Whether you’re bulking, cutting, or straight-up losing weight, you have no doubt developed a targeted diet meant to enhance your exercise regimen in order to help you meet your goals.
Restrictive or specific diets can leave you feeling unsatisfied or craving your favorite foods, and if you’re not smart about how you get your daily caloric intake you can find your tummy grumbling before you go to bed, or even waking you up in the middle of the night, just begging for a midnight snack that is definitely not diet-approved.
However, there are plenty of ways that you can keep yourself satisfied and full on nearly any diet plan so that you can stave off cravings for midnight munchies.
Here are just a few tactics you may want to try.
- The first thing you absolutely must do whenever you’re on a specific diet plan is get rid of foods that don’t fit the bill.
If you’re on a high-protein diet that calls for you to eschew carbs, for example, toss the bread, pasta, and other temptations. If you don’t like the idea of throwing them out, pawn off perishable items on friends who you know can use them before they go bad and then donate the non-perishable items (dry goods, canned food, etc.) to the food bank.
If you don’t have these tantalizing items in the house you’ll be far less likely to snack on them. And when you’re already in your pajamas, chances are good that you won’t get dressed and go out in search of forbidden fruits, so to speak.
- The next step is to figure out how to stay full and satisfied, and this could entail a serious overhaul of your sensibilities where food is concerned.
Suppose you’re in a cutting phase and part of the plan is cutting out sugar. Just because you’ve decided that you’re not going to eat sugar doesn’t mean your body will stop craving it. So instead of going cold turkey, consider options that will help you to moderate your sugar intake, such as getting rid of processed sugars in the home and replacing them with natural options.
Instead of candy bars, get fresh fruit.
Toss the syrups (maple and chocolate) and use honey or agave nectar.
Put stevia in your coffee in place of granulated sugar.
You can find ways to get the satisfaction your body wants without giving in to your sweet tooth or going so far overboard that you destroy your diet.
- When it comes to curbing late-night cravings there are a couple of steps you can take.
For starters, make sure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs, not only through the foods you eat, but with daily supplements like multivitamins for healthy joints, bones, muscles, and more. This should help to curb cravings.
Then get in the habit of eating and going to bed early. The later you stay up the more likely you are to want a snack.
You can also try filling your belly with liquid. Instead of scarfing down ice cream or chips in the middle of the night, have a glass of water, some herbal tea, or even a little warm milk with honey. This will help you to avoid a nighttime binge and get back to sleep.
Tags: Diet, eat, eating, fat loss, food, foods, health, healthy, late night, lose fat, lose weight, midnight, munchies, nutrition, weight loss
