Why Does Overeating Happen Later In The Day?
Have you ever noticed that overeating tends to happen more toward the end of a day?
You wake up, you feel refreshed, you make yourself a breakfast you feel proud of and then sometime between after breakfast and bedtime something happens that sparks a habit of overeating in the afternoon, in the evening, or after dinner. You might lie in bed bewildered as to how and why this happened again and why it keeps happening every night.
Today I wanted to go through the top 3 reasons why a pattern of overeating at the end of the day can occur.
1. Not eating enough. If we have not received all the nutrition we needed throughout the day, an urge to overeat actually is the body's very wise strategy to ensure it is getting what it needs. If you're overeating every night, you might not want breakfast the next morning. To shift a pattern of overeating at night can mean eating breakfast in the morning regardless of if you overate the night before. Your body needs to know that you're going to provide it with consistent nourishment every single day. So if you want to stop overeating at night, that can mean making sure you're eating enough throughout the day no matter what.
2. Stress. Stress can often increase as the day goes on. Work, kids, pets, partners, family, responsibilities, dishes. Obviously this list could go on and on. High cortisol levels can increase appetite and give the body the impression that it is in danger. If the body thinks it needs to prepare for some impending doom, you will naturally crave sugar and carbs as that is fast energy that your body thinks it needs to potentially run from a tiger soon. Guiding your body into a relaxation response throughout your day from things like deep breathing, grounding inner thoughts, and self care acts can support the body in knowing it is safe so stress can decrease where we're less likely to reach for food at the end of the day.
3. Disembodiment. How many times do you check in with yourself throughout your day? If your struggle with overeating at the end of the day, this might be very little. Food has this amazing way of guiding us back into our bodies in this present moment. We feel, think, and make thousands of decisions every day. If we rarely check in with how we're digesting our day emotionally, food may come in at the end of the day to navigate the overwhelm of how much our mind, body, and soul are trying to process. Just by adding in quick little check ins throughout your day can decrease the likelihood of overeating at the end of the day as we're then being filled up emotionally and physically by our own presence leading to less emotional and physical hunger.
End of the day overeating has wisdom to offer. It is not a problem and it does not mean that you're broken or weak or something is wrong with you. This pattern is guiding you toward what else in your body and life is perhaps needing your attention. Next time you feel the urge to overeat at the end of the day, bring in a lot of curiosity to explore what that urge is here to teach you.