Embracing My Health

I’m finding that choosing the right foods and the right amounts is pretty easy for me during the day (mostly). Evenings, however, the snack-a-beast tends to rear its ugly head. I’ve been asking myself why that might be. What habits have I made that encourage unhealthy snacking? And why do I feel like snacking if and when I don’t need food?

The reasons that I think are contributing to my nighttime snacking are:

1. Not eating enough and ending up hungry and craving food at the end of the day
2. Social eating– evenings are when I get to spend time with Paul. Making a snack and chatting together before a movie or at a break is an enjoyable time.
3. There’s a tendency for the eating to be more mindless — when I am eating, I tend to be distracted by a movie, visiting with friends, talking, working on the computer, etc.
4. Misplaced reward – when I’ve been good all day, I find myself thinking, “I can afford this or that treat – I’ve been good all day.”

I think for a lot of people, evenings are the let-your-hair-down, it’s “my time”, “I can finally relax” time. We’ve been pushing ourselves through the day to get all our responsibilities completed. During the day, we are accustomed to being disciplined about what we are doing. I think that may make it easier to apply discipline to our food choices. But evening rolls around and we shed our productive, efficient, and responsible selves and let ourselves treat ourselves to either the wrong kinds of food… or food we don’t need. We feel like we deserve a break. And we do.

Except.

I am working to be healthy. I want to live my life with optimal physical health and fitness. So here’s where I become motivated to redefine what “my time” means. Does it mean I can eat whatever I want… in whatever amounts appeal? It can’t if I’m going to live the life I want physically.

Here’s where we brainstorm together. What fills the need for … or is even better… than eating in the relaxing evening hours? Ideas? What lifestyle habits can we create to give ourselves the rest, relaxation and rejuvenation we need at the end of day without compromising our physical health and well-being? Share them. I’ll be doing some research and will share what I find alongside with your wisdom too!