Healthy Bedtime Snacks

Do you sometimes get some hunger pangs close to bedtime? Wondering what would be good to eat and not sabotage your weight loss goals or healthy eating plan? Here is a video segment explaining a few snack options for just before bed:

http://www.fox4beaumont.com/news/features/setx-live/stories/doneane-talks-nighttime-snacks-1945.shtml

The rule to follow about eating during evening hours is to eat your last meal MORE than 2 hours before going to bed. Digestion slows to a crawl as you sleep, and anything eaten soon before laying down does not effectively get digested. So your last meal of the day should be backed up to occur well before that 2 hour window.

But, if you should feel hungry just before bed, try drinking a glass of room temperature water to see if it quenches your hunger. If not, some healthy bed time snack options are:

2 cups of air popped pop corn (no butter!)

2 slices of natural cheese

a small apple and 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

a few carrot sticks or celery stalks, dipped in hummus

4 ounces of cottage cheese

4 ounces of Greek yogurt (option: add a few blueberries or a bit of granola)

Each of these snacks should calm down the feelings of hunger, and should not impede your ability to fall asleep.

If you are eating six small meals a day as most nutritionists suggest (myself included!) then you should not feel hungry at bedtime, unless you had a hard workout or some other activity that revved up your system just before time to call it a night. If so, try one of the above options!

~ Doneane

Gray Winter Day Blues . . .

Did you happen to catch my TV segment last Friday about how to beat the winter blues? If not, here is the quick run down.

The gray skies of winter can actually cause you to experience seasonal depression, due to lack of exposure to sunlight. Our brains need those “feel good” chemicals that are produced by adequate Vitamin D, which is made by our bodies after sun exposure.

If you have a few gray days and the accompanying gray mood, try adding a good dose of Vitamin D supplement and B Complex, both of which work to regulate mood. You can also add Turmeric to your cooking, or eat a few helpings of sweet potato, as these also contain compounds which help elevate mood. If you want to go all out, you can purchase a light therapy lamp, which tricks your eyes and your brain into thinking you have been out in the sunlight (don’t worry, it is not like a tanning bed and will not cause sunburn).

Now, if those gray days leave but your gray mood stays and lingers for more than just a few days, check with your doctor to be sure there is not something more serious going on that is causing your mood to swing in the wrong direction.

Come on summer . . . . I miss you already ❤

~ Doneane