Best Bedtime Snacks If Watching Your Waistline

I’m sure you have heard that you shouldn’t EAT after 7 o’clock.

Sure, it does matter WHAT you put into your mouth before bed. Often choosing foods with added sugar, salt and fat will obviously be a problem. WHAT you eat can certainly influence HOW much you eat.

As most people choose high calorie processed foods which are engineered to lead us into over consumption. Meaning it makes it very difficult to have dietary self-control. If you find yourself snacking on chips, chocolate, or ice cream nightly will do nothing positive for your health and waistline.

I’m here to talk about the foods that are acceptable to eat as a bedtime snack if you are wanting to lose weight and/or maintain bodyweight. Here’s the good news...

When having a reasonably sized bedtime snack it can be beneficial for our

• weight management

• assisting with appetite control

• recovery from exercise

• aids in our muscle mass and strength.

When paired with an overall healthy nutrition plan, bedtime snacks can assist with our athletic performance, weight management and metabolic health.

===> Quality Protein

Having enough protein in our daily diets will help improve appetite control, building muscle, increase are calorie burning muscle, decrease body fat, alongside others. That’s why protein is the best food to eat before bed.

Consuming protein before bed helps improve recovery from exercise. Aiming for 30g of protein before bed will increase your metabolic rate (how many calories we burn) for the next day.

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Here are some examples of protein rich snacks.

• Greek yogurt

• cottage cheese

• animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs, chicken)

There’s many recipes with protein powder that boost the amount of protein as well. A protein shake also works.

===> Cherries, Pineapples, Oranges, Kiwi

These are carbs, and they won’t have the same benefits as protein. However, they do have other qualities for nighttime assistance.

If you’re someone who likes something sweet before bed the fruits listed are an excellent alternative.

Each of the fruits listed have melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the penile gland whose job is a sleep facilitator.

When melatonin levels are highest, they help induce sleep.Studies show that consuming kiwis and cherries can improve both the quality, and sleep duration in a night..

===> Nuts and Seeds

Healthy fats help regulate our appetite by releasing satiety (The absent of hunger) hormones.

This is often the explanation why those who tend to eat high-fat, low carbohydrate diet are more successful in weight loss than those who consume low-fat diets.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center found that melatonin is found in walnuts.

That’s a plus as a bedtime snack.

===> Keep It Small

If you begin having snacks before bed, remember to keep it small, 150 to 200 calories.

However, if you find you fall into over-eating junk food at night, then maybe it’s best not to snack.

Look over your overall nutrition plan and take some time to do a kitchen makeover (If the unhealthy food options aren’t there, you won’t eat it).

What I hope you got out of this...

There are approved snacks that can be beneficial for our metabolism, health and body composition.

If you are interested to have someone walk you through a healthy nutrition plan to lower your body-weight and get you to an overall healthy body composition be sure to reach out.

I offer an online program which includes nutrition and exercise.

If interested you can respond to this email or read more about it on my coaching page in my website.

https://www.katieosterhoff.com/coaching

Here's to our Journey,