Late Night Snack Damage Control

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wowsley2
wowsley2 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello!

I have a question. If you're going to eat something late at night, what kind of food does the least damage to your goal of losing weight?

I know generally it's bad to eat late at night because you're not going to be awake long enough to efficiently burn off the calories (or something like that . . . I'm not going to pretend i know anything about nutrition), but sometimes I have to work on assignments really late into the night.

On those occasions, I might be awake for 6-10 hours after I've ate dinner, and I start craving some kind of food. So, if you're going to have to eat *something*, what kind of food would be the least harmful to trying to lose weight?

Replies

  • Coco_Puff
    Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
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    I eat air popped popcorn or 3-2-1 cake.
  • Ariam12
    Ariam12 Posts: 7
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    I have a tendency to crave chocolate at night, so I make a cup of hot cocoa. Water instead of milk, and powdered cocoa instead of chocolate syrup. Generally this is less than 100calories and fills me up and keeps me satisfied :)
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
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    I agree with air popped popcorn.

    You could also get a handful of berries such as Blueberries, Raspberries and Blackberries.

    Get some carrot sticks, celery sticks and some hummus or even salsa. I enjoy dipping my veggies in salsa :D

    A bit of Scrambled Egg?
  • Ariam12
    Ariam12 Posts: 7
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    berries! Yes I definitely agree with that one! Berries are great to eat and I heard that blueberries help make the waist line smaller :)
  • nkziv
    nkziv Posts: 161 Member
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    it doesn't matter when you eat. even if you don't burn the calories while the food's still in your system, that doesn't mean you can't burn them the next day. just eat healthy and stay within your calorie goal. TIME MAKES NOOOO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER.
  • judybrim
    judybrim Posts: 82 Member
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    I'm definitely no expert either, but from all I've read and heard it always comes back to the same: eat less than you burn - no matter when you eat it in a day. Just make sure you're burning more calories than you take in! Hope this helps!
  • redheavens
    redheavens Posts: 4 Member
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    blueberries make the waste line smaller.. I need to get me some of those.. I have been eating strawberries and black berries this past week..
  • Jessicaruby
    Jessicaruby Posts: 881 Member
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    it does not matter what time of day you eat. your body doesnt shut off after dinner. many people recommened not eating late at night because alot of people crave junk food around this time and are often times sitting in front of the TV or computer mindlessly eating (eating over cals leads to weight gain, not when you eat). I eat dinner at around 6:30 and then i eat a snack or two around 8. if you have the calories then eat something if you are hungry. you just have to know what triggers your eating and be mindful of portion control. popcorn is a good option as it is low in calories for a large amount. i am trying to build muscle so i try and eat something with protein such as eggs, protein shake, greek yogurt, ect. If i am craving chocolate i have a dark chocolate bar. it just depends on what your goals are.


    EDIT TO ADD: if you do eat late at night the scale my go up slightly if you weigh in the next day. this is just temparary.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    Oats, filling and low calorie x
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I've actually started making a protein shake. It's chocolate...so I get a fix....and it's 23 grams of protein so it fills me up. For 100 calories. I don't want anything else after I'm done. I'll make it with decaf instant coffee...it's like a mocha shake!
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Oh..and 2 carbs and no sugar.
  • Yetta729
    Yetta729 Posts: 68 Member
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    I've actually started making a protein shake. It's chocolate...so I get a fix....and it's 23 grams of protein so it fills me up. For 100 calories. I don't want anything else after I'm done. I'll make it with decaf instant coffee...it's like a mocha shake!

    that sounds delish ... I am a coffee and chocolate junkie and will give this a try ;-)
  • kelleygi
    kelleygi Posts: 650 Member
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    this is one of my biggest problems! so i personally thank everyone for they"re advice and tips here!
  • jjblogs
    jjblogs Posts: 327 Member
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    Im a late night snacker and it kills my diet. I've found when I eat apples and pb or oatmeal late in the evening, it fills me up, but doesn't affect the scale. I like popcorn too, but only problem with that is that it makes me want more and more and more.
  • blueeyedcristi
    blueeyedcristi Posts: 304 Member
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    I also get late night cravings since I'm a night owl. Still trying to determine if I am actually hungry or just bored. I like the 90 calorie Fiber One brownie bites, raw almonds, greek yogurt, cashews, carrots, and apples & pb.
  • Meatsies
    Meatsies Posts: 351 Member
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    I eat an apple with peanut butter almost every night...it's become my new favorite snack. It's extremely filling, the apple serves to tamp down any cravings I may have for sweets, and the peanut butter is almost like a cheat. I've read that having a snack before bed can bump up your metabolism through the night so that you actually burn more calories while sleeping. While I'm by no means a nutrition expert, I haven't found that my weight loss efforts have been hampered by this practice.

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