I’ve recorded this email as a video as well. You can find it on Facebook or Instagram.
Eating food you wouldn’t usually eat, in quantities you hardly remember eating, in the evenings seems a huge issue for so many of us.
We easily justify eating calories equal to a generous meal, after only just eating our dinner.
I’ve written about it fairly often, and there are still more aspects to evening overeating that we can talk about.
I do think it can be fixed. One of the many factors I’ve written about before is likely to help you. You can read other pieces I’ve written here:
The Habit of Over Eating
On Eating Food You Didn’t Really Want To Eat
The Dreaded Evening Munchies
Regardless of the cause though, it is going to take some proper focus, planning and remembering to actually follow through with your plans in order to fix it.
I love this as a strategy for the evenings.
Before I explain this strategy, I think it is important to clarify that we’re talking about that habitual overeating during which you’re almost out of control. This is not about vilifying certain foods, nor am I saying you should have strategies in place to stop yourself enjoying low nutrition, high pleasure foods ever. This is specifically about that out of control evening cupboard raiding thing which happens to so many of us.
So. We need to set a hard limit – a deadline – and decide exactly when it is going to kick in. Maybe it’s when you’ve put your fork down after dinner, perhaps it’s when the kitchen is tidy, or when the children are asleep – it doesn’t matter when your deadline is, but know that you have a definite time – before your cupboard raiding urge usually kicks in.
We’re going to start some sort of new routine at this time.
It doesn’t need to be a big routine, just something which will mark the end of the availability of food (or certain food). Go and have a shower, get changed into your PJs, brush your teeth, clap your hands – whatever you like.
The conscious decision to put an end to the day’s food is more powerful than you might imagine, and the physical change of routine can really help to break the habit too.
It doesn’t need to be a zero calories thing. You don’t have to say that you’re not eating anything else after dinner. You can, but you don’t have to.
You might decide that after your deadline time the only food available to you is, say, berries. You might pre-plate an evening snack that is compatible with your goals and decide that that is the only food available to you after your deadline.
Doing something to remain conscious of the decisions you’re making – remembering to remember your goals – is the aim. You can always adapt what you’re doing at a later date.
I hope this strategy adds something useful to your evenings, I’d love to hear how it works for you. If you still need help with fixing this aspect of your diet, I’d love to help, so please do get in touch.