How to Make Night Time Eating Work for You

When I polled my audience in IG stories the other day, I was surprised to see that night time eating was the food-related thing that gave the most people anxiety… 

So, let’s fix that!

Because you know I’m all about educating and empowering you so that you can remove the stress, guilt, and confusion around your food choices. 

First and foremost…

There is NOTHING wrong with eating at night*. You don’t burn less calories because you ate at night. The food you eat in the evening doesn’t automatically turn into body fat. 

*For clarity, let’s define “night time eating” as eating between dinner time and bedtime.

It is very normal and common to curl up on the couch at night with a snack while watching TV or scrolling social media. 

BUT, if this bothers you and stresses you out–especially if you tend to eat past fullness at night–let’s dig deeper and figure out why you often find yourself deep in a box of cookies at 10pm (and, of course, what you can do about it). 

To come up with strategies, first you need to identify what is your specific driving factor for night time eating. There are a few common reasons:

1. You’re not eating enough calories or certain types of foods during the day (so of course you’re hungry at night!)

2. You feel unsatisfied from your dinner and/or night time snack. 

3. You’re not eating filling and balanced meals and snacks (for example, did you eat 3 full meals but all of them were missing carbs?) 

4. You’re eating out of stress, boredom, or a ritual. These are technically different, but at the same time, kind of go hand-in-hand because they all involve a mental and emotional connection with food.

Let’s unpack each of these + discuss strategies to improve them…

(1) You’re not eating enough calories or certain types of foods during the day*

If you are someone that pretty much every night your stomach starts to rumble and you find yourself staring into the fridge or pantry, trying to figure out what you “can” eat, you are probably not eating enough calories. I beg you to take a look at your overall food intake during the day. It also might not hurt to calculate your daily calorie/macro needs (of course, it’s only an estimate) and track your food intake for a few days to see how much you’re actually eating

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are you eating somewhere between 0.7 to 1.0x your bodyweight in grams of protein, on average? 

• Are you including a palm-sized serving of carbs with most meals and snacks? 

• Are you including fats with your meals (for example, cooking food in butter or oil)? 

• Are you eating enough fiber (25 to 35 grams per day), and getting in several servings of fruits and vegetables each day? 

• Are you eating breakfast every day? And I mean a real breakfast, not a protein bar or yogurt cup. 

• Are you having a snack before dance? Are you refueling with carbs and protein after dance and/or workouts?

*Late night hunger is also going to increase when you have dance at night, because:

1) You’re probably eating even less calories overall since you might not be having a real dinner due to the timing of dance.

2) You’re burning calories so your energy/food needs are even higher than non-dance days. So, it’s extra important to eat enough food throughout the day BEFORE you have dance!

(2) You feel unsatisfied from your dinner and/or night time snack 

What I mean by unsatisfied is… did you eat foods that you actually enjoyed and wanted to eat? Or did you force down chicken and broccoli because that’s what you think you’re supposed to be eating? 

Satisfaction from food is different from physical fullness. Satisfaction means actually enjoying your meals. Eat foods you want to eat, not just foods you think you should eat. 

This phenomenon can also happen if you feel like you ate super strict “healthy” and “clean” all day long, so you want to reward yourself with a “treat” at night. When certain foods are off limits all day, you’re more likely to overeat them in the evening.

If you’re craving ice cream, but instead you make a protein shake, 9 times out of 10 you’re probably still going to want the ice cream. If you’re craving popcorn, but you decide to eat carrots and hummus instead… you’re still going to want popcorn later! 

Allowing yourself to have the snack you want is actually a good, productive thing. If you are constantly restricting yourself from foods you enjoy, you’ll end up feeling totally out of control around them later on (and probably overeat them)!

(3) You’re not eating filling and macro balanced meals and snacks throughout the day

I see this the most when dancers are eating low amounts of carbs or low amounts of fats. 

In general, when you don’t eat very many carbs during the day, you won’t necessarily feel ravenously hungry at night, but you have strong cravings for sugar and sweets. This is because carbs break down into glucose (sugar). Glucose is the body’s preferred fuel source, and your brain needs glucose to function! So, if you haven’t given your body enough carbs all day, you’re probably going to crave sweets at night because you have a physiological need for glucose. 

Re: fats (again, I’m generalizing, but these are patterns I see), when you don’t eat enough fats that is when you feel HUNGRY at night. Fats help us feel full and satiated for a long time. 

Try to build “macro balanced” meals and snacks. As much as possible, each meal should have protein, fat, carbs, and fiber (think fruit at breakfast, veggies at lunch and dinner). This balance of all three macronutrients, plus fiber, helps to balance your blood sugar and promote stable energy levels, and will keep you feeling fuller and more satisfied for much longer. 

(4) Your night time eating comes from a place of stress, boredom, and/or a ritual 

Again, there is NOTHING wrong with this! If you are someone who has a chaotic day, maybe you have kids who constantly need things from you, or a really demanding job… that evening quiet time might be your only hour of solitude. And enjoying your favorite snack or dessert can feel extra indulgent and comforting. 

The way I see it, you have two options…

Option 1 → If you associate food with relaxation, and you don’t want to anymore, find another activity to associate with relaxation before bed. If night time snacking is like autopilot for you, try incorporating other relaxing things into your night time routine to do instead of sitting on the couch and mindlessly eating. Take a hot bath, stretch, meditate, journal, etc.

Option 2 → Stop fighting your snacking habit. Lean into it and find ways to make it work for you so that you don’t feel guilty about it.

When it comes to nutrition and food choices, I actually prefer to lean into habits rather than try to break them or change them. This is something I have my clients do as well.

For example:

Let’s say you’ve been a habitual night time snacker for the past 10 years, and at least a dozen times you’ve tried to break that habit. Instead of eating, you’ve tried to read, go for a walk, take a bath, paint your nails, go to bed earlier, etc. But you always go back to snacking at night. 

The reality is, snacking at night is your thing! You’re GOING to do it, no matter how hard you try not to. And that’s okay.

Do you want to spend your life feeling guilty for eating at night? Or would you rather find snacks that you feel good about, that make you feel good, and that you’re excited to eat? I personally choose option 2, I LIVE for a good evening snack or dessert.

How to make your evening snack or dessert work for you:

As often as you can, try to make a snack that has at least two out of the three macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs). This is going to help you feel more satisfied and make you less likely to overdo it and eat past fullness.

To DIY and build your own snack adventure, choose one from at least two of the categories below:

Here are my personal favorite night time snacks (I’m more of a sweets person):

1. Chocolate protein yogurt bowl → mix 1 cup of plain greek yogurt with a scoop of chocolate protein powder (sometimes I add extra cocoa powder to make it more chocolate-y), then top with berries, chocolate chips, granola, etc.

2. Chocolate milkshake → blend frozen banana and/or berries + some ice + milk + chocolate protein powder + peanut butter.

3. A bowl of fresh fruit with honey and cottage cheese, plus a few dark chocolate squares.

4. Protein chocolate pudding → using a blender, blend 1 cup of chocolate Fairlife milk with ½ a packet of sugar free chocolate instant pudding mix; let it set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I like to top with berries or sliced bananas.

Can you tell I like chocolate?

I hope this helped you to feel less guilty about eating at night, and gave you some new ideas for how to navigate night time eating!

Remember, it is truly okay and normal to eat between dinner time and bed time. I do it EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. You just have to find ways to make that night time snack work for you so that you can enjoy it while also not feeling bad about it.