Every day we make hundreds of choices that will either help or harm our health. Ideally the goal is to make more helpful decisions than harmful ones.
While weight loss can be frustrating, setting up a few tactiles approaches will go a long way in achieving success. This article focuses on small steps you can do in the evening hours to help you on your journey.
Before we get into it, it’s important to disclaim that it’s usually never just one thing that causes weight gain. Additional adipose tissue likely develops due to a number of factors … one of which is eating late at night. Along with that, here are a few other ideas for you.
EAT BREAKFAST
Breakfast is sooo far away from the evening, how could it have an affect on the evening? Skipping meals throughout the day can make us so ravenous at night that starvation mode causes overeating.
But what about fasting, you ask? Fasting needs a balanced blood sugar and it also likely requires working up to it. The other piece that is often missed in the fasting conversation is that it’s not just about skipping meals, what and how you eat when you are eating matters.
STOP EATING 2-3 HOURS BEFORE SLEEP
It’s harder to burn off calories while you’re sleeping compared to when you have the ability to move about while awake. Plus the body has systems and functions are designed to happen in these overnight hours, like your immune system fighting infections and inflammation, cortisol (stress hormone) lowers to allow melatonin to rise, the brain stores new information and gets rid of toxic waste, the nerve cells communicate & organize, nerve cells communicate and are restored and the lymph system carries out the trash among other processes. These won’t happen when the body is busy digesting food.
If blood sugar is a challenge, a small handful of nuts or a quarter of a banana just before bed might be helpful to balance the blood sugar through the night, allowing the body to stay asleep. The key here is a SMALL snack; it’s likely a lot less than your typical snack is.
SLEEP
Sleep is a secret weapon when it comes to weight loss. Prioritize sleep and learn about the circadian rhythym to allow the body systems to optimize optimally. Plus you’ll feel refreshed and more energetic to achieve more.
TAKE TIME TO SET UP THE NEXT DAY
It’s hard to sleep when you’re ruminating about all the stuff you need to get done the next day. Create a routine that allows you to take note of what is coming up for the next day, jotting down any notes that may keep you awake. Keep that journal by your bed so you can quickly drop down anything else that comes up, allowing you to get back to the sleep at hand.