Stop Gaining Late Night Weight
Many factors contribute to your weight gain, but many of them revolve around things that you do late in the day or evening. Changing these elements of your lifestyle is essential if you hope to turn the tide towards a thinner you. Keep reading into the following paragraphs for the various facets of your nightlife you should be mindful of.
A good day ends with a good dinner. However, this dinner should not be huge or too close to your bedtime. Lunchtime and midday are actually the best time for your biggest meals, as your digestive system is at its peak power. You also have most of the rest of the day to burn off what you eat. Eating too close to sleep means your body is going to pack away more of the calories as stores of fat.
Late night snacks should be handled with care to avoid the same thing. Two things can occur here, and both are bad. First, high calorie snacks might not have time to get digested before you sleep, so the calories are packed away as fat. Or, a high calorie food is going to spike your energy and interrupt your sleep. Snacking is okay, so long as the snack is very small and natural. Stay away from anything sugary, even fruit at this point in the day. A high protein snack, like a few slices of cheese or a handful of almonds or your favorite nut, can actually calm you down enough to sleep better.
Never have sugary beverages like soda in the three or more hours prior to sleep. Caffeine should be avoided up to eight hours before your target bed time. You need neither the stimulation nor the calories.
Never get up to eat during your sleeping hours. If this is occuring, you have a problem. It is likely that your body is deficient in some particular nutrient causing a specific craving. You might also have an emotional issue surfacing. Start with your personal physician for help, and then find a mental health professional if need be.
Just because you have to avoid stimulants prior to sleep does not mean that depressants are a good idea. Avoid alcohol before you lay down for the night. It might put you under for a few hours, but it is not going to be a deep sleep that your body truly needs for rest and renewal.
Get enough sleep and get good sleep. Failing to get enough hours of rest boosts hormone levels that increase appetite, as your body has to compensate for the lost energy from another source. Also remember that your rest time is when your body repairs cells and builds muscle, so all the exercise and protein in the world will not matter when you are not spending enough time snoring in bed.
Altering these specific facets of your nightlife can prove the critical considerations in actually losing weight. Your sleep and the evening hours that precede them account for half your life, so stay mindful of how they are half your weight loss battle.
