If you stay up until 4 a.m., more than six hours might pass between the time you have dinner and the time you go to sleep. You’re bound to work up an appetite again. But if you eat a snack or even a full meal at 4 a.m., it’s usually right before you go to sleep, and then you just consumed calories that you don’t actively burn. If you have to stay up late, just have a small protein-packed snack like eggs or cottage cheese.
It’s just math. If you’re not sleeping very much, you’ll eat more because you’re awake more. Not to mention, if you’re sleep deprived, your body needs energy in some other way, and you’ll often turn to food, according to WebMd.com.
If you like to get up at 5 a.m. to run errands or work out before work you might be risking some weight gain. You’re at a higher risk of eating two breakfasts — or worse: your 5 a.m. breakfast won’t carry you over until your 1 p.m. lunch.
You know how hard it is to ignore that after-lunch coma. If you are in a situation in which you can give into it, take a nap. Anytime you feel sleepy but have to push through it, you are more likely to grab a snack to wake you up, or a sugary coffee drink.
Do you struggle with insomnia and sometimes wake up for long periods in the middle of the night? You might be tempted to make use of the time and do some work, but turning on the light of your laptop and turning on your brain only wakes you more up, making it harder to go back to sleep and probably robbing you of precious hours of sleep. We already know sleep deprivation can cause you to gain weight. Stay in bed and have patience.
Not only do many people report having food cravings after taking sleeping pills. These can also leave you groggy the next morning, driving you again to look for some extra fuel — often in the form of food, says WebMd.com.
You might have a cocktail to help you get sleepy at the end of the night, but cocktails have a lot of calories. On top of that, there’s the issue of the “drunchies”— when your inhibitions are down, you don’t feel so guilty about finishing a bag of chips.
No matter what your sleep schedule is, keeping a consistent one can help with weight management. If you’re going to sleep at different hours and waking up at different hours throughout the week, it’s hard to ensure you eat the same number of meals every day, and in turn the same number of calories. A regular sleep schedule contributes to a regular eating schedule, which helps with weight management.
If late night is the only time you have to catch up on your favorite shows, that’s when you’ll also catch up on the commercials — the food commercials, that is. Before you know it, you could be sneaking into the kitchen to make a snack because the deli commercial made you hungry.
If you’re not warm enough at night, you might try to warm yourself up with food! According to WeightWatchers.com, we’re programmed to want more fat when we’re cold. So grab an extra blanket or a space heater.
