She’d eat well all day. Then evening would come and everything would fall apart. The urge for more snacks. Craving more and more and more. Here’s why we over eat at night during menopause. And what to actually do about it.
Before we dive in…
By implementing what I’m about to teach you my client went from her night time snacking causing problems with her weight.
To feeling good about her evenings and comfortable in her clothes.
She’s in a completely different place now.
So just know that it’s possible for you to stop the overeating at night too.
Even during or after menopause. Even if you currently have strong food cravings.
5 Reasons We Overeat at Night
1. You’re not eating enough during the day.
This is where it often starts. You’re on some kind of plan, restricting, counting.
You can manage it during the day for a short period when willpower is there.
But by nighttime? It runs out.
Your body and your stomach are physically hungry because you actually haven’t eaten enough.
2. Decision fatigue.
By the end of the day, you’ve made thousands of micro-decisions. Your brain is done.
When you’re checked out and not thinking, you make choices that aren’t helpful for your weight.
That’s decision fatigue.
It’s well-researched that all humans reduce their ability to make good choices in the evening. Especially when disruptions mean they’re not getting enough sleep or enough quality sleep.
It’s not just you.
3. It’s become a habit
(with a physical component).
For so many of my clients eating in the evening it a habit that happens on autopilot.
Even binge eating can be habitual.
But it’s not just a mental pattern. Your circadian rhythm literally shifts to match the habit.
When your body gets used to eating at a certain time, it actually starts preparing your appetite for it.
And weight gain follows.
I remember hearing about a study where participants ate a candy bar at the same time every day. Their bodies started producing insulin in anticipation.
Which re-enforced the habitual desire to eat at that time.
In our case at night.
4. Emotional eating.
You’ve had a tough day. You’re feeling blah.
Food is a very effective way to buffer from feelings. To comfort and check out.
Soothing ourselves with food is something we have been raised to do from when we are babies.
So of course we continue the habit of using food to cope with difficult emotions.
Even when we know it’s causing us to eat large amounts of food we don’t need and the subsequent increase in body weight.
5. You’re NOT making decisions with the best part of your brain.
When we’re tired, our prefrontal cortex (the part of our brains that weighs up future consequences) goes offline.
Your amygdala takes over.
What’s your amygdala?
I’m glad you asked :)
It’s a more primitive part of your brain that doesn’t understand about the future. Or nutrition.
Or eating nutrient dense foods
It doesn’t think about how you’ll feel gross later or how it’ll affect your sleep.
It just says: “chocolate’s good, let’s do it”.
Why Overeating at Night During Menopause Is Worse
There are a lot of factors at play here. I’ll be honest, I don’t understand exactly how it all works together.
But you don’t need to know who electricity works to benefit from turning on a light switch. It’s the same with this.
Here’s what I do know.
The decrease in estrogen levels and progesterone and other hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause affect insulin and how your body responds to cortisol, the stress hormone.
So your body is responding to food differently. And to stress differently.
Which means that even though you feel like your food intake is the same, your weight increases.
Even if you’re not experiencing any menopausal symptoms like hot flashes or night sweats during the menopausal transition, your metabolism is still impacted.
That alone can mess with your hunger and fullness signals.
On top of that, midlife tends to come with a higher stress load and anxiety from work, children and ageing parents.
And then there’s the sleep piece.
When sleep is disrupted, poor sleep negatively impacts insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels and actually shifts your hormone levels especially the hunger hormones.
Ghrelin levels (hunger hormone) goes up.
Leptin levels (satiety) goes down.
So you have more reasons to experience increased hunger signals at night.
Less capacity to listen to your satiety cues (feeling of fullness).
Les ability to avoid high calorie foods and make good decisions.
And a body that’s more reactive to food and stress levels than it used to be.
Of course overeating a night is harder.
How to Stop Overeating at Night When Tired During Menopause
Start with self-compassion.
Of course this is happening.
This is not because you’re a bad weak willed person. There are all these factors at play.
Removing the judgment makes it so much easier to actually move forward.
Manage your expectations.
You don’t have to be perfect and never overeat at night again. We’re going for progress.
Reducing how often it happens, or how much you eat when it does. That’s the goal. Not eradicating the behaviour completely.
Stop restricting during the day.
If you think daytime restriction might be part of it, give yourself the gift of actually having lunch.
Or try an afternoon snack with some protein when you first get home like I do.
This will rule out physical hunger before the evening even starts.
Decide what and how much you’re eating ahead of time.
This is the big one.
Don’t wait until you’re tired and your amygdala is running the show to decide what you’re eating.
Make that choice earlier, when your prefrontal cortex is actually online.
There are two ways to do this:
1. Set a daily intention.
In the morning, at lunch, or when you first get home — decide what the evening is going to look like.
What you’ll eat, and roughly how much.
OR
2. Set a boundary.
Decide on a standing policy. Maybe it’s no snacks after dinner. Maybe it’s one piece of chocolate or one bowl of ice cream. Again, decide what that looks like ahead of time. Make the decision once, then just play it out.
Neither is right or wrong.
Try both and see what works for you.
Coach yourself
When you have a night that doesn’t go well — don’t use that as a reason to quit.
Use it as a reminder.
Overeating doesn’t feel good.
I do want to change this.
Then keep going.
This is a practice that will take some repetition.
What about emotional eating at night?
As someone who used to use food to feel my feelings, the simple practice of deciding ahead of time can be surprisingly effective for changing that pattern as well.
So I encourage you to experiment with this technique.
I’m still amazed how I can be more powerful than I think when I use my prefrontal cortex.
And at the same time also check out this post with an extra tool that will support you to reduce the emotional eating piece.
What about eating disorders?
If you feel like your night time eating could be a sign of an eating disorder, please don’t hesitate to talk to your health care provider and seek medical advice about getting extra support and proactive strategies via therapy from someone who specializes in eating disorders.
It’s normal for the hormonal fluctuations and appetite changes that happen when ovarian hormones and cortisol levels are changing to cause a flare up in the frequency of disordered eating.
You deserve a deeper solution than just being told to eat more soy and whole grains, reduce your daily calorie intake, take some supplements or experiment with meditation and yoga.
How Do I Get Rid of Menopausal Weight Gain?
First focus on stopping the hormonal weight gain.
A great first step is to implement the strategy recommended below.
But if you want to get the scale moving in the right diction my ‘Comfortable in Your Clothes‘ Course will be perfect to give you a more structured approach to set you up for success.
Learn more about the course here.
Key Takeaway
How to Reduce Overeating at Night During Menopause
Of course you’re overeating at night. There are so many factors working against you. Especially in menopause and as we age.
But it doesn’t have to stay this way.
The way through it is to stop making those choices when you’re tired and your amygdala is in charge.
Decide ahead of time. Either through a boundary or a daily intention.
Try it tonight. See how it feels.
Progress, not perfection. That’s all we’re looking for.
Want Help Putting This Into Practice?
I’ve just released a short on-demand course called Comfortable in Your Clothes.
You’ll discover the 3 tiny habits to help you eat what you want AND feel confident in your clothes again.
Without counting calories.
Without going hungry
Without missing out on your favourite foods
LEARN MORE ABOUT COMFORTABLE IN YOUR CLOTHES
_______________________________________________________
My Best Bite this Week
Last night I was making cookies for the boys. Classic chocolate chip. I love raw cookie dough.
I set my intention ahead of time and decided that I did want some.
So as I was rolling out the dough, I put some aside.
Sat down in front of the fire with my little bowl of raw cookie dough, and savoured every single bite.
Crunchy, sugary, very sweet. Absolute highlight of the week.
I did want more afterwards?
Of course. But I coached myself: I’ll feel gross. I’m about to have dinner. There will be more cookie dough in my future”
And that was enough. I didn’t go back for more.
_______________________________________________________
I’m Excited About
I have a tiny lemon tree in a pot. Because it was raining this morning I pulled it out from under the eaves where it lives.
I found five ripe lemons hiding in there. Five!
Very excited about cooking with them.
Small joys. They matter.
In your corner,
Jules from Stonesoup xx
(Your favourite Australian Food Scientist)
See my bio
Watch on YouTube
_______________________________________________________