Check out my progress on Evening Eating
You’ve probably heard the “rule” about nighttime eating a million times: “The kitchen should close at 8PM!” “Brush your teeth immediately after dinner to avoid evening snacking!” “Eating after dinner leads to flab!” I say it’s all phooey.
This ban on evening eating has some sound logic in it. After all, the after-dinner hours are prime-time for mindless snacking, and sitting on the couch and sleeping don’t really require much energy.
However, establishing an arbitrary time to “close the kitchen” is setting yourself up for disordered eating; it encourages you to ignore your hunger cues and instill unnecessary rules on your eating habits. Plus, busy schedules often don’t allow for regular mealtimes. I myself have fallen prey to 9PM dinners on a regular basis (ahem, including tonight!); ever since entering graduate school, my evenings, formerly devoted to cooking and leisure activities, have become occupied by class and homework. Even when I do have a more lax schedule, I like to enjoy an evening snack (or two!)—I mean, how else would I get my fro-yo fix?
What are your thoughts on evening eating? Do you regularly have an after-dinner snack? Why or why not?
Onto the grub!
Before jetting off to class this morning, I made a choco-nana protein shake to gulp down as I crammed for a quiz.
In between classes, I came home and made a batch of Peanut Sesame Hummus. Delish, as always—too bad the pictures suck. I hate rainy days—they make for ugly photography.
Once home from a long lab session, I made Ellie’s Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs.
My tweak:
-I used tofu instead of chicken thighs.
As you may recall, I’ve made my own version of this recipe several times before. I didn’t know that Ellie had a recipe featuring the maple-mustard combo until relatively recently. Anyway, I gotta say, I think I like my version better. I use spicy mustard instead of whole grain, and I cook it on the stovetop rather than the oven, making for a more complete coating of the tangy sauce. Nonetheless, this dish was tasty enough and very simple to make.
Alright, I need to unwind for a bit! Good night, lovelies.
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
I eat when I’m hungry! Even if it’s 1 AM
i need to eat after dinner! if not my tummy is not happy with me in the middle of the night!
I agree with everything you say….however I have a tendeny to put off eating until late at night.
Midnight snack? Yum.
Midnight dinner? Yum…BUT makes for a nasty night’s sleep.
So if we are to honor our hunger cues it has to be an all day long affait which is a key listen for those with food issues. If that means eating dinner at 4:30 pm and two snacks later? So be it.
I think those rules are stupid as well and probably made up by people who restrict food. When our bodies our hungry, we should feed them– that would be starving ourselves. As long as you’re not overeating, it doesn’t matter what time you eat!
I always snack after dinner and well into the night. I cannot sleep if I am hungry
I dont believe on eating time vs weight gain. I personally eat whatever hour is convenient and feel like, which many times ends up being 1-2 before bed time.
I had all the stupid “rules” that magazines, websites, etc. push at us. If I’m hungry beyond 8, 9, 10pm – I’m going to eat! Your body doesn’t care if its morning or night, its just asking for food
I always have at least one snack after dinner! I love it; in fact, when I first started recovery, I would eat close to 50% of my daily calories after dinner (which I realize is not healthy either and don’t worry–I stopped!) An evening snack is something I deprived myself of for 3 years during ED (and sometimes I would “have to” skip dinner, too, because I got home after my 7 PM eating-cut-off time.) I would wake up in the middle of the night having panic attacks from hunger. I never want to do that again!
All these food rules suck. I swear, IIFYMs has been the best thing I’ve ever discovered for my mental health.
What a great post! Me and my boyfriend are always wanting to snack late night on the weekends and this is so helpful
The timing of when you eat is crap – eat if you are hungry. Stop when you are satiated. You shouldn’t feel guilty for eating after a certain time because someone told you it’s bad and will make you fat. Sure, maybe it works for some people who have other eating issues and are unable to listen to their own internal hunger cues, but ultimately there is no real scientific basis to not eat after a certain time. In fact, in many countries, dinner is eaten much later than we eat dinner here in North America. Plus with crazy work/school schedules, sometimes dinner at 9 pm is what has to happen.