It’s hard to resist the urge to indulge at night. While the curtains are closed and the lights are dimmed we can feel a slight pull from our kitchen. This pull whispers to us “but you had a long day” “you were so good today… only had salad for lunch”.This is the time that can be hardest trying to resist the temptation of chocolate, ice cream and chips. Even indulging in healthy items at this time can quickly lead to additional pounds.
How do we curb these nighttime cravings? How do we say no when we are at our weakest moments ? I get it, i give in to temptation all the time. Ask my husband. Some nights he sees me sneaking towards the fridge in a failed attempt to be quiet.
What i have learned from my own experience and in counseling others is that sometimes it is ok to give into temptation. If not, how boring would life be. Yet, giving into temptation nightly can leave us with indigestion, restlessness as well as additional pounds on the scale.
Sometimes knowing when to call it quits is a good start. Instead of staying up the extra 30 minutes go to bed. Talk yourself down from the ledge. Instead of telling yourself you were good. Praise yourself for being good and imagine how good the scale will look at the end of the week. Have fruit, trail mix, nuts, a frozen fruit bar ready to go and include it into your daily regimen. If you know you like to have something after dinner count it. These are a few suggestions to help curb our nighttime cravings. Hope they help!