We’re all guilty of having a late-night snack here and there. But if your nighttime trips to the fridge have become a daily occurrence and you feel like you have no control over the amount of food you’re eating, it may be time to do something about it. In today’s article, we share some health coach-approved tips to help you combat binge eating – but first, let’s discuss the possible reasons behind your nighttime overeating.
Common triggers for overeating
Stress or negative emotions
One of the most common triggers for binge eating is emotional stress. Perhaps you’re under a lot of pressure at work or maybe you’re having relationship issues – whatever it may be, it’s common to turn to food for emotional support when life feels a little overwhelming. The temporary relief food provides can lead you to overeat – what’s called emotional eating – typically reaching for high-calorie, sugary, or fatty foods.
Restrictive dieting
Dieting too strictly during the day can backfire in the evening. When you deprive your body of essential nutrients and adequate calories, you’ll likely end up craving high-energy foods and, as a result, overeat later in the day. This cycle of restriction and bingeing can be challenging to break, so remember that quick-fix solutions or extreme measures aren’t the way to go when it comes to (sustainable) weight loss.
Boredom
When there’s nothing else to do, the refrigerator might start calling your name. Boredom eating is actually a type of emotional eating – and although engaging in it from time to time isn’t overly problematic, if left unchecked, it can result in weight gain in the long term. The best way to avoid boredom eating is to become familiar with your hunger cues, so you can identify when you’re genuinely hungry versus when your brain is playing tricks on you. The hunger scale can be a helpful tool here!
Habitual behaviour
Sometimes, binge eating becomes a nightly routine. If you’ve gotten used to snacking late at night, your body might start expecting it. Over time, this can turn into a deeply ingrained habit that’s hard to break, so the earlier you catch it, the better!
How to manage your overeating habits
Understand your why
The first step to overcoming binge eating is identifying your triggers – and there are a few questions Lani Finau, a health coach at Juniper, likes to ask her patients in order to do so.
“What is it that’s driving this tendency to overeat? Are they hungry? Craving something sweet? Eating out of habit? Is there a particular emotion tied to the eating, such as stress or boredom? After we identify the why, it is easier to go ahead and change the course of direction for this habit.”
A food diary can be really helpful here. As you track what you’re eating and how you’re feeling, you’ll start to identify patterns and become able to address specific triggers.
Establish a regular eating pattern
“One of the main reasons people tend to overeat is when they have not eaten enough across the day, so they end up feeling incredibly hungry at different points or notice an increase in their cravings,” Lani explains.
“Establishing a regular eating pattern of 3 main meals and 1-2 snacks allows patients to stabilise their cravings and appetite – which in turn allows them to manage their portion sizes better.
“In addition to this, ensuring across the day patients are having adequate protein of around 1.2-1.6g of protein per kg of body weight will also further support appetite and cravings.”
Use the plate model and eat mindfully
Lastly, Lani suggests taking a visual approach to serving up your plate without overfilling it. “Using a resource light the plate model can be a major unlock here! Helping to ensure they balance their plate with the right macronutrients and serving sizes to support satiety.”
“In addition to this, using mindful eating techniques such as chewing your food at least 15-20 times, using smaller cutlery, and even just taking in the smell, taste, sight, texture and flavour of each bite of food can really help members slow down their eating time (which can have the follow-on affect of reducing their likelihood to overeat),” she adds.
