| food fight Evening eating By Cheryl Ades Dear Cheryl: I don’t have a problem controlling my eating until I get home from work at night. I have a stressful job, sometimes even forget to eat, or maybe grab one small meal or lunch during the day. When I get home at 6, I begin grazing for the evening, usually on chips or sugary carbohydrates. Sometimes I even wake up at night and can’t get back to sleep unless I eat something. What can I do instead? Signed, Grazing into the Night Dear Grazing into the Night: You are not alone. One study suggests that one-quarter of the people who are overweight by at least 100 pounds have Night Eating Syndrome. Fifty percent of one’s calories are ingested after 6 p.m. and most of these calories are comprised of high carbohydrate or sugary foods. The person has little or no appetite for breakfast and delays the first meal for several hours after waking up. A physiological correlation has been found in people suffering from this syndrome in that most have an increased secretion of the stress hormone cortisol which in turn causes an interruption in circadian rhythms, or difficulty staying asleep. You need to begin to shift your current behavior around food during the day. If you leave home in the morning with little more than a cup of coffee, you put your body in a stressed state before you even make it to work. This stress begins your day with elevated cortisol levels and overworks your adrenal glands. Begin your day by eating a balanced breakfast with appropriate protein and fats, don’t skip lunch, and choose healthy snacks throughout the day. By the time you make it home you will be less tempted to eat due to elevated cortisol levels in the body. You won’t be ravenous and will be more able to make healthy choices for dinner due to clear thinking with a brain that hasn’t been starved throughout the day. If you still feel hungry after dinner, then you will know your night eating is emotional. Jot down your feelings in your journal, and then write back to yourself, affirming that you have these feelings and that you will satisfy your need for expression in ways that are healthier than through your mouth. — Cheryl Ades |
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