I frequently write about stress eating and emotional eating, but sometime our way of eating has just become a habit. We get into a routine and it can be hard to break. Bedtime snacks are a good example. I’m rarely hungry at bedtime, but off and on over the years I have been in the habit of eating something before bed.
When we eat for stress or emotions, there is usually a reason. The food is filling in for something else (loneliness, anxiety, boredom, etc). With habit, there may have initially been a reason, but over time the reason is forgotten and the habit continues. It becomes just something you do.
How do we change these habits that no longer serve us? Try substitution. With the bedtime snacking example, once you get used to having a snack at bedtime it may be hard to get to sleep without it. But you can gradually wean off the snack. Depending on how entrenched the habit is, you may need to begin by just cutting back on the portion size. Then try switching to something else – something lighter. I have found herb tea to be an effective switch. You are having something, but it has no calories and it is soothing. Once you have cut back, it becomes easier to stop the snack altogether.
People with diabetes and who take certain kinds of insulin require bedtime snacks. Most of us don’t really need them. If you stay up very late, you may truly get hungry. Or if you have a light dinner, you could get hungry later. When you do snack, keep it light. I notice that even when I am really hungry, I am satisfied with a much smaller portion of food than I would have eaten other times of the day.
If you are not hungry at bedtime, create other bedtime routines that don’t involve food. I like to do some light stretches. My husband likes to read in bed. Journaling is a nice way to settle your thoughts from the day so you don’t carry them to bed with you. Choose your bedtime habits, and if you are not truly hungry, develop habits other than eating.
Visit www.HealthyHabitsCoach.com for more nutrition information and my free newsletter, the Wellness News.
Kathy Nichols 