Late Night Munchies Syndrome

You've eaten dinner. You ate enough to satisfy your belly for the rest of the evening.

But...

All of a sudden....

You get the munchies! You are not even hungry!

Do you have the late night munchies syndrome?

Look here to find out!

You have eaten a complete meal for dinner (maybe you've even overeaten!):

1. Within a few hours or less you find yourself wandering through your kitchen.
2. You look for something to eat, but you're not hungry.
3. You look for something to eat because you're bored.
4. You look for something to eat to distract you from something else.
5. You look for something to eat to procrastinate.
6. You look for something to eat out of habit.
7. Your sweet tooth is talking. Hollering. Screaming!
8. You begin to think of alternatives to eating, because you're not hungry, but you know there is ______ (add your naughty goodie here, that you currently have in your kitchen).
   
9. You want something to eat, so you try to feel hungry, even though you're not.
10. You're with someone who gets the snacks out, or goes through a fast-food drive thru.
11. You're at a party and (see 2-7 above).
12. You're angry about something, so you snack-out, but you're not hungry.
13. You feel bad about yourself for some reason anyway. You might as well have a few moments of eating something that tastes really good.
    

Having the late night munchies syndrome does not mean that you are hungry. You might be hungry, but more often than not, the late night munchies syndrome is a very, very bad habit. If you were really hungry, you'd eat some healthful food, right? A banana, some peanut butter and celery, toast, or cottage cheese to name a few. Unfortunately, the late night munchies syndrome has developed over time, and from your habit of giving in to it from the beginning. When you don't give in to it, you feel empty like something is missing. You would rather have that sick-to-your-stomach feeling from eating half a bag of chips/crackers/cookies, than have that empty, needy feeling. I understand because I feel like the inventor of the late night munchies syndrome!


How to Overcome the Late Night Munchies Syndrome

1. Eat a healthy, well-balanced meal for dinner.
2. Drink plenty of water.
3. Find interesting things to do after dinner.
   
4. Don't sit around watching television every night. If you do, prepare healthy snacks ahead of time.
5. When you feel like you're going to give in to the munchies, call a friend or someone that you have been meaning to talk to.
6. Go for an evening walk. This is one way people stay healthy, active and young even into their 90's.
7. If you are on the computer in the evening after dinner, have healthy snacks ready to munch on, and water.
8. If you enjoy reading at night, keep water and healthy snacks handy.
9. Purge your kitchen of junk food. Only stock healthy items.
10. Make friends with your mean roommate if you have one, and give that person all your junk food. Let them get fat.
    
11. Stop procrastinating. Do what's on your list of things to do, and if it involves house cleaning, either crank up loud dance music, or if you have little sleeping ones, listen to headphones.
12. Make a new evening habit. If it's eating, have healthy foods ready to snack on. If it's being more active, invite your partner or a friend or your pet to join you in being active.
13. Write out a list of reasons why you have the Late Night Munchies Syndrome. Work from there.
14. Keep snacks handy at all times. In your bag, in your car, in your pocket. Then if you are around others who are eating junk, you can join them in eating, only you'll be eating healthy. Who knows how this will influence your friends. (It's okay if they tease you, it's actually their way of caring and/or telling you that they are proud of you without actually saying it.)
15. Bake something naturally sweetened and share it with others.
    
16. Revisit this post and send it on to anyone else who needs to read it

Benefits of Overcoming the Late Night Munchies Syndrome:

• You will feel better about yourself.
• You will identify an unhealthy pattern and begin a new, healthy one.
• You may lose weight.
• You will find that evening walks are much more fun than vegging out.
• You might start eating healthier dinners.
• You will wake up feeling fantastic!
• You'll stop feeling sorry for yourself.
• You might be more productive.
• Your kids will learn from your habits. What you do, more than what you say.
• You'll realize your sweet tooth can be overcome!
• If you can overcome this bad habit, you're more likely to overcome other bad habits.
  

"Portions" My New Lifestyle, Not Diet!

In trying to figure out why I am not losing weight with the sugarless diet, I have decided that my portion sizes might have something to do with it. Also, I need to increase the amount of my daily physical activity, a huge given, but I truly believe I could lose a few if I cut down on my portion sizes.

Because I eat vegetarian, hardly any dairy and no sugar, I have assumed that I can eat everything in whatever portions I want. So when I make a batch of the most delectable gingersnaps ever, I heap them on a plate, go find a cozy spot to curl up and sit, and take my time eating each one while reading a book or doing a Japanese number puzzle. I'm in the clear, right? The cookies are healthy--no white flour or white sugar, so I am good to go, right? Obviously not!

To my dismay, I have to admit that I have been overeating. It has not even crossed my mind until recently, for some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the year coming to a close and the one goal I was very much looking forward to, I have not attained. In searching for all the reasons why I have stayed 15 pounds over my desired weight, I have concluded that eating half a batch of cookies probably doesn't help my plight, nor does eating five bowls of quinoa, even though it is healthy!

So, the other day I decided to take into account my portion sizes. Already I feel better about myself. I don't need that super-full/sick feeling in my stomach to tell me that I'm done eating. I need to use common sense and forget relying upon my animal senses. The animal in me will gorge. But I am not an animal, and I don't need to load up on food for fear of starvation.

I am not calling this a diet, because I hope to carry this idea to fruition throughout my life. While this may sound totally obvious to you all, this has been a great revelation for me! We'll see if anything significant (weight-wise) happens over the next month.

Oh, and I thought "Portions" was quite appropriate, being that tonight is the eve of Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

And the Winner is: Sugar-Free!

In preparation for our morning ping pong tournament, my husband loaded up on chocolate chip cookies and carnation chocolate instant breakfast, I loaded up on fruit (half banana, blueberries, and raspberries) and a hard boiled egg.

Then the games began. Normally, we are pretty evenly matched. We played two out of three and I won. I was hoping to play another two out of three, but he said he felt really tired and kind of "icky". He was done playing. We agreed that he probably didn't need to eat all those extra cookies, but it just goes to show you how sugar can bring you up but then smash you to the ground!

After our game was over, he went in to take a nap, and I decided to exercise and jog 2 miles.

Check Out This Donut Blog: nycdonutreport.blogspot.com

STILL CRAVING DONUTS....STILL CRAVING DONUTS.....STILL CRAVING DONUTS.....

Condolences:

1. I acquired a donut hole maker! Thank you Nancy! Complete with a recipe book, and some donut recipes that don't call for sugar. My first try at making hand-made donuts involved a sugarless apple fritter recipe. I used agave nectar for sweetener. When the donut holes were formed and cooked (taking only 4 minutes!) I rolled them in melted butter and stuffed my face with them. They were delicious despite being sugar-free and non-deep fried, though a little bready and more like a sweet muffin. The smell brought other members of my family into the kitchen, but moments too late. I had devoured all of the apple fritter donut holes, so I made another batch of plain, but full-of-sugar donuts for my family. Those were devoured in less than 5 minutes, after being rolled in melted butter and cinnamon sugar. I will be trying different recipes in the near future, and comforting myself with these sweet morsels, albeit sugar-free.

2. Condolence number two happens to be a blog-of-note that I ran across, titled "NYC Donut Report"! It is a very well-written, informative and interesting blog about DONUTS! Here's a description I read that had me salivating and questioning my plight:

"My only solace in those days was that coffee cart chocolate glazed. I do not know where this donut was made, and I wish I'd asked the nice Middle Eastern man in traditional clothing who ran the cart. I remember the glaze was thick and crusty and extra-sweet. The donut meat itself was moist and rich. And of course, once you've added the sugar to your coffee cart coffee, you simply can't go wrong." -NYCDonutReport.blogspot.com

3. My last and most affirming condolence is my new exercise routine. It helps me think about donuts for what they are-fattening, caloric, sugary, unhealthy and heavy. My new routine is one that I will have for life. It is very easy and I can choose every day how hard I will work at it. My routine is to do push-ups, sit-ups and one yoga pose (the plank) every morning upon waking and every evening before climbing into bed. What I believe will make this a lasting routine, is that I only have to do one of each, more only if I choose to. Last night camping, I forgot about my new routine until I was snuggled deep in my sleeping bag in our little tent at the edge of a gorgeous lake. To prove to myself that I can keep this routine in any situation, I climbed out of my sleeping bag, crouched over my husband and my dog, and did ONE sit-up, ONE push-up and the plank for only a few seconds. I adopted this new routine last week, and I can already see a difference in my abs. While I want a stronger, firmer middle, donuts want to plump me up. Maybe next year.