4 reasons I advocate nighttime snacking.

by

Casual on HULU

Casual snacking.

I recently heard the statistic SIXTEEN PERCENT of us eat or drink while watching television at night.

Yep.

That’s me.

I may be a mindful eater, but you’ll always find Charming and me snuggled on the couch at night with snacks alongside us.

Million Dollar Listing? Brooklyn 99? Grace and Frankie? my eyeballs may be feasting on them but my mouth is always otherwise engaged.

Always.

Child to bed. Charming taken out to do his “business.” Mama snags snack and hits the couch.

I’m a card carrying consistent member of the 16% club.

4 reasons nighttime snacking works for me:

  • My snacking isn’t mindless. I may be focused on Kyle Chandler, but I make a MINDFUL choice before I turn on the TV. I stop, ask my body what it craves and bring a portion of snack with me. Never the entire container. Researchers found people who eat while watching TV consume approx. 228 calories more per day than those who do not. I contend I don’t do this because I leave the container in the kitchen.

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  • I enjoy it. I savor the sensations. I adore my hour of snacking, de-stressing and watching trash TV. Life is short. Jack LaLanne lived to 97. He ate little, ingested no caffeine & never tasted dessert. LaLanne’s motto was: If it tastes good–spit it out!! My grandma lived to 101. She was active, ate dessert, and if it tasted good she left it in her mouth. For me it’s the old joke about ascetic-living: “I may live longer if I don’t night-snack…and it will feel longer, too.”

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bacon = almost beef jerky.

  • It’s not junk. Be it a frozen, protein shake or oatmeal cookies my nighttime TV snack has some nutritional value. Experts say television sparks our memory to “skip” what we’re eating. Ive taken time to prepare my snack (sometimes considerable time)– and contend there’s no way my memory is “skipping” that. Especially since I also leave kitchen clean up till after TV-time.

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  • I’m a ME-expert. And *you* are the expert of you. Ive mentioned “researchers” a few times and I’m all for listening to them. I believe in reading and info-gathering. Before I make decisions, however, I grow still. I listen to my body. I remind myself I am the expert of me. This expert brazenly believes her membership in the Nighttime-TV-Watching-Snacking-16-Percent Club is OK. I’m doing what I can when I can.

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Obviously, I’ve considered this habit of mine a great deal since I first read the statistic.

I’ve come to this conclusion:

Night-snacking works for me because Ive had 46 years in this bod and know intuitively what it needs.

Now you.

  • Are you a member of the 16% Club? Are you, too, surprised the number is so low?
  • What’s YOUR current Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime TV series of choice? I’m always looking for ones to play sidekick to my snacks…

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Comments

  1. At one time, I was a nighttime snacker. And mine was truly mindless. Now I just don’t feel the need. My current Netflix choice is Making a Murderer – it’s got lots of twists and turns to make you constantly think – Did he do it?!?!

  2. I’m definitely not a nighttime snacker but probably because I have snacked myself to death all day – mindfully, of course 🙂 And, I do often snack while watching Sunday football.
    Right now I’m watching Jessica Jones on Netflix! She is part super hero, part private eye, and all badass woman!!

  3. Card carrying 16%er as well! There is just something about it that seals the night off for me. Plus, if I didn’t do so during marathon season, there would be no way that I would make it through the night!

  5. You seem to be making much better choices at night then I ever did with nighttime snacking. I find that the choices I make at night are not the best. I need to work on this.

  6. Once the kiddo is asleep, I finally have quiet me time. On nights when I don’t have to work, I make a cup of tea, grab a snack and snuggle with a book or the husband and a show on amazon prime. It feels good and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

    Oh, and check out Transparent on Amazon prime if you haven’t already. It’s amazing.

  9. my great grandma lived to be 104 and did the same thing. Savor and ENJOY! Savor being the key to slow down, right? i gotta try those chips! and hit the couch.

  10. Absolutely! At the end of every day I hang on the couch with chocolate mug cake, sometimes with a good book but often just catching up on the day with my husband.

  11. Love this! It’s honestly when I tell myself I **can’t** have or do something, that I end up making poor decisions. Snacking at night is a way to unwind. If I try to withhold that, I’ll usually end up sending my husband out for DQ instead of just having some of the popcorn I was otherwise planning on. I hate rules – even when they come from myself

  12. Since i don’t watch TV, i snack a bit, on some sunflower seeds or something, while reading blogs that post in the afternoon or evening. Like you, i pick something good for me and a portion of it, and simply enjoy.

  13. Sometimes while reading, sometimes while watching TV, but I always have a snack before bed. Like you, I take my time in preparing it. I make sure it’s delicious and at least somewhat nutritious, and I absolutely enjoy it. Very occasionally, I enjoy it a little too much and go back for more when I’m not really hungry. Mostly, though, it’s a calming, healthy ritual.

  14. Snacking done right!

    I snack at night, but not mindfully 🙂 Sometimes I replace snacking with coloring or doing my nails, though, and that works really well.

  15. I’m definitely surprised that the number is so low! I always have a night time snack as well, as I find that when I don’t, I don’t sleep as well. And you’re so right, we know what works for our own bodies and our own needs!

  16. Great post…I’m with you Carla. I like to snack while watching TV at night. I make mindful choices and never take the bag or container with me. I decide how much I’ll be snacking, and put the rest away.

  17. I snack some while watching TV. I love my fruit for snacking. For some reason apple slices and orange slices go hand and hand for me watching TV. I love popcorn but always overeat on it. Black Sails is a pretty good pirate series I just watched over the Holidays.

  19. I snack if I am hungry… but not otherwise. Good to have some nutritional value to the snack but sometimes a snack might be purely for the DECADENCE value too!

    Happy New Year to you ALL at your house!

  21. My nighttime snacking habits are not bad, though I do know that I will not be able to fall asleep if I am hungry. It’s in the afternoon when I have to watch my choices and portion control.

  22. Yep, I’m a snacker. I will say I “mostly” do healthy, but every once in a while a Twix bar somehow makes its way into my hands. I don’t know how it got there, but it seems a sin to waste it. I do only buy the miniatures and only bring a couple in with me. I’m getting there, be it ever so slowly!

  23. Every night? No. But if I am hungry, I will. I find by the time we get home from work and do everything else, we are often eating late (in front of the TV) and once I finish my dinner I don’t feel the need for a snack. We do enjoy eating our dinner in front of the TV though; I like TV and if we didn’t watch then, when would we have time?

    I am a big advocate of doing what’s right for you!

    🙂

  24. 16%? That seems really low to me as well. I have a planned snack every evening unless I have a huge dinner. It might be a latte or fruit and nut butter or sometimes cookies! We eat somewhat early, so I need something a few hours later.

    We are currently watching Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime. It’s pretty intense.

  25. My nighttime snack as of late has been an apple with homemade almond butter. I love having it as my dessert and catching up on some shows or movies w my husband. Nighttime snacks for the win!

  26. I’m definitely an evening snacker, so thank you for these great suggestions as to how I can better manage my snacking. Wonderful tips and very much appreciated!

  27. Super surprised that stat is so low! You know me Carla & pretty much resemble all your points! I have a snack every night while watching TV & I portion control it, leave the container in the kitchen. Mine is not junk either A& yes, I am the boss of me! 🙂

  28. No nighttime snacking here. Maybe because we eat dinner pretty late and most likely because I get my fill of snacks in the afternoon. That’s my witching hour. Although my snacks have been very good lately.

  29. I don’t nighttime snack as much as I used to, but maybe that’s because my bedtime is soon after dinner 😛 I agree with you that portion control is easier when we don’t bring the entire bag of _____ with us to the couch!

  30. I do snack at nighttime while watching TV maybe 25% of the time. I used to do it very often but have been trying to cut down and choose healthier options.

    If I’m feeling like having some fruit or a hard boiled egg, I don’t even think twice about it. It’s when I’m feeling like having cookies or chips that I have to resort to taking what I want to eat out of the container, and then putting the container away. It’s easy to mindlessly snack while watching television!

  31. I too am a nighttime snacker. For many years I have followed the Bill Phillips “Body for Life” fitness program and it advocates eating several times a day. Without my nighttime snack I wouldn’t be able to get in all those small meals. Of course, what I eat isn’t potato chips or a piece of chocolate cake (most of the time) but it is always something I enjoy and I usually plan for it during the day. It gives me something to look forward to at night when I finally wind down and can actually savor what I am eating.

  32. I love and wholeheartedly agree with all of the four reasons you listed! I don’t snack as much at night as I used to, but that’s only because I go to bed earlier. There’s still dark chocolate after dinner each night, which I love to savor.

  33. I am definitely an evening snacker! But not always a mindful snacker – its something I want to work on for 2016. I often get busy during the work day and then find myself straving when I have a moment to sit down and recognize it. So I need to snack more during the day and make my evening snacks count a bit more!

  34. Yay for nighttime snacking! I’m very much a night owl, so without that, I’d be going to sleep hungry almost every night!

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