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By: Alisha Carlson

I keep binge eating at night…

Does this sound familiar?

Night-time snacking and Netflix…

It's been a long and stressful day.

For the first time, you don't have anyone needing anything from you.

You wander into the kitchen, and grab a bowl of your favorite ice cream or cereal.

Head to the couch.

Turn on some Netflix.

You can feel yourself relaxing, the cares and the craziness of the day melting away.

Before you know it, that huge bowl is gone...you don't really remember tasting any of it.

And, to top it off you realize you just managed to binge 3 episodes of your favorite show.

Suddenly guilt, frustration, and maybe even a little embarrassment or shame come creeping in.

Night time was my time to unwind.

After I'd put the kids to bed, I'd cozy up on the couch to watch some 'mommy shows' with a big bowl of cereal or on occasion a big bowl of boom Chicka kettle popcorn.

I would sit in front of the TV mindlessly eating away.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was trying to relax from a long day of chasing my kids and going to school.

It felt like the first time all day where I had time to relax and just focus on me.

On the one hand, this totally felt like relaxation. Like I was doing something for myself.

Ironically, my behavior wasn't really taking the best care of me. It was a way for me to check out of ...to take a break from my life.

When the cereal was gone or I had watched more TV than I wanted, I was still left with all the stress of the day.

I hadn't actually dealt with it, rather I had just pushed it back temporarily.

For many of the clients, I work with there is a form of nighttime snacking or bingeing that happens.

Reasons for binge eating at night

When we start to work together to understand why this happens, it is almost always one of two answers:

1. They need a break from their life

2. It feels like one of the only things they can control in their day/ life.

We are often over-scheduled and over-committed to the point it feels like everything we do is for someone else, even people we love dearly like our families.

All of the things on your to-do list can become heavy obligations.

We don't take breaks throughout the day, so when the day is over, we use food and often TV together to zone out.

We usually aren't doing this intentionally, and if we stopped long enough to think about it, wouldn't exactly choose this behavior either.

How do I stop overeating at night?

It took me months of nighttime TV watching and snacking on sugary foods before it ever occurred to me that what I really needed was some downtime, some quiet time throughout the day.

I needed to schedule less stuff and more rest into my life.

I also needed to assess everything on my calendar and make some tough decisions about what I could maybe let go of in order to create a little more margin in my life.

This means being super clear on our core values and our priorities. Have a clear sense of the things we want to say yes to, and what we can maybe say no to.

You may find there isn't much wiggle room in your life for what you can/ can't let go of in order to create more time.

If you take an honest assessment of your life and all of your obligations and don't find anything you can stop doing, then look for what you can do within the time you do have.

The first step to making any sort of change is always going to be gaining some awareness around the area you want to change.

(Check out this article on how to improve your mental health)

How to avoid night binge eating

You can do this through intentional reflection time or journaling.

Take a curious approach, almost like an investigator, and explore what was happening around the 'incident' (in this case zoning out with food and Netflix at night).

What events occurred during your day? How were you feeling before, during, and after?

If you could go back and have a do-over, what would you do differently, and why?

An unmanaged mind is extremely exhausting as well. You may find you don't have a ton on your daily schedule, but your brain is constantly feeding you a story about your life that wears you out.

Reframing your thoughts about your life and all of your obligations can be another strategy to help you feel less drained and more energized throughout the day as well.

This doesn't mean you have to see everything through a lens of positivity, but can you change your perspective even just a little bit?

*Here are some of Michele Riechman’s recommended books, journals, and erasable pens (these are the best!)

Lastly, come up with new ways you can rest.

What activities do you enjoy doing that leave you feeling recharged and rested? Figure out ways to incorporate more of that into your life on a daily or weekly basis.

(Check out this quick 10 minute yoga to de-stress here)

Understanding why you do what you do can be such a powerful catalyst for change.

Being able to look at your habits and behaviors (as well as the results they create ) through an objective lens will enable you to creatively problem-solve in ways you can't when you are beating yourself up or are exhausted.

If you'd like to hear more about this topic, you can check out this episode of The StrongHER Way podcast available on all major platforms. 

Connect with Alisha here!