Without fail, I sleep better, wake up more rested, and feel happier with myself when I don’t snack at night..
And my goodness, is that a hard habit to shake.
The toughest habits are often the ones baked into us when we’re young. Night snacking is exactly that for me.
Every night we’d watch TV as a family. I remember loving Red Green, Royal Canadian Air Farce, and I even got into Star Trek: The Next Generation. And we always had ice cream, chips, or some other delicious treat alongside.
Even today, decades later, the second we sit down to watch a movie as a family, my first thought is “SNACK??!?!”
When a habit is decades in the making, you’re not going to change it overnight.
I’ve made steady progress, and most of it comes down to “right sizing” the habit instead of fighting it tooth and nail. That means substituting the snack rather than going cold turkey, which almost never works long term.
I’m not talking about swapping chips and ice cream for celery sticks.
I’ve tried that. It didn’t work.
I’m talking about still having delicious snacks, just in smaller amounts, and with fewer calories. I eat a bit less, I feel a lot better, and I don’t consume an entire day’s worth of calories during a single movie at 9pm on a Friday night.
But what delicious snacks, you ask?
My wife and son got me a Ninja Creami for my birthday last week, and it’s been spectacular. I can make homemade ice cream, in almost any flavour, that’s low calorie and high protein.
Last night I had chocolate brownie. The night before, peanut butter, banana, and chocolate.
My son even jumped on the bandwagon and made tropical fruit sorbet. It was incredible.
Each serving has more protein than a protein shake, and I can eat an entire pint for only a few hundred calories, about the same as a big handful of Doritos, but far more filling.
I swear I didn’t mean for this to become an advertisement for a kitchen appliance.
You might not even like ice cream.
The point is this: sometimes when a habit is deeply ingrained, fighting it head-on is futile. It can be far more effective to right size it instead.
If you love to snack at night, don’t try to quit cold turkey. Find something you can snack on that works with your goals.
If you don’t eat many veggies, don’t overhaul your whole diet. Start with one extra serving a day.
If you’re not drinking enough water, don’t jump to 4L. Just have an extra glass when you wake up.
These small steps compound into real health and fitness returns, almost every time.
Plus, you can still have ice cream along the way 😛
If you’d like some support breaking old habits and creating sustainable, attainable changes, click HERE and let’s chat.
