During my 12 week cut phase, need to drop BF from 16% to about 8-9%. I do fine through the day, work out during lunch from 12 noon to 1 pm and than cardio after work from 6-7 pm, have the last meal around 8-8:30. After doing house-hold chores (single father) I get to relax with a T.V. or a book around 10:30-12 midnight and that is the hardest time for me to resist my snack cravings.
I try eating soy nuts, almonds, cottage cheese or any other healthy snack but it?s killing me.
Any tips for controlling late night cravings except strong willpower?
your last meal was at 8:30 and your still up 4 hours later? This is to long to go with out a meal(protein) while you are awake. you need to rearrange your meal schedule to have you eating something small and dense every 2 hrs or so. you get the craving 'cause your blood sugar is low. Either go to bed earlier or tweak ur meal timing.
Most of the time you;ve got to suck it up. If this was easy everyone would do it. what do you want some shitty late night indulgence or a better body ?- thinking about that will make ya think twice about cheating. simply have a protein shake while you read that book . Make it a habit and the cravings will stop.
Nothing is weird about this. Our sense of satiety decreases in the night time hours - this is why the Haagen Daz yields such a unique appeal at 8pm rather than at noon. Also, “stress” peaks at the end of the day. We’re the least stressed in the mornings. Put this together with a long day at work, and eating provides a nice treat.
I don’t think, personally, you need to “suck” anything up. I’ve heard people make a great fuss about not eating before you go to sleep etc, but I find that my overall macronutrient, food selection, and nutrient timing relative to my workouts plays a far greater role than “eating at night.” Also, if you’re working out in the evening hours, of course you’re going to be hungry leading up to the time you go to sleep.
I have a similar schedule to yours - I don’t go to bed until around midnight. I work out around 5ish, so my evening schedule looks like this.
Knowing that I get “2 dinners” - real meals with real food, and not mindless snacking, really helps. Something about having a whole plate of food mentally satiates me in a way that slurping on powder fails to.