Keeping the diet right throughout the day is very important for those trying to lose weight. But, it would help if you were careful so that the fatigue and stress of a long day of work or studies do not prevent you from taking care of food at night.
Some mistakes are made after 7 pm that can compromise weight loss or even cause weight gain. For example:
Eating Too Much Or Too Little For Dinner
Being on a diet, a person may eat little for dinners, such as soup, a salad, or a tiny sandwich. The problem is that she will feel starving again and need to eat for a short time later.
If you’re too tired for the day, you probably won’t have the energy to prepare a healthy meal when hunger strikes again. Thus, there will be many chances that you will not resist and resort to a snack in a package or a treat ready to satisfy your hunger.
As you probably already know, both are not the best options for those looking to lose weight.
On the other hand, some abuse food at dinner. After spending a day controlling food amid their tasks, at night, the person finds themselves in a more relaxed moment, when they have more time to eat. So fill your plate and eat more than you need.
In addition to generating an excessive consumption of calories, this is especially problematic at dinner because, at night, the body usually uses less energy, and the metabolism is a little slower.
Therefore, the idea is to have a balanced and healthy meal at dinner. The dish needs to have a good variety of nutrients and enough calories to satiate and prevent hunger from returning quickly, but you shouldn’t go overboard with the amount of food.
Snack On Unhealthy Snacks
Another step on the ball is to come home hungry and run after snacks that are far from healthy instead of preparing a quality meal. Or the person even makes a good dinner but decides to watch something on television before bed and can’t resist having a snack while watching.
Some examples of these unhealthy snacks are peanuts filled with salt, chips and chips, microwave popcorn, stuffed cookies, and other goodies, among other industrialized snacks.
In addition to having a lot of calories, these snacks can be full of bad fats, sugar, and sodium, the excess of which significantly disrupts the diet.
To prevent this from happening, it’s essential to eat a healthy dinner when you get home. If you need to snack before bed, even after having dinner, opt for healthy snacks.
Not Drinking Water
Some people don’t remember or don’t like to drink water at night. However, staying hydrated at night is essential for the health of the body and necessary for weight control.
That’s because the signals of thirst and hunger are very close together in the brain. Thus, a person who does not drink water at night can confuse the feeling of thirst with hunger and turn to food when what he needed was a glass of water.
The first tip is not to stop drinking water overnight. The second is the next time you think you’re hungry at night, especially if you’ve already eaten, have a glass of water to check that what you’re feeling isn’t thirsty.
However, an hour before bedtime, it is advisable to stop drinking water so that you do not have to get up at dawn to urinate, which interferes with sleep.
Not Brushing Your Teeth After Dinner
Don’t leave your teeth brushing too long after dinner, just at bedtime. First, after brushing your teeth, you will hardly want to eat again.
In addition, the mint flavor of the toothpaste left after brushing your teeth leaves the food with a strange aftertaste, which helps to lessen the urge to eat again. Second, some studies have suggested that mint acts as a natural hunger suppressant.
But that doesn’t mean you should brush your teeth immediately after dinner. In some cases, brushing your teeth right after eating can damage your tooth enamel.
Sleeping Too Late
For those who have difficulty controlling eating at night, more time awake at night equals more chances of eating more than you should. Therefore, the idea is to sleep earlier, without waiting many hours after dinner to go to bed.
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