Weight loss is an ongoing process that requires not only a small, sustainable energy gap. It also involves factors such as circadian rhythms, meal timing and intermittent fasting. Emerging research suggests that when you eat is just as important as what you can eat. According to nutritionists, if you’re trying to lose weight, then here are five things we recommend you do as little as possible after 5pm.
Binge eating at the end of the working day
Do you have an insatiable hunger in the evening, so much so that you eat everything in sight? Overeating is more of an emotional outlet, whether it’s a slice of creamy cake or a spicy hotpot, it’s a way to eat and drink your way out of a bad day at work.
Firstly, please don’t link negativity to eating, as the culture of eating is subtly affecting our eating patterns. Kicking the habit is sometimes easier than you think. So dieting to reduce your food intake and eating after venting out your bad emotions with the help of communication, exercise, etc., may avoid the problem of overeating. In addition to this, it is important to distribute the proportion of three meals a day. A bad breakfast and an insufficient lunch may be the reason why you overeat at dinner. To prevent overeating in the evening, make sure you have enough time to eat enough food to last you through the day. That way you won’t feel ravenous.
When you’re trying to lose weight, keeping to a small, frequent eating pattern and eating balanced meals containing protein, fibre and fat every three to four hours will prevent binge eating in the evening. So opt for a fibre- and protein-rich snack like a peanut butter apple around 3pm so you don’t get ravenous at 5pm and induce a binge eating initiative.
Snacking on the go
Snacking on the go, eating chips and nuts, these bits and pieces of snacking intake is a big no-no for people who are on a diet.
This is because the act of casually taking food out of a snack bag can make us forget about our energy intake. Chips straight out of the bag can cause us to eat mindlessly, especially if you’re flicking through your phone or watching TV while doing it. Before you know it, you may have consumed the energy contained in a meal. Instead of mindlessly snacking, make a plan of what your evening snack will include (think produce and protein that will fill you up) and then enjoy.
Constant late nights and lack of sleep
A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2021 linked late-night eating to impaired weight loss and elevated triglycerides. The later you sleep, the more energy you burn and the greater the probability that your diet will add extra energy.
So don’t browse social media or reply to private messages before bed – these temptations can sap your sleep drive. Also the blue light from mobile phones can be blinding making it difficult to sleep. For this reason try a short meditation or drink some decaffeinated milk to help us settle down and get a good night’s rest.
In addition to this staying up late induced sleep deprivation may induce an elevation of the hormones cortisol and gastric hunger hormone to the extent that there will be a phenomenon that people who sleep less than 7 hours per night eat more snacks the next day than those who sleep more than 7 hours. So sleep time please do not stay up late to avoid subsequent energy overload.
No carbohydrates at dinner
People who are on a diet might be avoiding the intake of carbohydrates. But what goes around comes around, and the more you try to avoid it, the more you always seem to refrain from consuming large amounts when hunger strikes in the end. While consuming carbohydrates at dinner can make you feel guilty about losing weight, adding them in moderation can be an effective way of bridging the gap in your energy and help you in your weight loss endeavours.
Because carbohydrates not only provide energy for our brain and central nervous system, in moderation with fats and proteins can be more helpful in reducing the effects of lower blood sugar and delaying satiety. It can effectively prevent hunger from coming too quickly during weight loss too quickly inducing subsequent overeating.
Opening the fridge without a plan
It is important to know that food is pleasant and comforting, and when we are stressed, bored or craving for a particular food appetite will not only increase, but even make you lose your mind that it is right to eat these food. Therefore how to restrain the temptation of food and resist the hunger pangs that come at any time is at the heart of our diet during weight loss, and for this we need to have an effective plan.
Firstly, remove tempting processed foods such as crisps, sweets and refined snacks from your fridge. Instead, fill your fridge and cupboards with more nutritious alternatives, such as nuts, fruits, whole grains and high-quality proteins.
Next, make a plan not to hover around the fridge after dinner and open it frequently.
Finally, we need to have a plan to avoid eating and not impulsively open the fridge to ingest nutrient-deficient, high-calorie sweets when our hunger pangs suddenly set in. We need to plan our intake of high fibre, low calorie fruit or vegetable salads to counteract the impulsive responses our stomachs trick our brains into making.
To summarise these details above we all encounter them. There is no need to feel guilty or ashamed if you too have encountered any of the above scenarios that have resulted in your weight loss not going according to plan.
As long as we are aware of these details and avoid them as much as possible next time, it is much more important that you can perform effectively most of the time than if you fail to do so occasionally. Be flexible and execute the plan, and I’m sure we’ll be successful in losing weight on the diet.