For many of us who are trying to lose pregnancy weight, the daylight hours are when we are focused on our healthy eating plan. We eat well, snack right, and get some exercise in.
Then the sun goes down and things go a little awry.
Sound familiar? Night time overeating and snacking after dinner is a common issue that many of us face while we try to lose pregnancy weight.
The good news is that there are lots of things that you can try which will help you break those bad habits for good.
Eat well through the day so you aren’t starving at night
Arriving home late afternoon starving is a bad move, as it can mean that reason goes out the window while you search for something to satisfy you. Be sure that you are planning for and consuming 3 main meals and 2 healthy snacks per day (check out the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge for a day by day plan (with over 1000 recipes) of what you should be eating in order to lose weight – you can see an example of a couple of days on challenge below).
Minimise the opportunity for seconds
Once you have had a healthy dinner, full of fresh vegetables and proteins to keep you feeling full, pack any leftovers away to have for lunch tomorrow. This way there isn’t any food lying around that can end up getting polished off as you mindlessly nibble throughout the night.
Change your night time routine
Often we snack at night time when we are a bit bored. So try to make your evenings a bit more interesting – find a new series of books to get into, make a time to do some exercise such as our Exercise DVD, call a friend to catch up, paint your nails, do anything that reduced the boredom.
Find a new way to relax
For some people, relaxing at the end of the day means sitting in front of the TV and snacking on something tasty. If you are snacking on some fresh fruit or natural yoghurt, that is going to very different to if you are snacking on chocolate, chips or ice cream. Why not introduce some new ways to relax that don’t involve the television (which can lead to mindless snacking as you are distracted). Take a bath, go for a walk, email a friend, grab a cup of herbal tea, or find a hobby that you enjoy such as drawing or listening to music.
Get rid of the junk
It’s much easier to kick the night time snacking habit if there are no unhealthy snacks to be had. Promise yourself that you won’t buy food that doesn’t fit in with your healthy eating plan. If you really are hungry, try some frozen grapes, air popped popcorn, some watermelon, a handful of nuts or a banana. You can also try our Junk Food Detox Plan here
Make a ‘no eating in front of the TV’ rule
It is easy to over consume food when we aren’t paying attention to what we are eating and also ignoring our body’s signals that we have had enough. Watching TV while eating dinner or a snack is likely to cause issues with weight loss, as we need to eat mindfully. Introduce a rule that you will only eat at the table (snacks too) and not while watching TV or running around after the kids.
Do something else
Night time snacking is a tough habit to break, so it pays to distract yourself if you can. Drink water, fold the laundry, do some stretches, clean out a kitchen drawer – just keep your hands busy so that you aren’t tempted.
Choose wisely
And if you are just really hungry, just make sure you have a healthy snack – here are 21 healthy snacking ideas to help you make the right choices
Plus here are some healthy after dinner treats here
Have you got some other ideas for how to reduce the urge to snack at night time when trying to lose pregnancy weight? Jump onto our Facebook page and share them with us and over 140,000 other mums who are trying to eat well and lose post baby weight.
Join our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and get access to:
- 28 Days of family friendly healthy meals
- Personalised weekly shopping lists and customisable meal plans
- Access to the exclusive challenge 1000+ recipe hub
- 28 days of effective at home exercises to fit into your busy day
- Expert advice and support from the team and 1000’s of other mums on the challenge
- See all the details and join here
Results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge
Mums lose an average of 4-6kg (8-13 pounds) on our 28 Day Challenge and below are some of the amazing results from mums JUST LIKE YOU who are already using the 28 Day Challenge and losing tummy fat – make the change and join them today too!
You can see lots of results and you can join here too
Erin Loses a MASSIVE 44.7kgs on our 28 Day Challenges
Erin says: “I love the 28 day challenge! It takes all the guess work of “what do i have for dinner” and fumbling around the fridge looking for ingredients before deciding on something “easy” (and usually not healthy!) The best thing is, after doing my weekly shop once the shopping list comes out I have everything I need to make something HEALTHY AND EASY!”
DON’T delay!
Join today and become healthier and fitter this Winter. Join 1000’s of other mums on the same journey and be supported every step of the way.
You won’t regret it!
