Eating Midnight Snacks is a Good Thing..??
For all of us who have always heard “avoid eating any kind of food before bed” it can come to a surprise that it might actually not be such a bad idea to eat before bed after all. University of Louisville nutritionist Chris Mohr, says that it isn’t bad at all. He says that as long as you haven’t had too much food earlier it should not affect you too much. “The key to keeping your weight in check is meeting your goals for calories taken in and calories output.” If by the time you go to bed you still have some calories left to use up then go for it. Your body will be thanking you for it and it won’t come back to haunt you with a big belly.
This of course is very good news to all of us who do most of our writing at night once we have finished all of our other obligations. Sometimes I stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning just surfing the web, experience tells me that the longer I stay up the hungrier I get and the less effective I am. It’s nice to know that I can go for a snack to replenish some of my energy and go on with my activities for a couple of more hours. Here are some of the things that make a perfect midnight snack.
In order to fully enjoy a midnight snack one has to understand what makes a perfect midnight snack. The first thing is that it has to be made in less than 5 minutes. Nobody wants to take out pots and slice vegetables when preparing a snack. If the snacks you’re making take more than 5 minutes to prepare them then you are taking time away from whatever it is you were doing before. The second thing is that it has to be small. When you eat a snack you shouldn’t be thinking about filling your stomach. If you eat something too heavy all you are going to do is want to go to sleep at once and probably go over your daily calories goal as well.
Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the health factor. It’s important that the food we are eating doesn’t have too much salt, sugar or cholesterol because at night is when our metabolism is working the slowest so all of those salts and sugars will most likely turn into fat so even though doughnuts are a tasty treat they are probably not the best midnight snack. The final factor that should be taken into consideration is the “messiness” factor. It isn’t worth making a midnight snack that takes 5 minutes to make if you are going to have to clean the kitchen for 10 minutes. Also, who wants to wake up in the morning having to wash a whole bunch of dishes?
So now we know, if you’re stomach comes calling at night don’t be afraid to answer with a nice midnight snack. Just make sure you think about what you’re going to put in your belly before you do it. In the end only you know what your body likes and what it dislikes, if your body responds well to eating doughnuts or homemade triple cheese burgers then I don’t see a problem with you eating them before you go to bed. I’ll just leave you with some of my favourite midnight snacks.
Cereal: Nothing beats a bowl of cereal. It is fast to make and deliciously simple. It is also very good to add cut fruit to the cereals for added flavour and texture.
Grilled cheese sandwich: This is my favourite Midnight snack, a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with lots of butter. This might not be the healthiest snack but it sure is yummy.
Fruits: It’s always nice to have some of your favourite fruits available in your refrigerator for times like these; fruits are definitely healthy and delicious.
If you have more great snack ideas comment on this article. =)