that time of the month!

As to calories, I have a diet tracker which seem to really help.

Thanks Natasha for sharing your thoughts,
Have a great week end,

Nathalie

 

[ReneePruitt]

I know what u mean. My problem is I do great til I fall asleep I can be even not hungry but I get up in middle of night and blow it. All my exercise and eating healthy all day every day is sabotaged every night. My poor belly even suffers. So I think mine is more extreme then u but I think I can relate.

 

[Katerchen]

I know what u mean. My problem is I do great til I fall asleep I can be even not hungry but I get up in middle of night and blow it. All my exercise and eating healthy all day every day is sabotaged every night. My poor belly even suffers. So I think mine is more extreme then u but I think I can relate.

It sounds like you are depriving yourself during the day and whenever you let your guard down you eat the foods you REALLY want to eat.

I would think about the foods you REALLY like and want to eat and compare it with the foods you are currently eating. If it is something like: 'I really want a piece of chocolate pie but I have an apple instead' you are setting yourself up for failure. By god! Have that SMALL piece of chocolate pie. You will notice that if you eat in moderation what you REALLY want instead of what you think you should eat, you will be more satisfied and, in the long run, eat less!

There are no foods that MAKE you fat! Too many calories are causing weight gain not a particular food. If you eat to many apples you gain weight, too.

For the start, you should eat the minimum amount of fruits/vegetables (5 a day) AND have the food you REALLY crave in moderation. After a while you will not binge at night. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose and end up more satisfied with your healthy lifestyle.

 

[mini-natty]

It sounds like you are depriving yourself during the day and whenever you let your guard down you eat the foods you REALLY want to eat.

I would think about the foods you REALLY like and want to eat and compare it with the foods you are currently eating. If it is something like: 'I really want a piece of chocolate pie but I have an apple instead' you are setting yourself up for failure. By god! Have that SMALL piece of chocolate pie. You will notice that if you eat in moderation what you REALLY want instead of what you think you should eat, you will be more satisfied and, in the long run, eat less!

There are no foods that MAKE you fat! Too many calories are causing weight gain not a particular food. If you eat to many apples you gain weight, too.

For the start, you should eat the minimum amount of fruits/vegetables (5 a day) AND have the food you REALLY crave in moderation. After a while you will not binge at night. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose and end up more satisfied with your healthy lifestyle.

ITA to everything being said here! This is my eating philosophy too . I will never deprive myself of foods I love. Cheers to all food in moderation!

Natasha

 

[mini-natty]

Hi Natasha,
I love my chocolate to be the best one, Belgian. Dark chocolate is a great cheat cause it fills me up.I like the one which contains at least 70% pure cocoa.
I think for me your suggestion highlighted above sound great to me. I would have that during the day though. I need to learn to keep my evening cravings under control. It does get crazy sometimes...Like that time of the month!
Nathalie

I'm the same during TTOTM with my cravings . What I love to do is make "faux" desserts to satisfy my cravings while still getting a healthy dose of vitamins & minerals. For example, I will make a banana split. I use greek yogurt as the "ice cream", 1/2 banana, drizzle melted dark chocolate and sprinkle walnuts . Obviously you have to control portions cuz' in the end it might turn out to be more cals than a regular banana split . Another good one is a single serve cup of Tirimisu. The original version with marscapone is SO decedent and high in calories and fat (I do treat myself to a nice slice during Christmas because I'm Italian and it's an absolute must ). But you can indulge in a lower cals, lower fat version by substituting marscapone with greek yogurt. I layer a small cup or mug with lady fingers, espresso, greek yogurt and dark chocolate shavings, repeating the layers. YUM YUM .

Take care Nathalie

 

[suethepooh]

Thanks for those ideas Natalie, I'll be trying them soon. I continue to try to like Greek yogurt, I'm not there yet

 

[DirtDiva]

There are no foods that MAKE you fat! Too many calories are causing weight gain not a particular food. If you eat to many apples you gain weight, too.

Not sure I agree here. Calories are not equal, and I'm not in the camp of calories in versus calories out, or calories are all the same. No one will ever gain weight on apples, you couldn't eat enough of them. The body undergoes a myriad of complex metabolic processes comparing 100 calories of bacon or processed bakery goods, versus 100 calories of vegetables, fruits, or lean protein. The other comment about eating what you crave, that works only if you don't have an addictive personality. There are people that can have a small amount of pie, and then there are people (like me) where one small wedge of coconut cream pie will throw me over the cliff . Same thing with one cigarette if I can make that comparison. I'm writing for myself here...if I'm hungry before bed time, like right then and there, I have casein type protein (greek yogurt) .

 

[mom418]

I'll second that. I can go months without eating something like chocolate. But if it's in the house it's hard for me to just have a little. I want a little now, and again, until it's gone.

Luckily for me, most of the time that works to my advantage, because I'm thinking about having some fresh pears or something that's healthy for me. I'm usually ok having a small portion (deserts/fried) at someone else's house, or I imagine out to eat (bc it's been years). However, at home I would have to give the rest to someone else, unless it's something completely off-limits because it belongs to someone else.

I only wish I craved cheese less, but I'm trying to work on enjoying less.

However, I understand how many people have to give in to the craving, and can do so in a moderate way. Both my mother and sis in law are that way, and I wish I had some great advice.

As for that TOM, my cravings aren't specific, I just want everything, and I care very little how much calories/fat it has. I'll have to make myself a big bean soup or something for this month, or I'll undo all my progress.