Quite often when a star athlete gets involved in an altercation or some other circumstance that results in an arrest or major legal difficulties, the event occurs at night. Perhaps alcohol, partying, driving fast and/or other contributing factors are involved. The team’s owner or managerial staff will quite often lament that “Nothing good happens after midnight”.
Taking this out of the media realm of famous people getting into trouble because of night time actions, let’s bring this to the weight control arena for not so famous people like you and me. I believe an analogous statement concerning weight control is: Nothing good happens after 8 PM.
There are two several issues involved later night eating that will be detrimental to weight control efforts:
- Studies have shown that our metabolic rate slows down in the later evenings resulting in the more difficult task of “burning” the calories that are being ingested.
- People will tend to reach for more carbs, sugars and/or processed foods when later evening eating occurs. This especially holds true for the night owls that will hit the freezer or pantry after 11 PM.
So, back to the question posed in the title of this entry: What are YOU eating after 8 PM?
Please take the time to jot down the food/snack/drink sources that you reach for after 8 PM. Then, see how many of these items are not compatible with our dietary plan. Finally, take the steps necessary to: 1- Try to NOT eat anything after 8 PM OR 2- Ensure that what is entering your mouth after 8 PM are not items that will derail your entire day of diligent weight control work.
Finally, another good idea is to NOT buy the derailing “after 8 PM” food/snack sources so these items are not readily available in your house. Hopping in your car at 10 PM and driving to Seven/11 is not as likely as strolling to your pantry and finding your favorite snacks.
Nothing good happens after 8 PM and really bad things tend to happen after 11 PM (when it comes to weight control).
Summary: Eating after 8 PM tends to derail weight control efforts.
