Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized

Courtney has asked a common question:

I know it is bad to eat late at night, but two nights a week I go straight from work to a 3 hour fencing practice. I usually eat an apple or some granola before practice but by the time I get home around 9 pm I am starving. Can you suggest some things that are acceptable to eat and won’t totally negate all the hard work I did at practice?

Is late night eating bad for you?

Most people try to avoid late night eating, in the belief that it’s bad for you. But the relationship between late night eating and health is a bit more complex.

Strictly speaking there’s nothing wrong with eating after 8pm. Your metabolism remains fairly consistent throughout a 24 hour period. So you will burn up those kilojoules, as you would any other. And they’re not automatically deposited onto your hips.

However, when we eat late, we tend to eat more food. And that’s the problem with late night eating.

If you’re going out at night and have a snack beforehand, you don’t need a full dinner when you get home. If you have a full meal, you’ll be eating more than you need.

Plus when eating late at night, people are usually hungry and have fewer inhibitions. This can easily lead to over-eating.

How to organise your food if you’re going out?

If you’re going out in the evening and particularly if you’re going to be exercising, you do need to eat beforehand. From lunch-time to a late dinner is too long to leave between meals. But it’s also likely you’ll want something when you get home.

What I recommend is splitting the amount of food you’d normally eat for dinner between two mini-meals. It’s much easier to eat well if you plan this. Organising your food means you have the right stuff to eat, rather than grabbing something as you go.

My general dinner recommendation is to have a good amount of vegetables, some protein and a small serving of carbohydrate / grain-based foods. It’s my 50 / 25 /25 rule.

My suggestions

I quite often see clients in the evenings. On those days I always carry with me a mini-meal lunch box. This might include:

• 2 wholegrain Vita-weats, some cottage cheese, a tomato and a piece of fruit
• a tahini breakfast bar and some carrot sticks
• a couple of Kalyn’s brilliant egg muffins and a banana
• a muffin and a mini-salad of chickpeas, cucumber and tomato
• some nuts, a piece of fruit and a yoghurt
• a slice of wholegrain bread, some hummous, slices of cucumber and a small fruit salad

Then when I get home I’m looking for something light, that still has nutritional oomph:

• baked beans on a slice of wholegrain toast
• some soup from the freezer
• a small plate of steamed or stir-fried vegetables with a sprinkling of fetta
• a small salad with protein (eggs, beans, tempeh – but you could also use meat or fish)
• a slice of wholegrain toast with a poached egg and a grilled tomato

Kilojoule-wise it’s not a lot more food. But these mini-meals will keep me going and provide the nutrition I need.

What do you eat if you’re going to be home late?

What is Q & A Thursday?

This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.

If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.

03 April, 2008