How to Stop Eating at Bedtime

Bedtime eating can ruin a diet, plus add extra pounds to the waistline. Eating a heavy meal right before bedtime is a bad idea, because it can interfere with sleep or cause nightmares. Emotional eating, which stems from depression, stress and loneliness, is one of the main reasons people consume calories at bedtime. Watching television can also trigger late-night cravings. But there are ways to stop this behavior.

Instructions

• 1

  Stop eating at least 30 minutes or more before bedtime. Try not to go to bed hungry, thirsty or with an extremely full stomach. If you had a sensible dinner, a small healthy snack is OK in moderation. Choose healthy foods that do not trigger late-night binge eating.

• 2

  Substitute a good snack for a bad snack. Instead of eating junk at bedtime, try eating foods that don't add extra calories to the waistline. Try carrots, celery with low-calorie peanut butter or sugar free cookies.

• 3

  Avoid watching television late at night. This is major cause of eating at bedtime. Late-night tv commercials constantly showcase fast food, which sends messages to the brain to eat.

• 4

  Avoid buying fattening snacks at the grocery store. The temptation to eat chocolate ice cream, cookies, cake, pretzels and soda is hard to resist whenthey're in the refrigerator. Do not buy these foods at the store. Instead, buy healthy, low-fat or sugar-free snacks to munch on when the urge to eat hits you.

• 5

  Drink a glass of water at bedtime. Sometimes you are not really hungry, but you think you are, because you did not drink enough water throughout the day. Make a new habit of drinking a glass of water every time you want to grab snacks out of the kitchen.