Many people struggle with eating too much at night and assume it means poor willpower or lack of discipline. In reality, evening eating is often driven by hunger, habits, stress, social routines or simply eating too little earlier in the day.
If you understand the reason behind your evening eating, it becomes far easier to change.
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If I had to pick the single most common nutrition struggle clients bring up, it would probably be eating too much in the evenings. Most people assume this means something is wrong with them or that they simply have poor willpower. In reality, over eating at night is fairly normal and there are a few reasons behind it, including:
Are You Eating Too Little Food During The Day? –
Many people overeat at night simply because they have not eaten enough earlier in the day, especially calories or carbohydrates.
The most common one is simply not eating enough earlier in the day. It is common for people to skip breakfast, have a tiny lunch and then by evening they are starving which leads to eating too much. This happens in regards to total food consumed (calories), but I also see it with people eating too few carbs for their needs during the day.
Key takeaway:
If you are genuinely hungry at night, the problem may be what happened earlier in the day.
Is Eating Part of Your Evening Relaxation Routine? –
Eating often becomes the signal the day has ended and is associated to relaxing.
For a lot of people, food becomes linked with switching off. You finish work, sit down, put Netflix on and suddenly the snacks appear. The interesting bit is you are often not even hungry. The food is acting more like a signal that the day is done. It becomes part of the ritual of relaxing. For some it is chocolate after dinner, others tea and biscuits or perhaps a glass of wine. The food itself is almost secondary, it is the feeling attached to it that matters.
Key takeaway:
If food helps you switch off, changing the routine matters more than forcing willpower.
Does Stress Make You Eat More at Night? –
Evening eating is often less about hunger and more about changing how you feel after a stressful day.
Closely linked to this is stress. Some people eat more in the evening because it is the first moment all day where they actually stop. You have held everything together, been busy, looked after kids, dealt with work and then finally sit still. Stress catches up.
Food becomes comfort, distraction or a reward for surviving the day. This is why evening eating can feel strangely automatic. You are not just eating because of hunger, you are trying to change how you feel. This is not something to feel bad about, almost everyone does it. Ideally though, we would look to find others ways to de-stress as well.
Key takeaway:
Stress eating is normal, but it helps to build other ways of relaxing too.
Does Your Social Life Lead To Evening Eating? –
For many people, evening eating happens because night time is when social life switches on.
Evening is also when life happens, meals with partners, wine with friends, takeaways, family dinners or snacks while watching sport. For many people eating more at night is partly environmental. It is when the social world switches on, this is one reason weekday and weekend eating can look completely different.
Key takeaway: Evening eating is sometimes less about hunger and more about the environment you are in.
Are You Eating At Night Purely Out of Habit? –
Sometimes evening eating is simply repetition rather than hunger.
Sometimes there is no big reason at all. You just always do it. You sit in the same chair, watch the same TV, eat the same snacks at the same time. The brain loves routine and repetition. After enough repetitions, the behaviour becomes automatic. You can find yourself halfway through a packet of crisps before consciously deciding if you even wanted it.
Key takeaway: Sometimes evening eating is not hunger at all, just repetition and routine.
How Do Your Stop Eating Too Much At Night?
There is no one solution to evening eating. The answer depends on whether hunger, stress, habit or environment is driving it.
The first thing to consider is if evening eating is causing problems, if it isn’t, then you probably do not need to change anything. Some people naturally eat more at night, make good choices and maintain their body composition perfectly well. However, if there is a mismatch between the results you want and current progress then what can you do?
One thing I like clients to practise is robustness around food in general. This means becoming flexible with eating times and periods between food. I get my clients to learn to become comfortable with skipping or delaying meals. Not because I want them fasting forever, but because it builds confidence. If you have never missed a meal it means you are at the mercy of your body, environment and internal thoughts. If you become better at this it will improve your evening eating. For many people this is genuinely game changing as your hunger becomes less dramatic and food has less power over you.
Another option is experimenting with shifting food earlier in the day. This can feel weird at first if you are used to eating lightly until evening but as you eat more breakfast or lunch it may greatly reduce evening cravings and overeating.
Ideally you would eventually combine both the last two options to become someone who could occasionally go completely without eating in the evenings.
For disconnecting stress from eating you could spend some time experimenting with different stress reduction methods that do not involve food or drink, such as meditation, breath work, Emotional freedom technique or journaling. I would also check out the previous newsletter on stress and food>>
To break simple habitual patterns you need a little motivation / willpower. When you next have some, just do something different to what you normally do, so instead of watching Netflix in the usual spot with chocolate, perhaps stretch on the floor and do something other than watching your usual shows. You may be surprised how quickly you can change your simple habitual patterns, often in only a few days, if they are only there because of prior repetitions. You could of course change your usual pattern by doing the stress reduction exercise instead.
It is also worth looking at the difference between weekdays and weekends. Many people are incredibly structured Monday to Friday, then at weekends it becomes chaos. This is not necessarily bad, but it helps to be aware of it. Sometimes the answer is not “eat perfectly” on weekend evenings, but simply make them 20% better, so what would that look like?
Key takeaway: The best solution is to fix the cause of your evening eating, not just fight the symptom.
What Does This Mean For You
If you eat more at night, it does not automatically mean poor discipline. Too little food, stress, ingrained habits, social life, boredom, relaxation or simply routine could be the cause. The better you understand which applies to you, the easier it becomes to make changes that actually stick. Once you understand the likely cause, the solution becomes far easier. This is how I help many of my clients on their way to great results.
Key takeaway: Evening eating gets easier to change once you understand what is actually driving it.
Summary
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Eating more at night does not automatically mean poor discipline
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Evening eating is often caused by hunger, habits, stress or social routines
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Eating too little earlier in the day is one of the biggest causes
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Small behavioural changes often work better than extreme restriction
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Once you understand the cause, changing the behaviour becomes much easier
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Photo – I am often out training in the evening so I avoid much of the typical problems above, such as Friday night track or evening gym. I also include a photo of an all you can eat Brazilian breakfast, one way to shift food to earlier in the day –
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