Below Are 5 Techniques I've Used To Stop Overeating At Night
Implement a few of these techniques and find what works best for you, if you're currently in a bulking phase you likely won't want to be surpressing your appetite as suggested in technique #1, in which case I recommend focusing on #3 and #5.
1 - Suppress Your Appetite With Green Tea
Drink several cups of green tea throughout the day
Green tea is one of the few supplements that actually has studies to prove it does work. This NO BS supplement along with its rock bottom price (green tea extract) make it very attractive during a cutting phase and drinking green tea for weight loss has quickly become one of my few staple routines while I’m cutting down for a photoshoot (for reference I stack green tea with caffeine and dandelion root extract, but more on that later).
Green tea extract (derived from the leaves of green tea) and weight loss has been the subject of many studies, all of which suggest that green tea extract indeed does work due to the content of catchecins, which are responsible for many of the health benefits we experience from tea. An increase in exercise-induced fat loss is also one of the benefits of green tea extract.
One of the biggest benefits I personally find when supplementing with green tea extract (or drinking several cups of green tea) is appetite suppression – if you’re looking to fast through the morning or suppress your appetite in general to prevent going over your daily caloric intake or binge eating I highly recommend you supplement with green tea.
2- Fast Through The Morning
Think of your caloric intake as if it were your bank balance.
If you spend the majority of your money in the morning you're not going to have much left to play with come the evening.
Therefore I've personally found that by fasting through the morning and having my first meal around mid-day I'm able to save the majority of my calories for later in the day - the result? No desire to overeat at night.
This is a typical 16 hour fast with an 8 hour eating window (eat from mid-day to 8pm, fast through the evening and morning).
I've discovered that I'm not only more energetic because my body isn't trying to digest food in the early hours of the morning, but my focus on writing etc. is through the roof.
3 - Identify & Eliminate Your Trigger
If there's a certain activity or event that causes you to overeat at night then eliminate it!
If you reach for a bag of buttered popcorn every evening that you watch Netflix on the couch then instead of drinking green tea throughout the day or using any of the other techniques here it's simple.
Don't watch Netflix on the couch.
Opt for production based hobbies instead that'll keep you busy.
4 - Drink Water Before You Eat
Not only do I recommend drinking a gallon of water a day, if you're struggling with overeating at night I'd drink a tall glass of water or two before your last planned meal.
If dinner is your last meal of the day drink water before and with your dinner.
This'll have you feeling fuller than normal without any additional calories - hopefully deterring you from the unwanted late night snacking.
5 - Create An Evening Routine
“If you don't have a plan, you become part of somebody else's plan"
Have a plan.
When you've got an evening routine you're accountable to it, it's when we have no plan that we're most likely to end up having an unplanned caloric blowout.
You can check out my full evening routine here.
Here's a summary of it...
- I plan the following day (create my to-do list, set mini goals)
- I work on my mobility (foam rolling and dynamic stretches)
- I take care of my skin (coconut oil)
- I read