Cravings & hunger at night

I received an email recently from a client and she said she would like this addressed on the blog.

"I eat dinner around 6 pm, then have a light snack usually around 8pm and feel very satisfied. I then get into bed at 9:30 pm and watch some TV with my husband. Somewhere around 10-10:30 pm I start to feel a little bit hungry and begin eating. At this time I am usually eating junk food. Left over skittles, pop tarts, fruit loops, frozen waffles with syrup, or really anything I know I shouldn't be eating especially at that time of day. How do I stop this? What is causing this?"

I know many people, including myself that have had or do have night time cravings. There are a few things to rule out; are you eating enough during the day? Are you drinking enough water during the day? Are you consuming enough calories during the day? Are you eating the right foods during the day?

If you are not getting enough food or calories during the day then you are depriving your body of what it needs, and you will find that at the end of the day you are still hungry.

If you are not drinking enough water during the day then that can and does sometimes make you feel hungry or have cravings.

If you are not eating the right whole foods during the day then you are likely to feel hungry at night.

If all is right and you are doing all that you are supposed to during the day then I would say that you are just having a craving and you need to make sure that the foods that can do your body harm are not within your reach. Do not purchase pop-tarts, fruit loops and skittles. Fill your pantry and fridge with whole foods. When you have a craving you don't have the choice of eating pop-tarts, but you will have to instead fulfill that craving with an apple, banana, orange, or maybe just some water sweetened with stevia and an orange slice.

Thanks for the question, and I hope this helped!!

Have a great Wednesday!