This post is for you if you want to break the habit of snacking in the middle of the night.

You prepare a wholesome breakfast to kick-start your day.

You eat a healthy lunch at work.

You have a salad for dinner.

And come 10-11-12 o clock at night, you give into your cravings and look to demolish the pantry.

Some people have come up with a name of this type of eating - Night Eating Syndrome (NES).

It's pattern I see with my clients far too often and may happen for a variety of reasons.

Let's start with the most common one:

#1 - You are actually physically hungry

You restrict yourself through the day and try to be 'good'.

You severely under eat and your body unleashes it's hunger signals at night.

Restricting yourself is a short-term way to lose weight.

Your body's hunger signalling system has the power to override all of your motivation and willpower in the long-term.

It is important to understand this point:

"It is far easier to lose weight in the long-run if you are in tune with your hunger signals rather than if you work against it."

How do you do this?

Through a process called intuitive eating.

Intuitive eating is something that is misunderstood by a lot of people and we'll cover it in a separate post.

#2 - You're trying to deal with emotions

Boredom and loneliness.

These are the two most common emotions we're trying to deal with when snacking at night.

Not everyone is an emotional eater.

However, most people who are emotional eaters aren't willing to admit to the fact they are emotional eaters.

Get honest with yourself and ask yourself if you are eating put of physical hunger or emotional hunger?

If it is emotional hunger, I recommend you schedule in activities throughout your week that address these emotions.

Building healthy emotions is a process and it won't happen overnight.

If you're looking for extra help, get coached by me or look up this thing called Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy.

#3 - You don't have an appetite during the day

If you work a busy job or are stressed with your day-to-day activities, it is easy to not feel hungry during the day.

Not all people are willing to change this aspect of their lives.

But if you are looking to address this, I recommend you build a regular meal pattern and have moments throughout the day where you take a 'time-out'.

This will help you tune into your body's hunger signals.

Bottom line

Contrary to popular belief, eating at night doesn't necessarily make you gain weight.

But if you find yourself constantly looking for food at midnight, chances are what you're doing in the first half of the day is affecting your behaviours in the second half of the day.