Late Night Eater. Hi,
I am a serious late night snacker…since starting “the diet” i atleast have tried eating a piece of fruit instead of my normal junk food, but someone recently told me that was not good because fruit is full of sugar and its best if i don’t eat anything at night….
well at this point I don’t think I am capable of just not eating anything at all at night…baby steps….so what do ya’ll think about fruit as a late night snack?
Its fine. Personally I try to keep to one piece of fruit a day, but when you have a fair amount of weight to lose making any changes- especially from junk to 1 fruit will make a difference.
Another ideas are
plain yogurt with some frozen berries stirred in. the protein and sweet will be a good combination to combat hunger and seem dessert-esque
You dont have to make all your changes at once. The important part is to make new habits and as those become regular and easy, than you can tweak and adjust to make sure you keep losing weight/staying in shape.
not the best, not the worst…. the person who told you that has a point, it’s better to stick to protein/fat snacks at night, you don’t need sugar at bedtime.
but, if it’s a piece of fruit or a bag of cookies (or even crackcers or chips,) definitely eat the fruit.
how about some greek yogurt? some chicken dipped in peanut sauce? crudites? almonds? kale chips? even popcorn?
isn’t popcorn a carb? §.
indeed it is.. but it’s going to be slower burning than the fruit. not really ideal, but, if the poster wants a salty crunchy food, it’s a decent choice.
what?. what do you mean protein/fat snacks?
wouldn’t fat snacks be horrible to eat at night?
wouldn’t fat snacks be horrible to eat period?
I do love greek yogurt…and almonds is a good idea..i just wish they weren’t so expensive:(
fat does not make you fat..
i love snacking on nuts:).
well you’re going to. have to give in a little to. lifestyle changes are about, well Changes.
Word. Good article on the “F word”:. http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_nutrition_bodybuilding/the_fword
And:. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?sec=health
Late night eatter. I was eatting fruit also, and my neighbor told me the same thing. I figured a whole lot of a good thing would be even BETTER!!! Never thought of it as sugary. This is what I have been doing to quit eatting sweets at night….I buy bags of ice from Taco Villa (I LOVE thier ice)..and I munch on it ALL of the time. I also eat pastoshios during the day. Good luck on your diet!!
I eat 2-3 pieces of fruit a day. this is seriously bad for me—- its a little whacked in terms of perspective isn’t it?
whoa!. so it is bad for you to eat alot of fruit in one day? because i am totally snacking on fruit all day in replacement of my junk foods!
Sometimes i don’t even know how to eat healthy…how can eating fruit be unhealthy????
its crazy
i am confused by that i don’t think it is. that’s why im asking- if i couldn’t eat fruit i would be a very sad girl..
Fruit is good. §.
if I want a piece of fruit at night, I eat one.. Fruit, in moderation, is good for you.
i have a sweet tooth and if a pear keeps me.
I agree the way I think of it is. its the difference between drinking a soda and some fruit juice with seltzer. Both are sugary and tasty, but one won’t spike your blood sugar and has nearly 75 calories less.
I often eat a piece of chocolate. at night; lately it’s been one piece of See’s candy. I make sure to eat it consciously and savor it. A lifestyle change shouldn’t preclude the small pleasures in life.
i totally agree! §.
I would say if you like having a piece of fruit. in the evening, have one. In my opinion the advice you have been given is poor knowledge about nutrition. Fruit does have sugar, but its natural sugar. It is broken down differently than regular sugar and processed sugar. All sugars are not created equal and all sugars are not the same. It’s kind of like fat, there are good and bad fats. A eating a little fat is ok, but it depends on the type of fat. There is a lot of misinformation out there about sugar, carbs, fats etc, people get into the wrong mind frame and think that total avoidance of these things is the way to go, but its not. If someone wants to cut back on sugar they should avoid cookies, desserts, sodas and HFCS.
all that in mind fresh fruit or frozen fruit is best. If you eat canned or those fruit cups or something, they can be loaded with sugary syrup. Same goes for fruit juice, extra sugar can be added.
so confused!!!!. i am totally confused about food now!
I know that there is a difference between “good fat” and bad fat…natural sugar and sugar sugar…but it is just seeming way to complicated to eat healthy. I don’t know how much of anything to eat or when to eat it!
i really thought that a piece of fruit would be healthy…
Don’t panic. eating healthy is not hard at all. It just takes time and a little research. I don’t have any links ready to give out, but I am sure some of the people here do.
For just a beginner I would start with reducing processed foods. Anything that comes in a box with a flavor packet included is a processed food, anything pre-made is likely processed for example microwave dinners.
You already know the difference, that an Pear is healthier than cookies, so you are off to a great start.
Most bad fats, sugars and carbs come from processed foods if that helps you.
I fully believe that the biggest problem facing our diets is misinformation about nutrition, our government does a poor job and then you get places like taco bell advertising their diets its no wonder people are getting confused. Don’t beat yourself up too much, but do some research and learn. A piece of fruit is healthy, whoever told you otherwise does not know what they are talking about and just because someone is thinner than you does not make them “healthy” and knowledgeable about nutrition.
thank you!. I think that I am off to a great start then because that was basically my “diet”….eatting less, exercising more…and also, I am really trying to eat only natural foods.
I found this website and I figured that from the items on there I had plenty to choose from to eat, so I have been trying my best to stay away from anything processes and wow has it been a journey!
I have found that reading nutrition labels can be sooo shocking, and 9/10 I think that they are misleading!!!!
Like buying bread for instance and they all say “made with whole grains” or whole wheat when they really aren’t…and I even bought some of what I thought was whole wheat pasta, but after tasting it I was like “this tastes wayyy tooo good and like regular pasta there is not way it is whole grain…sure enough it was only 51% whole grain!
I was so mad because I feel like we are trying hard enough as it is to be healthy..and then its like the food companies make it even more difficult with their misleading labels!!!
Someone on here even pointed out to me that I have to be careful about serving sizes too, because even on the Greek Yogurt label for the individual cups..the label is marked for only half a serving! so you really have to double everything!
anyways, it is a life change for me….so I am proud of the progress I have made so far and am excited about learning even more about betting my body:)
Thanks for your help:)
Your welcome. reading labels is tricky for all of us.
it is. the problem is. that there are people on this forum who follow a low carb diet, so a piece of fruit at night would not fit into their plan. When low-carbers give advice to people who are not doing low carb (and vice versa) it creates a lot of confusion.
night time carbs. are generally considered inadvisable from any fotness standpoint… that is, unless you’re on some super high carb diet.
here’s more about that:
http://blog.nola.com/mollykimball/2009/01/calorierich_carbs_before_bedti.html
from what i can gather, the OP just wants to follow a real food kind of plan. in that case, eat food, avoid food like products, and you’re in good shape. so, fruit=good, oreos=bad. it needn’t be so confusing.
also, there are no cut and dry answers in nutrition. there are methods, there are opinions, but it takes some experiementation to find what appeals to you, and what works.
and i apologize for scaring you with my suggestion of eating fat. i happen to think fat is the very bestest macronutrient. not everyone does.
THANK YOU- finally someone.
exactly and being healthy. doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your food. In fact it can be really fun to experiment with new foods and how to cook them in a healthy way. Its all about moderation and balance. If you know you are going out for dinner and you might overindulge, eat light during the day.
Im not perfect either. Although I have lost 40lbs, I am still pretty overweight at 190, but I feel better, not just because I am lighter, but because I am also healthy. Once you detox from all the crap you feel so much better.
Here’s an example of BS marketing..
Let’s see….low fat, no artificial colors, good source of calcium, and a source for A/D and protien.
What’s not to love?!
Then look at the ingredient list:
Cultured pastueurized grade A low fat milk, SUGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, modified corn starch, Kosher gelatin, etc. etc. etc.
10 grams of sugar in a 2.25oz serving (64 grams)
If it’s not there you can’t eat it.. If the good stuff isn’t there you can’t eat it.So bring in the good stuff.
If the bad stuff is not there you can’t eat it. So get rid of it and don’t bring it back in.
If you only have the good stuff late at night that’s all you can eat. You may get mad at yourself but you will get over it.
so true….. i have pretty much come to the conclusion that even though Whole Grain Wheat Bread is pretty healthy…I shouldn’t keep it in the house bc i eat way tooo much of it!
Better whole wheat bread then cheese puffs §.
Baked kale chips.. They are totally delicious, low fat, low calories, packed with vitamins.
Buy kale (in a bunch), pull out the middle “ribs,” rinse well and dry well. Tear into bite-sized pieces. (Or, you can avoid all this and buy a bag of it already rinsed and pieced, but these are smaller pieces.)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread out a layer of kale pieces. (They can overlap a tad.)
Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the pieces, then sprinkle with season salt (garlic salt, Lawrys, etc.)
Toss well to evenly coate.
Bake in oven at 350 until pieces are brown and crispy. Only takes about 7 -10 or so minutes. Watch carefully. Do not burn.
Let them cool for a minute and ta-da! Healthy chips.
what is kale?. sounds delicious….sounds kind of like jerky, but i am having a hard time picturing it because i am not familiar with kale:(
thank you for the tip:)
kale is like. collard greens. leafy
do they taste good? §.
i think so. they taste like chips, or like whatever you put on them. i can never get enough!
Do you like apples?. My mom’s a diabetic, and she has to be very careful with fruit, but for some reason apples don’t spike her sugar like other fruit. Maybe it’s a better choice? I like ‘em diced with a spoonful of nonfat greek yogurt on top.
that’s ussually the night snack of choice:) §.
Great! No problem then. §.
Cottage cheese & oats …. … with a little apple sauce (or fruit), and cinnamon (blood sugar regulator). And vanilla whey protein (I eat it for the flavor … no, really!).
Fruit’s OK, but you want stuff that’s low-glycemic. Apples, good. Dates / raisins: not so good (very high glycemic index).