One of the big reasons I wanted to (re)embark on the Whole 30 challenge is to help understand and control my cravings, especially for sweets and late at night. I’m sure I hope I’m not alone in that I love eating desserts late at night. I don’t need anything crazy, and I’m not a fan of processed food, but I could do damage on some homemade granola, almond butter and chocolate.
My favorite way to serve it? In bed whilst watching New Girl, maybe the Office, Parks and Rec perhaps or possibly Law and Order SVU (Olivia Benson is a goddess, ammirite?)
But this little late night snacking shenanigan turned from a treat to a habit to a ritual. There were nights where I wasn’t particularly hungry but I just had to have my dessert because… well because…. “because.” But those nights weren’t satisfying. Instead I felt meh and bloated as I went to bed. Not great. I knew I had to change something.
Luckily, the processes of moving (to Boston) has helped in breaking this habit a lot and so has following the Whole 30. Sugar cravings are way down, and without many of my classic late night snacking arsenal by my side I’ve been able to resist.
But I wanted to open it up to you guys because you always give the best advice. What are your thoughts about late night snacking. Do you snack? How do you find balance and know when it’s a treat versus a habit?
Ok, back to scheduled programming:
Monday
Classic smoothie bowl: banana, berries, kale, spinach, kefir and Vega with berries, sunflower seeds and slivered almonds
Rainbow Veggie Bowl: Tomatoes, arugula, red peppers, avocado, butternut squash, tuna cake with homemade vegan pesto
I realized I had a free drink on my Starbucks card that was going to expire and because I couldn’t have a coffee with soy (normally I’d treat myself to an iced latte) I grabbed this coconut water – it had the least amount of sugar of all the juices (only 10g I think?) It was delicious and refreshing and free(ish)
Homemade butternut squash soup, avocado and pesto – Sweet potatoes and pesto egg muffin
Tuesday
Same smoothie as Monday (not mad)
Honeycrisp apple
OMG this was so good – Pesto, Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs, avocado and sauteed kale – amazeballs
Whole30 Tuna Salad & cucumbers topped with sunflower seeds and avocado
Follow along with the fun on Instagram
Your Turn:
- Let’s talk late night snacking – do you LNS? What’s your favorite food/netflix combo?
- What are your strategies to break the habit and keep it a treat (vs. craving)?
As always, thank you so much to Jenn of Peas & Crayons for hosting WIAW every week.
What a gorgeous smoothie bowl! The color alone would start my day off on a happy note!
Thanks Jessie! Smoothies are definitely one of my favorite parts of my morning routine.
I love all your eats with the smoked salmon! PS: where did you pick that up at? I’ve never really been a LNS…My weakness though when I am wanting a LNS is always a sweet treat like cake or cookies…I need to treat myself sometime soon! 😉
I grabbed my smoked salmon from Trader Joe’s I think it’s called Coho Salmon and the package said it was Wild Caught. I have a total cookie tooth 😉
Seriously…bravo on the food choices+ beautiful photos. You sound EXACTLY like me. Eating in bed before I go to sleep has become an unfortunate ritual for me and I really do want to get a handle on it.
Thank you so much Lauren – you could always start by having tiny portions of whatever you’re craving and slowly replace those with things like tea or fruit.
Wow, how beautiful! Do you make your own whole30 pesto, too?
I do! I have the recipe scheduled for next week! It’s super easy and I put it on everything
My favorite food/netflix combo is probably popcorn and Gilmore Girls 😉
Nice! Nothing like a little late night popcorn. Haven’t seen any Gilmore Girls but now that I can binge on Netflix it might just join the queue
My go-to snack when I’m hankering for something satisfying is PB&J on whole wheat toast.
Oh I am totally following you on instagram now – some great inspiration/drool worthy eats here! I’m now craving pesto in a BIG way 😉 This Jan one of my vague goals was to cut down on snacking – at least seeing how I felt if I didn’t have an afternoon or night time snack. What did I find? That I totally didn’t need them. I would get to my next meal (or go to bed) and not be hungry. I think if I was getting hungry, I would snack, OR eat more fat/protein in my main meals, but so far so good!
I have a nighttime snack (usually apples and peanut butter) every night. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing but it’s become a sort of comfort/clutch in a hectic day.
Welp, just finished my night time snack just a second ago. But it all just depends on how late I stay up. When I’m on my early to rise/early to bed schedule, I go to bed early enough that I don’t need a snack. Tonight I stayed up waaay past my normal bed time (I sound like a 3 year old, but you know what I mean) so I ended up needing a little somethin’ somethin’. I’m all about not going to bed hungry:)
Man! I was all hopeful about the berry snack, but Vega isn’t Whole30compliant so darn….having partially defrosted cherries and peaches w sprinkling of walnuts instead, for a bedtime snack. Could make into smoothie with almond milk, i suppose…too lazy, lol. The tuna cucumber sunflower seed combo looks like a great idea for tomorrow.