Thursday, October 4, 2012

What Happens Late Night

Yesterday was what we call in the running world (or at least in the SUAR world), “perfection.”

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47 degrees. Crisp. Sunny. Fall colors.

I had a super busy day on tap with work and other crap (and I missed this drunken roll-over accident by about 3 minutes – I get so infuriated with stuff like this. Some 24 year old woman was drunk, driving way too fast and flipped her car – it’s amazing that someone else was not hurt or killed. Go drink yourself to death in your bedroom and keep the rest of us out of it).

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I was determined to get a run in before the madness of my day started. I did a leisurely and lovely 6  miles, no music (even though I usually do run with it). I skipped my pre-run banana because I was somewhat satiated from the night before.  In a few stress-filled moments I had eaten a some handfuls of this:

Then had one or two of these:

Then topped off the evening with a serving in bed of:

Yes, I am a trash can.

I’m not usually one who eats when I am bored or stressed, but for some reason I needed these things that night and I thoroughly enjoyed each morsel. People think because I run a lot and have a life focused on fitness that I never do anything “unhealthy.” What a joke. They should be in my house after 8:00 p.m. when the wine/snack fest begins.

I am a total believer in the “everything in moderation” model. I believe this because then I feel allowed and entitled to eat crap as long as I typically eat well balanced and healthy meals. I am a complete and total evening snacker and I’m not giving it up. My two favorites are:

  • Popcorn with butter and parmesan cheese
  • Cinnamon sugar pita chips

I would never get along with whoever said don’t eat after 8:00 p.m. That is just not going to happen. I did find a great article that said eating at night does not necessarily cause weight gain:

“While eating after 8 p.m. won’t increase the amount of weight you’ll gain, there are still some risks to late night snacking. The issue is simple: when you’re tired, you’re more likely to overeat. To compensate for fatigue, your brain will tell you to eat more and you might grab an unhealthy, calorie-dense snack. This is why you may run into trouble when you eat late at night. It’s not because your body gains more weight, it’s because you eat the wrong foods.”

So, the moral of the story is, go ahead and stuff your face at night, but eat sort of healthy stuff and pay attention to portions. BORING! But, if you do want to try this, here are some late-night healthier snack alternatives from this article:

  • Water (are you freaking kidding me? When did this become a snack?)
  • Milk (not going to cut it)
  • Nuts (yes, if they have lots of salt and have M&Ms mixed in)
  • Popcorn (butter, cheese)
  • Whole Grains (in the form of a cookie)
  • Turkey (meat is not my choice for late night snack. Sorry).

Yeah, I might do the popcorn with lots of butter. Or, I could just roast a big turkey and eat the leg like they do at a Renaissance Festival.

Sorry, this might be the most random post in the world. You have to give me credit for covering topics from drunken driving to eating candy in bed to roasting a turkey. You can’t find that on the Huffington Post.

Are you a night-time snacker?

What’s your favorite snack?

Do you sometimes feel you are entitled to eat certain foods because you run?

SUAR

44 comments:

  1. Totally a night-time snacker. I also love popcorn with parmesan cheese.

    But I have to say that now that I'm pregnant, a big glass of milk at night actually IS like the BEST. SNACK. EVER. It's a little embarrassing how much milk I'm putting back.

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  2. Nope. Not a night-time snacker. Not a snacker at all, in fact. But maybe that's because I usually eat huge suppers and I'm just not hungry later.

    The water thing works for me. I read somewhere that sometimes our brains confuse "thirst" with "hunger" so I will try a glass of water before hitting the fridge when my brain tempts me to eat stuff I don't need.

    NOT that I only eat healthy stuff. Favourite food? Poutine - a French Canadian delicacy. French fries mixed with cheese curds covered in hot gravy. Yum!

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    1. I lived in Paris for a semester while in college and how the heck did I miss Poutine??? Sounds so good.

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    2. You missed poutine cause the Parisienne French are too chi-chi to cover their french fries in cheese curds and gravy. Only the French Canadians do that. And it seriously is the best thing ever. If you ever come to Canada, you MUST indulge.

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    3. Oh - makes sense!! Yes, I will be sure to indulge if head up that way.

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    4. I was disgusted by the very thought of Poutine at first, then I had it in a swanky restaurant. Yummy. It's also yummy from the food trucks.

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  3. Yup.....every single night I have a whey protein shake and 3 rice cakes topped with homemade nut butter, jelly, honey and sliced banana. Sometimes I top that off with a HoneyStinger......

    And you broke the cardinal rule and we will have to investigate a penalty for you. Eating Chips Ahoy! is ok.....eating them as some sort of new fangled cookie with Reese's....breaks the rules. Go original!!!! HA HA HA!

    F'n people always wanting to change shit and make it 'better'.....just leave well enough alone.....haha!

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    1. Hah! At least I didn't do the candy corn oreos. That might be next. Just to piss you off.

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  4. I'm not really a night time snacker. I do find that when I'm training hard I like to have something sweet promptly after dinner each night. I don't eat a huge dinner (maybe I should so I don't keep dong this). My current obsession is a rice cake with sunflower butter and nutella. The nutella makes it SO sweet and rich. It might just be my favorite snack:-)

    I don't feel entitiled to food because I run. In fact, the Daily Mile is constantly telling me "This month you burned 100 donuts off" WTF! I didn't eat 100 donuts! I didn't even eat 1! Where are my skinny thighs.....lol.

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  5. Of course I am a night snacker! I LOVE popcorn with butter and parmesan cheese. I have it almost every night. I have no qualms about the butter either. I think it isn't fat so much that makes us overweight it is all the processed foods with useless sugar and carbs.
    Water as a snack? what the what???
    I am fairly obsessed with eating a diet of only whole grains, no processed foods, lots of veggies and healthy proteins. I think it can too easy to feel like you can eat whatever and that is where people get into trouble. However, running does allow for the occasional indulgence.

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  6. If I have to choose, I will go with a beer before sweets.

    Except we just got a fire pit, and I forgot how completely awesome roasted marshmallows are.

    What? They're like health food. Really.

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  7. Wait, this drunk driver thing happened IN THE MORNING? Ugh. That gives me a wine headache just thinking about it.

    What a dumbass. Hope she's still alive. Jeepers.

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  8. Ben and Jerry's has some new Frozen Greek Yogurt flavors. My new fave? Raspberry with chocolate chunks. It's frozen greek yogurt, so it has to be healthy, right? I work late 2 nights and that is my bed time snack. Can't go to bed hungry!

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  9. We had a guy recently in his car with a BAC over 0.5. He caused a crash involving four mini vans. Thankfully, no one was killed but all I could think of was that minivan = kid. The dumb guy should have passed out in a bathroom and left everyone alone.

    I have always been skeptical of the no night-time snacking thing. Weight loss/management is all about calories in and calories out. Plan for a reasonable snack at night and get on with it. I have a sweet tooth so it's usually something frozen. I'm avoiding dairy (blarg) ahead of my marathon, and found this delicious blood orange sorbet at Kroger.

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  10. I'm a day time snacker! I always want to snack while sitting at my desk at work. But once I eat dinner my food take is over and I have no urge to eat more, thank goodness!

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  11. Turkey is on the list cause it will put you to sleep.

    I make my own snack mix. All from Sam's/Costco. Animal Crackers, PB M&M's, almonds and cashews. YUM!

    The Kidless Kronicles

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  12. I love ceral as a nighttime snack. But a turkey leg sounds good too ;)

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  13. I'm not a nighttime snacker, but I can consume a day's worth of calories between 2:00 and 4:00 PM! Proof that it's not when you eat, but how much that causes weight gain (been there, lost that.)

    Chocolate is my snack of choice, although I've been consuming way too many pistachios lately.

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  14. I am totally entitled to a large handful dark chocolate covered almonds after a hard week of training. At least that is what I like to tell myself...

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  15. Ha! We are so alike on our snacking. Everyone at work thinks I'm a health nut because I eat a big salad with tons of veggies most days for lunch. I also snack on a piece of fruit or two (mainly because I'd eat an entire pizza or something otherwise).
    But after work, I indulge!

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  16. I am a long time popcorn eater, and in all my years I never thought of adding parmesan cheese.
    Thank you Suar, thank you...
    Cheese, butter, popcorn....TRIFECTA!

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  17. I am a late night snacker if I am tired. My snacking is definitely of the: I-am-too-tired-to-be-awake-and-so-must-eat-carbs-to-compensate variety. I actually feel the opposite of entitled to eat whatever I want because I run. I find that if I choose too many "unhealthy" snacks my performance suffers.
    Now the one thing I do feel entitled to eat as much as I want of is SALT! I LOVE Salt! I figure I sweat enough of it out and I salt everything to taste (even sometime things that are pre-salted)
    Kim

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  18. I crave the salty stuff at night. I'd eat a giant ass bag of salt & vinegar chips every night if given the chance. Instead I usually opt for a handful of the salt & vinegar almonds that Blue Diamond makes. They are GOOD. Crackers & cheese are my other go-to nighttime snack.

    And wine. Always wine.

    My husband is the bowl of cream/cookie eater. He'll eat a sleeve of Oreos with milk. In fact, I just bought those Candy Corn Oreos for him and they were gone in two nights. Me? The thought of candy corn OR an Oreo makes me want to wretch.

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  19. I snack in the evening a few times a week. The problem for me with popcorn is that popcorn = drinking a beer. It comes from my college days - free popcorn at the local bar (Option House, Bradford, PA). It really does quench the thirst!

    I also really like a whole wheat bagel with honey and peanut butter - YUM!

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  20. Oh - I forgot - I wanted to comment on your "perfection" running conditions: Yesterday at my boys' cross country meet, one of their female teammates was running with the BIGGEST GRIN on her face - she said, "It is just SO BEAUTIFUL out here on the trail!!" LOVED IT! (She's also not even close to be the fastest but damn if she doesn't enjoy it the most - my kinda girl!)

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  21. I usually don't eat dinner until 8 or 9pm, so that rule goes out the window for me.

    I tend to eat very healthy, balanced MEALS but then dessert enters. I never met a dessert I didn't like and I always say yes to dessert. Every. damn. day. That is my downfall.

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  22. Frozen Grapes! Seriously you have got to try them. I try not to eat late at night because I do just that: eat more than I should. Whenever I put creamer in my coffee I automatically say to myself, "It's okay, you'll just run it off".

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  23. I am currently loving cin and sugar pita chips with pumpkin cream cheese! Yummy snack :)

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  24. (3) Newtons Fruit Thins Fig and Honey with Jiff Creamy peanut butter on them.

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  25. Well done on tying all the randoms together! I actually (call me Jason here) like snacking on nuts. I eat almonds all the time. But like anything, you can overdo a good thing, too, and I'm sure I do. Water? Seriously?

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  26. I think you have single-handedly justified my late night snacking. I am forever grateful. Here I thought I was breaking some sort of unwritten healthy eating law by snacking at night. My go-to snack is usually a smallish bowl of Healthy Pop! popcorn with a cup of kettle corn mixed in. I can't resist the sweet & salty combination!

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  27. I guess I can come out of the closet now. I am a night time snacker. And my snacking is never healthy. I do drink milk for a snake… when it’s associated with a stack of Oreo Cookies. And with Halloween coming, I must admit… and I hope that my kids never read this… I have been known to raid the kids Halloween sacks after they go to sleep. I know, I feel so bad… ;)
    And who the heck thinks that WATER is a snack?

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  28. I love popcorn! And dark chocolate! I don't always have to have a night time snack though -- sometimes my husband and I just eat dinner too late and I'm not hungry for something else.

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  29. Red wine and cheese (or dark chocolate)...without these, there is no happiness. Carpe Diem (this will probably be written on my gravestone)

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    1. That's my once a week indulgence - wine, cheese, AND dark chocolate!

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  30. Not eat after 8?!
    That's like not peeing in the middle of the night.
    No. Can. Do.

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  31. Salt & Vinegar chips, washed down with a Long Trail IPA.

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  32. Only a late night snacker when I'm out, which happens about once or twice a year. I'm still choked that Tubby Dog was closed that one night.
    Just about anything can be my favourite, it depends on what I'm craving.
    I totally feel no guilt in eating as long as I'm active.

    I had been told that any late night snacks at home had to be either fed to you by your sweetie, or eaten off your sweetie.

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  33. I LOVE popcorn! I especially love snacking in the evening I don't even think about it anymore, I just try not to go too crazy. Mostly nuts and dark chocolate. When I try to stop I end up eating the contents of a 7-11.

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  34. When I read your posts I feel like you are reading my mind and expressing my thoughts in an orderly and humorous fashion. Love it!

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  35. I'm definitely a late night snacker. It gives me something to look forward to during the day!

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  36. I love to snack at night, usually chocolate of some kind.

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  37. Definitely a late night snacker, typically a few cookies and milk otherwise I wake up in the middle of the night starvin!

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