Evening Eating Is “More Challenging”

[Joanne M]

Hi everyone and Gillian,

I notice that it is much easier for me to choose not to eat certain foods during the day than it is at night. The reasons for not eating the food are the same no matter what time of day. I tell myself, if I eat that food, then I will be ill and won’t sleep well. But I find that the reasons are not as convincing at night. Or rather, I find myself eating food that I don’t really want to eat, more in the evenings.

I’ve heard many times that people tend to “give in” at night because of decision fatigue, that we run out of willpower to stop ourselves by the end of the day. But I saw in Gillian’s webinar that the whole decision fatigue thing is a myth.

So I am curious if anyone has ideas for what is going on here? Thank you.

[Gillian]

Joanne,

Stress levels tend to rise over the course of the day. Cortisol in the blood stream puts you in more of a “flight/flight/freeze” mode and to some extent less able to consider choices, outcomes, etc.

This doesn’t mean you have no choice but to cave in to addictive desire at the end of the day. One thing you can do is to remember there is good motivation not to eat that food, even though it’s not so convincing at the time. And if you can leave that kind of food at the shops, so much the better.

[Author]

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