Midnight Munchies...

by Lynn Grieger, RD, CDE


It's 11pm and you're hungry. The negotiating begins: "You're trying to lose weight; why not just go to bed without eating?" "But I've followed my diet all day; I deserve a treat." "I can't sleep if I'm hungry." "Everyone needs a bedtime snack, and besides, I choose only fat-free, healthy foods." What's a person to do?
Eating late at night is a common habit. Most of the time, we eat out of stress or to fill emotional needs, not hunger. Use this checklist to determine your reasons for eating and choose the most appropriate action (and it's not always eating!):

1. Ask yourself what you really are feeling, then follow through with an action that satisfies that need. If you're tired, go to bed. If you're feeling lonely, call a friend or find activities to help fill the evening hours. You can't get to the bottom of your emotions or your eating habits without asking yourself how you feel.

2. Only allow yourself to snack when sitting at the dining room or kitchen table, using dishes that must be washed before you go to bed. This simple guideline helps cut back significantly on traveling snacks -- you know, the one cookie while I talk on the phone, two crackers while I watch TV, a glass of juice while I read the paper syndrome. Don't do anything else while you eat except eat, and focus on your eating. No TV, no reading; just eating.

3. Eating late at night keeps us from feeling hungry in the morning, leading to the habit of skipping breakfast and starting off the day on the wrong foot. Keep the portions of any midnight munchies small, so you can wake up ready to start the day. It's a snack, not a meal.

4. Figure out exactly what you are hungry for. Are you craving something salty and crunchy? Try pretzels or fat-free popcorn. (Remember that an entire bag of microwave popcorn is NOT a serving!) Maybe you're just thirsty. Always start with an 8 to 10 ounce glass of water and make sure to wait 15 minutes before you reassess your hunger level. If you want something cold and creamy, try yogurt. Look for snacks that add nutritional value to your day, not just empty calories.

5. Add evening exercise to your routine. Take a walk after dinner, join an evening aerobics or water exercise class, or try yoga and other stretching exercises. You'll feel so great, you won't want or need to eat!

Amazing tips of the weight-Loss Winners!

Anyone can start a diet, but here's howto stay motivated, day after dieting day. More important, here's how to dust yourself off and get back on the right track if you fall off the weight-loss wagon; even if your get run over by a Krispy Kreme truck. The following quotes are excerpts from the book How to Lose 9,000 lbs. (Or less) hundreds of heads Books.

After I decided I had to lose weight, I lost 12 pounds the first month. That’s when I realized I could lose 100 pounds in a year, two pounds per week. I weighted in every single Sunday and kept track of my weight on a chart. It wasn’t easy, but by being rigid and militant with my diet, I lost two pounds almost every week. Once you make up your mind about something, you can do anything.

Kara, Chicago, IL - Lost 217 lbs.

I bought myself a pair of jeans one size too small. Once a week I try them on. First, I was about to just squeeze into them. Then I could pull the up. Finally, I could zip them. Then I could actually put my hands in the pockets. Progress!!
Mary Bright - Allentown, PA

You have to have a very specific goal to focus on: I mean, extremely specific. You have to think, "I want to lower my cholesterol 10 points by my birthday, or I want to lose 25 pounds by my high school reunion on June 11." There’s no such thing as too specific. For me it was my niece’s wedding. I used that date as my goal to lose 20 pounds, I actually lost 22.

A.P. - Corriganville, MD - Lost 22 lbs.

It’s the little things that add up to weight loss. Think of it as a series of small battles: walk, don’t ride; take the stair, not the elevator; single cheeseburger instead of double; one shot of whiskey instead of two.

Sandy J. - Zelienople, PA - Lost 24 lbs.

Lose weight to spite all the people who told you that you couldn’t do it, or even all the people you suspect may have thought that, even if they didn’t come right out and say it to your face. Do it to spite them all, Nobody ever said that you couldn’t use spite as a motivation, right?

Greg Fox - Frostburg, MD - Lost 25 lbs.

Don’t be desperate to change yourself overnight. After I had to buy clothes a size larger than I always had been, I was determined to graduate from college weighing close to what I was when I started college. This would mean losing about 15 pounds over the course of a few months. I achieved that goal, and them continued with eating better, eating less, and exercising a little more.
K.H. - Norman, OK - lost 45 lbs.

Weight loss boils down to a lot of hard work, willpower and commitment. And no matter what plan or diet you follow, without those three things nothing is going to work.

Kandi Kissiah - Rocky Mount, NC - lost 158 lbs.!

It's over.....

O brasil perdeu ontem pra Franca, nao e que nos Brasileiros estamos decepcionados com a derrota...isso faz parte do futebol, mas a bolinha que a selecao jogou... jogadores considerados craques em seus respectivos clubes, fizeram muito pouco pela amerilinha, foi horrivel assistir os jogos da selecao, tomara que possamos fazer uma renovada, e mandar algums consagrados jogadores que ja nao tem mais a vontade de ser campeao....pra casa. a copa acabou para mim, dos times que estao ai, eu prefiro Portugal, ja sabendo que vai ser muito dificil eles ganharem dos alemaes...mas de qualquer forma nem tudo e choradeira, pelo menos agora eu posso me concentrar no meu weight loss plan.